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	<description>Resources for Agents selling Credit Card Processing and Merchant Services</description>
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	<itunes:summary>Resources for Agents selling Credit Card Processing and Merchant Services</itunes:summary>
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	<itunes:subtitle>Resources for Agents selling Credit Card Processing and Merchant Services</itunes:subtitle>
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		<title>How to Sell Residual from Your Merchant Accounts</title>
		<link>http://ccsalespro.com/2012/how-to-sell-residual-from-your-merchant-accounts</link>
		<comments>http://ccsalespro.com/2012/how-to-sell-residual-from-your-merchant-accounts#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 19 May 2012 01:00:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>jshepherd</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blog]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ccsalespro.com/?p=1244</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[One of the easiest ways to find out if you truly own the residual you are building is to ask your processor if they are willing to buy your portion of the future residual similar to the way North American Bancard does. I am going to start with a brief example of a &#8220;buyout&#8221; and [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>One of the easiest ways to find out if you truly own the residual you are building is to ask your processor if they are willing to buy your portion of the future residual similar to the way North American Bancard does.  I am going to start with a brief example of a &#8220;buyout&#8221; and then give you some tips on when, why and how to best take advantage of this quick cash resource.</p>
<p><a href="http://ccsalespro.com/other-resources/webinars" target="_blank">CLICK HERE</a> to join our webinar to discuss using buyouts or to see our schedule of upcoming webinars.</p>
<p>Let&#8217;s say that you make 20 sales this month with an average total profit of $60.00 and then let&#8217;s say that you get a 50% cut or $30.00 per month on average from each account (Like you would with NAB).  This means that for these 20 accounts you would receive roughly $600 per month in residual once they are all processing.  First of all, isn&#8217;t it awesome that you can give yourself a $7,200 per year raise with one month&#8217;s hard work?  Secondly, you may not quite realize how much these sales are really worth.  Let&#8217;s say that after 4 months you decide that you want to sell your portion of the residual back to North American Bancard.  In other words, they will give you cash up front and you will no longer receive any residual on the accounts that are part of the buyout.  </p>
<p>Don&#8217;t forget to Join the Conversation on   <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=4302139&amp;trk=hb_side_g" target="_blank"> LinkedIn</a>   &#8211;   <a href="http://www.facebook.com/groups/300526406673366/" target="_blank">Facebook</a>   &#8211;   <a href="https://plus.google.com/112007900433312176916/posts" target="_blank">Google+</a>   or    <a href="http://www.twitter.com/ccsalespro" target="_blank">Twitter</a></p>
<p>You will get 15 months worth of residual up front or in this case ($600 x 15) $9,000 up front, plus a potential 9 x $600 over the next 12 months depending on how many of the accounts stay with North American Bancard and how the residual over the next year compares with the buyout amount.  This is a total 12 month income of $16,200 from just 20 sales (not including the up front compensation on the accounts) or one month&#8217;s work, that is amazing and it is very realistic.  So, let&#8217;s go over some of the rules for doing a buyout through NAB and some tips on the financial aspects of the transaction.</p>
<p>1. An account must be active for at least 1 month in order to be included in the buyout.  However, they really need to be &#8220;seasoned&#8221; or active for 3 months otherwise NAB get&#8217;s a steal and you get bad deal, because they calculate the buyout amount using the average residual over the previous three months.  So let&#8217;s say you just sold someone and you get $12.00 residual the first month and $40.00 the next month (the first full month of processing) and then sell that account as part of a buyout, you will only get ((($0.00 (first month of no processing) + $12.00 + $40.00) / 3) x 15) = $260 up front for an account that if you would have waited 2 more months to sell, you would have received $600 ((($40 + $40 + $40) / 3) x 15)</p>
<p>2. The buyout does not effect your up front payout in any way.  You still get all your up front money and they do not take any of it back when you do a buyout, the buyout is in addition to the up front compensation and in addition to any residual that you made before the buyout agreement on that account.  They are only buying your future residual.  However, if you do have a negative balance on the bonus report from sales that cancelled or were never activated, they will take this out of the buyout before depositing the buyout funds into your account which usually takes place 3 to 6 business days after you submit the paperwork for the buyout.</p>
