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If you've done any research at all, you've probably already realized that getting into credit card processing sales field can be extremely profitable. Just about every serious business needs a merchant account, so the number of prospects that you could work with are countless and the market is ever-expanding as the economy recovers.
You might also realize, though, that becoming an ISO or a credit card processing company yourself can be expensive, but luckily this is not your only option when you're looking to break into this field. One of the best ways to get into the credit card processing sales business is to start your career out as a sales agent. The upfront costs are minimal, and you can learn the business inside and out with a lot of room for growth. It's one of those coveted sales positions where you not only get commission at the time of the sale, but you usually receive residuals for the life of the account.
The key to success as a merchant services agent is choosing the right partner company to work with—this is an ISO whose products and services you will be offering to merchants. Since finding the best ISO agent program is so imperative to your future, take your time to consider who will be the best fit for you.
Top 5 Merchant Services Agent & ISO Programs
In order to help you get started on your quest, here are five of the best agent programs out there that you can look into:
Looking for a company that has a lot of experience and support? This can be especially important when you're first starting out. You don't want to just be left in the dust whenever you have questions or if something goes wrong. They're very committed to offering the best service possible to not only their end-users, but more importantly to their sales agents. They'll provide you with the latest technology, varied offers to give to your clients, and top-notch service. They also offer extremely fast payments, and in fact will pay you every day instead of making you wait for weeks.
If you are a sales-oriented individual with vast experience in the world of credit card processing or you are a driven and motivated professional looking for a new challenge, North American Bancard might be a great fit for you. With one of the most competitive commission structures in the industry, NAB will see to it that you are rewarded for your efforts.
As one of the best ISO agent programs, NAB has a history of a favorable commission structure, superior products, and sales support for thier ISO partners. With so much commission at stake, you will truly feel like a partner in the NAB business plan.
With North American Bancard's Registered DBA Program, you'll be able to market under your own brand, without paying costly fees! Your brand will be seen on the partner portal, marketing communications, merchant statements, and more.
Want to go with a leader in the industry? CardConnect is a great ISO with a lot of options for the ambitious sales agent. For one, they have a proven track record of service and have been around since 2006. They offer some of the easiest-to-navigate merchant applications around, a great support team, and in-depth training so that you can sell more effectively and grow in your payment processing career. They were among the firsts in the business to offer lifetime residuals from every deal that their sales agents close. If you want a reliable company that will let you build the passive income side of your business, you should seriously consider CardConnect.
Naturally, you are probably going to want to research more than just a few companies, but these are truly some of the best and brightest in the industry, and it's not a bad list to start with. Before anything else, it's important to perform a self-assessment and decide what your needs and wants are when it comes to an ISO partnership. Really, this means asking yourself: What kind of ISO is going to best serve my clients? If you still have no idea, that's perfectly fine. You don't have to limit yourself to a single ISO, and in fact it's probably a good idea when you are starting out to try several different processors.
Maybe you're looking for a very reliable company that has a history of great service and close relationships with their merchants and sales agents. In that case, you won't go wrong with PayProTec. They offer great customer support, as well as extensive online resources that you can use to build your business. When you sign up as a sales agent, you get a free website, a back-end portal where you can check your stats online, and the ability to look up trouble tickets and see any problems that your merchants are having. Like HarborTouch and a few others mentioned here, they also have a free terminal program.
Interestingly enough, they're not just paying lip service when they say that they care about their sales agents—they offer health care benefits and will reimburse half of your costs! This definitely helps to relieve one of the bigger headaches of being self-employed.
4)SHIFT4Payments
Shift 4 Payments (AKA: HarborTouch) is one of the largest providers of POS systems and payment processing services in the US. They handle over one hundred thousand merchant accounts across the nation, and billions of dollars worth of transactions. Part of the reason they are so ubiquitous in the payment processing field is no doubt due to their superior partnership program. They have smart, forward-thinking, and extremely competitive offers that make selling merchant accounts a snap compared to more “traditional” programs. For example, they helped pioneer the introduction of free terminal offers. In other words, you can provide the hardware to your client for no upfront costs to them, and still receive a handsome commission and great residuals afterwards.
“Free” is not a hard sell at all, so even if you choose another company, it's probably a good idea for you to make sure that your merchant services partner has a free terminal program. It's not always going to be a good fit for every merchant, but rest assured that more and more of your clients will be expecting free equipment.
Part of working in any field is having a niche, but oftentimes you can find yourself partnered with a company that won't approve of the merchants that you want to work with. Nothing is more disappointing than having great personal connections and prospects, but needing to turn them down because they run a “high risk” business, such as a liquor store, an e-commerce business, or any sort of retail store that would be subject to a lot of charge-backs.
With eMB's program, however, you won't have to worry about any of that. They will deal with just about any sort of merchant, including high-risk applicants. In fact, they approve about 95% of the merchants who seek accounts with them. This is good news for your clients and for you—especially since high risk accounts can be particularly lucrative.
Like the name implies, eMerchant Broker is a good choice if your merchant is an e-commerce business. They offer multiple gateways to make sure your client's shopping cart software will work perfectly with them. Give them a try, especially if your merchants tend to get rejected by other ISO's.
How You Can Make 6-Figures Selling Merchant Services
Selling merchant services is popularly known to be very lucrative, but one of the most asked questions by many potential ISO agents is how much money can you make selling merchant services? They want to know whether they will be able to make a sustainable income from selling merchant products and services.
There is no straight answer to this popular question because the amount of money you make is dependent on the effort and handwork you put in. Those who have succeeded in selling credit card processing have shown exceptional dedication and hard work.
If you are wondering about how to become a merchant service provider and become successful in it, then hard work and dedication must be part of you.
How You Can Earn $100k Per Year Selling Merchant Accounts
It is important to realize that merchant services agents get about $500 upfront for every new customer they sign up.
This amount is paid instantly after an agent manages to make a deal.
In addition to this, agents also receive a monthly bonus that on average is about $1250 per month. This money is known as residual income. According to experts, $1250 is low, bearing in mind that the credit card processing business doesn't count cash transactions.
When the merchant you have signed up for the service use their credit card to receive payments, the payment processing company will receive a certain percentage of the amount received.
As long as the merchants' continue to be happy with the credit card processing products and services, the payment processing company will continue receiving a certain percentage of the money transfers.
The ISO agent who signed the merchant client up for service will receive 50%-80% of this income. This means that every time the merchant client is using their credit card, then the ISO agent will be making money. This is what is known as residual income.
Assuming that the ISO agent is capable of signing 15 new merchant accunts every month. On average, the ISO agent as an example will receive $50 per month as residual income per merchant, which would be $750 per month. Of course these amounts skyrocket if the ISO agent is selling the cash discount program. This program wipes out all fees for the merchant client and produces 5X residual income.
If they are hardworking enough, they will manage to raise their monthly income to about $9000, which will translate to about $108,000 per year. This now answers the question; how much money you are able to make selling merchant services?
Tips To Help You Make $100k as a Merchant Services Provider
There are things that you need to put in place in addition to being hardworking in order to succeed. These tips will help you understand how to become a credit card processor and to easily make $100k per year. In order to make 6 figures in merchant services sales, you need to:
1.Set Your Goal: Just like in any industry, business goals are very important. These help you to be disciplined and stay focused on what you need to do. If you wish to make $9000 per month, then set that as your goal and put it the effort to attain that. If you wish to sign 15 merchants every month, set it as your goal and work towards attaining that.
3.Understand Your Product: Ensuring that you understand your merchant products and services is important in helping you stay competitive. The merchant services agent program you choose should be in the capacity to provide firsthand information about the credit card processing business. This will help you to stay up to date in selling merchant accounts and in-turn, attract merchant leads.
4.Manage Your Time: As an independent sales agent, it can be very difficult for you to stay committed to what you do. Remember that you are 100% responsible for your daily tasks. For you to succeed in merchant services, it is critical to stick to your schedule. Divide your time to tackle things such as following up with your leads and finding new leads. If you find it difficult to manage time by yourself, you can use apps and tools to schedule your daily tasks. This will improve your productivity and bring you a step close to making more money.
5.Invest In Referrals: Referrals are very important in helping you grow your merchant services business. This is very effective when starting out as a merchant service provider. Set a strategy to use and follow up with clients so as to get most referrals from every merchant client you get.
If you offer exceptional services, then your referral list will keep on growing. You will be getting new leads every now and then.
With the above tips, it is easy for you to earn handsome amounts as a merchant services agent.
The ball is on your court; you now know the amount you can make from your credit card processing business. Remember that there is no limit to the amount of money you can make. Put in the effort, and you could possibly make a million dollars in your credit card processing business.
If you are looking for a reliable merchant services agent program, check out North American Bancard. You will get the best support, tools, and deals to help you succeed in your business.
One of the most lucrative fields that you can get into as a salesperson is selling to other businesses and especially selling merchant services. Unlike most end consumers, business owners keenly understand the value of investing wisely in long-term solutions, and not merely throwing away their money on something cheap. If you want to truly contribute value to other business owners, while making a decent paycheck every month yourself, one of the best ways to do that is to offer quality merchant services. You will be invaluable to your clients, and if you serve them well, they will continue to look to you for ways to make their business more efficient.
Why start selling on your own, though? Isn't that a lot more work? What are the benefits if you're already working in a commission-based kind of job? Well, here are a few of the major ones:
More Control - Even if you're working in a field where you get a relative amount of independence, like in sales, you still don't have complete control, and your whole work life revolves around satisfying someone else's numbers. You may have your own personal selling style, but the overall strategy that the company follows—the direction in which “the ship” is being steered—is not determined by you, but by someone else. This may not be such a bad thing for some people, but it also means that your livelihood is ultimately in someone else's hands. What if the owners of the company that you work for make a dumb decision that spells the end of the business? You will have to suffer the consequences anyway, even though it wasn't your fault.
More Cash - Of course, if you own your own business, you have the potential to make a lot more money than someone who doesn't. If you're an independent contractor, at the end of the day, the people above you are raking in the most money. Sure, as a merchant services representative, you might make a hefty percentage of that, but the fact of the matter is that your potential for financial growth is stunted. If you have a business that you control yourself, it is basically up to you how much money you want to make, and you keep more of the fruits of your hard work.
The Potential for Scale - The thing about a normal job, even a merchant services sales job, where you're working for someone else, is that you rarely have the possibility to scale things up. In other words, you can't “replicate” yourself by hiring someone else to do some of your tasks, and this can greatly reduce your long-term income potential. When you run your own merchant services business, you can choose to run it in many different ways, but one way is to outsource the work slowly until your business can practically run on its own. For true residual, passive income, this is the kind of situation that you will want to be in. This is what makes it possible for you to work because you want to, and to make money even in your sleep. You just can't do this when you work for someone else.
