Merchant Sales Podcast

In this week's episode, James shares his thoughts on building a sales process that is relevant for 2024 and beyond. Our industry is more complex and competitive than ever, but many ISOs and ISVs are depending on outdated sales processes and trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. James will walk you through the 5 stages of a segmented sales process for payments and integrated technology and di...

Think in terms of influencer marketing, Mark Wagner, Founder and President of Disputifier, advises in this week's featured interview. (You can reach out to Mark for a list of influencers.) James follows the discussion by explaining how ISOs and agents should be choosing competitors, and Patti reports on a Fed proposal to slash the cap on regulated interchange.

Tune in as James & Patti discuss the evolution of the ISO channel with Alex Benjamin, Head of Global Business Development at Aevi. Aevi is a European firm that's making inroads on this side of the Atlantic as in-person payments experts. Then, James continues the theme with news of the ISO Alliance and its mission of helping small and mid-sized ISOs future-proof their businesses, and Patti reports...

In this week's interview, Jeff Shea of Under.oi. explains how processors and others can leverage their vast storehouses of in-house data and AI algorithms to readily create up-to-date risk models. In the next segment James relates a conversation with a restaurant owner regarding Dual Pricing. (Spoiler alert: savings, alone, are huge.) Then Patti wraps things up with a report on the CFPB's concerns...

POS systems may be all the rage, but terminals are not going away any time soon, explains Lori Pagnozzi, CEO and Chief Disruptor at HipFinity, the newest name in the terminal market. "We need to take ownership of the situation," Lori says. Also in this week's episode James makes the case for why a positive mindset leads to sales success, and Patti reports on Intuit's new all-in-one payment accepta...

Merchants' cost of card acceptance extend beyond interchange. Tune in as long-time industry veteran Ken Musante explains the complex web that is non-interchange pass-through fees, and how these drive up the cost of acceptance. James follows the interview with insights on how ISOs and agents can leverage their payments expertise beyond just selling, and Patti reports on some comings and goings at S...

With payment processing becoming more and more complex, there are huge benefits to hiring W2 sales professionals that you can train and manage. However, you must do it right if you want to create a return on the investment. The 1099 model is still effective at scale, especially for large, national ISOs, but I have found that local ISOs and those focused on selling technology solutions struggle to...

"With dual pricing, it all comes down to customer perception," insists Keith Sampson, CEO at the ISO Surv. Keith explains how Surv's dual pricing program is done "the right way." Also in this episode, James has tips for getting deals across the finish line, and Patti has a promising report on the ATM market.

Kevin Feagan, CRO at Everyware, talks with James and Patti about the firm's Pay by Text solution, which now incorporates BNPL, and the movement toward what he calls "conversational commerce." Plus, James offers a formula for managing follow-ups, and Patti reports on consumer preferences for omnichannel experiences.

Drew Rute describes how his company, Rate Zero, recovered from the disaster of "getting fired" by its POS system provider in this week's featured interview. Then James explains the value of offering customers integrated solutions rather than getting stuck on the notion of processor-agnostic solutions; and Patti reports on the expected impact of FedNow on debit card spend.

Industry legend Juan Ortiz shares his path to building a successful book of business. The right technology, a supportive team, and a zeal for prospecting were 3 keys, he says. Plus, James describes how to marry email lists and content marketing to enhance prospecting, and Patti reports on a new credit card surcharging law in New Jersey.

Sales reps face risks up and down the relationship chain, explains attorney Eugene Rome. In this week's featured interview, he describes some of the legal land mines that exist and how agents can protect against them. Plus, James discusses the power of campaign marketing, and Patti reports on PayPal's latest crypto play.

Lane Gordon of 733 Park lends his wisdom to discussions around payments companies purchasing ISVs. "You have to understand what's under the hood," he explains. Then James answers the question "What could be the death of the 1099 model?" And Patti reports on Sen. Durbin's latest push for interchange legislation.

This week, Vlad Sadovskiy, CEO at Netevia, talks with James & Patti about FedNow, the new real-time payment network just launched by the Federal Reserve. "The payment system is going to start running fast, just like the stock market," Vlad predicts. Plus, James offers his take on "core values" and what they should mean to a company and its employees. And Patti reports on the fallout from Toast's l...

More than $1 trillion in payments volume has shifted to vertical software companies over the past 5 years, says Caleb Avery, CEO at Tilled, and that figure continues to grow as software companies discover the value of payments monetization. Learn what ISOs and agents can do to take advantage of this trend. Plus James describes strategies for growing your ISO/agent business.

In today's episode, James interviews the CEO of CCStorage, a property management software company for Self Storage Properties. This is a company James owns and so the two share an insightful and transparent look at what it takes to build your own vertical specific software company with integrated payments. James follows up this interview with his thoughts on partnering with ISV's versus building y...

First, we had software-as-a-service. Now we’re seeing a similar phenomenon with hardware. Hardware-as-a-service is a great model that everybody in merchant services should be thinking about. Lavu, the sponsor of this Merchant Sales Insight, has paired the HaaS model with its restaurant management solutions, to drive significant revenue opportunities for sales reps. One reason why is that HaaS is a...

Streamlining merchant onboarding can be a challenge, especially with quick service restaurants, which, not surprisingly, put a lot of emphasis on simplicity and speed. Here are four keys to streamlining POS installations for QSRs.. (1) Seamless merchant account set-ups (2) Free equipment, or at least no upfront investment required for new hardware (3) Deployment processes and procedures designed f...

Learn the ins and outs of selling payment processing to card not present merchants who use quickbooks for accounting, and need a reliable invoicing system. James is joined by Garima Shah, President at Biller Genie as they discuss the unique needs of merchants who invoice for payment and how Biller Genie serves these merchants with a processor agnostic system that supports all major gateways while...

In last week's episode, James discussed the macro trends in the industry. Today, he shares the four biggest opportunities in payments that should be considered as you map out your competitive strategy for the next 5 to 10 years. He talks about card not present, B2B, ISV Partnership, and local W2 teams, with insights and practical steps to explore these opportunities.

In this special, two-part episode of the Merchant Sales Podcast, James shares seven important trends in the payments space of which you should be aware and which should impact your strategy. We talk about the industry as a whole and how software, capital, and alternate payment methods (among other trends) are changing the landscape.

Discover how to optimize day-to-day operations and scale up a white-glove approach to customer service through the marriage of tech and payments in this far-reaching conversation with Sebastian Builes, Co-Founder and CEO at Arcum. Plus, you're not going to want to miss James's demonstration of how ISOs and agents can use Chat GPT to grow their merchant portfolios.

Visa has been on a tear, issuing fines to acquirers that "trickle down" to ISOs and agents, who typically don't know what's going on, explains Industry Attorney Charles Bishota in this week's featured interview. Plus James fields a question about the ban on surcharging in Massachusetts, and Patti reports on trends in consumer payment preferences.

There is no one way to negotiate a compensation package with an ISO. But there are 4 considerations that are essential to the negotiating process. (1) Residual income (2) Upfront bonus money (3) Free hardware (4) Customer support PayBright, the sponsor of this Merchant Sales Insight, is really focused on providing free hardware to merchants, and the company has a reputation for superior customer s...

Elaina Smith, Chief Financial Officer at Secure Bancard, shares her secrets to success, as well insights on common mistakes that get in the way of growing an ISO. "Always surround yourself with people who are working at the same level you do," she counseled. Plus, James answers the question: "Should I milk my business, or should I grow it." And Patti reports on an FTC action against a payments com...