Today is a great day to be a ISO agent. If you’re looking to expand and grow your merchant services business, congratulations! You’re in the right industry at the perfect time.
Did you know that banks open about 20% of merchant accounts, while ISOs represent the other 80%? Moreover, credit cards have the most significant growth rate among core payment types. According to the Federal Reserve, credit card payments have a yearly growth rate of 10.2% by volume and 6.3% by value.
1. Create a Daily Schedule
As an ISO agent, you’re accountable for your schedule. This means you need to find ways to keep yourself motivated, on course, and productive. To ensure you use your time correctly, try planning out sections of your day. You might favor to start your morning with an hour or two of cold calling, hold one meeting or demo before lunch and another immediately after, and follow up with existing merchants in the afternoon.
Once you find a periodic routine that works for you and yields results, stick with it! Create calendar alerts to that mentions to switch between tasks and set daily or weekly sales quotas to motivate yourself.
2. Take Advantage of Social Media and become a leader
Social media is a great sales tool for various reasons. Not only is it free and easy to get started with, but it’s a precious resource for prospecting, outreach, and research. Since your target audience is merchants, Linkedin, Youtube, Facebook and Instagram are the best places for you to experiment with social selling. Connect with your real-life contacts and local businesses, reach out to leads, comment on posts, and share relevant business news to establish yourself as an ISO agent.
You should join relevant LinkedIn groups and participate in discussions. This is an easy way to get your name out there, build your reputation in the industry, and engage with great potential leads.
3. Ask Merchants and Friends for Referrals
Once you’ve got a few merchants on your list, you should be reaching out to them regularly to maintain positive relations. Give them a prompt call, drop by the store, office or send a brief email to say hi and check in. However, another reason to follow-up is to find out if they have any contacts who might benefit from your merchant solutions and programs. A friendly introduction increases your chances of success, which means a good referral is always worth asking for.
If you’re successful, one referral could turn into a profitable, long-term relationship – and potentially result in even more referrals down the road.
4. Create a Determination Point
When you first pitch your offering to a potential merchant, you aren’t trying to convince them to open an account right then and there. Instead, you’re trying to persuade them to rethink their payment processing in general. One of the biggest hurdles in ISO sales is that most merchants aren’t actively looking to change providers. So, you often need to plant the seed that sparks that decision process.
Talk about the importance of finding the right partner for their payment processing needs – but don’t push your agenda until you’re confident they’re open to hearing your pitch.
5. Stay Updated with Programs and Technology
Part of being a great ISO agent is gaining experience, but there’s plenty you can learn from our Agent Portal where you can learn about how to find prospects and close sales, technology, and programs. However, you can also receive personal training and support from Betterpay. The more you know about our product and solutions, the more convincingly you can sell it. Since credit card processing technology is changing all the time, you should attempt to stay informed with the latest industry updates. Always embrace opportunities to learn something new – whether it’s about sales, your product, or your merchants. After all, knowledge is power.
Are you looking for help to grow your ISO business? Visit our ISO Agent page for more https://www.btrpay.com/agent-iso-partner-program/ J
