How ISOs Can Leverage Vendor Relationships

The pandemic has taught ISOs many lessons—including how to get the most out of their suppliers.

Leveraging sales in highly competitive retail, restaurant, commercial and other prime industry segments can be challenging, especially given the ongoing impacts of economic disruptions in effect today.

As businesses struggle to regain pre-pandemic commerce levels, setbacks have forced many to pivot to mobile, virtual, and contactless technologies to accommodate online and curbside pickup and delivery technology, opening new vendor sales opportunities for independent sales organizations (ISOs).

Forging relationships with the right vendor partners can elevate ISO service offerings to a new level by helping businesses overcome persistent sales hurdles. For optimum results, vendor partners need the bandwidth to support and deliver a broad spectrum of value-added solutions.

Here’s a review of what ISOs should be looking for in their vendor relationships to ensure a successful fit.

Innovative Solutions

Hardware and software solutions that served customers prior to the pandemic may fall short in meeting customer expectations today. Take a moment to review your current offerings to determine where service and/or product gaps exist, then develop strategies to best fill them.

An April 2021 Federal Reserve study revealed that, during the first year of the pandemic, permanent closure of U.S. businesses exceeded annual historical levels by 200,000. To weather this cycle, innovative commerce strategies were deployed to salvage businesses in nearly every sector of the economy.

Still, many businesses are on the brink of collapse as the economic fallout continues. Innovative solutions that reinforce expanded sales channels will continue to bring much-needed relief to businesses in various stages of economic recovery.

Technology offerings from your vendors should include a comprehensive variety of solutions to meet evolving needs. Not only is innovative software necessary, but the accessories needed to support them are also essential. Think kiosk and tablet stands to help navigate labor shortages, payment processing solutions to better serve busy customers, and even health and safety products to keep both staff and customers protected post-pandemic.

Vendors that constantly innovate equip ISOs with tremendous flexibility to target end-user needs no matter the state of the industry—not to mention the opportunity to make more money per sale.

When selecting vendor partners, compare how effectively individual competitors embrace developing fintech technologies and the accessories that support them.

A vendor whose solutions are built to service Web applications for brick and mortar, e-commerce, online ordering, and everything in between is generally better positioned to support revenue-generating opportunities in the future.

In the current sphere of fintech-industry leaders, Heartland, Square, Shopify, Uber Eats, Vend, Zuza, and hundreds of other leading-edge companies each serve respective and concurrent roles in the economy.

As new players emerge, ISO vendor partners with the experience and foresight to integrate empowering commerce capabilities will further help businesses withstand market pressures.

Reputable vendor partners’ value-added services capitalize on every opportunity to increase sales. This includes independent software vendor (ISV) applications and hardware accessories, such as cash drawers and state-of-the-art receipt printers with cloud capabilities to manage mobile, card-not-present, in-store, and in-the-field transactions simultaneously.

For many ISOs, aligning with the right vendor partners provides the leverage to become a one-stop shop for end users, preventing attrition created when valued customers must search elsewhere for additional point-of-sale and payment accessories. Well-chosen vendor partners ensure that more pieces of the commerce journey are acquired directly through your ISO.

Another vendor-partner benefit is increased earnings potential, since more sales commissions can be generated through expanded value-added offerings.

Support And Integrations

In commerce, every second matters. When selecting a vendor partner, it is important not to overlook the value of partnering with vendors that are qualified to support your ISO operation and your customers should anything go wrong with equipment.

To ensure uninterrupted business continuity, system and equipment malfunctions or failures require immediate remediation. With 24/7 access to fully trained vendor support, your ISO and your clients are better protected and able to perform in today’s fast-paced commerce channels.

Another indicator of a strong vendor candidate, referenced earlier, is systems-integration capabilities. Regardless of which POS or business management software your clients currently use, vendor partners must have the capacity to integrate multiple systems. End users should never have to worry about accessories not integrating with their existing software.

Equally important, when payments integration is built-in, vendor partners can provide ISO end-user solutions that protect revenue channels and simplify transaction processes through seamless connectivity to the most convenient forms of payment.

Whether your customers send receipts and invoices digitally or in printed form, POS systems, peripherals, and cloud services that support thermal, impact, portable, and kiosk printers with advanced promotional and loyalty features also generate revenue.

Your vendor partner should be focused on best-in-class solutions for a broad range of business applications. The vendor you ultimately choose should have the foundational strength and expertise to support future fintech trends.

With the right vendors in your back pocket, your ISO operation can stay on top of the latest payment trends, improve sales, and build a more profitable portfolio, all while creating a rewarding end-user experience that is simple for your customers to navigate.

—Brianna Moriarty is the partner development manager at Star Micronics, Somerset, N.J.