Is Customer Service an Important Factor in Comparing Processors?

Every merchant services salesperson out there tells their prospects that they have excellent customer service. They might try to sell short wait times on the phone or the fact that their customer service is 24/7/365, but always they are selling that theirs is the best. So customer service does not at first seem like a differentiator for the merchant who is shopping their credit card processing. Some merchant services providers even mention that they have the best customer service on their website or in their advertising. But it does not mean anything when everyone else advertises that they have the best customer service as well. And so, most people shopping for a new processor tend to compare rates.

Comparing rates may be challenging. Most of the merchants think they are comparing rates, but in fact, each salesperson presentation they listen to has the numbers twisted in their favor. There are so many variables, like qualified rate, mid-qualified rate, non-qualified rate, monthly fees, assessments and interchange to name a few. All these variables make it difficult to choose and therefore the merchant ends up going with the salesperson they feel most comfortable with.

I suggest that you also compare by customer service. Time goes by and then a need arises for customer service because a machine is down. Now it does not matter what rate the merchant is paying, if his equipment is down and he can’t even take a credit card for payment. Customers start walking out the door because no one carries cash anymore. We all pay everything from a debit or credit card. The real cost of choosing the wrong card processor with lousy customer service, overlooked in the sales presentation, comes home to roost.

Another customer service issue surfaces when, for example, the merchant’s customer claims their card was debited twice or perhaps decides to charge a transaction back. If the merchant cannot get the help he needs from his processor to research a situation, the merchant loses a customer. Again, this is money gone missing now and repeat money that will not be received from an upset customer who vows never to return to that merchant.  Time wasted in handling these types of customer service issues translates to way more money lost than a slight reduction in fees every could.

Management time lost waiting on hold, hitting the wrong prompt and starting over, and long conversations troubleshooting issues with service reps reading from a script, is a large factor often neglected during the sales process of switching merchant processors. Many merchants, signed up with a local salesperson or their bank, call for help only to be told to call an 800 number to another support line. I call that number 1-800-IGNORE_ME.

So I suggest that when you are comparing processors, ask the salesperson for the customer support phone #. And then call it!  See what happens as you stack one against the other from this perspective. Some think that they should choose the biggest company and go direct because they think they will get better service. Others like to choose a local processor thinking they will get better support. I say, due your due diligence and call the support number yourself. You may find one that answers their phone live versus one that takes you through a zillion prompts before finding a support person. You may want to ultimately choose a processor who knows their customers by name. You may find out if customer service reps answer the phone with English as their native language or not. Whatever you discover, when you call the support numbers while comparing processors, it will be enlightening.

Of course, we invite you to check out our support line for Electronic Money Company at 505-296-2847 or chat with us via our website at www.ElectronicMoneyCompany.com.