Finding the right business to work with is very difficult nowadays. Thousands of businesses try to sell to everyone, and you know what? This is a bad plan. It wastes a lot of time and a lot of money.
You need a good map to find the best businesses/shops. This map is called an ICP. It helps you see who will buy from you and stay for a long time. Let us learn how to build an ideal customer profile for merchant services today.
What Is An ICP In Merchant Services?
An ICP stands for Ideal Customer Profile. It describes the type of business that is the best fit for your service. It is not every business that could use payments. It is the ones that get the most value from what you offer.
In merchant services, a good ICP might look like:
- A restaurant group processing over $80000 a month
- An e-commerce brand that needs fraud protection
- A retail chain with multiple locations
The ICP answers one question, which is, “Who is the best kind of customer for us? When your team knows the answer, they stop wasting time on bad leads. When your merchant services lead generation is built around your ICP, the quality of every conversation goes up.
ICP vs. Buyer Persona In Merchant Services
An ICP and a buyer persona are not the same. The ICP is about the whole store. It looks at how big the store is, it looks at how much money the store makes, and it looks at what the store sells.
The persona is about the person. It is about the human you talk to, and then it looks at their job. It looks at what makes them scared and what makes them happy.
Let’s take a look at the comparison table below for better separation between them.
| Aspect | ICP (Ideal Customer Profile) | Buyer Persona |
| Focus | The whole store/business | The person you talk to |
| Looks at | Store size, revenue, products | Job, fears, what makes them happy |
| Purpose | Find the right store | Know how to talk to the owner |
| Helps with | Targeting the right customers | Closing deals effectively |
You need the ICP to find the right store, then you need the persona to talk to the owner. Both help you close more deals.
Why Merchant Services Companies Need A Niche ICP
If you help everyone, you help no one because every store is different. A car shop is not like a cake shop. They need different tools, so a niche helps you be an expert.
- Experts know the problems of one group.
- Experts can give better help.
- Stores trust experts more than the general public.
- It makes your ads work better.
- It helps you save money on ads.
- You can charge more if you are a specialist.
- It makes your work much faster.
If you work wth specific niche, by the time you become an expert and experienced. So when you talk to a client or retail owner, you can easily find their problems and give a solution on how they can benefit from your merchant services. This is how a niche ICP helps merchant services companies.
Data You Need Before Building Your ICP
You need facts to build a good list; do not just guess. Look at your past work, and you need to know these things:
- How much money does the store process?
- What kind of card machines do they use?
- Do they sell things online or in a shop?
- How many times do they have problems?
- How much profit do they bring to you?
- What kind of software do they use every day?
- How many workers do they have in the store?
After all of this, answer you, if they match your criteria or qualification, you can easily find who your ideal customer profile is and who is not.
Where to Source ICP Data for Merchant Services
You can find data in many places. First, look at your own computer because your CRM has many secrets. It shows who stays with you, and it also shows who leaves.
Then you can also look at the internet, look at big reports about stores, and talk to your sales team. They talk to people every day, and they know who is happy. You can also look at social media and see what store owners say there. This helps you learn what they like.
What to Do if You Lack Historical Data
If you are new, you have no history, it’s normal and okay. You can still make a plan. Look at other companies and see who they sell to. Look at their websites as well. Let’s see some points where you can exactly dig down to find data.
- Look at their happy customer stories.
- See what kind of shops they mention.
- Think about your own tools.
- Who would love your tools the most?
- Start with one small group of stores.
- Change your plan as you learn more.
- Ask new customers why they picked you.
Those are the most effective places you can find data when you see that you don’t have any history because you are new. Once you cross this beginning phase, you will be able to find data as well.
Step-by-Step Process to Build a Merchant Services ICP
Building an ideal customer profile (ICP) takes several steps and hard work with proper research and analysis. You just can say this is your ICP, and that is not. It’s not a cloth that you touch and can realize its quality. Don’t worry, as long as CallingAgency is with you, you can learn easily how you can build a merchant service ICP with the steps below. Let’s follow them to win.
Step 1: Analyze Your Best Existing Accounts
Look at your top ten customers because these are the ones who pay you on time. They do not complain, and they also use your tools a lot. Let’s talk more about existing accounts or customer profiles.
- Write down what kind of shops they are.
- Find out how they found you.
