An online-only boutique jewelry seller. A family-owned restaurant with several locations in the state. An independently owned flower shop. A pastry chef who currently sells at farmers markets but plans to open both a physical and online store.
Just as business types vary greatly, so do their payment solution needs. A drive-through coffee shop owner won’t need the same equipment and services as a law office. As an independent sales organization (ISO) or sales agent for merchant services, you need to understand how to tailor payment solutions to the needs of a given business before your first meeting.
Thankfully, CardConnect’s diverse selection of value-added services and equipment can help ISOs and sales agents meet the needs of most any merchant. In this article, we’ll discuss both what CardConnect offers and how ISOs and sales agents can mix and match these offerings to serve a wide range of merchant types.
What Sales Agents should know about Merchants:
CardConnect sales agents have access to hundreds of different point-of-sale, gateway, and terminal providers that have integrated to our platforms as well as myriad value-added services that can enhance the overall value proposition for merchants. The possibility of not finding a suitable product for merchants is very slim.
To find the right solution for each merchant, agents first need to consider the following:
Merchant Financial Considerations:
There are many different aspects to consider here. Obviously, you must first consider the merchant’s current pricing and budget. This will be different for each merchant based not only on the merchant type, but also on factors such as location, target customer, overhead, etc.
That being said, you should also learn their goals and the associated costs of achieving them. Does the merchant want to eventually have multiple physical stores? Do they plan to create an app for selling their product? Knowing the answers to these kinds of questions can help you customize merchant payment solutions to help them meet their current needs while working toward achieving these goals.
Technology & Integration Needs:
Are you trying to build solutions for a national retailer, a mobile business, or an e-commerce merchant? How businesses accept payments plays an important role in the solutions you can offer. However, don’t just make assumptions. A food truck owner may want their customers to pay online, or an independent jewelry designer may have an online store but want to be able to do card-present payments when at local craft events. You won’t know if you’re not listening.
Concerns About Switching Providers:
Speaking of listening, don’t just come into the conversation ready to read from your sales playbook. It’s important that you ask questions, and one of the first things you want to find out is what concerns a merchant may have about switching providers.
Ask the merchant what they do and don’t enjoy about their current merchant services provider. If they just mention cost, try to dig deeper — is the merchant getting the level of customer service they desire; are there issues with maintaining PCI compliance; do they find their current transaction management system difficult to navigate? These kinds of questions will help you pinpoint the differences between your offerings and those of the merchant’s current provider. If you can better solve their payment needs, they may even be willing to pay more.
Customer Support Expectations:
As mentioned above, find out what the merchant enjoys and dislikes about the customer support from their current merchant services provider. This will give you insight into their expectations and allow you to match their needs with the right solutions.
Payment Services and Equipment for Merchants
With that information in hand, now it’s time to put together the right products for the merchant. As the largest payment processor in the industry, CardConnect understands that there is no one-size-fits-all solution. That’s why we offer a wide range of services and equipment that partner sales agents and ISOs can offer to merchants, including:
- Access to CardPointe or Clover payment gateway
- Merchant surcharging
- Fraud management tools
- PCI compliance management tools and support
- Gift card program
- 24/7 support
We also offer some additional programs to help sales agents further personalize their offerings.
Integrated Sales Opportunities with ISV Partners :
We created the LeadGen Program to connect our agent base to our independent software vendor (ISV) partners for integrated sales opportunities. This enables CardConnect agents to partner with leading software providers through referral relationships.
Free Clover Device Opportunities :
The Clover Advantage Program from CardConnect provides no-cost or low-cost Clover hardware to net-new merchants. The Clover Flex 3, Clover Mini 3 , Station Solo, and Statio Duo are available for partners to order within the CoPilot portfolio management portal.
Conectados Bilingual Program :
Conectados is CardConnect’s bilingual partner program. This program provides agents with access to sales collateral, operational documentation, applications, and support in both English and Spanish. This is currently the only comprehensive bilingual program available in the industry.
Put together, these programs and features can help solve most any payment challenge through market-leading hardware and software. If you want to serve merchants in diverse spaces, this variety can help you tailor the solution without sacrificing access to features they may want.
Quick and Customizable Payment Solutions for Merchants
When sales agents and ISOs match the knowledge gleaned from the considerations above with CardConnect’s product suite and value-added services (VAS) offerings, the options for payment solutions are endless.
- A gas station with a small shop needs to accept fleet cards through Gilbarco, but it also needs a standard terminal inside their store. The sales agent can suggest Fiserv terminals.
- A beekeeper wants to sell their honey at farmers markets around their county. They can use multiple Clover devices, such as Clover Flex or Clover Go, to have tables at more than one market at a time.
- A merchant states that their goal is to grow their business, but they currently lack the funds to scale. The sales agent can suggest bundling in Clover Capital to help the merchant turn their future credit and debit card sales into working capital.
No matter the type of business and payment processing needs, CardConnect also helps agents ensure merchants can get up and running as quickly and efficiently as possible. To do so, we:
- Supply resources to ensure a smooth underwriting process, such as an account submission document that outlines the supporting documents needed based on a merchant’s risk level
- Have auto/instant approval for certain merchant category codes
- Aim to provide value-added reseller sheets within 48 business hours
- Provide expedited shipping options
The Best Partnership Program for Sales Agents and ISOs.
CardConnect offers versatile payment solutions, omni-channel capabilities, integration flexibility, scalability, security and compliance, value-added services, and competitive pricing. It all starts with powerful payments products and technology, but we’ve taken it beyond that with agent-centric tools, human touchpoints, and evolving business solutions — that’s the CardConnect difference.
If you’re a resourceful sales agent or ISO looking to grow your portfolio with an array of powerful and patented solutions that can help you diversify your book of business, look no further than the CardConnect Partner Program.