Merchant Processing… Simplified Merchant Account Providers >> New Merchant Accounts, Retail Merchant Accounts, Internet Merchant Accounts & Merchant Account Directory

I just completed an audit for a CPA friend of mine (actually, one of his clients) –

by the way, for those of you who missed the 1 hour Tele-Seminar on “3 Big Mistakes Your Clients Make When Setting Up a Merchant Account,” I now have the audio available for download… just check out the Merchant Account Guides page.

- and it got me thinking about some of the times in the past when business owners I was referred to didn’t express and interest in having an audit performed.

It always came as a surprise to me… until, of course, one of my clients had a “phony” audit completed (just read the last post).

Anyway, that got me thinking about the “standard” excuses heard over the years.  So I decided to come up with three (3) of the more common objections to address. In no particular order, here they are…

1.  “It’ll take too much time.”

Actually, it takes me some time to complete them.  Sometimes over an hour for 1 audit (depending on how transparent the particular company’s statement is).

And in the past I didn’t even charge for doing them (though I do now).

Anyhow, don’t tell me it takes too much time to track down your statement.  If you can’t find the darn thing and you don’t have internet access to your account, make a mental note to save it when the next month’s statement shows up.

Let’s be real about this.

2.  “My CPA can’t even read the stupid statement.”

All right, now we’re talking.  This one is actually true some of the time.  Another version of this excuse goes along the lines of “my CPA has it somewhere” in his office, or “I’ll have to call him to find it.”

Well then, give a call.  He or she can get a copy and send it right on over to me already.

Or, let him or her know that we’ll be running another tele-seminar so they can learn a bit about how it all works out, so you don’t overpay in the future.

Here’s another option.  Have them send over the statement and let me break it all down in black and white for them.

When I’m finished I’ll send over a detailed report that will spell out all the actual costs and proposed cost savings.

3.  “Yeah, I’ve had that done before.”

Well, to answer this one, see the previous post.

There is a REAL DIFFERENCE between throwing some numbers on a page to try to make a sale, and using real numbers from the statement to try to save you money each month, and hopefully win your business long-term.

And that’s the real difference.  Before you sign up with someone, or even AFTER you’ve signed up with someone, is your vendor committed to YOUR long term growth?

Are they looking for a “quick sale” and then you never hear from them again?

Those are just 2 issues to consider the next time someone asks for your business, and the next time you decide to do a REAL “apple to apple” comparison.

If you’re gonna do it, do it right.

To Claim Your Merchant Account Review…

If you already accept credit cards and would like to prove for yourself that we can save you money on your merchant account fees, here’s what you can do to get started:

1. Fax your most recent merchant account statement to:  866-274-0406, ATTN: Review.
2. Visit our merchant account comparison “Dare to Compare” checklist
3. Leave your comment or question on this page.

Over the past 3+ years we have slashed merchant processing fees for business owners like you, across a wide range of different industries.

The average savings was 15.8%.  To learn more about the only 100% accurate merchant account review available anywhere, please follow the link.

So you really have nothing to lose by faxing in your statement to us.

If you are going to accept credit cards for the first time, you should download our free report.

It contains a “17 point checklist” to help you evaluate the different merchant account providers.  Just follow the link for merchant account info to download your free report.

Let me just jump right in and share with you a story that became the inspiration for this post. A local retail merchant (who owns a comic book store) has been a client of mine for over a year and a half.

About a month or two ago Mike called to let me know that “someone” walked into his business and said they could save him money on his credit card processing fees.

Okay, that’s no surprise.  Lots of sales reps go door to door looking for new business.

But, here’s the thing..

He wanted to remain my client, and he asked if I could possibly match the rates they were showing him.  Well, sure, that is certainly fair enough.  I just let him know that I needed to see what their terms were in order to conduct an “apples to apples” comparison.

Merchant Account Comparisons Exposed

That worked out with him, so the next day I stopped by and picked up their ”analysis.”  And it took all of 5 minutes to see what they were really “proposing” to him (and, by the way, why I became so hopping mad).

Now, I won’t tell you the name of the company using this tactic, because, to be fair, it is more common than you can imagine.

For starters, they misrepresented his actual costs.

On a side note, this is more common than you might think. Lots of merchant services providers use this tactic in order to get you to sign a long-term contract.

On the “worksheet” they indicated that I was charging him 50 cents per transaction (it’s 16 cents). They also misrepresented his actual processing rates, and failed to disclose additional “surcharges” (he doesn’t pay any surcharges with me).

Additionally, for those of you who may not know this, there are actually several different pricing models possible for an account, which will affect what you’ll pay for each processing category.

So I looked at Mike, and said “I’d be glad to increase your rates if you like me to match what they’ve shown you here.” Needless to say, when I compared their “analysis” to his existing processing statement, that’s when he became mad.

Needless to say, we didn’t need to make ANY changes to his account. And if he had switched over, instead of saving $150 per year, which they were “projecting,” he would have ended up paying 250% more than he currently was by switching to their service.

So what’s the moral to the story?

Well, if someone comes along and performs and “audit” of your account, make sure the numbers, rates and fees they say you’re currently paying match your existing merchant statement. If they say you’re paying $400 a month, check your statement to see whether or not that’s accurate.

If they can’t get that right, they are over-inflating your projected savings to “steal” your account.

Period.

It’s a question of integrity, plain and simple.

For example, I’m completing an audit for a possible new client.  In the “Total Fees” column listing the rates they’re currently paying MATCHES EXACTLY with the amount shown on their current merchant statement. And that’s the quickest way to check to know what kind of person you’re dealing with.

So don’t get fooled.

To Claim Your Merchant Account Review…

If you already accept credit cards and would like to prove for yourself that we can save you money on your merchant account fees, here’s what you can do to get started:

1. Fax your most recent merchant account statement to:  866-274-0406, ATTN: Review.
2. Visit our merchant account comparison “Dare to Compare” checklist
3. Leave your comment or question on this page.

Over the past 3+ years we have slashed merchant processing fees for business owners like you, across a wide range of different industries.

The average savings was 15.8%.

So you really have nothing to lose by faxing in your statement to us.

If you are going to accept credit cards for the first time, you should download our free report.

It contains a “17 point checklist” to help you evaluate the different merchant account providers.  Just follow the link for merchant account info to download your free report.