- See what they have in common.
- Do they all sell the same things?
- Are they all in the same city?
- Do they all have the same size?
This is your starting point. Analyzing your best existing customers’ profiles can help you build your ideal customer profile following the above ways.
Step 2: Define Firmographic Criteria
Firmographics are facts about a company because they are like a bio for a store. You can find the answers to the questions below, and then you will easily be able to create ideal customer profiles through firmographic data of merchant service takers.
- What industry are they in?
- How many years have they been open?
- How many locations do they have?
- Where is the store located?
- How many workers do they have?
- How much money do they make in a year?
- This helps you find stores that fit your size.
Those questions find the firmographic data, but in some cases, if any other questions can be helpful, add them as well. These are not the end of the world.
Step 3: Define Behavioral And Operational Criteria
This is about how the store works because some stores use old tools, and some stores use new tools. To make it easier, here are some key questions you can ask to understand how the store operates.
- How do they take payments now?
- Do they use a computer or a phone?
- Do they sell things on a website?
- Do they have a lot of returns?
- How many times a day do they sell something?
- Do they stay open late at night?
- This helps you see if your tools will work for them.
Answering it will show you a true running of the store daily. You also get to know if your tools and solutions will fit their work mode, plus it pinpoints any difficulties you may have when you first meet them. The more specifics you find out, the more ready you are to cater to their needs.
Step 4: Define Psychographic and Trigger Criteria
This step involves figuring out what the owner thinks and what circumstances might trigger them to open up. Their mindset, as well as recent changes, can provide you with hints regarding whether they might be interested or not.
To make it easier, here are some key questions to explore:
- Does the owner want to save money?
- Does the owner want to grow fast?
- Did they just open a new store?
- Did their old company raise their fees?
- Are they unhappy with their current bank?
- Did they just get a new computer system?
Answering these questions helps you spot the triggers that make a store ready for your merchant service solution. The more you understand what motivates the owner, the more effective your approach will be.
Step 5: Build Your Negative ICP
A negative ICP is a list of shops that are not a good fit for your services. Knowing who not to call saves your team time and protects your business.
Look out for these red flags:
- Shops that are too risky.
- Shops that do not make enough money.
- Shops that treat your staff badly.
- Industries you do not understand.
- Shops that always demand a lower price.
By avoiding these shops, your team can focus on the right leads. This keeps your sales efforts efficient and your business relationships positive.
Step 6: Score and Tier Your ICP
Not all leads are equal. Lead scoring and tiering help your team focus on the highest potential opportunities first.
Use this simple scoring system:
- Tier 1: Best leads, give 10 points.
- Tier 2: Good leads, give 5 points.
- Tier 3: Okay leads, give 1 point.
Call the Tier 1 shops first and spend most of your resources on them. This approach helps you close more deals faster and keeps your sales team motivated and successful.
Step 7: Validate And Refine The ICP
Your list is never finished, so you must check it often. Talk to your sales team and ask them if the list works. If the leads are bad, change the list. If you find a new group, add them.
The world changes so fast. Your list must change, too, so try new things every few months. This keeps your business growing and ahead of other companies.
How To Use Your Merchant Services ICP Operationally
Once you have built your merchant service ideal customer profile lists, you must use your list. Give it to your marketing team, and they can make better ads. Then give it to your sales team because they can find better people to call. Use the list to write your emails in a personalized way according to ICP.
You can also use it to fix your website. When you talk to the right prospect, they listen. They feel like you know them. And that is what makes things easy to sell. Your whole merchant service-providing company will work better together.
How Often Should You Update Your Merchant Services ICP?
You should look at your list every six months. Sometimes things change. Maybe a new law starts, or maybe a new machine comes out.
- Check your data twice a year.
- See if your best customers are still the same.
- Look for new types of stores.
- Remove stores that are not buying anymore.
- Ask your team for their ideas.
- Keep your map fresh and new.
- This helps you stay the best in your field.
If you don’t check and update your merchant service ICP, then you will fall behind your competitors and start losing revenue. So stay updated and win more leads.
Conclusion
Building an ICP is the best way to grow. It shows you who to call, who to skip. This approach saves you time and money. You will find better clients who stay longer. Your team will be more successful. Start building your list today with the guide in this blog. It is the smartest move for your business. Good luck finding your dream customers!