Now, you may be thinking: How to start a payment processing company? Maybe you've been a salesperson for awhile—maybe you've even been selling POS equipment and other important retail tools—but you're not sure how to make that leap into selling for yourself.
Well, unless you've invented and designed your own solutions, you're going to have to start by forming a partnership with a company that you believe in. They're going to have to make a product that you can really get behind because, if you're building a business for yourself, most of your money is ultimately going to come from the back-end, from repeat customers. This is why it is so important to take a step back and think about quality above anything else. By all means, find a program that is lucrative, but don't ever sell a product that you wouldn't feel enthusiastic about using yourself. In the end, this is what is really going to create repeat business.
What traits do you look for in a merchant solutions company, then? Don't be taken in by any fancy bells and whistles. Basically, these are the things you are going to want to see:
A History of Reliability - Again, there's no sense in selling shoddy services or products. Look up reviews of the company and decide if they are any good. Research their products and make sure that they are user-friendly. Find a way to use them if you can. The easiest products to sell are the ones that are actually good because they basically sell themselves time and time again.
Generous Revenue Share - Since this is going to be the core of your business, you are going to want to find a merchant services partner that gives you a good cut of the sales. If you're doing all the work of finding and maintaining leads, then you need a fair percentage of what that customer is paying.
Residual Income - Part of what makes selling merchant services and POS services so lucrative is that there is often a monthly fee involved or else the merchant services company takes a percentage of the user's sales. As a partner, make sure that you have access to a significant portion of that long-term income as well. This is what is going to pay you month after month, even long after you have made the initial sale. This is where most of your money is, really.
Lots of Options and Flexibility - The company you work with should have lots of different options when it comes to revenue sharing, that way you will be able to build a strategy out of the one that best suits your business.
So, what specific company can you go with that will fulfill all of these needs? There are a few, but one of the best and most reliable is the North American Bancard Agent Program. They provide real value to their clients, so you should have no trouble working with them and building a stream of residual income from their products. Ultimately, though, just focus on solving your customers' problems and finding a merchant services partnership that can help you do that, and you should be able to start building your own merchant services business.
If you have been in sales for long, then you know what it is like to try to sell software and other solutions over the phone. It’s a tough industry and job that requires hard work, patience, and a winning formula. Calling someone is easy--convincing them to stay on the line is hard. If you are in merchant services sales and want to increase your phone sales and your overall revenue, then this short guide is a must have. In this short tutorial, we will cover some of the key tips to having success in merchant services and conducting merchant services sales over the phone with maximum optimization and earnings potential.
Difficulty of selling merchant services over the phone
When you think of selling merchant services over the phone, your mind might automatically turn to just setting appointments, touching base, and otherwise communicating with the potential customer over the phone. However, that’s not all that selling merchant services over the phone entails. Actually selling merchant services over the phone consists of every step of the process including consultation, implementation, and even signing the contracts. This all occurs from a remote location.
While this makes the business model somewhat convenient, it also makes having success in phone sales extremely difficult. In traditional sales, you have the opportunity to interface with your clients directly and speak with them. With phone sales, however, you will have to do all of this over the phone and digitally. The barrier is greater, and that is why so many fail when they don’t have a plan to address these issues.
However, it doesn’t mean that selling merchant services over the phone is impossible. Actually, hundreds of reps all over the country have success selling these services over the phone on a daily basis. Those with a good plan, sales skills, and some experience interacting with clients over the phone most definitely have a path to success.
Who isn’t right for selling merchant services over the phone?
Since you want to have success and selling merchant services over the phone takes a specific skill set, there are some merchant services agents that should avoid having to sell merchant services over the phone if possible. For beginners, it’s a good idea to get an in-person meeting when possible. Here are some of the characteristics that might make it difficult to succeed when selling merchant services over the phone.
Low experience with phone sales
If you are an individual that has little or no experience with selling merchant services over the phone, then some practice beforehand would be helpful. Selling merchant services can be difficult, and selling anything over the phone can be difficult. Together, they make for an increasingly difficult combination. Having success in merchant services over phone sales is entirely possible, but it is an ideal situation for those that at least have a bit of experience with selling over the phone.
No supply of leads
Selling without a good supply of leads is difficult for any industry, let alone merchant services. If you are going to sell over the phone, then you need to make sure that you have enough information to go off of. With a steady supply of leads that contain the information you need to make the sale, you will increase the chances of your success drastically. You should always make sure that you have a steady pipeline of leads before you begin your foray into merchant services phone sales.
Tips for success in phone merchant services sales
Now that that is out of the way, we can give you some actionable tips for having success with merchant services sales over the phone and giving yourself a leg up on the competition. Here are some of the most actionable tips and actions that you can take to have more success in phone merchant services sales.
Have a basis for the call
If you’re going to call a merchant looking to talk about how you can provide them a service, it’s best that you have a good reason for the call. If a merchant believes that you are only calling to sell them something that they don’t need, then they aren’t going to hang around on the call for very long and they will be immediately defense. However, if you can let them know that you have a solution for their problems or you are taking notice of an issue that they are having, you are much more likely to have success in converting them to a customer. Always make sure that you have a reason to be calling your merchant, otherwise they may believe that you are not worth their time.
Get to your value proposition early
If you do manage to get on the phone with a merchant, one of the most important things that you can do is to get to your value proposition early. Merchants especially have very little patience for people calling them to sell credit card processing products and services, since they get it so much. So, it’s helpful if you are able to show them right away that you have actual value and benefits to offer instead of just trying to make a sale. If you can make your point and show why you are valuable very early on in the process, the merchant is much more likely to be receptive to your pitch for a longer period of time.
Keep your merchant on the phone
It’s very important to keep your merchant on the phone for as long as possible. The longer that you are able to keep your merchant on the phone, the greater the chance that you have at converting your merchant into a customer. That’s not to say that you should keep them on the phone without regard to their needs. You should ask questions and start conversations that lead the merchant to simultaneously stay on the phone longer and learn more about the services that you have to offer. When you are conducting phone sales with a merchant, be sure to do your best to have a lengthy conversation with them so that they can become more familiar with you and start thinking of you as a business partner instead of a salesman.
Take baby steps
When you are interacting with a merchant on the phone, it’s best to keep the asks small. By that, we mean that you shouldn’t go for the big sale right away. When conducting phone sales, it is best to take it in baby steps instead of trying to sell them on your most comprehensive solution that you have to offer. For instance, you should explain the benefits of an affordable and smaller-scale service first to allow them to see the benefit before going into the other options that you have to offer.
Go through the paper work as a team
When you do make a sale, your next task is to get them through the paperwork and make sure that they remain a merchant under your account. To do that, you should provide superior service and walk them through the paperwork process as a team instead of leaving them to fend for themselves. This cooperation and the help that you are able to provide them will lead to a long and productive relationship between merchant and agent.
Merchant processing is one of the hottest and most popular lucrative fields in business right now, and that leaves many wondering how they can make a name for themselves in merchant processing. Becoming a registered ISO is one of the best ways to make money in merchant processing and establish a vast network that continues to bringin passive residuals over time. With a successful ISO, you can truly be setting yourself up for a lifetime of success and income that continues to grow. However, the process of becoming an ISO for Merchant Servicesis not always the simplest one, especially for those that have never registered as an Independent Sales Organization before.
If you want to know how to become a registered ISO and start earning the money that comes along with this lucrative profession, then you are in the right place. We will walk you through some of the basic concepts that surround becoming an ISO and teach you the steps to becoming a merchant services ISO so that you can begin building a better income for your future. Follow along to learn the pathway that you must take if you are going to become a registered ISO.
What is an ISO?
Before you become a merchant services ISO and go through the lengthy process that it entails, you must first make sure that you have a good grasp on what exactly an ISO is and what it would mean for you to become an ISO.
An ISO is an organization that is responsible for selling merchant services, such as processing, to businesses. ISOs operate under larger companies, for which they sell their services. In addition to being a type of “agent” themselves, ISOs also have agents that work underneath them to help sell their products and services.
ISOs make money by earning a commission of processing services that are sold and they also earn money by providing services to the merchant accounts that are opened by their agents. ISOs are a hub of activity in the merchant processing world and since so many transactions run through them, it can be a very lucrative field to be in.
One thing that you will need to know is that an ISO is a legally registered business, so you will have to decide which type of business you want to register as. There are a number of options, each one providing its benefits and downfalls. Make sure that you have a plan of action for when you get to this stage of the process.
Is it worth it to become an ISO?
Being an ISO has a lot of similarities to being a merchant services agent, but there are some key differences. Both allow you to make money by selling merchant services and processing agreements, but being an agent is slightly more limiting than being an ISO. That’s not to say that being an ISO is easy, because it is not. There are months of work that go into being either of these designations.
However, there are some advantages that make it worth it to become a registered ISO if you want to make a splash in the merchant services industry. One of these advantages is that you will get to operate under your own business name. This gives you added credibility when conducting business with your customers and provides you with an easier marketing task. When you are an agent for an ISO or larger merchant services company, you are not able to use your own business name to market yourself. This can turn into a disadvantage if you are trying to create your own brand.
Another distinct advantage to being a merchant services or credit card processing ISO is that you can earn money in more ways than one. When you become a registered ISO, you will have the opportunity to have sub-agents below you that can earn money and residuals for your ISO. As a regular agent, you don’t have this ability and your income is limited to what you can sell with the time that you alone have. Being an ISO allows you to scale up your business and provide you with income around the clock.
All in all, becoming an ISO is a step that can really launch your career in merchant services and set you up for a much higher long-term income.
How to register
If you have decided that becoming an ISO is the right choice for you, then congratulations. Becoming an ISO is an accomplishment that can open a lot of doors for you. First, you’ll need to register and work through the legal and administrative hurdles that stand between you and becoming an ISO.
Pick a name
This step is very important and allows you to enjoy the benefit of being an ISO and branding yourself rather than being forced to operate a different brand.
Decide on your business type
Depending on your unique situation and circumstances, you will need to pick the business type that you will be creating. This is very important down the line.
Register with state
Make sure that you file all the necessary paperwork with your state.
Get your permits
This will vary from state to state, but you will at least need a business license to operate and start accepting payments.
Register with tax agency
Register your business with local and national tax agencies to ensure you are compliant with all tax regulations and obligations.
Create a plan
Create your business plan and organize staff, buildings, etc.
Find a sponsor
Find a reputable and high-quality parent merchant services company that you can operate under to provide your clients with good service.
