by Jack Lang

Anyone who has ever taken on the bewildering task of finding a merchant service provider for their business is all too familiar with the merchant account head-spin.

You know the routine: one salesperson tells you one thing, another one tells you something totally different, and the informative web site that you are relying on to offer an unbiased opinion contradicts everyone. It’s enough to drive anyone crazy!

So why is there so much conflicting information among merchant level sales people and so-called reliable informational resources? The answer is really quite simple.

There isn’t much money to be made in educating people about merchant accounts, but you can get rich by providing the actual service.

Anyone with true electronic payment expertise is busy capitalizing on their knowledge by selling merchant accounts or marketing affiliate programs for providers. Either way, their interests lie in making a buck, not in helping you to get the best merchant account for your business.

I know what you’re thinking: “Just because salespeople and marketers are selling the service doesn’t mean that they can’t offer accurate and reliable advice.” Actually - it does.

Any experienced bankcard salesperson knows that the key to successful selling lies (no pun intended) in telling the customer just enough to close the deal. No more, no less. It might not sound pretty, but it’s the unfortunate truth in today’s electronic payment marketplace.

The unfortunate need for this mass-omission (or warping) of information actually stems in a large part from customers themselves. People don’t want to hear about things that cost them money.

The more rates and fees that a salesperson talks about, the higher the expense that a customer perceives. For example: if salesperson A tells his customers about every fee in detail, and salesperson B only mentions the “important fees” - which account do you think is going to sound like the best value?

O.K., so now you know the main reasons why salespeople omit or bend information, but why do so-called online merchant account resources often offer inaccurate or incomplete information too?

The answer to this question is also pretty simple. Many online merchant account resources are run by Internet marketing professionals or merchant service providers.

Internet marketing professionals operate resource sites with the sole purpose of fueling affiliate programs that are offered by merchant service providers. Each time the marketer refers a customer to the provider, they make a commission.

Sure, these marketing professionals know how to get their web site to the top of the search engine results page, but most of them don’t have the slightest clue about electronic bankcard processing.

Another sizable portion of online resources are run by merchant service providers that operate a whole host of web sites that are meant to siphon customers back to their main site or prompt the customer to call and sign up for an account. The information offered at these sites is biased toward the provider that operates them for obvious reasons.

Now that you have the background information, what can you do about it?

Asking the right questions and promoting consultative selling

Even the Federal Trade commission (FTC) has started to take notice of the decline in ethics in the bankcard industry. Too many merchant level salespeople (MLS) are telling half-truths or are omitting important information all together.

Combating this behavior starts with you. Promote consultative selling by being thorough with salespeople. Ask a lot of questions, and don’t be surprised with the answer. When it comes to credit card processing - what you don’t know will hurt you. Encourage salespeople to work with you to deliver all of the information about their merchant accounts.

If a salesperson becomes frustrated with your questions or is short in his answers, cut them loose.

Screening Online Resources

Before giving any merit to an online merchant account resource, you should screen the web site to verify the credibility of the information that is being offered.

The following are warning signs of a web site that is built to bring in affiliate marketing dollars or promote a single merchant service provider.

Abundance of Affiliate Links - Any website that is constantly recommending one or two merchant service providers is not out for your best interest. They are probably recommending the providers for the sole reason that they pay the most commission.

General Information - Many web sites built for marketing offer very general, often unhelpful, information that can be easily found elsewhere online.

Pushing a Certain Merchant Service Provider - Any online merchant account resource that constantly references a single merchant account provider is most likely nothing more than a satellite site for that provider.

Overly Promotional Language - Reputable resource sites will not try to sell you anything, and they will certainly not use promotional talk to hype any one merchant service provider. Promotional language is a dead giveaway that a resource site has a hidden agenda.

The above criteria will help you to separate legitimate online resources from the web sites simply designed to make a quick buck. Being able to tell the difference between the two will save a you a lot of time and money.

Copyright 2005 Jack Lang

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About the Author:

Jack Lang is the senior contributor member at www.merchantcouncil.org. The Merchant Council is a free resource dedicated to assisting businesses obtain and manage credit card processing and merchant account services. A wealth of merchant account information can be found at MerchantCouncil.org.

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