How to Tell if You Have a Good Merchant Services Provider

I heard the tired old refrain just yesterday, from a hardware store owner in Nevada.

"You guys are all the same," he told me, referring to credit card processing representatives. "It doesn't matter who moves my money around- there's not a dime's worth of difference between the lot of you."

Because that is a common but misguided sentiment, here are some tips on how you can tell if your agent is worth his salt or not.

The first clue is how long she has been in the business. Turnover in the processing representative field is notoriously high- various estimates put it between 75 and 87 percent a year. The processing companies will hire anyone, sight unseen, to rep for them. They provide almost no training- a few whispers in the ear about how wealthy the rep is about to become and an hour long Citrix meeting is pretty much industry standard for the big processors- and then the rep is out at it, chasing applications.

So if you have an agent that has been at it for a few years you know that at the very least she found a way to beat the odds and start building a customer base.

The next thing you want to consider is when the last time you saw your representative was. Does he call or stop by every now and then, or was the last thing you saw the back of his head as he was walking out the door with your application in hand? A good agent's primary concern is keeping your business in his portfolio- and that means checking in, making sure you are content, making sure you understand your equipment and your statements, answering your questions, handling your concerns. If you haven't seen the guy who signed you up since he signed you up it's a good indication he: 1) is no longer in the business, 2) made so much money off you on the front end that he doesn't care if you stay on the books or not, 3) expects you to be unhappy with your rates, equipment or service and doesn't want to deal with it or 4) is just bad at his job.

Take a look at the process you go through when you have a question or concern. Who is your first phone call to in those situations? A good agent will always want you to call her first. That way she is aware of the situation, and can be sure it gets resolved to your satisfaction. And if she can't answer your question or address your concern, she will have someone from her company contact you. She knows you have more important things to do then spend five minutes on hold waiting on customer service or trying to wade through the company's automated phone tree. And if she is really good at her job, she knows who in tech support is great with merchants and who isn't, and wants to make sure you speak to the former.

I will pick this back up with a few more ideas tomorrow; until then- if there is ever anything I can do for you, just let me know.