Create a contract
Create and review the contract that you make with your sponsor company to ensure you are both on the same page and understand what you are obligated to.
Finalize your sponsor
Once you are comfortable with the contract, go ahead and finalize your contract to cement the deal.
Start selling!
Now that you’re an ISO, the sky is the limit. Find sub-agents, close deals, and market your ISO as its own unique business.
If you’ve been considering becoming a merchant services agent for a credit card processing company, you probably already realize that it can be a very lucrative career path. Even better, it’s the kind of work that allows you to make your own decisions and get out of the stuffy office to meet people face to face. As a merchant service agent, you’re basically your own boss and you act as the middle man between the credit card company and the client.
Does this sound like something you could get into? If so, then you’re at the start of an exciting and profitable path. However, as with any other kind of work, there’s always a learning curve, especially if you want to be the kind of agent that clients seek out again and again. In other words, there are certain traits that successful merchant services representative have that help them rise above the rest (and make more money).
Have a Plan
The first thing that you can do for yourself in any endeavor is to have a plan. When you’re a sales agent, you’re basically running a business like any other, though this can require a period of adjustment for those who are transitioning from the lifestyle of an employee.
The fact that you have your own business is both a blessing and a responsibility. Yes, you have more freedom, but having a plan and carrying out every aspect of it becomes much more essential when you have no one else to turn to. Your credit card processor will certainly help you, but the direction that you want to take things is up to you.
What do you need to plan, specifically? Well, the most important thing you will need to decide ahead of time is how you will approach your market. Where will your revenue come from? Will you target people online? Will you do cold calling? Will you perform outreach to businesses in person?
Whatever the plan, choose one or just a few approaches to focus on. Don’t spread yourself too thin. Plan your focus and work your plan until you start getting some results (or not) and then pivot to another focus accordingly.
The point of the plan is to give you some sort of direction, so that you’re never lost in that no-man’s land of wondering what you should do next.
Leverage Your Social Network
Since finding a credit card processor can be an important step for a business owner, they often rely on referrals when they choose an agent to work with. Knowing this, make sure that you’re on everyone’s radar.
etwork and get to know people. Find people to spread the word about the services that you’re offering. You might even offer people pay for the referrals that they send you. It may sound a little weird at first, but it’s not that different from what you’re doing yourself relative to the credit card processing company. Either way, you probably won’t have trouble getting referrals from past clients for free if you’ve made them happy.
Just make yourself known in the community. Offer to help even when there’s no clear benefit for your upfront, and soon enough you will find merchants getting into contact with you. Trust is an extremely important element that cannot be underestimated, and you cultivate that through your connections and through offering people genuine value.
Pick the Right Partner
The decision of which merchant services ISO program to choose to work with is something that you should consider carefully. Not all credit card processors are created equal. Some might not offer very good customer service, or they might not have a good variety of plans and options, or they may simply not be willing to take on the type of clients that you want to serve.
You have to take many different factors into account. First and foremost, take a look at what the company has to offer your end users. Do they have free terminal plans? Are their fees exorbitant or fair? Play with the interface of the POS systems that they offer if you can. Are they easy to use? Do they use modern software and hardware that is lightweight and secure, or are they stuck in the last century? Try to find an ISO Program that offers equipment that is more or less future-proof, at least for the next few years. Look for a company that values change and is willing to adapt to the industry.
Get to know some merchants and merchant services agents who use the processor and get some feedback. Is the customer service good? Are they responsive and attentive? If you choose a partner that will be prone to abandon you, this can be a huge pain in the neck if something goes wrong, needless to say. Your merchants will be looking to you to keep their transaction systems running smoothly, and you need a partner who will be on your side.
Another thing to be clear on right away is whether or not they are willing to serve your future clients. The fact of the matter is that a lot of merchant services ISO’s will not work with businesses that they deem “high risk,” or businesses that tend to be subject to a lot of charge backs and fraud. Stolen credit cards and other issues are a sad reality of the economy, and in some industries these problems are more common, such as in ecommerce. A merchant services ISO may also refuse to work with a business that deals in “vice,” such as alcohol, tobacco, adult entertainment, and other similar kinds of markets. If you plan on working with clients in such industries, you need a partner who will support you.
If everything else checks out, you will have to go over your contract and fee schedule. Just as you don’t want the fees to be too high overall to avoid gouging your clients, you also want a fair cut of the fees for yourself. Make sure that your merchant services agent program will give you generous options for residuals and bonuses. At the same time, also keep your eyes peeled for any deals that seem way too good to be true. If you can fathom how the ISO is making money because it’s offering sales agents ridiculously good incentives, something is fishy. This is why it’s important to do your research thoroughly before signing up with a partner.
There are a few important things to watch out for in your contract, or else you may endanger your income. Make sure that there are no exclusivity clauses. If your merchant services ISO wants to force you into a exclusive relationship with them, find another one to work with. There is no reason that you should be able to work with more than one partner, and the freedom of being able to switch if one of them becomes irrelevant will make a huge difference for your business.
Something else to watch out for in the fine print are any quota requirements. If your partner requires you to open X amount of new accounts per month, or else you lose your residuals (even if your past clients are still with the company), then run far away. Find a partner company that allows you to rightfully own your residuals. This means that you keep them for the life of the account, regardless of any new accounts you open, and you should also be able to sell your residuals if you would rather have a lump sum.
Finally, find a company that will help train you on all of the equipment and software that they offer, and that will help you read all of the forms that you’ll be working with. You need to really know what you’re doing to be a success in this business—but we’ll talk more at length about that below:
Actually Know What You’re Doing
When it comes to any field—from credit card processing to underwater basket weaving—the number one thing that will make you successful is to serve your customers well. In fact, in a lot of ways, this is the only thing that really matters to your bottom line. Your clients have a problem, and you have to solve it well enough that they’re happy with what you gave them.
The only way that you can do that, though, is by knowing what you’re doing. Make sure to take advantage of all of the training materials that your credit card processor offers. Read the literature and even go to industry conferences and workshops if you can. You will learn huge amounts of information by listening to people who have already been playing the game for a long while.
When it comes to your income, it’s also important to know what you’re doing. Don’t just assume that your credit card processor is paying you what they owe. Learn to read your merchant statement and go through all of the details every month. If you’re confused, your ISO partner should help you. You can also recruit the help of more experienced sales agents.
Be Completely Honest
Trust is important in business. It’s what will keep people coming back. It is what will make people hesitate switching to your competitor. The only way to earn and keep people’s trust long term is to cultivate a reputation for honesty. This cannot be bought and you cannot use advertising tactics to get this. You can only earn it by being completely transparent and honest.
Don’t hide the bigger picture from your clients. Tell them exactly what is going on, exactly how much they are going to pay, and exactly what they can expect with the packages that you’re selling them. Teach them everything that they are willing to learn and show them as much as you can about the equipment and software that you’re giving them.
When a client feels that they can trust you, and they see that you went above and beyond what was expected, you have a loyal customer for life. Considering the potential value of long-term residuals in this business, the difference between being honest and trying to turn someone into a sucker for short term gains could be hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Being a merchant services agentcan be a great way to earn a piece of the very large credit card processing pie. The industry will only be growing larger in the next few years, and more opportunity will present itself to those who are highly motivated. Having said that, this is a very competitive field, and you will greatly improve your odds of success by following the guidelines above.
The credit card processing industry is like any other business, and your focus should be first and foremost with the customer. Pick the right merchant services agent program, use your social network, and make sure that you’re honest and that you know what you’re doing. After that, the rest should follow.
Merchant services sales is one of the hottest and most lucrative sales industries on the market right now, and for that reason it is incredibly attractive. It is true that you can earn great money being a merchant services agent, but it often requires a strict training program and dedication to the craft. If you want to be successful in merchant sales, then there are some key pillars that you will need to be familiar with that will help you to succeed and thrive in merchant services sales. By following this crucial training structure, you can set yourself up for success in the merchant services industry.
Pursue a quality partnership
The first concept that you will need to be familiar with in your merchant services sales training regimen is that you should pursue a quality partnership and arrangement with a merchant services provider. As a merchant services salesperson, you will work under the umbrella of a merchant services provider that will be the backbone of your business. The partner that you choose will administer these services to the merchants that you sell to, so it’s very important that you find a merchant services provider that is reputable and can provide you with all the benefits that you need for success in the merchant services industry.
There are a few things that you should look for in a quality partnership with a merchant services provider such as prompt payment, good payment structure, frequent bonuses, large share of profits, quality support staff, solutions for every industry, and tools to help you succeed. A quality partner that can provide you with all of these things is one that can help catapult you to success in merchant services and enjoyment of a life that earns passive income. It’s critically important that you make the right decision when it comes to the merchant services provider that you choose.
Optimize your pricing structure
While sales is mostly about making connections with businesses and selling your products, there are a lot of other things that you can do to help yourself have success. One of the more subtle things that you can do is to optimize your pricing structure to provide you with more margin and more opportunities to increase your revenue. There are several ways that you can do this by offering upsells, sticking to strict limitations when offering discounts, and others.
While a change in your pricing structure might not make a large effect right away, when the effects are compounded over hundreds of transactions, you can notice a very large difference that will greatly impact the trajectory of your merchant services career.
The more options, the better
When you are going through the preliminary stages of training to be a merchant services agent, one of the most important things that you should be on the lookout for is a merchant services provider that doesn’t limit you by their payment processing capability or options. You should seek to work with a merchant services partner that provides you with a wide range of payment processing options such as debit, credit, cash, ACH, and others. When your partner offers these additional methods, you can offer them to your merchants. Merchants like to be presented with multiple options and flexibility, so if you can offer them flexibility in their payment processing solution, then they are more likely to work with you for their merchant services needs.
Providing good customer service
One of the most important lessons that you will learn in merchant services sales training is that customer service should be your main priority at all times. The customer is the most important party in the entire transaction and without happy customers as your merchants, you will find a very hard time succeeding in merchant services sales.
Providing good customer service is something that you will have to master if you want to get to the point where you are converting more customers and increasing your portfolio of merchants. To do this, you should be sure to always be attentive to customers’ needs, answer questions in a timely manner, and be able to get in touch with them whenever they need something from you.
However, you are not the only important person in the process when it comes to customer service. You should be partnering with a merchant services provider that also values the power of good customer service if you want to have success in merchant services sales. This means evaluating how well your merchant services provider is able to meet the needs of customers and what their reputation is for providing service to the merchants that they oversee.
If you can provide a good customer service experience to your merchants, then they are much more likely to continue coming back to you time and again for their processing needs.
