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Insights and Expertise

Why being known matters before

the first sales conversation

By Melih Oztalay reach traditional organic search results, they may have
SmartFinds Marketing already formed an initial impression of which providers
deserve consideration. The companies appearing repeat-
ne of the biggest changes I've seen over the edly across those sources gain an advantage long before a
past few years is how much research buyers sales conversation ever takes place.
do before they ever speak with a salesperson.
O Whether you're running an ISO, a payments Instead of visiting dozens of websites, a prospect can ask
technology company, a fintech organization or a mer- ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude or Perplexity to compare pay-
chant services business, prospects are learning about your ment providers, summarize industry trends, identify solu-
company and your competitors long before they reach tion categories, or explain the strengths and weaknesses
out. They're visiting websites, reading articles, reviewing of competing offerings. Those responses are influenced
LinkedIn profiles, asking peers for recommendations, and by information gathered from across the web. They are
increasingly using AI-powered tools to gather informa- shaped by articles, news coverage, executive commentary,
tion. By the time many prospects schedule a meeting, industry discussions and other third-party sources. In
they've already formed opinions about the companies other words, visibility is no longer just about being found.
they're considering. It’s about being recognized and trusted. This creates both
a challenge and an opportunity for companies throughout
In the past, companies had more control over how buyers the payments ecosystem.
learned about them. Today, information comes from ev-
erywhere. Industry publications, news articles, social me- Many organizations have excellent products, experienced
dia, online reviews, podcasts, association websites and AI- leadership teams and strong customer relationships. Yet
generated responses all play a role in shaping perception. when someone researches the company online, there may
be very little information available beyond the corporate
The question is no longer whether prospects can find your website. Meanwhile, competitors who consistently appear
company. The question is what they find when they do. in industry publications, announce partnerships, share
thought leadership and generate news coverage are creat-
This has always been important. What's changed is how ing a larger digital footprint that buyers can evaluate and
much information buyers can access before they ever con- trust.
tact a vendor, and how quickly they can form an opinion. Visibility creates credibility
AI is accelerating that process, influencing how compa-
nies are discovered, evaluated and ultimately considered. One mistake I see companies make is assuming they need
This shift is changing how companies build trust, estab- major news before they have something worth sharing. But
lish credibility and earn consideration long before the first many of the developments happening inside payments or-
sales conversation ever takes place. ganizations can help strengthen visibility and credibility.
Why this matters more than ever • A new processor partnership
• A gateway integration
Gartner research (https://tinyurl.com/3zve635r) found that
B2B buyers spend only 17 percent of their purchasing jour- • A product enhancement
ney meeting with potential suppliers. When multiple ven- • An executive promotion
dors are under consideration, any individual supplier may
receive just 5 percent to 6 percent of the buyer's total at-
tention. Think about what that means for organizations in • An industry award
the payments industry. By the time a prospect schedules a • A customer success story
meeting, requests a demo or responds to outreach, much • A security certification
of the evaluation process may have already occurred. Ar-
tificial intelligence is accelerating that trend. • Participation in a community initiative

To see this in action, search Google for a phrase such as Each of these creates an opportunity to tell a story and
"best merchant services company in the United States." In reinforce market presence. The companies that do this
many cases, the first thing a prospect sees is not a company consistently often benefit in ways that extend far beyond
website. Instead, they are presented with paid advertise- the initial announcement. Their content gets indexed by
ments, Google's Gemini AI-generated overview, compari- search engines. Their stories are discovered by prospects
son sites, reviews and industry content. By the time they researching solutions. Their executives become associ-

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