With more and more acquirers shifting to a direct model of acquiring from wholesaling, many are developing sophisticated telesales capabilities. Telesales has been a viable method for merchant solicitation for years, but with the “commoditization” of pure-credit card acquiring there should be no surprise that there has become a proliferation of telesales operations.
    In the payments space, telesales departments have been traditionally used in three ways:

• Outbound Sales – telesales agents calling out, soliciting and closing merchants directly.
• Outbound Lead Generation – telesales agents setting appointments for outside (or occasionally inside) salespeople, “the closers.”
• Inbound – telesales agents taking phone calls or responding to business inquiries and then attempting to sell the merchants on the fly.

    Obviously, all three methods have very different results and close ratios. I have seen very successful cold-calling telesales operations, but the best use of a telesales organization is using it in conjunction with a referral partner or marketing campaign (physical or virtual) of some sort. If a referral partner can provide warm leads and add credibility (an endorsement) to your offering, any method will see improved performance. In fact, specific campaigns can utilize telesales in multiple ways. If a trade association provides a list of merchants, there are a number of means for a savvy acquirer to reach the merchants. The acquirer could produce online and physical marketing materials in conjunction with the association to drive inbound calls from businesses. In addition, they could directly call and solicit all of the businesses for card processing and, at the same time, could call the larger merchants of the association in an attempt to set appointments for outside sales representatives. Business owners and decision makers are like any other consumer; they need multiple impressions before they buy. A coordinated campaign using various telesales methods can be extremely beneficial.
    Three key factors for developing a winning telesales infrastructure are:

Management

    Every successful organization that employs a highly successful telesales organization has a manager who truly understands the art and the skill in phone sales. This individual understands what it takes to hire and retain great employees and can manage by the numbers: Dials to Presentations to Sales. In addition, they know how to utilize the technology and marketing mediums at their disposal to maximize returns. These individuals are not easy to find, but are necessary for a high performing telesales operation.

Recruiting & Training

    Attracting, training and retaining high level telesales employees is not easy. You will be competing against telesales organizations from hundreds of other companies inside and outside of the payments business. Telesales is notorious for high turnover which can get very expensive. It is critical to develop a program that gets quality people on-board, up-to-speed quickly and retains them for the long-haul. On a side note, I would recommend having a nice (non- boiler room) work environment and paying the over-achievers very well. Accelerator bonuses as we discussed last month are great ways of compensating the over-achievers. Good telesales representatives are hard to find and hard to keep. Create an environment that attracts and retains the best.

Technology

    Technology can help you run an efficient telesales operation. Predictive dialers are nice to have, but you may not see the greatest return because business phones always get answered during business hours. At a minimum, you must have a system where you can input leads and track productivity. A basic sales force automation tool will suffice and some are available right off the shelf. The key data elements to track are dials, presentations, and sales, but other statistics such as call times and campaign tracking can help you manage the process. The more sophisticated the system, the easier you can make the sales process. Tracking leads and prospects through the sales cycle and the automation of proposals and contract flow can make your organization much more successful. Technology and how you use it can make or break the return on your telesales investment.

    All three of these factors (management, recruiting & training and technology) must be in sync for a highly productive telesales operation. As credit card acquiring becomes more of a commodity, the value of a foot salesperson for the small merchant becomes diminimous. To get the reach necessary to acquirer merchants for your offering, you may want to explore the telesales arena. Many acquirers are moving resources into this area and seeing tremendous success.

Greg Cohen is President of Moneris Solutions U.S., and manages all U.S. initiatives and operations for Moneris Solutions. Mr. Cohen can be contacted at 847-520-6559 or via email at greg.cohen@moneris.com.