Purpose
This playbook helps Merchant Support proactively assist
merchants based on patterns found in monthly funding activity.
This is not a sales campaign, a performance review, or an attempt to pressure
merchants into generating more revenue for us. Funding activity is simply an
internal signal that helps us decide who may benefit from the right conversation
at the right time.
The goal: identify merchants who need relationship management,
training, re-engagement, troubleshooting, or reinforcement—and approach them in a
way that is genuinely useful.
Until the new merchant portal is complete, lender funding data is received in
monthly reports and manually associated with merchants. The reports are not tied
directly to HubSpot or the current portal, so merchant identification, outreach,
and documentation must be completed manually.
Core Principles
1
Use the data internally
Funding data determines who should receive outreach. It should not become the
centerpiece of the merchant conversation.
2
Lead with support
Every conversation should be framed around helping the merchant succeed,
remove friction, train staff, or use financing more effectively.
3
Capture what we learn
The value of outreach is not only the call itself. Support should document
the reason behind merchant success, decline, inactivity, or re-engagement.
Monthly Process
Leadership reviews the lender funding report, organizes merchants into actionable
groups, and provides Support with a list and a clear conversation objective.
Review the monthly funding report
Evaluate each merchant by loan count, funded volume, recency, consistency,
and month-over-month direction.
Assign the merchant to an outreach category
Each merchant should be placed into the category that best explains why
Support is reaching out. A merchant may occasionally fit more than one category.
Manually locate the merchant in HubSpot
Because there is no association key, Support must search by merchant name and
confirm the correct company or contact record before beginning outreach.
Complete the outreach
Use the recommended objective and conversation focus for the assigned category.
Document the outcome in HubSpot
Add clear notes and apply the most relevant outcome or reason code so future
follow-up is based on what the merchant actually said.
Merchant Sucess Classification
These categories tell Support why the merchant is on the list, what the goal of
the conversation is, and where the check-in should be focused. Please update the company property labeled: Merchant Success Classification with the current category.
VIP Producers
High and/or consistent producers
- Goal
- Strengthen the relationship and protect a valuable partnership.
- Conversation focus
- Business updates, platform feedback, training needs, resources, future plans, and what is working well.
“We wanted to check in and see how things are going on your end. Is there
anything we can provide to better support your team or your financing process?”
Rising Stars
Merchants gaining momentum
- Goal
- Reinforce success and understand what has recently improved.
- Conversation focus
- Changes in sales process, staffing, offers, presentation methods, or marketing that may be driving stronger results.
“It sounds like financing has been gaining some traction for your business.
What has been working well lately, and is there anything we can do to help you
keep that momentum going?”
New Producers
Recently funded their first loan
- Goal
- Help the merchant move from the first success to repeatable usage.
- Conversation focus
- How the first experience went, any confusion, staff comfort, presentation process, and next-step support.
“Congratulations on getting financing working for one of your clients. We
wanted to check in while the experience is still fresh and make sure everything
went smoothly.”
Consistent Producers
Steady month-over-month activity
- Goal
- Maintain the relationship and confirm the merchant has what they need.
- Conversation focus
- General business check-in, new staff, process changes, resource needs, and platform questions.
“We’re doing a quick partner check-in and wanted to make sure your team has
everything it needs. Has anything changed in your business or sales process
recently?”
Cooling Off
Noticeable decline in recent activity
- Goal
- Identify obstacles before the merchant becomes fully inactive.
- Conversation focus
- Staffing changes, seasonal slowdown, sales-process changes, customer qualification, technical problems, or lost confidence.
“We wanted to check in and see how business has been lately. Have there been
any changes with your team, your offer, or the way financing is being presented?”
Dormant Producers
Previously active, now inactive
- Goal
- Reconnect, determine whether financing is still being offered, and remove barriers to re-engagement.
- Conversation focus
- Current business status, program usage, refresher training, new staff, marketing materials, and technical access.
“It has been a little while since we connected, so we wanted to see how things
are going and make sure your team still has everything it needs to offer financing.”
Big Ticket Merchants
Lower loan count, high funded volume
- Goal
- Provide high-touch support suited to larger transactions and longer sales cycles.
- Conversation focus
- Deal structure, client experience, approval expectations, larger-ticket presentation, and platform support.
“We wanted to check in on how financing is fitting into your larger client
transactions and whether there are any parts of the process we can help improve.”
One-and-Done
Funded once but did not repeat
- Goal
- Understand what prevented a second success and help financing become repeatable.
- Conversation focus
- The first experience, whether financing has been offered again, staff confidence, lead quality, and process confusion.
“We wanted to follow up on your experience using financing and see whether
your team has had other opportunities to present it since then.”
Conversation Guidelines
These conversations should feel like merchant support—not surveillance with a headset.
Do
- Ask open-ended questions.
- Listen more than you speak.
- Offer practical help.
- Thank the merchant for the partnership.
- Offer training, resources, or follow-up when appropriate.
- Document the real reason behind the merchant’s current situation.
Do Not
- Quote loan counts or funded volume.
- Say the merchant is declining, inactive, or underperforming.
- Compare one merchant to another.
- Make the conversation sound like an audit.
- Pressure the merchant to “produce more.”
- Use internal category names in the conversation.
Remember: the funding report tells us who may benefit from a
conversation. It does not become the conversation itself.
HubSpot Documentation
After each outreach attempt, add a clear note to the merchant record and capture
the primary outcome.
Notes should include who was contacted, the method of outreach, what the merchant
reported, what support was offered, and any follow-up that is required. The name of the company property in hubspot is: Merchant Success Challenge(s)
Financing working well
Staff turnover
Needs training
Not presenting financing consistently
Seasonal slowdown
Technical issue
Customer qualification challenges
Business focus changed
Wants additional financing options
No concerns identified
Support Outreach Checklist
| Step |
Required Action |
| 1 |
Review the merchant’s assigned category and outreach objective. |
| 2 |
Search for the correct merchant record in HubSpot and confirm the match. |
| 3 |
Review recent notes, contacts, onboarding status, and known issues before outreach. |
| 4 |
Reach out using the category’s conversation focus—not the internal funding data. |
| 5 |
Offer a clear next step when support, training, or resources are needed. |
| 6 |
Document the outcome in HubSpot and assign the appropriate reason code. |
| 7 |
Create or schedule any required follow-up according to normal Support procedures. |
Long-Term Objective
This manual process is the foundation for a future Merchant Health program.
The categories, conversation goals, and outcome codes developed now will help
define the business logic used once funding data is connected directly to the
new portal and CRM.
Until then, the objective is simple: turn a static monthly lender report into
useful merchant conversations, better support, stronger relationships, and
clearer insight into why merchants succeed, slow down, or disengage.
