Merchant Sales Podcast

It's a new twist on an old strategy: merchants earning reward points for card payments processed. "We're seeing merchants who are wiling to sign long-term contracts," because of this type program, Jeff Moskowitz, Co-Founder of Tuzo Rewards explains in this week's featured interview. And stick around for more sales tips from Rich Norton and Patti's reporting on what's up with the Fed's planned debit interchange haircut.

That's what Dee Karawadra is hoping is the case for the CRM he's building at ImpactTechLab - a CRM ISOs can use to streamline operations, he explains. Plus get sales tips from merchant sales guru Rich Norton. And stick around for Patti's reporting on state initiatives to rein in interchange.

This week James & Patti interview industry attorneys James Huber and Matt Luciani on the proposed $30 billion legal settlement Visa and Mastercard just inked with retailers to make a longstanding lawsuit go away. Then James interviews uber-salesman Rich Norton on mastering the one-call close, and Patti reports on research into consumer and business payments preferences.

In this new age of integrated payments, point of sale systems, and ISVs, sales professionals are losing their edge. The key to growth is still closing business. In this episode, James shares 10 key characteristics of closers and breaks down the closers mindset. Optimize your own sales performance, or the performance of your sales team.

The Merchant Lifecycle - Future-Proofing Your Portfolio by Merchant Sales Podcast

Join James Shepherd, Ben Ross of Green Payments and Jeffrey Sanders Of Union POS to discuss the high volume venue opportunity. These include bars, food service, event venues and many others. During this event we will be sharing the keys to prospecting and selling these large venues and rolling out a free video training program James created in partnership with Green Payments and Union.

"Everyone is looking at monetizing payments," says Brian Abernethy of Utopaya. But you have to understand the tradeoffs. Plus James talks about prospecting ISVs and Patti has an update on the Fed's plan for capping debit interchange.

Selling point of sale systems has become a crucial component of a growing payments portfolio. But there are challenges! How do you know which system to offer? How do you demo complex systems and close deals? What does the installation process look like? For this event, I will be joined by Ben Ross of Green Payments to discuss these an other challenges related to selling point of sale systems in 2024 and how Green Payments has structured their organization to specialize in point of sale deals. Learn how you can build a portfolio of point of sale solutions in 2024!

"It's not for everybody," explains Vigyan Kaushik, CEO at Quantic, a cloud-based POS solution firm. "Mostly it's for organizations that are looking to create brand awareness and sell something they own." Also this week, James offers some ground rules for focusing on growing a team and taking your company to the next level.

"In a lot of cases we're simpler and more efficient," says Ryan Rose of gift card company Factor4 in this week's featured interview. Plus, James continues his multi-part interview on selling merchant services with uber salesman Rich Norton, and Patti has an update on the a merchant lawsuit challenging interchange.

Recasting Merchant Services with Embedded Payments by Merchant Sales Podcast

Get the inside scoop on Fluid Pay's cloud-based gateway. "We are API first," said Nick Cucci, Co-Founder and COO. Also, Fluid Pay will always remain behind the scenes, he adds, as the company has no interest in poaching clients. Then stick around for a conversation between James and Rich Norton concerning opportunities for newbies in merchant services. "This can a big as you want it to be," says Rich. And don't miss Patti's reporting on the government's war on junk fees and the potential implications that could have for differential pricing.

"Timing is everything," says Blake Wilson of Phase 3 during this insightful discussion with James about when and how he decided to strike out with a partner and build an ISO business from scratch. Then James continues his series on overcoming common objections by offering vertical-specific software paired with dual pricing. And Patti reports on the demise of Google Pay.

Generate extra revenue in the process. Merchants have until May 31 to apply for their share of a $5.5 billion class-action settlement with Visa and Mastercard. Collectively can help agents help merchants claim their share of that settlement, while also generating agent revenues. Louis Teplis, CEO at Collectively, provides the details. Then stick around for James's thoughts on working smart vs. working hard, and Patti's reporting on the latest consumer spending data. Visit ccsalespro.com/settlement to learn more.