Free terminals included
If you want to have success in merchant services sales, then you’ll quickly learn one of the secrets of the industry is to include a free terminal for your merchant. Not only do merchants love to have free bonuses included in their processing packages, but you’ll also be providing your merchant with a POS that is specifically designed to increase performance and efficiency while using your offering of processing solutions. With a terminal that is specifically designed to help your solution work in the best way possible, you can be sure that they are getting the best possible user experience that they could want.
This also helps your relationship with the merchant. Providing them with incentives is one thing, but they can take additional confidence in knowing that they are partnered with an agent that cares enough about their merchants to ensure that they have the proper equipment to get the job done the right way. If you want to increase your conversion rate and improve the quality of your relationships with your merchants, then offering a free POS system is a great way to do so and is now considered industry-standard.
Are you looking to get involved in the merchant services industry, but you're not sure how to start? A good approach might be to sign up for our merchant services agent program, and we will pay you based on quality leads that you bring to us. You can get as involved in the process as you would like, and depending on your contribution, you can receive lucrative commissions and even residuals. These residuals can continue to pay for the life of the merchant's account, as well.
For some salespeople, referring their existing clients and making a small commission per sign-up may be enough, while for others, the prospect of monthly residuals and working closely with merchants to maintain accounts may be more attractive. It depends on your goals, as well as whether you want to become deeply involved with the merchant services industry as a whole. Needless to say, on all levels, there is nearly unlimited income potential because the field of merchant services is vast and constantly growing. No matter what your circumstance, chances are that many business owners around you are in need of a merchant account, and we are willing to reward you handsomely for the opportunity to serve the leads that you bring to us.
Very Little Involvement - If you're interested in a relationship that is more akin to affiliate marketing, where you find the leads, refer them to us, and then move on, then we have a program that can accommodate that. Whether you're a long-time affiliate marketer who is looking for a new niche, or you simply work with many merchants and would like a way to make some money from your contacts, this is an easy way to earn commissions without too much commitment. At this level, you do not need to contact merchants any further after you have made the referral.
Simply refer a merchant to us, and you will get $50 for every successful sign-up. The various techniques that you use to promote our services depends on you. If you run a website related to merchant services or that is targeted largely towards merchants and their needs, you could easily mention us and make commissions by referring your visitors. Similarly, if you run a newsletter or an online community, you can promote us to your audience and send them to our website using a custom link.
If in-person contact is more your style, you might try out passing around business cards with your custom link included. If you run a business-to-business enterprise yourself, you may find many opportunities to offer our services to your clients, allowing you to maximize your revenue.
Some Involvement - If you want the chance to earn some residuals, then this might be a good choice. Like the program above, you can earn $50 dollars upfront for every sign-up, but if you have 10 active accounts from merchants that you have referred, then you will be eligible to receive a portion of the revenue that they generate every month. As you can imagine, these residuals can certainly add up as you begin to accumulate more and more accounts.
Just as with the less involved referral program or credit card processing agent program, you may find leads from any number of sources, including leveraging an existing audience of yours or simply visiting local merchants and telling them about what we have to offer.
When you reach the point where you are receiving residuals, you may become much more interested in maintaining your relationship with the merchants to ensure that they stay on board. After all, the lower the account attrition, the better your chances of receiving continuous residuals. If that is the case, you might actually consider getting more involved, and perhaps even targeting local merchants specifically so that you can begin walking them through the process of signing up for our services.
High Involvement - Do you want to help the merchant set up his account step by step? Do you want to make sure that clients get what they need in order to keep the high quality accounts that you have worked to acquire? At this level, your commissions depend on how involved you want to get with the program, but it can be hundreds of dollars upfront per account, plus residuals. The more work you want to put into our clients, the more you will make in terms of commissions.
As you can see, we can accommodate all kinds of salespersons with varying levels of interest in our program. No matter what kind of approach you want to take, you are bound to make money with our high quality merchant services agent programs. We provide tools as well that will help you make the most of your partnership with us, including:
A back end that allows you to create custom links with your affiliate code which will let us track referrals that come from you. This makes it easier to credit you with the commission that you are due. You can paste this link anywhere that your audience will be able to see it, whether it is on your website or in your email newsletters.
Creative banner ads and other templates that can link back to just about any page on our site. Advertise specific products and services that we offer so that you can target the merchants who need them and increase your conversion rate. There's also no need to build your own graphics from scratch, since you can simply use ours.
Free marketing tools. We offer email templates that you can send to your marketing list, landing pages that you can use to convert traffic, and other custom marketing materials.
So whether you are a mechant sales agent, a marketer, or merely someone who is in constant contact with merchants and would like to build another revenue stream, we have a solution for you. Send us your leads and we will reward you. Get into contact with North American Bancard Agent Program to learn more about our merchant account referral program.
If you are a merchant that is discussing the possibility of enrolling in a cash discount program to save you money on your processing, then you are no doubt wondering what to expect and whether it's a good decision for your business. Every decision that you make concerning your business must be made carefully. You care a lot about your business and you would never want to endanger it by making a decision too early or without enough consideration. If you want to truly get the most out of your merchant services experience, then you must at least explore the possibility of enrolling in a cash discount program.
However, you might not even know where to start. If you’ve never enrolled in a cash discount program, you probably don’t know what to expect or how the program could affect your business. We are here to provide you with some guidance and give you the information that you need to make an informed and well-timed decision for your business. In this overview of the cash discount program, we’ll provide a fair and balanced summary of the benefits of the program and also show you some of the potential downsides.
What is a Cash Discount Program?
If you run a business, you are probably familiar with cash discounts. However, cash discounts have become a dying practice. This is mostly because processing cost have put a burden on businesses and they would rather keep the extra margin from the cash to help fund operations. However, a cash discount program offered by a merchant services company is a completely different concept that has been helping to restore these programs across the country.
A modern-day cash discount program is the same in theory as the "cash discounts" of the past in that it incentivizes the customer to pay with cash to provide them with a cheaper price. However, it is much different in the way that the savings are applied. With a traditional cash discount offering, a percentage of the transaction would be deducted from the total when customers choose to pay with cash. This saves the customer and the merchant each a little bit of money, but nothing significant.
In a merchant services cash discount program, the rate is applied to any transaction that is being paid with plastic. The advertised price on your products and services will be paid if the transaction is paid in cash. This passes the cost to those that choose to pay with credit cards and saves the merchant money on processing.
Benefits of Cash Discount Programs
As you can ascertain from our summary of cash discount programs, there are quite a lot of benefits to like about cash discount programs and what they have to offer for businesses that use a lot of processing services. Here are some of the benefits that you can enjoy when you choose a cash discount program for your business.
Lower Cost
When you accept fewer card payments as a merchant, it will inevitably mean that you are paying less in processing cost. Processing cost don't sound like a lot at first, but they can certainly pile up and make a difference in your balance sheet. If you want to avoid processing cost as much as possible, then the best way to do so is to enroll in a cash discount program with your merchant services provider.
The main benefit of a cash discount program from the merchant's point of view is that it enables the merchant to pass on the cost to the consumer through a cash discount program. This leaves the merchant with basically no cost to pay in the end.
Easy Implementation
Many merchants shy away from these sorts of programs because while they would be beneficial for the merchant, many fear that they are difficult to implement. Without the right partner, this might be the case. However, if you choose the right merchant services partner, the implementation can be incredibly easy and painless. Most merchant service providers will provide their merchants with signage to explain the switch and guidance on how to change the process without angering customers. In addition, merchants might be able to gain access to free POS equipment to assist in the system change.
More Cash Payments
When you implement a cash discount program, it only stands to reason that you will start to incentivize more cash payments. More cash payments mean savings for your customer and more margin for you. Once the merchant's customers realize that they can save money by paying in cash, they will be incentivized to do so and it will ease the burden that processing and card payments have on your business. In addition, the business can charge just as much as it was before the switch for the products, except they will not have to adjust for processing cost.
Merchant Fraud Protection
With fewer credit card transactions going through your business, you will also be opening yourself up to less fraud and chargebacks. One of the most common issues with credit card payments is the fraud that often occurs in credit card transactions. When a merchant is accepting more cash than cards, the chances of fraud, and the cost to your business decreases with every transaction.
Drawbacks to Cash Discount Programs
Though there are many benefits of using a cash discount program, there are also drawbacks that prevent some businesses from making the leap. One of the most common reasons for hesitant businesses is the fact that not many consumers prefer to use cash in the modern era. Many transactions are done exclusively with credit cards, and many consumers even dislike using cash altogether. Forcing customers to use cash to get the cheaper price could put your relationship with them at risk. This risk can be mitigated by making it clear why the program is in place, how it benefits both consumer and merchant, and how easy the process is. With open communication, participating in a cash discount program should be a breeze for your business.
Are you looking for a good merchant services affiliate program with a merchant services company? Becoming an affiliate means that you can help promote the great products and services at Shaw Merchant Group and receive a commission for what you help us earn from each lead. If you already have a popular website or other platform, then affiliate marketing may be a great way to monetize your audience.
We're as dedicated to our affiliates as we are to our agents, so we won't just give you an affiliate link and send you on your way; we offer tools that can help you attain true success. So why not give your customers exactly what they need—a great merchant account solution—while earning money in the process?
Why is Shaw Merchant Group a great partner for your affiliate marketing venture?
We have highly effective sales representatives that will ensure your conversion rates are high
We offer marketing tools so that you can more easily draw in leads
We offer top-notch customer service if you ever have a problem
We pay you upfront
Why not sign up today? Signing up with us is free, so you have nothing to lose when you add Shaw Merchant Group to your arsenal of merchant services affiliate partners. We provide tons of analytics and accurate reporting of your conversions, and we pay you on time every month. Get into contact with us and start helping your audience by helping us sell our quality products.
Starting your own small business is a fantastic way to build an income. Whether you already have a full-time job and you’re looking to develop your second income, or you want to become a full-time business owner yourself, there are many markets you can go into. One lucrative market you can enter is that of a merchant services agent, also known as a credit card processing agent. Within this market, how much you are able to generate is determined by the amount of work you put into selling merchant accounts. Leading sales representatives can generate over $100k per year using fantastic sales techniques alongside hard work and grinding.
Due to the competitive nature of the market, as well as unfortunate stereotypes that are commonly attached with salespeople, getting your foot into the door can be challenging at first. Many people may have felt selling mislead or even lied to by merchants in the past, which has made it difficult to become a credit card processing reseller. Here are some steps to help you in your journey to selling merchant services and developing the six-figure income you have always dreamt of.
Know the Ins and Outs of Your Business
When it comes to selling merchant accounts, you cannot undermine the importance of knowing your product. Within the market, there are very few merchants who are actually able to make sense of their merchant statement. Even those with experience within the industry may not completely aware of the details, which is a fantastic way to help you stand out from the competition.