<p>3. The more accounts you sell, the better chance you have of receiving a second payment because if more than 10% of your accounts cancel, you are not able to get your second payout.  So, if you only sell 10 accounts, 1 of them can cancel within 6 months and that ruins your chances to get a second bonus.  Also, if the total residual drops more than 10% from the average they calculated at the beginning, you are also not able to get a second payout.  So, if the average residual when you made the sale was $600 per month and after 6 months the average was less than $540 during that 6 month period you will not get a second bonus because the residual dropped too much.</p>
<p>4. You can never sell more than 50% of your total residual in a given month and you can never do a buyout more than once every 3 months.  Even then, if NAB feels like your last buyout didn&#8217;t perform well, they reserve the right to decline any buyout or make you wait a while to submit another one so be careful not to dump your junk accounts on a buyout, it will come back to bite you when you don&#8217;t get your second payout and/or when NAB decides not to do any future buyouts from you.  As a general rule, do not count on a buyout, there is always a chance it may not be approved.</p>
<p>Ok, so now you know how the buyout works, let&#8217;s talk about when you should use it.</p>
<p>1.  When you are starting out as a way to replenish savings.  Let&#8217;s face it, this business can be really hard and you can&#8217;t always get the 15 or 20 sales you need every single month, you go through some tough times and need some cash to make it.  Most agents realize they are starting a business and are prepared to make it for 3 or 4 months on very little income however, sometimes you get to the end of the 4 months and realize you need another 3 or 4 months to get the business going, so do a small buyout and put $10,000 in the bank to replenish your savings.  Be careful that you do not go backwards by selling more accounts than you are generating in a given 4 to 6 week period.  In other words, if you got 30 accounts in the last 3 months, don&#8217;t sell more than 10 or 15 accounts because you ultimately want to build residual and you do not want to sell more accounts to NAB than you are adding.  </p>
<p>2.  When you are looking to stabilize your business.  Sometimes a buyout seems like a good idea if you are moving into an office, bringing on a customer service person, sub-agent or doing a marketing campaign but, resist the urge to do this!!!!!!!  Do not sell your accounts to grow your business, only sell your accounts to survive and stabilize your business.  Let&#8217;s think about the logic of this for a second.  Let&#8217;s say your current residual is $3,000 per month and you can&#8217;t afford to hire someone or pay rent on a new office so you do a buyout in order to afford these things which takes your residual down to $2,000. This is obviously not smart, since you now have even less money to fund these new business expenses.  If you have a mountain of debt from a previous business or if a family emergency is taking all of your time and some cash would help you make it through a difficult time, do a buyout and keep making sales.  </p>
<p><a href="http://ccsalespro.com/other-resources/webinars" target="_blank">CLICK HERE</a> to join our webinar to discuss using buyouts or to see our schedule of upcoming webinars.</p>
<p>So, when should you not do a buyout?  Don&#8217;t do a buyout in order to take some time off or to &#8220;take it easy&#8221; or &#8220;slow down a little&#8221; this is a terrible idea!  When you do a buyout you should feel almost in a panic to replenish the lost residual.  There is a huge temptation to do a buyout when things are a little tough but, resist this urge, otherwise things will go back and forth from GREAT!!! to TERRIBLE!!! every few months as you do a buyout and then as the cash from that buyout is used up.  Your ultimate goal is to grow your residual so don&#8217;t sell more than you are growing and if you do a sale, sell like a crazy person until you get that residual back.</p>
<p>Comment below with any questions on how this program works or the best way to utilize it.  </p>
<p>Don&#8217;t forget to Join the Conversation on   <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=4302139&amp;trk=hb_side_g" target="_blank"> LinkedIn</a>   &#8211;   <a href="http://www.facebook.com/groups/300526406673366/" target="_blank">Facebook</a>   &#8211;   <a href="https://plus.google.com/112007900433312176916/posts" target="_blank">Google+</a>   or    <a href="http://www.twitter.com/ccsalespro" target="_blank">Twitter</a></p>
<p>Have a great day!<br />
James Shepherd</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>3 Tips to Start Your Week Right When Selling Merchant Services</title>
