UBC Backs ECR Giveaway with Merchant Leads And Appointments

With merchant acquirers on the lookout for new ways to manage and motivate sales agents in a difficult economy, processor United Bank Card has launched a program for independent sales organizations that furnishes qualified merchant leads and also sets up appointments with those merchants. The new program specifically supports an initiative started by United Bank Card last summer to supply free electronic cash registers to merchants (Digital Transactions News, July 15, 2009). ISOs are able to select how many leads they would like in a month and also the distance they are willing to travel for an appointment. The leads program is supported by technology that enables ISOs to follow up on appointments and manage the merchant relationship in real time. While acquirers with direct-sales teams often provide leads to their ISOs, the United Bank Card program is the first lead-management system offered by a super ISO, or a large ISO that works with smaller ISOs, says Jared Isaacman, chief executive at Hampton, N.J.-based United Bank Card. Other large ISOs may avoid providing leads because they can't be sure that the ISO won't sell a competitor's product to the merchant. “With us, the comfort we have is that it's all settled around our free-cash-register program,” Isaacman says. “Every appointment that's set around the country for our ISOs is all based on a prospective merchant interested in a free cash register. Since we're the only ones that have that, it kind of ensures that the lead will go to the best use possible.” Under the United Bank Card program, the merchant already has received a brief sales pitch over the phone to ensure its interest in the ECR program, Isaacman says, adding “as of now, we have a little over 1,500 leads that have been ordered.” “This is a live appointment?[the merchants] know what they're getting into and this is what they're looking for,” he says. “They just need someone to come in and finish the sale off.” United Bank Card ISO partners signing up for the program are given access to a real-time, interactive leads-management system (LMS) to manage appointments. The system can be accessed via personal computer or cell phone. The LMS, developed specifically for the program, has advanced customer-relationship-management functions and sends text or e-mail notifications to ISOs to keep them informed about their leads. “It's a pretty powerful system beyond just delivering the actual appointments,” Isaacman says. United Bank Card, which pioneered free point-of-sale terminals 5 years ago, introduced the ECR giveaway program to help ISOs penetrate more restaurants and stores. The merchant processor supported the campaign with a sales contest featuring a $1 million prize. The machines, made by Casio, feature a cash drawer, backlit display, and integrated payment capability for credit, debit, and gift cards. “There are hundreds of thousands of merchants out there still in the standalone environment that don't realize the benefits of an integrated register with payment processing,” Isaacman says. “We want to scoop up as many of them as we can.” United Bank Card's lead management program “is a very good move on their part,” because it is centered on the free ECR program, says Adil Moussa, an analyst at Aite Group LLC. “United Bank Card is doing it specifically as a campaign for their new product,” Moussa says. “When you get somebody interested in a product, it's much easier to meet with them.”