By understanding the economics behind selling merchant accounts you are able to efficiently explain the cost-savings opportunity that you are providing. You will be able to answer any questions that are thrown in your direction, which will help to fill your potential client with confidence.
The second benefit of understanding your business is that you can understand the financial impact from your perspective. It is known throughout the industry that the best sales agents understand how much profit is built into each merchant account. This knowledge can be used in a variety of ways, especially when it comes to selling. You will be able to determine which deals are best and when you should choose to walk away. Understanding your business is the best way of understanding how to sell merchant services.
Develop Your Own Sales Plan
In order to produce the highest number of merchant services sales, you must build and refine your sales plan. Every top sales agent within the credit card processing industry has an understanding of how they go about their day to day business. They understand how they can increase their monthly income and how to sell. However, there is no 'optimal plan of attack'. Every agent builds up their own plan that works around their routine and style of selling. Some may choose to target certain parts of the industry, whilst others may make use of referrals or cold calls. Many agents will choose to do a mix of all three of these options to decipher the best results. Learn what works for you and then build upon this foundation to optimize your sales ability.
Build Long-Term Relationships with Local Businesses
Within the industry, building up long-term relationships is crucial so that you can become a successful merchant account reseller. Unfortunately, many sales reps will choose to make a sale, then move onto other opportunities to increase their revenue. There are several faults in this tactic and in the long run, it will work against you. Whilst you are scanning the market for the next sale, it is common for your clients to be approached by competitors within the market. Here, they will be offered cheaper rates, as well as other enticing deals. By building up long-term relationships with your client base, you can protect and build your portfolio. Your unique relationship with the local business will differentiate you from competitors and will become a key selling point when it comes to expanding your own portfolio.
Focus on Referrals
At the end of the day, cold calling is not the most efficient way to make a sale. For many people, it can be outright draining. At the start of your business there is no way around it. At the start of your career, it is simply something you will have to. However, it is not something that you will have to do forever. Referrals will become the most efficient and eventually the best way to grow your business. There are a number of ways in which you can get the most from referrals and become a successful merchant services agent.
Start by setting up a streamlined way in which you interact with your clients, allowing you to maximize your referral potential. Begin by informing your client that you will be back for referrals after you have proven the value of your services. This should be done from the very onset of your relationship, this way you can set the expectation. After your client has been working with you for around a month, show them the benefits that you have benefits you have brought. Once you have shown them the value you have to offer, you can ask for specific referrals. It is important to be as specific as possible. Ask for the doctor they use, the mechanic that fixes their vehicle or the vet who helps their dog. The more specific the question, the more specific the answer.
Summary: Whith these steps won’t guarantee your success within the industry of selling merchant services, they will definitely set you up in the right direction. With the market expanding exponentially, getting started it vital to your success. Make sure that you truly understand everything about what you are selling, as this will provide you with the best foundation to set yourself up for success in the future. Once started, you can always choose to learn more as you advance and develop your business.
Are you planning to become a merchant service provider? When it comes to selling merchant services, there are thousands of merchant services agent programs for you to choose from. It is very exciting to become a merchant services provider. However, without the necessary information and details, it is very easy for you to fail. The merchant services business is both complex and lucrative. There are several merchant services ISO agent programs available. Choosing the one to suit your specific needs can be very tricky, but luckily we are going to give you expert advice and tips on choosing the best one. Some factors to consider in order to become a merchant service provider include the tools offered by the company you chose, technology use, and customer supports. This article paints a clear picture of what a great merchant services agent program should look like.
9 Characteristics of a Good Merchant Service ISO Program
The following are some of the key characteristics that define a reliable merchant service ISO program. A company with the following traits increases your chances of being successful in your credit card processing business.
Exceptional Customer Service
This is one of the most critical characteristics of a good merchant services ISO agent program. However, it is one of the most overlooked things when an agent wants to become a merchant services ISO and when seeking out an ISO partner. In the merchant services business, the worst-case scenario would be to receive complaints from your clients, and you are unable to get in touch with your merchant services agent program. This can really ruin your business. It is a great practice to look for merchant services ISO agent program that provides 24/7 customer support. In addition, the customer care representatives should be able to attend to any questions, both general and technical, within the shortest time possible.
Same-Day Funds Deposits
This is another important feature to look out for when choosing a merchant services agent program. Clients do not have to wait for long to get their funds deposited into their bank account when a transaction is made. The same day funding is a great incentive that will leave your clients happy and also help you when promoting your business.
Ability to Handle High-Risk Merchant Accounts
Though you might not be dealing with clients who have high-risk transactions such as travel agencies, CBD companies, bail bonds, credit collections, medical marijuana, etc. it is important for the merchant services ISO program you choose to handle high-risk merchant account. You might get clients who operate high-risk operations, and therefore the benefit of this is to ensure that the business of your clients is running smoothly without any payment glitches.
Great Discount Opportunities
The fees associated with credit card processing are quite high. These high fees have been causing businesses to scramble. The cash discount programs enable merchants to implement a service fee to customers who pay via credit card and issue discounts to those who pay via cash. The merchant does not have to pay a fee for each transaction they run, and therefore this saves them money. You should, therefore, ensure you find a merchant service agent program that offers discount opportunities.
Assistance on Marketing
When it comes to credit card processing business, marketing can be the hard part. However, with a great team behind you to offer marketing assistance, it becomes easy. For you to turn cold leads to warm leads, you will need an effective marketing team. They will assist in providing marketing information as well as design about selling merchant services.
Flexible Compensation Plan
Getting paid is one of the most important steps as a merchant services provider. It is critical to get compensated for the work and effort you put into your merchant services business. Look out for a credit card processing agent program that will help you realize your goals and meet your needs. Note: Pay attention to the agreement document to make sure you understand all the details.
Residual Income Tracking
A good credit card processing agent program will help you get residual analytics; this is very important for your business. The use of technology and the latest software to track residual income is a must for a good merchant services ISO agent program that you are going to choose. You should be able to see, at a glance, these details: number of clients, average profit, average ticket, top 10 merchants, and more.
Infrastructure
For the success of your credit card processing business, it is critical to look for an ISO partnership who readily avails the necessary infrastructure to you. The payment technology is very dynamic, and each year, there are new changes and improvements. There are several other payment methods that have come up. A good credit card processing agent program should give you access to these assortments of payment processing products. All these will give your clients payment processing options to choose from, which helps them to run their business smoothly. A good merchant services agent program should be in the capacity to support most of the following infrastructures:
Point of sale options to suit the need of your clients and buyers
Smart terminals Online payment processing
Mobile payments options
A gift card and loyalty programs
Check processing services
Multi Relationship with Various Banking Options
A great credit card processing ISO agent program should facilitate a solid relationship with several banks. This creates options to resort to incase one bank declines an account. With this feature, you will have peace of mind and be able to easily close deals and get paid.
Shaw Merchant Group can help you to become a merchant service provider and to succeed in it can be tricky, especially if you do not have the necessary information, but with the above expert tips, you will be a step closer to being successful. At Shaw Merchant Group, we pride ourselves as being the best merchant services agent program providers. We are ready to help you become a merchant services ISO and succeed in your credit card processing business.
If you are looking to find out whether you actually own the residual portfolio that you are building, one of the best ways to do so is to ask the processor that you are working with to purchase some of the future residual. This is known as a buyout and it’s a very common step for agents to take when they are in need of quick cash from the sale of an asset like a residual portfolio. If you want to be able to take advantage of these buyouts, you need to be very familiar with what a buyout is and how it can be completed from your side. This guide to the process of selling merchant account residual portfolios can give you the knowledge that you need to conduct a transaction like this and get access to the funds you need
Background residual knowledge
If you are going to sell your merchant portfolio, one of the most important things that you will need to know is the background of residuals and how they work in order to determine the price that you might get bought out at. Most agents already know how residuals work--you sell merchant accounts and in return, you get a share of the income. For many merchant processing contracts, the merchant’s share of the income is about 50%, leaving the merchant with the other 50%. However, it isn't always the ideal situation for the agent to wait for their income on a monthly basis and some prefer to cash out their earnings up front. A buyout between the agent and the merchant processing company gives them the opportunity to do this and pursue whichever avenue they might want with their lump sum of cash.
How much can you get for your residuals?
If you are considering selling your share of a residual contract, then you also probably want to know what your earnings potential is from selling your share in these often steady and lucrative agreements. Generally speaking, a processor will pay 15 months worth of residual payments on your part in exchange for your 50% of the residual share in the merchant processing account. This means that the lump sum that you would be getting is 15 times the size of the monthly residual that you would otherwise be gathering from holding the contract. There are benefits and drawbacks to this.
Benefits of selling your residual share
There are a few possible benefits to selling a share that you have in a residual contract that continues to feed you money. The first is that you need quick access to cash. If you do, then this is one of the best ways to do it. A buyout comes with no obligation to pay back or pay interest--it is your money that you earned and you get to keep it.
Another benefit of selling your residual share is that you might get something in exchange for nothing, so long as you are planning on leaving the merchant processing industry. If so, then it’s a win for everybody. You will get to be paid 15 months for a merchant processing residual that you would otherwise not be getting due to you leaving the business. In exchange, you will hand over the asset that you do have to the merchant processing account where they will continue to collect residuals on the account.
The final benefit is that the payout of a merchant services residual contract buyout is actually pretty competitive, compared to what you might otherwise get with a fast lending service or another service that doesn’t have your best interests in mind. The payout of a buyout is guaranteed and you get a good rate. So, if you are in need of an injection of capital for a venture, debt, or any other purpose, selling your share of a residual contract might be the right choice for you.
Drawbacks of selling your residual share
Just as there are benefits to selling your share in a residual contract, there are also downsides. One thing that you should be aware of if you are considering selling your share of a residual agreement is that you will not ever be able to get this contract back and earn the residuals for yourself. Once you have been bought out, the movement is permanent. The merchant processing company will not give you a chance to get back into it once your financial situation becomes less muddy and you want to get back in the game. That’s not to say that you can’t close new clients, but you won’t be able to work with the clients that you sold to the merchant processing company.
In addition, selling your merchant account portfolio van be a bad financial decision. Though it’s tough to assess this because everyone is in a unique situation, the theory is that residual income is basically a guaranteed passive income stream, after the setup is complete. So, how much does a few hundred extra dollars a month mean to you? Without the share of the residual income, you are left with a lump sum, which isn’t so bad. However, it does leave a gap in future wealth generations and could make it harder for you to survive financially in the long-term.
