A merchant services cold call should ask for one thing: the owner's last processing statement. Open with "I'd like to check what you pay, and if I can't beat it I'll tell you," and do not lead with a rate. The number that settles the question is the effective rate, which is total fees divided by total card sales. Below is the opener, the worked example of that math, the three questions to ask about a current contract, answers to the objections owners give, a voicemail, and the lines you should never say on this kind of call.
Why this call has a bad reputation
Owners get calls from people who say "I can lower your rates" and mean a teaser price that rises, an equipment lease that lasts four years, or a contract with a cancellation fee. After a few of those, many owners hang up on the first sentence. So your edge is to sound like the one caller who is not selling a rate. You ask to look, you do the math in front of them, and you say when the answer is "stay where you are."
The one number: effective rate
The effective rate is every fee on the statement added together and divided by the total volume of card sales for the month. Include the monthly fee, the statement fee, the compliance fee and any equipment charge, not only the percentage. For example, a made-up salon processes $48,000 in cards in a month and pays $1,392 in total fees. That is $1,392 divided by $48,000, which is 2.9 percent. A rep who quotes "1.9 percent" is quoting one line of the bill. The owner pays 2.9.
Knowing this number is what gives you credibility. Many owners have never calculated their own effective rate, and when you do it with them on the phone, you have done something no previous caller did. The statement fields to look at are in how to get merchant services clients, and the costs behind each pricing model are in accepting credit cards as a small business.
Who to call
Businesses with steady card volume and a person who answers: restaurants, salons, auto repair shops, retail stores, and cash-pay clinics. Pick a time when they are not in a rush. A restaurant owner is busy from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and again at dinner, and a salon owner is on the floor most of the day, so try mid-morning for the first and the end of a shift for the second. Write down the business name, type, and the owner's first name before dialing.
The opener
Reuben sells payment processing for a made-up company called Cobalt Payments. He calls Ines Duarte, who owns a hair salon.
Hi Ines, it's Reuben with Cobalt Payments. I'm not calling to lower your rate. I do statement reviews for salons. You send me a recent processing statement, I work out what you're really paying all-in, and I tell you if I can beat it. If I can't, I'll say so. Can I ask a quick question? Do you know what your processor charges you in total, per month?
Many owners do not know. That is the point. If Ines says "no," Reuben says "That's common. If you take a photo of the last page of your statement and text it to me, I'll do the math today." If she says "about 2.5 percent," he asks "Is that everything, including the monthly fees, or just the rate?" Either answer leads to the statement.
Three questions about the current contract
- "Who is your processor, and how long have you been with them?" A long time often means nobody has shopped it.
- "Are you on a contract, and when does it end?" Some contracts include an early termination fee. Ask for the amount before you promise a switch is free.
- "Do you lease your card terminal, or own it?" An equipment lease can run for years and is often hard to cancel, so a rep who ignores it may promise savings that the lease eats.
Write all three down. The answers decide whether your offer is a clear win, a small saving, or a reason to wait until the contract ends.
Five things owners say, and the reply
"I'm happy with my processor." "That's good. Many people don't know what they pay, so 'happy' usually means 'nothing has gone wrong.' If I look and you're paying a fair price, I'll tell you to stay. Would it be worth five minutes to check?"
"I just signed a contract." "Thanks for telling me. When does it end? I'll put a reminder to call you three months before, so you can compare on your terms." Then do it. A callback with the date in your calendar is a sale for next year.
"Send me a quote." "I can't quote without seeing what you process and how. If you send me one statement, I can give you an exact number, not a guess." A generic quote is a number the owner will compare to the cheapest one on the internet.
"Somebody already called me about this." "I'm sure. I'm not offering a rate. I'm offering to read your statement, so you know your real number. Would that be useful?"
"What's your rate?" "It depends on your volume, your average ticket and how customers pay, so I'd be guessing. With a statement, I'd give you the exact total. Can you send one?" The other side of this reply is in we already have a vendor.
Say what you cannot beat
For a business that processes a few thousand dollars a month, a flat-rate provider with no monthly minimum can cost less than a plan that charges a monthly fee on top of low percentages. For a business with high volume, a plan that passes through the card networks' fees plus a small markup often wins. If the owner's numbers favor staying where they are, say it. An honest "you're fine" call produces a referral later, and it is the reason the next owner believes you.
Gatekeeper and voicemail
Hi, this is Reuben with Cobalt Payments. Who looks after the card processing and the monthly statements at your business? Is that Ines?
If you get voicemail on your second attempt:
Ines, Reuben at Cobalt Payments, 555-0148. I do statement reviews for salons. If you text me a photo of your last processing statement, I'll work out your real all-in rate and tell you if I can beat it. If I can't, I'll say so. No cost. I'll try you again Thursday morning.
For the front-desk step, see how to get past the gatekeeper when cold calling.
Lines to never say
- That you are calling "from" the owner's current processor, a card brand or a bank, unless it is true. Implying an affiliation you do not have is deceptive, and it is what gives this industry its reputation.
- That switching is "free" before you have read the contract and the lease.
- A rate by itself. Rates are one line of a statement.
- That a rate is "guaranteed" when it can change after the first months.
Calls to a business are largely exempt from the national Do Not Call rules, but a sole proprietor's personal cell is a consumer number, so scrub it and call between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. in their time zone. Many shop owners give out their mobile as the business line, and recorded voicemail drops or autodialed calls to a mobile need prior consent whoever owns it, so a power dialer with a prerecorded message is the wrong tool here. This is general information, not legal advice.
What to log
Processor, monthly volume, effective rate, contract end date, lease end date, and the callback date. Set the callback three months before the contract ends. Over a year, a list sorted by contract end date tells you who to call each month.
A statement-review offer is a short message that can go out by email before you ever dial. Rocketship can send it from your own Gmail to the owners you describe, follow up, and put the review on your calendar when one replies yes. Try it on a real list with a 7-day free trial; a card is needed to start.