A few decades ago, point of sale (POS) and payment solution provider sales reps only had a few ways to contact a prospect or follow up with a customer. They made phone calls, sent mailers, scheduled appointments, or arranged to meet at industry events. Today, however, reps have another option: social selling.
Merchants know the importance of great customer service. Without it, they lose business. According to a Qualtrics survey, 80% of consumers have changed brands due to unsatisfactory customer experience. But when merchants are the consumers, they’re also making purchasing decisions based on their experiences with their vendors.
Human crime — or crime that exploits humans such as fraud, scams, trafficking, etc. — is increasing. U.S. attorneys received 2,198 referrals for human trafficking offenses in 2020, a 62% increase over 2011. Consumers lost approximately $8.8 billion to fraud in 2022, over 30% more than in 2021, and child exploitation increased 35% from 2020 to 2021 alone.
Catching prospects at the right time in their sales cycles can be the difference between winning merchant services business and losing it. Although you want to look for “pain” that can lead to a sale, you also need to ensure the prospect has the budget and that you’re approaching them at the right time. Timing can be the most challenging thing to master — and the most frustrating reason for lost deals.
The use of digital payments has sky-rocketed in recent years with growth increasing at twice the rate of expansion of GDP in Europe and America, and even higher growth rates in Asia. Digital payments offer consumers greater convenience and payment choices, and they give merchants more efficient ways to handle transactions and greater visibility into consumer behaviors. But digital payments have risks associated with them.
When sales partners think about selling payment solutions, retail shops and restaurants are obvious targets. However, you may find greater opportunities by looking beyond businesses traditionally associated with the point of sale (POS) space.
Spring shines more light into dusty corners of homes, office buildings, and businesses. While ramping up operations this spring, cleaning service owners may become aware of their need to operate more efficiently to manage the seasonal uptick in their business. Furthermore, if their clients are still leaving checks on a desk in an unlocked office or their employees place paper receipts in unsecured locations, it puts everyone at risk of fraud or theft.
If you want to outdo the competition this year, you’ll have to equip merchants to capture a healthy share of consumer buying power. The average U.S. consumer spent more than $66,000 in 2021, and they spent it both when shopping in person and on digital channels. But how much shoppers spend and how they spend it varies from generation to generation.