When to use a buyout
As a young agent, there are probably multiple situations in which you feel a buyout of an asset might be the right decision for you. However, buyouts from residuals should only be used in some situations. One such situation is if the agent needs a sudden influx of cash to replenish savings or consolidate a debt.
Another reason is if a merchant services agent or ISO has a large upcoming business expense that they want to make sure they have the freedom to invest if they so choose. With this flexibility, merchant services agents and ISOs are well-positioned to emerge stronger than ever from any situation that they find themselves in.
If I had to make a rough estimate, it seems to me that about 90% of merchant services agents aren't actually very familiar with their residual splits and how they work. This isn't a great position to be in and you don't want to be in the dark, so take a look at these tips to get a good grasp on the subject:
1) First of all, do you actually own your residuals for the life of you account? If not, then years of work on your part could just disappear literally overnight. You could have been working tirelessly to build up a huge portfolio, but it would all be down the toilet simply because you stopped selling for awhile. Many ISOs have these stipulations, where you're required to bring in new accounts every certain amount of time, or your residuals are lost. Does that sound fair to you?
So many agents fall for this racket. Don't do this, no matter how much bigger your part of the split will be. Over the long-term, it's just not worth it. You're trying to build long-term passive income here, not turn your work in sales into an ordinary job—that's a waste of a great opportunity. Make sure you ask about this before you choose a merchant services ISO program. Tell them to give you an exact play-by-play of what will happen if you decide to leave the business. If the answer is “You will lose your residuals,” then walk away. Also, if you can't sell your residuals, then reconsider as well, since this is an indication that you don't really own them.
2) Forget about the percentage of your split. This doesn't really mean anything. To illustrate this better, let's say you're playing monopoly and your friend wants one of your properties. He offers you 30% of his net worth for it. However, another player butts in and raises the stakes. He tells you that he'll give you 50% of his net worth. Finally, a third player screams over your other two arguing friends and declares that he'll give you 10% of all of his cash if you will sell him the property. How do you decide which deal to take?
Well, obviously, you don't have enough information to make a good decision, do you? Before you know which deal is the best, you need to know the net worth of each of the players! After all, if Player 1 and Player 2 only have 100 monopoly dollars to give you, then you know that what they're offering is a raw deal if Player 3's net worth is 5000 dollars. Even with only 10% of that, it's far more than what the other two players were offering.
The same goes with credit card processors. Ignore their bragging about how they will give you 70% or 80% or whatever inflated number. It doesn't actually mean anything unless you know how they calculate the profit in the first place. Always get some context for these numbers, or else they are just going to be completely useless to you.
3) Always keep an eye on costs and the fees that the processor is going to charge you, as this will have much more influence on your profit than the actual split. You can find out what these fees are by looking at the Schedule A that your credit card processing agent program will provide for you. You will also need to ask yourself a few things when considering cost. For example, do they add basis points before they calculate the profit? What are they going to charge you for the transaction fee?
Some processors give you a true interchange pass through, while others will mark up the fees a few basis points above interchange before they start to calculate the profit. With the former kind of processor, things are a bit more obvious. For example, if your transaction fees are $0.03 and you in turn set up your merchant's transaction fee as $0.09, the profit per transaction is $0.06. If you had a 50/50 split, then you would get half of that in the end. It's a case of simple arithmetic. However, if you're having to deal with a huge mark up of dozens of basis points first, a lot of that profit is lost, and even if you had a 90% split, it wouldn't be worth it.
By the way, stay away from “buy rate” programs, as they don't offer you good deals. If you have any doubts about this, then be sure to get into contact with me and I will tell you all about it. You might be tempted to go with one of these programs, but I assure you that after I break it down for you, you will change your mind. Always go with a revenue sharing plan, as it's much more lucrative in the long run, especially if you choose a good processor to work with. I've even heard of processors trying to set up these kinds of deals with merchant services ISOs themselves, which is very silly in my view. You're trying to run a business here and build your empire, so don't settle for a buy rate.
4) The pricing is not as important as the cost structure when you want to get accounts of a significant size. Aim for a low cost structure for your clients. If your processor is charging more per transaction than $0.04, then you probably won't be able to pass on a reasonable deal to your merchants, so think twice about going with a processor that is this pricey, even if you're making 80% of the split. Make sure to have more than one partner so that you have access to the lowest rates and the best deals, and this way you can give your merchants a variety of options. This is especially true for your larger merchants.
5) Finally, keep in mind that you shouldn't get too caught up in either the cost structure or how much of a percentage of the residuals that you get. Ultimately, making the sales is what will determine your success in the long run. You need merchants to make money, and you need to close a lot of deals. Any merchant services ISO program or processor that you're partnering with should know this and help you get the kind of training that will lead you down the right path. If you can't even close deals, then there's no point in worrying about your compensation—you won't be getting it anyway! Whether you make 50% or 90% of $0, it is still $0, and that's certainly not a handsome residual to be getting every month. So choose your associates wisely, as they can help you to succeed—or drag you down.
We're happy to help you on your endeavor, so we offer all kinds of resources, from informative material, to help with your marketing, to training. If you're curious or have any questions about how to move forward in this career, then don't hesitate to send us an email.
If you are looking for a fast-paced, rewarding, and lucrative career in merchant services, then now is the time to become a North American Bancard partner. North American Bancard partners enjoy a variety of benefits that set the program apart from all the rest. For those that want to make a difference in the industry and build a vast network of revenue-generating accounts, this partner program is the solution for you. Our suite of best-in-class products combined with premium sales support set you up for success in this very lucrative sales industry.
A Suite of Bonuses to Maximize Earnings Potential
As a partner of the North American Bancard Agent Program, you will have access to various benefits and bonuses that can be achieved through hard work and diligence. These available bonus programs will maximize your earnings potential and make it easier for you to achieve the salary that you want. With various bonuses available to all merchant services representatives, you can create a robust and passive income that increases with time.
Summary of Bonuses:
Activation Bonus
Approval Bonus
Profitability Multipliers
Limited Time Promotions
Timely & Predictable Payments
When you work with North American Bancard, you will be able to predict when you are getting paid, and how much. This differs in comparison to other sales programs that make it difficult to know when you will be paid and in what amount it will be.
For maximum control and insight into what your seller metrics are, you can also access an intuitive and easy-to-navigate partner dashboard that will give you access to analytics, payment information, and a visual aid to help you learn about your residuals.
About Our Dashboard
In addition to payment information, there are other benefits of our robust partners' dashboard.
Sales Tools: To support our partners in the best way possible, our merchant dashboard contains sales tools that will help you to remain competitive in the market.
Portfolio Management: You can find all the merchants in your portfolio in the portfolio management section, allowing you to easily make changes to all aspects of your accounts.
Enrollment: With our dashboard, you’ll be able to easily enroll in promotions for yourself or your merchants. This makes saving money and earning more a breeze.
Benefits of Becoming a Partner
Joining the North American Bancard partner program comes with dozens of benefits. Here are some of the amazing perks that you can look forward to when you join our program and elite force of account managers.
High Earnings Potential
When you join the North American Bancard partner program, you’ll be coming on board a team that has shown, through decades of success and excellence, that this is one of the best ways to increase your earnings potential and break into a field that maximizes your salary.
If you want to earn a lot in a lucrative field, then this program is the right choice for you.
Signing Bonus
One of the main ways to earn income in the North American Bancard partner program is through our various selection of bonuses. Our suite of bonuses includes a lucrative signing bonus that is enhanced with each account you are able to successfully gain. We are happy to be able to offer these benefits to our partner participants and increase their income in a variety of ways.
Serve High-Risk Merchants
One of the most restricting factors that affect sales reps from other merchant services companies is their failure to serve high-risk merchants. High-risk merchants do have a place in merchant services and the North American Bancard partner program is able to serve these merchants and gain the lucrative contracts that they often present.
As a participant in this program, you will be able to share in the profits that come from working with these clients and expand your network of earnings potential exponentially. When you join our program, you’ll be opening up the world of possibilities to increase your earnings potential and grow your accounts under management.
Point of Sale Perks
Part of being successful as a merchant services agent is being able to provide your merchant with maximum benefits. Working with the North American Bancard partner program allows you to offer benefits, unlike any other partner program. We allow our representatives to entice merchants with POS systems to modernize small businesses and give them the tools that they need to succeed in this hyper-competitive business environment.
ATM Machines
If you’re looking to diversify your income and increase your earnings potential, then you will love being able to offer ATM services to your merchant clients. ATMs have long-proven to be a sustainable source of income and when you work with North American Bancard, you’ll be able to bring in a share of ATM revenue in your merchants’ places of business.
ATMs will always be in demand and the ability to offer them to your clients will enable you to build income streams that could last for decades.
Cash Advance Option (VAR)
In addition to all of the other services that North American Bancard is able to offer merchants, you will also be able to provide your merchants with cash advance short-term loans, which carry high-interest rates and create a mutually beneficial situation. North American Bancard DOES NOT offer merchant cash advance loans directly but reccommend agents seek out a merchant cash advance partner to offer this additional service. You will earn commissions on cash advance services and build even more trust between you and your merchants in being able to offer them funding for basic operations, expansions, and emergency situations.
Etice More Clients With Our EDGE Cash Discount Program
Of all the benefits of working with North American Bancard in our partners' program, perhaps the most important is the EDGE Cash Discount Program. The EDGE Cash Discount Program was created as a way to help the consumer, merchant, and account representative all save money and earn more revenue. Being able to offer the EDGE Cash Discount Program puts you ahead of other reps in your industry because of the benefits that it is able to offer to merchants.
Free Equipment: Merchants that participate in the EDGE Cash Discount Program will be able to get free equipment that makes the switch easier than ever. Build trust and establish credibility with your merchant by offering them free equipment to upgrade and modernize their POS systems.
Save Money and Profit (Same as Cash on Every Transaction): The main draw of the EDGE Cash Discount program is that it is able to help merchants profit the same on every transaction as they do with a cash transaction. Edge customers increase thier bottom line and help reduce thier overall payment processing expenses.
Marketing Materials: Marketing a program like the EDGE Cash Discount Program isn’t always easy, but we provide our reps and our merchants with all the signage and literature that they will need to easily explain the program to their customers and make them feel at ease. We provide you with the resources you need.
Mutually Beneficial: While implementing a dual price model and charging more for non-cash payments can seem painful at first, it is very benificial to the consumer in that they save money easily by paying in cash and supporting thier local business by making the transaction more affordable than simply raising all prices no matter what payment method is used.
Become a Partner
If you want to thrive in merchant services, then join the North American Bancard agent program, considered to be the best merchant services agent program in the country and well-known for providing reps with the tools they need to succeed.
