Selling Merchant Services: Tips for Building Long-Term Relationships

TL;DR:Selling merchant services successfully hinges on building lasting client relationships through niche specialization, clear differentiation, and consistent, value-driven support. In a competitive, fast-growing industry, trust and client satisfaction are key drivers of long-term revenue.

• Define a niche (e.g., specific industries or business stages) for focused expertise.
• Clearly communicate your unique value proposition vs. competitors.
• Consistently support clients through service, communication, and proactive improvements.
• Use client feedback to refine offerings and build trust.
• Swipesum provides tools and support to help merchant service providers succeed.

An increasingly complex and electronic payments landscape means the vast majority of merchants can’t simply make deposits at their local bank to manage customer transactions effectively.

That’s not exactly breaking news, but it is a key and fundamental concept behind the growth of merchant services businesses. Independent Sales Organizations (ISOs), payment facilitators (PayFacs), and other merchant services providers help merchants streamline digital payments.

Crucially, this allows the merchants to focus more on their core business and the service providers to earn profits.

Whether you’re already active in selling merchant services or are interested in joining this potentially lucrative industry, there’s a vital need that can’t be overlooked: customer relationships.

At Swipesum, we’re proud to help ISOs, PayFacs, and similar businesses with valuable, time-saving, and revenue-driving tools like Staitment. We’re also happy to share our wealth of specialized industry knowledge in this guide to building long-term client relationships as your business sells merchant services.

Selling Merchant Services Effectively: Practical Tips to Build Enduring Connections with Clients

The global payment processing solutions market is currently valued at nearly $55 billion, according to Data Bridge Market Research. It’s expected to reach a value of over $121 billion by 2032, with an impressive compound annual growth rate of slightly more than 10%.

While no single business will capture all of this value, the size and projected growth of this market make it clear that there are plenty of opportunities.

If you want to sell credit card processing or sell payment processing to clients, or are already in this industry, how can you seize these opportunities? A significant part of success comes down to creating, maintaining, and growing long-term relationships with those clients. Consider this advice for making the most of your client relationships as a merchant services provider.

Develop Your Niche in the Merchant Services Industry

The merchant services provider industry is full of potential options for clients. There isn’t an exact count of the number of companies in the field, but a conservative estimate would be firmly in the thousands.

So, defining your target market can make a major and positive difference. Even the largest companies in the merchant services space can’t offer the best in all aspects of operations and for all clients. But, many providers – even smaller and newer ones – can gear their services toward the unique needs of a more specific group.

You might choose businesses in a specific industry (especially if you have past experience working with or in that industry). You could focus on new businesses and/or businesses moving to digital payments for the first time.

Finding a niche and developing expertise within it can help to attract clients as well as keep them on board. Why? Because your services become more than just generic merchant services offerings – they’re targeted toward specific client objectives and needs.

Define What Makes You Unique

In such a competitive market, a clearly defined client base can make it easier to both target relevant clients and provide exceptional support. So can a clear value proposition – a simple explanation of what your company provides, what makes it unique, and how that helps your clients.

So, consider your competition, identify your strengths relative to them, and make that difference clear to prospects and clients. It’s a direct path to being more than just one of many merchant services providers. Effectively setting your organization apart gives potential clients a reason to sign on, and can help keep current clients with you.

Follow Through with Overall Support and Your Unique Benefits

Attracting clients is critical, but keeping them on board is the key to long-term success. After attracting targeted clients with a defined and unique value proposition, your company has to:

• Deliver on its expertise by providing relevant support and guidance, especially within its defined niche.
• Consistently meet the needs of clients in terms of the foundational merchant services you provide, as well as in customer service, support, troubleshooting, and all other relevant aspects of operating as a service provider.
• Listen to your clients when they make specific requests and provide general feedback. Keep them in the loop, whether that feedback and requests lead to changes or not.
• Proactively look for opportunities to provide better support, keep costs for clients manageable, and deliver improvement in services over time.

How Swipesum Helps Merchant Services Providers

Swipesum helps ISOs, PayFacs, and other merchant services providers optimize their operations and deliver even better service to their clients. To learn more, book a free consultation today!

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