As they compete for a seemingly shrinking piece of the merchant account pie, ISOs/MSPs are working harder than ever to establish and maintain durable advantage. “ISOs/MSPs can no longer compete on price, because merchants look beyond that in selecting their partners,” says Joe Kaplan, president of Innovative Merchant Solutions, an INTUIT Company. “If they came to you on price, they’ll leave you on price. Something else is needed to make them stick—and a durable advantage is one of those things.”

Also known as durable competitive advantage, sustainable advantage, and sustainable  competitive advantage, durable advantage is what makes some companies get ahead and stay ahead of the competition. “A competitive advantage is the reason why a customer prefers to buy from you vs. a competitor (or any other option available to the customer). A durable one is one that does not diminish over time,” explains Victor Cheng, a Redwood City, California-based independent advisor to technology company CEOs and a former McKinsey & Company analyst.

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