If you are a first-time or small business owner, then you may have heard of flat-rate credit card processing. Every business needs a provider for credit card processing, as it is one of the most important aspects of any business--the ability to accept payments. However, choosing a provider and a fee structure can be a challenge that takes time, energy, and research. If you’re going to succeed, then you need to be familiar with every type of processing service and why they might be suitable for you. One of the most popular services purchased by small businesses when it comes to credit card pressing is flat-rate credit card processing.
Flat-rate credit card processing has many benefits, but it's not the right situation for every business. This brief analysis of flat-rate credit card processing will give you some insight that helps you decide whether flat-rate credit card processing is the right option for you, or if it's a bad choice for your specific business.
Credit card processing isn’t always the easiest concept or industry to understand
As a business owner, you are already aware of some of the struggles that you can experience when trying to determine a credit card processing provider. It is one of the most difficult things to do as a business owner, especially if you are trying to estimate the cost of accepting credit cards using a merchant services provider. Determining these costs can be difficult, which is why some business owners are drawn to a flat-rate processing model where the pricing is easier to understand.
However, these decisions depend on so many factors that it becomes a time-consuming task to determine which pricing model is best for you. To make it easier, this article will serve as a knowledge base and guide to helping you understand the factors that go into this decision and what concepts you need to understand.
Definition of flat-rate credit card processing
The first important concept of credit card processing to know is what exactly flat-rate credit card processingis. If you’re going to determine if it is the right choice for you, then knowing what it entails is the first and most important step. With an understanding of what flat-rate credit card processing is, you’ll be well on your way to understanding it at a deep enough level to decide whether it is the right choice for you.
Credit card processing isn’t free. It costs the merchant a fee to implement and accept payment processing solutions. The variable here is what the cost is. Just like in any purchase, there are varying costs from different providers. Though consumers don’t consider it, it is the reality of being a business owner. In addition to trying to find the lowest fee, merchants also face the possibility that credit card processing fees will vary within the credit processing provider that they choose.
One of the most significant and common reasons for credit card processing fees to fluctuate is the various fees charged by Visa, Mastercard, and other suppliers for using the card. In addition, there are fees charged by the issuing bank for the transaction and there are a couple more mouths to feed along the way. There are hundreds of services that are involved in this process and each one takes a different sized bite. For this reason, credit card processing fees can often fluctuate and have business owners confused about what they are actually paying to process credit card transactions.
To simplify things and make it easier for the merchant to understand, credit card processing companies have begun to offer flat-rate credit card processing fees. With flat-rate credit card processing fees, merchants are more able to predict exactly what the cost of accepting credit cards will be and forecast that into their profits and margin calculations. It comes with many benefits, but it’s not right for every business.
Benefits of Flat-Price Processing
As you can imagine, there are many benefits to flat-rate processing and that is why it is so commonly used by businesses that are seeking simplicity in their processing arrangements. When you have flat-price processing, there are a few aspects to love about your credit card processing agreement.
Predictability
The first benefit of using flat-rate credit card processing is being able to have a predictable credit card processing fee each month. With predictability in the rates that you are charged to process credit card transactions, you can not only plan your expenses better, but you can also price goods and services better to provide you with a more consistent margin.
When you know what your processing rate is going to be, the need to fluctuate your item pricing will disappear. You can plan ahead and be sure of what you are going to be charged to process credit card transactions.
Flexibility
When you have a flat-rate processing plan, another benefit that you will be entitled to is the flexibility that comes with these processing plans. With flat-rate credit card processing plans, you often don’t have to get locked into long-term commitments that hinder your flexibility and make it difficult to plan ahead. For small businesses looking for short-term credit card processing or to lessen the long-term overhead for their business, this is the ideal situation.
Flexibility is also a benefit to any business that might be considered high-risk or in general need of agility due to possible changes in the business model, revenue, and other aspects affecting their business.
Simplicity
When you work with a flat-rate credit card processing contract, one of the most important benefits is the simplicity of the contract. As we touched on earlier, traditional credit card processing agreements will often feature clauses, charges, and fees that you don't even have access to seeing the details on. For this reason, in those arrangements, you can never tell exactly what your credit card processing fee will end up being.
However, with a flat-rate processing plan, you can always understand what the fees are and exactly how they impact your business. You can plan to include enough margin for your processing fees and make it easier to understand the implications of your credit card processing agreement.
Who is a good candidate for flat-rate processing?
If you are considering flat-rate processing for your business, you probably want to know a bit more information about who is a good candidate for flat-rate processing and which businesses should pursue flat-rate processing for their processing needs. It is very easy to identify merchants that are good fits for flat-rate processing because of the straightforward nature of flat-rate processing.
Startups
Startups are the ideal businesses for flat-rate processing because they usually need to have less overhead and a shorter contract. Startups are often young and unstable, so having a processor that is flexible in the terms is ideal. Startups also typically have a lower volume of transactions. Many credit card processing companies have solutions that are specifically geared towards the needs of startups and young companies.
Small Businesses
Small and local businesses are another frequent customer of flat-rate processing solutions. This is because small and local businesses typically have a much lower volume of transactions than larger companies and they are unable to attain better rates. In addition, small businesses are slightly more unstable and higher risk than other companies and don’t have the leverage to get favorable contracts with other processing solutions.
High-Risk Businesses
Businesses that are higher risk industries also tend to use flat-rate processing because they are subject to riskier transactions that could lead to increased fees by processing companies. If they are able to get an account with a flat-rate processor, then high-risk businesses typically take that opportunity because it is a favorable situation for them.
Doing better than flat-rate processing
For some, flat-rate processing simply isn’t a great option. This leaves many wondering if it’s possible to get a better deal than flat-rate processing. It’s true, there are some downsides to flat-rate processing and that is the reason that some choose to pursue other options. It is possible to get a better deal than flat-rate processing has to offer, but there are certain conditions that you have to meet.
The first condition that you have to meet if you want to get a better deal on your processing than what flat-rate processing has to offer is that you have to be able to do a high volume of transactions. The higher the volume, the better deal you are going to get on your processing.
Another condition that you will have to meet if you are going to get a better rate than what most flat-rate processing solutions have to offer is you will most likely have to sign a longer-term contract for your processing needs. This means less flexibility, but it is possible that you will get a better rate, though it will be dynamic and subject to change.
If you are a business that cannot get flat-rate processing or you do a high volume of transactions for an established and long-lasting business, then you can possibly get a better deal by going with a solution other than flat-rate processing.
No matter what business you're in, you're not going to get very far without going out there and finding prospective customers. Whether you do this in person or via the Internet, you're going to have to find a strategy to funnel new customers into your business. There are lots of different ways to do this, but the most important thing to keep in mind is that you don't have to come up with everything on your own. There are already proven marketing strategies for selling merchant accounts that exist, and you can simply use those models and apply them to your own business. Especially if you are new to this field, don't waste your time trying a million things that might not work, when you can employ time-tested techniques.
The key is to keep things simple. No matter what specific tactics you go with, your strategy should involve finding your niche or market, finding out what they need, delivering that need, and then spreading the word about your services. At its core, that is basically it, but let's take a more detailed look at these various aspects:
Finding Your Market - Ask yourself a few questions. For example, who would use your services? In your mind, who is the ideal customer and who do you envision yourself working with? What kind of merchants have the sorts of problems that you know for a fact that you can solve? If you're already selling, what kinds of businesses seem to buy from you the most?
From these questions, you can begin to narrow down where the money is. Let's say for instance that you are selling merchant services as a merchant services agent that come with a free terminal and a low monthly fee. You might find that small startups and coffee shops gravitate to your product more than larger warehouse stores. If you focus on the people who are truly interested in your product because you actually solve their problems efficiently, then you won't have to do much persuading. The best ROI when it comes to marketing happens when people already want to be sold to, so it's important to identify who that is and not waste your time trying to seduce people who would be less interested.
Finding Out What They Need - Of course, as trends in technology and in the market change, your clients' needs will be changing, too, so you should make sure that your concept of their needs is constantly evolving. However, you will want to have a general idea of what your clients are looking for at any given moment.
Think to yourself: Why would they want to buy from me? If you can't answer that question, then you have not catered your products to their needs enough and you may not know how to truly solve their problems. The cure for this is to listen. What products do your current clients give you good feedback about? What do they complain about? If you've lost clients before, why did you lose them? If a client chose you over a competitor, why was that?
Delivering What They Need - Once you know what they want, you have to have the ability to deliver it of course. This is why you shouldn't marry yourself to a single merchant service company. First and foremost, you need to deliver what your market wants, and the company that you choose as a partner needs to cater to that need. This is why you should keep your options open and always be on the lookout for new and better solutions to your customers' problems.
Spreading the Word - In other words, you must market your services, or else few people will know that you even exist. When people recommend you to their colleagues, this is of course the best kind of marketing, but before you've built up a reputation, you're going to have to tell people about yourself. There are several ways you can do this. For example, you can attempt to pay for leads that you meet in person, you can go the telemarketing route, you can pay for leads online, or you can even run pay per click (PPC) campaigns to draw new customers in. They all have their virtues, and you should choose a tactic that plays on your strengths.
Now that you know about your audience and can deliver on their needs, as well as spread the word about your services, how do you turn your prospects into customers and continue growing your business? That is the age-old sales question, indeed. Follow these general steps, and you can begin to see growth:
Step 1) Find Prospects the Right Way - This happens before you even begin persuading the prospect of anything. The first step to converting people is to find the right people so you're not wasting your time! Don't cast a net so wide that you find yourself talking to people who are completely uninterested in what you have, or even people who are only partial matches who need lots of convincing. Especially when your business is young, you don't have time to waste. Put effort into prospects that have shown a previous interest in buying your kind of merchant services. You can do this by buying highly targeted leads or by getting referrals from other customers and businesses. You can also try hanging out where business owners do, for example at local entrepreneur or business meet-ups.
Another great way to do this is to keep an eye out for new businesses as they open. If you sell POS systems as a merchant services agent for liquor stores for instance, look up who has purchased a license lately. You can even start by servicing people that you know personally who are in your professional network.
Step 2) Give Them What They Need - Solve people's problems, and they will sing your praises. Testimonials from other business owners can be very powerful when drawing in more business. Make sure that your existing customers have nothing but good things to say about you, and the rest will often take care of itself.
Step 3)Make Friends - Referrals are some of the best sources of merchant services sales. Partner up with others who are in business-to-business fields, but who are not direct competitors and have them refer their customers to you. For example, you can work with CPA's, printing companies, or even web designers. Basically, if you know someone who would be working with new businesses constantly, offer to trade leads with them if the customer genuinely needs the service (and they often will). Using these techniques, you will find that getting prospects and converting them into paying customers is a lot easier. Above all, always remember to deliver good service and you will always have an eager customer base.