		<link>http://ccsalespro.com/2012/3-tips-to-start-your-week-right-when-selling-merchant-services</link>
		<comments>http://ccsalespro.com/2012/3-tips-to-start-your-week-right-when-selling-merchant-services#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 14 May 2012 13:03:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>jshepherd</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blog]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ccsalespro.com/?p=1238</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Here are three quick tips to help you start your week off on the right foot as a Merchant Services Agent.  Also, you can click the &#8220;Download&#8221; button above to listen to the audio version or play the embedded video to see the power point presentation. Set Measurable goals: Before you start your week, set some goals [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Here are three quick tips to help you start your week off on the right foot as a Merchant Services Agent.  Also, you can click the &#8220;Download&#8221; button above to listen to the audio version or play the embedded video to see the power point presentation.</p>
<p><iframe width="420" height="243" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/_Cesr3y0FV8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p><strong>Set Measurable goals:</strong></p>
<p>Before you start your week, set some goals that you can measure and decide how you will measure them.  When I started out, I just carried a note pad with me and made a list of all the names of all the new business owners I met, then a circled them if I got a statement and put a check mark next the ones I sold.  This is an easy way to see your progress each week.</p>
<p>In the merchant services industry you should have 3 goals:</p>
<p>-How many new business owners will I meet this week?<br />
-How many statements will I obtain?<br />
-How many deals will I close this week?</p>
<p>*Also, you might decide to spend some time building your online presence, joining a local business owners group or some other activity that doesn&#8217;t take a lot of your time but, will help your business long term.</p>
<p>Don&#8217;t forget to Join the Conversation on   <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=4302139&amp;trk=hb_side_g" target="_blank"> LinkedIn</a>   &#8211;   <a href="http://www.facebook.com/groups/300526406673366/" target="_blank">Facebook</a>   &#8211;   <a href="https://plus.google.com/112007900433312176916/posts" target="_blank">Google+</a>   or    <a href="http://www.twitter.com/ccsalespro" target="_blank">Twitter</a></p>
<p><strong>Be Your Own Boss:</strong></p>
<p>When people say, &#8220;I want to be my own boss&#8221; they seldom mean that they actually want to boss themselves.  Usually this statement means &#8220;I don&#8217;t want anyone to be my boss.&#8221;  If you really want to be your own boss, do these three things because every boss does these:<br />
-Have a set work schedule and make sure your friends and family know that you still have a boss that you report to&#8230;YOU!<br />
-Have times each week when you &#8220;meet with yourself&#8221; to go over your progress towards your goals.<br />
-Have a budget for business expenses and stick to it!</p>
<p><strong>Decide to Stop Deciding:</strong></p>
<p>To many agents make it impossible to succeed because they are constantly deciding if they will remain committed to their business or not.  Make a long term commitment and then stop deciding.  Stop asking questions like:<br />
-Should I be looking for another job?<br />
-Should I consider switching to another processor?<br />
-Am I really a good sales person?<br />
-Do I know enough about this business to get started?</p>
<p>Take some time right now to nail these things down and decide when you will allow yourself to reconsider them.  If you do this, your mind will be clear of doubt and you will be ready to focus on the week ahead!</p>
<p>I will be out of town this week but, I will still be available via email at james@multi-merchant.com  I hope these short tips motivate you to have a great week!</p>
<p>James Shepherd</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://ccsalespro.com/2012/3-tips-to-start-your-week-right-when-selling-merchant-services/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
<enclosure url="http://www.ccsalespro.com/20_day_jump_start/podcast/How_to_Start_Your_Week.mp3" length="5242880" type="audio/mpeg" />
			<itunes:subtitle>Here are three quick tips to help you start your week off on the right foot as a Merchant Services Agent.  Also, you can click the &quot;Download&quot; button above to listen to the audio version or play the embedded video to see the power point presentation. - </itunes:subtitle>
		<itunes:summary>Here are three quick tips to help you start your week off on the right foot as a Merchant Services Agent.  Also, you can click the &quot;Download&quot; button above to listen to the audio version or play the embedded video to see the power point presentation.



