Tell Me the Best Merchant Solution for My Business

Many merchant service providers sell on price.  They work to offer the lowest payment processing rates.  Yet business owners, CFO’s and controllers want more than savings on their payment processing.  They want the best solution for them and the vast majority of us don’t want to spend hours online, doing research to find the best solution.  This is where the best merchant services providers come in – they offer a real expert who will listen to the needs of the business and then find the best solution for them.  In other words, the best merchant services providers make it simple for less.

The golden rule is simple: treat others the way you want to be treated.  This is the best rule for life and for business.  When looking for a payment processing solution these are the questions that are going through the purchaser’s mind:

1. How much am I paying now and how much less can I be paying if I switch providers?

2. What is the best merchant software and merchant equipment for my needs?

3. Do I need software?  Do I need equipment?  How much will this cost?

4. Will this solution I am getting integrate into my accounting systems and payment systems or no?  If not, do I need a new system? If so, how do I get them to integrate?  Is the integration easy?

5. What forms of payment should I take and can I take?  Can I accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Gift Cards, Promo Codes on my website, Debit Card, or  eCheck?

6. What solution can give my customers the easiest shopping experience?  How can your solution help me increase my sales by upsell, cross-sell?

7. What mobile payment solutions should I take?  Do I need a mobile payment solution?

8. How secure is my money?  How long after a payment is made until the funds are in our business checking account?

9. How secure is my customers data, including their credit card information?  Is the solution you are providing me PCI complaint?

10. What liabilities am I accepting by accepting electronic payments?  What liabilities am I protected from by doing business with you?

11. Can I take a line of credit out on my merchant payments?  What is my interest rate?  What is the approval process look like?

12. Can I accept electronic gift cards?  If so, why should I?  What do I have to gain and lose by doing so?

Bonus Topic: Can my payment processor actually help me increase my sales?

These are the questions that matter to customer of a merchant service provider.  The best provider will know the customer’s business and have a simple and useful answer to these types of questions.  Over the next few weeks we are going to explore the 12 questions above in detail as part of our 12 part series – “Tell Me the Best Merchant Solution for My Business.”