As many businesses are accepting payment transactions mostly through digital modes, it has created a buzz in the market causing increased demand for the merchant services. The global market of merchant services, is predicted to grow at a CAGR of 17.4% by 2030.
With this exponential growth insights of the sector, the necessity for finding and implementing new effective strategies on selling merchant services becomes vital.
What Are Merchant Services?
The financial services offered to the businesses who use digital payments modes is called merchant services. These services allow all forms of digital payment using different tools that facilitate payment processing like:
- Credit card transactions
- Debit card trades
- Electronic fund transfers
- Other such payment methods
For seamless financial transactions, merchant services offer customer support, point-of-sale, and payment gateways.
A Few Examples of the Most Prominent Merchant Services Are:
- Mobile Payment Solutions: Mobile payment solutions let businesses accept electronic payments through smart devices like card swipers or near field communication readers (NFC) that can be connected via tooth or into a smart device.
- Virtual Terminals: A virtual terminal is a web-based application similar to that of an online checkout form. It process payments via mail order, telephones, fax, email, or in person.
- Credit Cards: The credit card merchant services offer a transaction mode for businesses to accept online/ offline non-cash payments.
- POS Systems: A POS merchant service is a tool that offers seamless implementation in the payment processors. Once the pay option is chosen on the tool, the POS system shares the payment value on the payer’s card reader to avoid the hassle of manual input.
- Payment Integrations: Payment integration services arise when a business’s POS system is connected to a payment processor; this allows seamless payment transactions.
Merchant Service Provider:
- A merchant service provider allows both the business and its clients to make easy and convenient electronic transactions.
- They delivers the required software and services for businesses that accept electronic payments from their clients.
- They ensure safety measures by implementing encryption methods in the services to minimize data breach risk.
- In addition, the merchant service providers streamline payment collections by providing a robust suite of payment solutions.
How to Sell Merchant Services?
1. Create a Proficient Business Model:
The integral part of selling merchant services includes examining the market of merchant services. It aids in prospecting potential clients and influencing the business model.
Merchant ventures must analyze the below market analysis:
- Client requirements
- Market size
- Competition
- And also the current industry trends
The above insights will allow merchant service providers to identify a strong financial strategy and maximum reach, and business marketers can set realistic & achievable goals for their growth.
2. Know Your Target Prospects for Lead Gen:
Understanding the needs of target clients aids merchant service vendors in strategizing a robust prospecting approach. This prospecting tactic will include addressing the unique requirements of varied clientele.
With every client’s different challenges and necessities, merchant service businesses must implement a sales strategy that aligns with the target’s business objectives.
Additionally, knowing the target prospect will help merchant businesses demonstrate how their services can enhance the prospect’s payment transaction efficiency, security, and customer experiences.
3. Connect With Target Prospects:
Connect with key professionals of businesses like retailers, automobile dealers, small business owners, restaurant owners, and other such businesses via email database.
Using the email database, merchant service providers can run multi-channel marketing that aligns with the prospect’s business objectives. It helps you expand your business and network, making your client base stronger for long-term business relations.
4. Collaborate With a Reliable ISA or ISO:
ISO: ISO or Independent sales organizations are businesses that are approved by payment industry regulators to sell merchant services; they make the transactions process through a formal relation with a payment processor or by acquiring a bank.
ISA: Independent sales agents are small entities that serve as mediators between payment processors and merchant businesses; they usually have their own clientele. ISAs regularly approach merchants to offer payment transaction solutions and earn commissions based on the volume of the transaction.
ISA can be ideal if merchant service vendors need more customized and flexible solutions. At the same time, ISO provides a structured approach with access to resources and knowledge to understand the implementation of the services for a seamless user experience.
5. Identify Your Sales Goals:
Now that merchant service vendors have analyzed the market needs and chosen the intermediary; it is time to establish the sales goal and pursue to achieve it.
To set achievable goals, merchant service firm must recognize their business objective by examining the following:
- Value propositions
- Merchant services
- Competitive benefits
- Prospect’s industry
Businesses must set clear, ambitious, and measurable goals by considering elements like existing client retention, new client acquisition, and upselling or cross-selling additional services.
6. Develop a Potential Lead-Acquiring Strategy:
A sales strategy is equally important to have the obligatory strategy for business growth. An essential element of a sales strategy is having the right industry network, which aids in increasing a business’s sales.
