Payment processing. As an industry, we know better than most the power of a smooth-flowing, friction-free process. We go to the greatest lengths to ensure that our payment processing strategy is fully optimized, delivering the very best results and experience to merchants and their customers, sidestepping fraud and delivering a wide range of payment options.
When it comes to the internal management of our payment processing commissions process, a little care and attention can, similarly, go a long way. When we focus on improving efficiency within our payment processing commissions workflows, we create a ripple effect that triggers benefits throughout our wider business.
In this short guide, we’ll take you through four of the core ways that you can take a proactive approach to streamlining your payment processing commissions, to improve key outcomes and avoid some common payment processing commission pitfalls. Ready to see some real improvements? Read on…
1. Automate Your Terminal Sales And Transaction Commissions
In recent years, automation has had a transformative effect on just about any industry you care to name -– and when it comes to managing your payment processing commissions, it represents a significant opportunity.
Let’s start by considering the alternative. Manually tracking your terminal sales and transaction commissions in a non-automated system is time consuming at best. At worst, it’s inaccurate and limiting, especially in terms of your ability to dependably scale. For some businesses, spreadsheets may have proven an adequate tool for commission management up until a certain point – but the scales are easily tipped, and if growth is to be welcomed and easily accommodated, their ability to keep pace with the demands of real acceleration is dubious.
Automation brings the added advantage of drastically reducing the margin for human error within your system, pulling through data points with perfect accuracy, with no lag time or margin for misinterpretation. Working with a system that enables this kind of data handling means you’re going to gain more clarity, and this can be translated into better agency transparency, giving a more accurate and realistic overview of performance and helping to forecast future success on their part.
In terms of the elements of your payment processing commissions that can be processed, look for a solution that enables agent mapping (meaning that the correct sales and transactions will be automatically allocated to the agent responsible) and clawbacks (for easy and accurate remuneration, if a merchant churns.)
Make It Happen
Commissionly is a commission management platform that enables full automation. In terms of its specific suitability for the payment processing sector, you’ll be able to implement manager, agent and sub agent commission hierarchies with ease. Splits between agents in terms of transaction report commissions can also be handled automatically by the platform.
2. Integrate Your CRM
Knowledge is power – and this is especially true when it comes to the easy interpretation of the data that your commission management systems generate. In order to ensure that you’re getting the most actionable insights from your payment processing commission data, it’s important to avoid silos. The answer? Smart integrations that link your solutions and ensure that information can flow freely, giving you the clarity you need to make progress and improvements.
Integrating your CRM into your commission management solution carries a whole range of benefits. For a start, you’ll gain much better visibility of any emergent trends and patterns – helping you to act swiftly to amplify any positive impact. Conversely, you’ll also be more likely to receive an “early alert” to any developing issues, giving you a chance to take evasive action. Better access to data also means better future forecasting (as previously mentioned, a big benefit when it comes to building up trust and retention amongst your agents.)
Overall, a dependably integrated CRM will enable you to be more operationally efficient, with instant access to to precise stats and data, as and when you need it – all updated in real time with no need for manual input, and guaranteed accuracy.
Make It Happen
Commissionly is designed to integrate perfectly with a wide range CRMs, from Salesforce and Freshsales through to Excel and Google Sheets. So, however you currently manage your CRM data, you’ll be able to rely upon a boost to the clarity and practical insights you’re able to achieve.
Learn more about how Commissionly is adapted to serve the Payment Processing industry
3. Formalise Your Reporting Cadence
Another big benefit that you can bring into play when looking to streamline your payment processing commissions is a more formalised reporting cadence. With easier access to your data, there are many benefits to be gained by scheduling more regular reporting. Having standardised “check in points” helps refine your performance assessment and the adjustment of your forecasts and ongoing strategy.
Time won back via automation can be better leveraged here, as you are released from the tedium of manual input and instead can focus on the areas of your process that would benefit from attention. This is where real strategic improvements can start to be seen – helping drive better revenue outcomes and ensuring that your commission management solution is earning you a great return on investment.
Make It Happen
Commissionly is designed to make it easy to produce detailed transaction reports for your payment processing commissions. Parameters are fully customisable, and we offer a wide range of custom templates to suit all processors and help with flawless data import and help you identify patterns with ease and confidence.
4. Invest In Your Agents
Finally, let’s unpack the final piece of the puzzle – the impact that your agents have upon the efficiency and impact of your payment processing operation. Agents’ experience has a big part to play in terms of contributing to your operational effectiveness and efficiency. Their success and performance depends on more than initial onboarding and training, and yet for many operations, this is typically the extent of the investment they’ll experience.
There’s a need to establish loyalty – and as with any commission based model, this depends upon their faith in the opportunity you represent for them.
Make It Happen
Commissionly gives you the opportunity to actively improve your agent relationships – with time won back through automation, and better insight obtained through improved reporting and integrations. Build a reputation to be proud of, reducing the burden of acquisition, reducing agent churn and building a reliable and experienced network to help your business grow from strength to strength.
Conclusion
With the rapid and ongoing acceleration of digital payments, the payment processing industry looks set to experience many opportunities and challenges in the year that lies ahead. The providers who thrive will be those with the bandwidth to adapt and evolve alongside the industry – not those who are still hindered by manual process and endless, error-prone spreadsheets.
With greater clarity (from easier access to more reliable data) and more time (saved via smart automations) to invest in their agent retention, the providers relying on Commissionly to streamline their Payment Processing Commissions can expect to drive real operational improvements.