One Way to Compare Merchant Accounts | Automated Merchant Processing: Merchant Accounts Simplified

Three Reasons for NOT Having a Merchant Account Audit

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 Products 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.

Ok, I guess that’s it for now. Until next time…