For effective networking, ventures can attend events, conferences, and trade shows related to merchant services. They can also be involved in conversations, establish relations with industry experts, and exchange business cards with potential leads.
Strategies like creating industry-relevant content such as articles, blogs, and videos attract more traffic and establish the merchant’s business platform as an educational and valuable industry knowledge source.
7. Craft a Powerful Sales Pitch:
Many merchant services tend to lose client interest because of a lack of effective sales pitches. Such merchant service businesses use a pre-packaged sales pitch and pray that it works and generates increased leads.
A worthy merchant service offering businesses must avoid relying on a pre-packaged strategy and instead create an influential sales pitch. This sales pitch must highlight the benefits a prospect can avail of, assure them that their services are better than others, and persuade potential leads to obtain the service.
Also, businesses can emphasize how their services will improve prospects’ secure payment processing, increase user experience, and improve sales.
Additionally, utilizing case studies and past service offerings to aid in a positive impact on the client’s business will also create a strong sales pitch that prospects cannot deny.
8. Consistently Deliver Real Value to Your Merchant Service:
An effective strategy for selling merchant services depends on what value a business can offer through its service to the client. Communicating the value of your merchant services is essential to build trust and nurture a long-term relationship. Communicating value should include empathy, authenticity, and a client-centric approach.
Express the business’s core values and align them with the client’s goals. Explain how the service’s values can benefit the prospect’s business and foster trust for lasting partnerships.
9. Be Transparent and Consistent:
Merchant service providers must offer transparency and consistency while selling the merchant service to build trust in the potential prospects.
It helps in offering clarity on information about the merchant services, associated fees, or restrictions, if any. These will highlight straightforward pricing without any hidden charges.
Merchant businesses can achieve a reliable reputation and transparency by providing regular updates on any industry shifts, trends, or improvements to the ideal clients.
Moreover, offering timely responses to customer support for inquiries and consistent messaging across all communication channels allows businesses to form trust and build lasting client relations in the merchant service industry.
Additional Tips on Selling Merchant Services
Understanding how to sell merchant services is vital for the growth of the business. A sales representative of the merchant service must update themselves with the latest payment industry operations, current industry trends, and new technologies to enhance their sales pitch.
Below are a few more effective tips that can help in increasing selling merchant services:
1. Educate Your Sales Team With Credit Card Processing:
Merchant service businesses must understand the role of a credit card processor, which is similar to merchant service providers. Every merchant service provider has a pricing structure that outlines the payments for businesses. It may cause a high number of businesses to pay more.
In some cases, the payment structure may include credit card cash surcharges or discounts. It is vital to study how to use a full-featured card reader and POS system that will help merchant businesses grow through smooth debit and credit card sales, especially from e-commerce businesses.
2. Relate to Each Client’s Requirements:
For a sales team to excel in successful strategies of selling merchant services, it must actively listen to the business owners. The team must understand the business’s pain points and address the required necessities.
If a client is dissatisfied with the current payment processor, the business’s sales agent must investigate the reason and offer necessary solutions.
Perhaps the business’s merchant services package does not align with the client’s business needs. Otherwise, the current processing business’s sales agent was too focused on delivering the sales pitch instead of engaging in a meaningful conversation with the client and did not bother to have a follow-up.
3. Flexible Payment Options:
A “one size fits all or a universal payment option” does not fit for all payment processing. It excludes most of the potential lead conversion ability.
For better sales outcomes, many businesses in diverse industries expect varied payment streams and cash flow cycles. Offering multiple payment options increases the chances of merchant business’s sales interactions on the merchant services.
4. Get Hold of Continuing Sales Training:
Every merchant service business will have targeted sales training in their sales agent programs. The training will help these sales agents to excel in working with the clients.
Merchant businesses can also suggest their sales team read classic sales training books, review successful salespeople, and listen to industry-relevant podcasts by industry leaders.
The curiosity of merchant service business’s continuously improving sales skills will offer an extra edge to excel in their industry.
Conclusion:
Creating a strategy for successfully and effectively selling merchant services requires a deep understanding of the industry. For powerful lead conversion, it is necessary to customize the merchant business’s marketing objectives to align with the prospect’s business goals.
Having a clear understanding of the merchant service’s market needs and communicating transparently through sales pitches enhances merchant service sales. It will increase the merchant service business’s revenue, enhance client relations, and boost business growth.