Independent Sales Organizations need all the help they can get in order to keep track of all their clients and to have enough time to find new ones. This is why transaction tracking and transaction reporting solution have been invented. They help any ISO correctly know at any moment how much money they are making from each individual client. But these tools are more than just glorified calculators. They are sophisticated pieces of software that can generate extensive reports that can help an ISO make his next move when it comes to portfolio expanding.
Understanding How Transaction Tracking Works
In the world of commerce knowing how to deal with the various challenges that might come up along the way is the key to success. Luckily, business owners and service providers don’t have to rely solely on their wits anymore in order to make it. They have the help of modern technology and innovative solutions on their side. All it takes is a little bit of patience and research in order to understand how to make these solutions work for you.
For instance, an Independent Sales Organization (ISO) or Merchant Services Provider as they are also known makes money by offering businesses various payment processing solutions. The ISO takes a commission from every transaction the merchant makes and that is why it is important for the ISO to have as many clients as possible. But having lots of clients means lots of transactions to keep track of, and that can be a bit tricky at times. Transaction tracking takes a lot of tie, if you don’t’ have the proper tools, not to mention the fact that some can get lost along the way due to human error. This is why tracking solutions have been developed.
Transaction tracking solutions are an ISO’s best friend. What they do is take care of keeping track of all the transactions all the ISOs’ clients made in a day. The software than calculates the percentage of every transaction that needs to be redirected to the ISO. This is called residual income and is what the ISO makes every day. You can think of the tracking solution as a very precise and high-tech score keeper, that can also generate complex statistics and reports.
Tracking transactions is maybe the most important tool an ISO has. Besides helping the ISO keep track of all the residual income it makes, the software can even come in handy when the ISO is looking to expand and get more clients for his portfolio. The software can be used to generate elaborate reports regarding already existing clients and thusly help the ISO better understand where it should expand towards.
How to Find the Best Transaction Tracking Software?
Transaction tracking software can be found very easily with a simple internet search. But that doesn’t mean that any search result is good for any ISO. In order to find the right solution for the right ISO, some research is required along with a more in depth understanding of what is expected of that ISO to do. There are a few ways any ISO can find the right software solution for him, freeing him in order to get more clients.
The first thing anybody looking for the right tracking solution should do is understand how that solution actually works. Luckily there are lots of forums, blogs and articles written by experts that break down and explain the system very clearly. If that still isn’t enough, one can visit any site offering tracking solutions and just write them an e-mail asking them whatever one might want to know. The people behind these products are more than happy to explain what their product does. After all, they are talking with a potential client.
After understanding how the software works and what the requirements are for using it, one should always check to see what his options are. Never just click on the first result in your Google search and hope for the best. You might find out later that there are better options out there with more useful features. So just take your time and look through what other options are out there.
Next thing to check is pricing. Any ISO needs a software solution that doesn’t cost him an arm and a leg, especially when starting out with a small portfolio. You have to make sure that you understand what you are paying for and that you actually need the features the software has. You can change solution providers later, but it would be a shame to waste money.
What Is Transaction Reporting?
Transaction reporting was created in order to better understand what the residual income of an ISO is made out of. This feature allows the ISO to closely follow where his money is coming from and why. Basically, the residual income an ISO makes is made of several small percentages from each transaction a client in his portfolio makes. And that is true. But correctly reporting those transactions is a bit more complex.
Transaction reporting software helps the ISO make sure that every transaction made by a client is correct and that his percentage is correctly calculated. Tallying up percentages without any help can be quite time consuming and can become boring. Not to mention the fact that human error can make an ISO lose money. This is why most of them use these reporting solutions.
There are a lot of ways in which transaction reporting can help an ISO, and its clients, grow and develop together. The important thing to understand is that this is simply a tool and some other measures have to be taken in order for it to be used properly. One of these measures is carefully reading the contract between the ISO and any financial institution it represents. Pay extra attention to any fine prints or varying percentages before signing any dotted line.
What Are the Advantages of a Good Transaction Reporting Solution?
The biggest advantage to a good reporting solution is that is does what it is supposed to do. That is precisely breaking down what your residual income is made out of and that it is all there. These solutions have been created in order to free up time and limit as much as possible human error.
Another big advantage of using a good reporting solution is that you can get detailed reports about any client and his transactions at any moment. That way you have more control over what your clients are doing and get a better picture of which ones are keepers and which ones can be replaced. Although the goal is to have as many clients as possible, you might want to resize your portfolio from time to time in order to weave out the unproductive ones.