Tune in this week to get a lawyer's take on protecting your merchant portfolio from (upstream and downstream) poachers, and upstream partners who hold back residuals. "Think of who you're doing business with," says Eugene Rome of Rome LLP. Then stick around for James's advice on overcoming objections around dual pricing through vertical-specific solutions, and Patti's reporting on Visa's cybersecurity investments.

"As ISOs we need to stop being generalists and start being specialists," Elaina Smith of Secure Bancard explains in this in insightful discussion with James on what the future holds for ISOs. Then James talks about how vertical-specific solutions can 86 cost objections, and Patti has an update on the BNPL market.

"Selling payment processing requires always being on the lookout for better and more streamlined solutions," explains Russ Hayes, Pinnacle Business Products, in this week's featured interview. James continues on the theme of B2B, which he describes as "primed" for the 1099 distribution model, and Patti reports on the escalating cost of financial crime compliance.

Particularly 1099s. "Selling POS is more important today than it ever was," says Dustin Magaziner, Founder & CEO at PayBright. Learn what PayBright is doing to help 1099 agents adjust to this new reality. James follows that with insights for managing and running a 1099 team, and Patti has a report on Sen. Durbin's latest doings in Washington. Learn more about Paybright here: https://www.gopaybright.com/join-our-team

Fresh off the sale of the ISO Beyond, industry veteran Michael Peters explains what goes into building and executing an exit strategy for a payment processing ISO. "You need to have full command of the sales model and what drives revenues," he advises. Then James talks about the power of telemarketing in today's marketplace, and Patti reports on the acquisition of Discover by Capital One and what it means for competition.

Crypto is on fire, and crypto payments are no longer a one-off. "We're seeing a lot of activity in niche markets, especially for high-ticket items," Eric Brown, CEO at Blockwyre, explains in this week's featured interview. Blockwyre has developed a suite of blockchain tech, from digital wallets and payments to digital asset custody and partners with ISOs and agents. Then stick around for James's advice for creating demand to support your prospecting efforts, and Patti's reporting on new surcharging regulations for merchants in New York.

Learn how Netevia is helping ISOs and agents rewrite the merchant sales playbook to include banking services as new sources of residual income. "We see massive opportunities," said Vlad Sadovskiy, Netevia's CEO. Than stick around for James's take on value-added services for sub-verticals, and Patti's reporting on a new surcharging law in New York.

Learn how and why Dejavoo Systems has positioned itself as a Fintech for ISOs. "Our job is to help them compete better than they can on their own, by providing new technologies for their agents' tool boxes," explains industry legend Mony Zenou, the firm's founder and CEO. Then James offers a new model for using telemarketers to get solid merchant leads, and Patti has an update on the social media platform X's plan for taking on PayPal.

"There are a variety of ways cannabis dispensaries can take payments," explains Glen Kaplan of Charge Today. Discover what Charge Today is doing to support merchant accounts within this controversial vertical. James continues on the verticalization theme with some insights on stealing customers from Square. And Patti wraps up this week's podcast by reporting on a class action lawsuit brought against Visa by ISOs challenging the card company's surcharging and cash discounting rules.

Learn about the future of ISO sales and marketing from the vantage of industry veteran Allen Kopelman. "Business owners are looking for partners. If we have the right products, they will pay," says Kopelman, CEO at Nationwide Payment Systems. James follows that with his take on why content marketing is so important for ISOs and agents, and Patti reports on a movement afoot in Washington to regulate fintech firms that offer payment services.

Discover how Josh Holden, agent owner at CardConnect, is building a team of local agents to sell complex payment processing solutions. Plus James has the skinny on getting outside capital and Patti reports on how surcharging and cash discounting are getting caught up in the federal government's campaign against junk fees.