One of the most important pieces of equipment for any merchant is their point-of-sale system. As the location through which every transaction that the business takes in goes through, it is important that every merchant have access to a point-of-sale system that is robust, scalable, and has all the functionality that is needed. However, convincing a merchant that they need a POS isn’t the hard part--this is a known fact. Convincing a merchant that your POS is the right choice, however, can be very difficult. To help you get well on your way to selling POS systems as a merchant services agent and helping merchants realize the power of a good POS, we present to you 6 actionable tips that you can take into consideration and implement to help sell POS systems.
Why is finding the right POS system important for businesses?
If you have been working with merchants for long, then you already know how important POS systems are to businesses. With this knowledge, it is easy to understand why so much importance is placed on the process of selecting a POS system and utilizing it to its full potential. Each business is unique and while all businesses have the same basic need to facilitate payments, the best way to do so will vary by the business.
For merchants, finding the right POS system is absolutely essential because it will ultimately help to determine what a merchant can achieve with its POS system and whether they will have any limitations. In an ideal situation, the POS system that a merchant selects will not have any negative impact on their business and instead will serve as a reliable addition to their suite of technology that they use in their business on a daily basis.
Be an expert
If you are looking to convince a merchant that they need your POS system, then one of the first things that you will need to do is establish yourself as an expert and a person of authority when it comes to POS systems. This can be done in a variety of ways, but what a merchant really wants is to feel comfortable that you know what you are talking about and you know everything that there is to know about the POS system that you are offering.
If you are hoping to make a great impression on your prospective merchant, then make sure you familiarize yourself with your POS system as much as possible so that you can easily answer any questions that they have about your POS systems and their functionality. With the ability to answer any question that comes your way regarding your POS system, the merchant is far more likely to trust you and find you in a favorable light, which could lead to a purchase.
Nurture a relationship
The next very important part of the process if you want to have success with selling merchant services and POS systems is nurturing the relationship between the merchant and the agent. There are a variety of ways that this can be done, as well. You must remember that each merchant is unique and is going to require varying levels of customer service and support.
One of the first ways that you can nurture a relationship with a merchant is to get to know them and their business personally. Not only will this make them feel valued and heard, but it will also give you much more knowledge of their areas of need so that you can address them most completely, earn trust, and ensure that your POS system fits the needs and requirements of the merchant you are working with.
With these things in mind, your merchant should be kept happy and satisfied.
Address areas of need
If you truly want to satisfy your merchants and make sure that they are taken care of and are more willing to purchase from you again, then you need to make sure that you are meeting their needs. You should start each relationship with a full audit of what your merchant needs and make a plan for how you can address it.
With this fuel at your disposal, you can approach negotiations from a position of power and understanding to increase your chance of closing the sale and making your merchant confident that you can handle their needs effectively.
Stress versatility
There are a few properties that merchants look for automatically in a POS system. One of the most important of these is versatility. Many merchants deal with a wide variety of transactions, promotions, discounts, coupons, and other functionalities. With a POS system that provides all of these things, their business will be enabled to operate at its fullest potential. If you need to communicate all the benefits of your POS system, be sure to touch on all the versatility that it has to offer and how it can help the merchant achieve a wide range of goals.
Include services
If you want to entice your merchant to sign on with your POS, then there are a few things that you should be able to throw in without breaking the bank. For example, you could throw in maintenance and upgrades for free as an extra benefit to the POS system. This is just one example of a classic sales technique.
If you have a merchant that is on the fence about investing in a new POS system, be sure to make it known that there could be additional benefits to be had by signing on with your POS system.
Always follow through
In sales, you never want to promise or lead someone to believe something that might not come true. That is because as a merchant services representative, you want to be seen as someone that follows through on the promises and assurances that you make. Without your reputation for upholding the truth and following through on the promises that you make, you will find that it’s hard to keep a merchant signed on with your POS system.
Always be upfront about the capabilities of the POS system that you are selling as well as the potential limitations that it has. With this honesty in mind and a respect for the merchant, you are bound to have more success than if you were to try and hide the limitations of your POS system.
North American Bancard Agent Program is your premire merchant services sale partner to support you as a merchant services sale rep. Contact us today to get more detailes an start your merchant services business with us today!
For agents and resellers that work with merchants for their merchant services, it is known that the happier that you can make your client, the better. There are several ways that you can do so, but one of the most surefire ways to provide your merchants with as many benefits as possible when working with your merchant services company is to provide them with a cash discount program that helps to make the cost of accepting payments as inexpensive as possible. In addition to saving the merchant money on their transactions, you can also earn more as an agent by signing up your merchants for this program and earning incentives and bonuses that come along with it. If you’re looking for the best cash discount program from all perspectives, then you should set your sights on the North American Bancard EDGE Merchant Cash Discount Program. This innovative program contains plenty of benefits for the agent, merchant, and consumer.
What makes the North American Bancard EDGE Merchant Cash Discount Program the best?
There are a number of features that have helped to vault this cash discount program into the first position when you consider the best cash discount programs currently available to merchants around the world. Here are just some of the benefits that you and the merchant will enjoy when you decide to use this cash discount program.
No cost to the merchant
The main draw of this program is that it is going to help put more money in the pockets of the businesses that you are working with. Your merchants will be able to experience higher profits because the EDGE Cash Discount Program is designed to eliminate the processing fees for merchants to profit the same on credit and signature debit transactions that they do on cash transactions. If a merchantlooks at what they spend annually in order to process electronic payments, those savings will adsup.
With the EDGE cash discount program, merchants won’t have to worry about those expenses because they are being recouped in the higher price for signatue credit and debit puchases. This is a great selling point for your merchants because it enables them to recoup a cost that they would otherwise have to pay and saves thier business money. There is no cost to ebroll for the program, so they only have money to gain from enrolling in the program.
No contract
Another major benefit to the merchant is that there is no contract associated with the EDGE cash discount program. That means that even if merchants want to try it out for a few months to see the effects on their business, they can do this without fearing having to get locked into a long contract.
As an agent, this allows you to quickly and easily build trust with your merchants. You can show them the power that the EDGE cash discount program can have on their revenue without having to lock them into a contract or pressure them to do something they don’t want to do. With a free, no-cost, no-obligation program, your merchant will feel as comfortable with you as ever.
Free equipment
In addition to the no-obligation and no-cost contract with this trailblazing cash discount program, you'll also be able to offer your merchant free equipment to help make the transition easier for their business. This all begins at the POS system, which is the channel through which every transaction in the business flows. You'll be able to offer your merchant an updated POS system that has everything they need to make the switch to the EDGE cash discount program in a smooth and organized manner.
Apart from the POS system, you will also be able to offer signage and marketing materials to your merchants to help them advertise and raise awareness for the program. These materials help everyone to feel on the same team and help your merchants feel as if they have the resources that they need to succeed.
Easy to explain
One of the main challenges that merchants face when trying to change the way that they accept payments and charge their customers is the ease with which they can explain the change to their loyal customers. Merchants are not easily convinced to make a major change for fear of angering their long-term customers or confusing them. This giant hurdle is what holds many merchants back from moving forward or making productive changes.
With the EDGE program, you’ll have what you need to convince merchants that it won’t be a large leap when it comes to the trust and relationship between them and their customers. The EDGE program is a very simple, easy-to-understand program that won’t confuse buyers and will make merchants very happy.
How it works
To help our agents and merchants further understand the complete process of the EDGE cash discount program, here is a short guide of what you can expect to happen when the EDGE cash program is implemented.
Paying with cash
With the EDGE program, paying for an item with cash will be relatively unchanged. Customers will see the advertised price of the item, go to the register, hand the cashier their cash, and purchase their item. They will pay the lower price.
Paying with plastic
Paying with plastic will be a slightly different process than before. To encourage consumers to use cash and recoup expenses associated with electronic payment methods, a second, slightly higher price is charged on the item at checkout, increasing the cost of the purchase for the consumer. In this situation, the consumer is able to use the convenience of plastic and the merchant is able to recoup those expenses that are incurred when accepting cards to help their business and increase their margin.
One of the first things you are going to need to consider when you start your journey in the credit card processing business is what merchant services ISO program you are going to work with. Whether you are planning to become a merchant services agent or an ISO yourself working under a larger company, it's important to examine all of your options. If you're not cautious, you might find yourself signing up for a bad deal or even getting scammed out of your residuals.
So which is the best program to sign up with? Well, the short answer is that there is no “best” program for everyone. Each ISO is different, and so is each sales agent. Everyone has different goals, and so it's important to find a company that will be a good fit.
However, a lot of agents are seeing success working with North American Bancard. They offer some great commissions and residuals, and are a great choice if you're a beginner in this field. North American Bancard agent program has a diverse amount of products and services that you can offer to many kinds of businesses, so you don't have to worry about turning away merchants just because they work in a certain industry or are considered “high risk.”
North American Bancard agent program is one of the best in the country and has relationships with many different processing banks, which allows them to be versatile with the kinds of businesses that they accept.
Is Your Merchant High-Risk? No Problem! - Competition is a great thing for customers in a free market, but it certainly reduces profit margins for providers. One way that credit card processors can stand to increase their profits is to expand their range of customers and get into the so-called “high-risk” arena. Indeed, working with overseas customers or customers who run businesses in tobacco, alcohol, or adult industries can be a bit riskier, but the revenue can also be substantially higher. Many times, merchants who are seeking a high-risk account have already been rejected when applying for normal merchant accounts, and they will be more than happy to work with you. Signing up with North American Bancard, you don't have to turn away merchants in this extremely lucrative niche!
How Much Can I Make? - North American Bancard offers residuals and splits that are similar to what you might encounter if you approach a large ISO directly. The draw here, though, is that North American Bancard allows you to work with many different processors, and greatly simplifies the processes of becoming a merchant services agent. You won't have to sign up with a dozen different merchant services ISO programs just to have a decent amount of options.
Here are some of the great advantages of using North American Bancard's program:
Give your clients tons of options when it comes to payment methods
Get up to $5K for every new account
Get a large startup bonus
Get residuals of up to 70%
Keep track of your accounts with apps and analytics
Get free training on the services you will be selling
Contact North American Bancard today and get started!
If you have questions, would like more information or if you are ready to get started please click the button below to leave your name and contact information.
If you have questions, would like more information or if you are ready to get started please click the button below to leave your name and contact information.
Merchant related products and services are referred to North American Bancard. North American Bancard is a registered ISO of Wells Fargo Bank N.A., Walnut Creek CA, of BMO Harris N.A., Chicage, IL and The Bancorp, Philadelphia, PA.
