Make Your Merchant Services Program More Profitable

Across the country, bankers at both large and small financial institutions want to boost their non-interest income, and they’re asking third party service providers to help them do so.

One potential source of valuable revenue is a financial institution’s merchant services program. With a little time and a renewed focus, you can create a more profitable program. Here are a few pointers that can help boost your portfolio and revenue.

Train Your Employees

Make sure your employees know your merchant services program inside and out. Otherwise they won’t be able to effectively pitch it to potential clients. Also, make sure they’re up-to-date on the industry. Educate them on the latest trends, train them on the newest merchant services software, and basically do everything you can to ensure they’re cutting edge.

Help Your Employees Beat Sales Call Stress

A sales call can be frightening, and some of your employees are probably reluctant to truly engage with your customers. But once they see that they’re helping customers−not tricking them or forcing information on them− they’ll feel more comfortable talking about your merchant services program. So point out how your services help your merchants. Framing a sales pitch in this light can make it much less stressful.

Offer Your Employees Incentives

Think about the rewards that would best motivate your team. Then give them to employees when they reach milestones. Incentives can be based on individual performance or team success. A little friendly competition encourages teamwork.

Reach Customers in Multiple Ways

There are many ways to reach out to your customers, including direct mail campaigns, phone calls, online newsletters and in-person visits. The more methods you use, the better your response will be.

Keep Merchant Services Top of Mind

Make sure your merchant services program and merchant services software stay top of mind for your employees and customers.

It’s not easy, but having brochures, posters and table tents set up at all your branches can help accomplish this. Featuring a banner about your program on your website can also help boost awareness.

With these tips and some hard work, you can make your financial institution’s merchant services program more profitable. What else have you done to try to increase your profits? Leave us a comment below.

As a Relationship Manager, Nick Karcher supports both current bank partners as well as those institutions that want to know what makes Clearent a different kind of payment processor. Nick began his career in debit and credit card processing with Electronic Merchant Systems (EMS) as an Account Executive and later started his own Independent Sales Office. With an abundance of credit card processing solutions and excellent merchant services software, Clearent provides clients with the necessary tools to really improve their merchant services programs.