This week Patti has a one-on-one with James, discussing his success strategies, and how sales reps can chart their own successes in payment processing. Then Patti reports on the Goldman Sachs-Apple split.

If you're selling payment processing with any form of dual pricing, you also should be offering check processing, say Travis Powers, Vice President of Partner & ISO Relations at CrossCheck. Discover the residual opportunities available with modern check services in this featured interview. Then James discusses the ins and outs of scaling a business, and Patti reports on opposition to credit card routing legislation.

Offer restaurants the ability to receive and manage delivery orders from multiple services using a single interface, says Thibault Le Conte, Founder of OrderOut. "We provide seamless Clover integration, and there's an API for ISVs," he notes in this week's interview. James follows with some insights on additional verticals where there is growing demand for delivery, and Patti reports on Apple's latest legal woes.

watch this replay of the special live event where we will discuss high risk processing and how to build a portfolio in this profitable segment of the industry. We will also be giving away James' latest eBook on this topic that has been created with the help of Maverick, who is the sponsor of this event. James will be interviewing Ben Griefer, COO at Maverick to discuss the best practices to find, sell and service high risk merchants. As our industry continues to shift towards card not present, there has never been a better time to understand how high risk processing works and explore the best ways to build a profitable book of these merchant accounts.

The challenge is in backing up agents with reliability and expert support, explains Ben Ross, COO at Green Payments, an ISO built around the 1099 sales model. "We consider ourselves an independent support organization," Ben added. Then James continues the theme, discussing what processors need to be doing today if they want to be successful with 1099 agents, and Patti wraps up the episode with a report on the BNPL market. [email protected]

Discover what Greg Myers has learned from 250+ interviews on his Leaders in Payments podcast. Plus James talks about an ISO Alliance initiative that dramatically increases good sales leads, and Patti reports on the dynamism of the payments processing industry.

Learn about Axium, a new Android-based terminal line from Ingenico, the company's strategic partnerships like the one Ingenico has with Payroc, and the company's vision for the future. "The payments industry is growing by leaps and bounds," says Tim McWeeney, head of U.S. indirect acquiring and ISO sales at Ingenico. James follows the interview with a briefing on the explosion of card-present ISV solutions, and Patti wraps up the episode with a report on the CFPB's plan to regulate non-bank payments companies, like PayPal and CashApp.

Compliant Surcharging is more popular than ever with card not present merchants, but reconciliation with Quickbooks can be a challenge. In this webinar, I am joined by Biller Genie President, Garima Shah to discuss how to make Surcharging work for these merchants and the process they went through to design and implement a seamless, processor agnostic surcharging integration with Quickbooks. There is a huge market segment of merchants who are invoicing their clients and uses Quickbooks. This market is largely untapped by the ISO / Agent community and surcharging is your best chance at generating interest. Join me to talk about this opportunity and how you can build a solid book of business while helping these merchants cut costs.

HotSauce POS is a processor-agnostic restaurant POS solution built for ISOs and agents to sell, Kai Hsu tells James & Patti in this week's featured interview. "We don't compete with the people feeding us," the HotSauce CEO said. Then James talks about how confidence and expertise add up to sales success, and Patti reports on a new pay-by-bank solution from Chase and Mastercard.

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 discuss how each stage should be handled to create an overall sales experience that works for the merchant.

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 on a class-action lawsuit alleging PayPal violates state and federal antitrust laws.

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 that over Big Tech's mobile payments dominance.

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 acceptance and banking solution for small businesses.

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 Square and Toast.

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 make this model work. Join me along with Ben Griefer, COO at Maverick, to discuss how ISOs can leverage W2 sales professionals to build a profitable portfolio. If you are serious about scaling your ISO but are feeling burned out on the 1099 model or are looking for a way to take greater control over your growth objectives, this special edition of the Merchant Sales Podcast is for you.

"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 latest pricing move.

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 your own.