Independent sales organizations are an important part of the payment processing ecosystem, representing payment processors and acting as a bridge between them and the merchants that utilize payment processing services. ISOs often work with a number of different payment processors, a team of independent agents, and a small sea of merchants. That can make keeping tabs on things and ensuring smooth operations and optimized profitability a bit of a challenge. The following are three simple, but highly effective tips you can use to cut through the noise, simplify your operations, and identify the best opportunities to boost your sales and drive growth.
1) Know Your Portfolio Inside and Out
As an independent sales organization, you act as a type of surrogate for the payment processors whose services you resell. You’re responsible for providing customer service, technical support, and providing an elevated experience for the merchants you board to each processor. Those are the keys to everyone’s success, so it’s important to take your responsibilities seriously. But there are merchants that simply don’t do the volume or value of transactions necessary to generate the residuals to make all of those responsibilities worthwhile. There are also merchants who are so valuable that it’s in your best interest to provide them with extra attention and support. The only way to know who’s who is to keep a constant eye on the performance of your portfolio, not just as a whole, but on a merchant-by-merchant basis as well. Too many ISOs only have a high-level view of their portfolio, without the deep, nitty-gritty knowledge required to ensure maximum growth. The most successful ISOs know better than to make that mistake, and you should too!
2) Happy Agents are Productive and Loyal Agents
Your independent agents play a huge part in your ISO’s success, as they’re generally the ones hitting the proverbial payment and bringing in new business. But independent sales agents are just that – independent – and if you don’t keep them happy, they won’t make you money. Disgruntled or unhappy agents are unproductive at best, and at worst, they’ll just jump ship and take their talents – and their business – to one of your competitors. So, how do you keep agents happy? Luckily, the answer is simple – you make sure they’re paid the exact residuals they’re due, on-time, every time. That might sound obvious, but a lot of ISOs run into trouble, particularly since residual calculation can be a complex task, especially if it’s handled manually. Getting into the habit of paying late – or worse, short – is a surefire way to undermine your success, so it’s important to get residuals payments right and to ensure they happen quickly.
3) Put Technology to Work to Streamline Processes and Boost Profits
Operating an independent sales organization without technological backup is like operating blind because of the complexities of the industry. That’s why so many ISOs are jumping at the opportunity to employ technology like customer resource management platforms to help them reach their full potential. CRM tools like IRIS CRM bring all of an ISO’s business process into a single, easy-to-use point of control. That not only makes administration and daily tasks way easier, it also promotes maximum growth and profitability by streamlining and augmenting sales processes and putting better information in the hands of managers. IRIS CRM, for instance, offers an advanced boarding tool – TurboApp that automates new merchant boarding and increases boarding capacity by up to 500%. Its advanced reporting suite automatically pulls payment processor data streams and compiles the information into easily readable charts and graphs to enable better strategic planning. It also revolutionizes lead management, simplifies and automates residual calculations, enables fast, easy digital payments to agents, and much more.
For more information on IRIS CRM’s full set of advanced features and how they can help independent sales organizations, independent agents, and merchants alike, schedule a free demonstration of the software.