Making the decision to run your own business is a time investment to say the least.

Because of that, you want to make sure you ducks are in a row when it comes to vendor services selection so that you can continue to work on your business rather than for it.

Wouldn’t it be great if there was a surefire way to quickly and easily find the perfect merchant banking provider for your business?

Let’s take a look at some considerations.

 

1. I’d like to use my “phone a friend”

There is at least one person in your social network who has a merchant account for their business. Give them a call and ask if you can pick their brain a bit.

Someone you trust can give you accurate insights into the quality of the customer service and will also tell you how much they pay in fees. Make sure that you dig in and figure out their effective rate (learn about effective rates and how to calculate it). Who knows, they may learn something from you too!

Word of mouth is huge and insights from your personal contacts can be gold.

But there’s one caveat here: Is your friend or acquaintance’s business exactly the same as yours?

Chances are it isn’t.

So while it’s great to get a recommendation for a provider you can trust, there’s no way to know for sure that you’ll be equally as happy with your choice as your friend.

 

2. Let’s go old school

Who set up businesses with merchant accounts prior to the advent of the internet? Their local bank, of course.

If you’re willing to trade away the chance of getting the best possible deal in order to enjoy a face-to-face interaction with your merchant banker, sticking with a bank you trust can be a great stress reliever.

You trust your bank, so you should trust the service provider that they contract with.

And therein lies the issue with this quick-fix tactic. Banks don’t generally offer merchant accounts on their own. Instead they contract out the services to a 3rd party.

What this means for you is that in this great wide world of choice, you are now narrowing the entire market of providers down to the one company that just happens to do business with your bank.

With luck your local bank offers an awesome package, but it’s still best to look into other options to shop and compare before taking that final leap.

 

3. “BeadMaker_0676” seems pretty happy with her provider

All jokes aside, internet forums can provide great reviews and insights from real people running real businesses. It’s a great resource, especially if you find a helpful user who works in roughly the same field that you do.

However, information pulled from web forums does need to be taken with a grain of salt.

The internet is both a wealth of knowledge and a wealth of garbage. It’s not just the online “crazies” either. Nice, honest people post bad information unknowingly all the time.

Sifting out the good from the bad is often so difficult that you can end back up at square one more confused than you were to begin with. But it is a great place to ask candid questions to someone who’s not trying to get you to sign up with their company.

 

4. A little schmoozing never hurt anyone

Find someone who runs a company similar to yours but that is not in direct competition with you and strike up a friendly conversation.

Once you’ve built rapport, explain to them the issues you’re facing with merchant banking. Odds are they’ll offer up some advice without having to be asked directly, and you may even make a long term contact, who knows?

This is the option for all you extroverts out there.

 

5. Talk to an expert

Who’s got two thumbs and does nothing but match businesses with their ideal merchant account provider all day?

“This guy.”

I’ve got no reservations about tooting my own horn when I say that I do know what I am talking about when it comes to merchant accounts.

To eliminate any doubts, take a look at our client testimonials.

I’ve helped thousands of businesses find the right provider. Get in touch and with a few basic questions you’ll be able to determine if my service is right for you.

The cost of signing a contract with a merchant account provider that is wrong for your business can be costly so why not take advantage of our free consultation?