Rough Week

Every chance I get, I preach about the advantages of having a local merchant services representative.  A local rep knows your business and your community, and may even be your customer.  He or she will refer other local customers to you.  After all, the better you do in your business, the more residuals your representative earns on those debit and credit card payments.  A local rep can be there in person to train or help you and your staff with the card processing procedures and equipment.  Should there be an equipment problem, you may even be able to get replacement swipers, signature pads, or other items hand delivered within an hour.  Furthermore, living in the same community you do business in, your representative wants to do right by you, thus earning a good reputation, and hopefully some referral business. 

I encourage my clients to call me first.  Even though I can't handle every circumstance that may arise, I can take care of a good share of them.  Recently, however, I sincerely hoped my clients would NOT call me.

I felt run down at first.  Then I developed headaches.  There were chills and sweat.  I hobbled with aching legs.  Simply answering the phone was a chore.  I had contracted Lyme's disease.  While I'll gladly accept your sympathy, that's not what I'm looking for.  My point is; while having  a local representative is a great idea for all the reasons stated previously, and more, that person can become temporarily incapacitated, or even go away entirely, with little or no warning.  That's when the service you receive directly from your provider becomes all the more important.

Some merchant services providers have excellent reputations for customer service, but not all.  I've seen situations where simply finding a phone number to call practically required some expert detective work.  Each of the 3 vendors I currently work with have toll-free numbers to reach a live person that is directly employed by that company (as opposed to a call-center employee).  Those numbers are are readily available to the clients, and they're also published at creativecardacceptance.com. 

Whether I'm knocked out for a week or two with Lyme's, or hit by a truck and permanently removed from the picture, I'm confident that my clients have top-notch support.  Do you have that confidence for your business?