Set Measurable goals:
     
Before you start your week, set some goals that you can measure and decide how you will measure them.  When I started out, I just carried a note pad with me and made a list of all the names of all the new business owners I met, then a circled them if I got a statement and put a check mark next the ones I sold.  This is an easy way to see your progress each week.

In the merchant services industry you should have 3 goals:

-How many new business owners will I meet this week?
-How many statements will I obtain?
-How many deals will I close this week?

*Also, you might decide to spend some time building your online presence, joining a local business owners group or some other activity that doesn&#039;t take a lot of your time but, will help your business long term.

Don&#039;t forget to Join the Conversation on    LinkedIn   -   Facebook   -   Google+   or    Twitter

Be Your Own Boss:

When people say, &quot;I want to be my own boss&quot; they seldom mean that they actually want to boss themselves.  Usually this statement means &quot;I don&#039;t want anyone to be my boss.&quot;  If you really want to be your own boss, do these three things because every boss does these:
-Have a set work schedule and make sure your friends and family know that you still have a boss that you report to...YOU!
-Have times each week when you &quot;meet with yourself&quot; to go over your progress towards your goals.
-Have a budget for business expenses and stick to it!

Decide to Stop Deciding:

To many agents make it impossible to succeed because they are constantly deciding if they will remain committed to their business or not.  Make a long term commitment and then stop deciding.  Stop asking questions like:
-Should I be looking for another job?
-Should I consider switching to another processor?
-Am I really a good sales person?
-Do I know enough about this business to get started?

Take some time right now to nail these things down and decide when you will allow yourself to reconsider them.  If you do this, your mind will be clear of doubt and you will be ready to focus on the week ahead!

I will be out of town this week but, I will still be available via email at james@multi-merchant.com  I hope these short tips motivate you to have a great week!

James Shepherd

 </itunes:summary>
		<itunes:author>CCSalesPro</itunes:author>
		<itunes:explicit>no</itunes:explicit>
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		<item>
		<title>How to Switch Someone with an Early Termination Fee</title>
		<link>http://ccsalespro.com/2012/how-to-switch-someone-with-an-early-termination-fee</link>
		<comments>http://ccsalespro.com/2012/how-to-switch-someone-with-an-early-termination-fee#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 11 May 2012 15:37:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>jshepherd</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blog]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ccsalespro.com/?p=1234</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This is just a quick post to give you some options on how to handle someone that you have to switch from another processor with an early termination fee and it was actually taken from a response to an agent&#8217;s question yesterday. He asked, &#8220;Is the average ETF $250 to $500 and how do you [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>This is just a quick post to give you some options on how to handle someone that you have to switch from another processor with an early termination fee and it was actually taken from a response to an agent&#8217;s question yesterday.  He asked, &#8220;Is the average ETF $250 to $500 and how do you sell someone with an ETF especially when the savings are not large?&#8221;</p>
<p>My response:  &#8220;Yes, $250 to $500 is the average range.  Keep in mind that NAB (North American Bancard) pays half the ETF up to $195 when the merchant processes $5,000 to $9,999 the first 30 days and 100% of the ETF up to $295 when the merchant processes 10,000+ the first 30 days, so that takes care of 60% to 70% of your deals. </p>
<p>On the rest, keep in mind that paying the fee makes sense for the merchant as long as they will have positive cash flow from the decision within a few months.  So, if we are saving them $80 per month which is not unusual it would make sense for them to pay a cancellation fee of $250 and really much more than that.  Also, you will be getting $200 to $300 up front commission so, if getting the deal means paying $100 or so of your money and the monthly profit justifies a decision like this, you could do that as well and I have found this to be very effective because the merchant sees how committed you are to getting their business and they see that you really are an independent business owner like them, not a robot for some big company that has to follow protocol. </p>
<p>On the few merchants where the savings doesn&#8217;t make sense for the cancelation fee, remember that to leave their old account open and just stop processing with it, will usually cost between $10 and $20 per month, so if we are saving them $40 or $50 per month and they have say 12 months left on a 3 yr agreement with a $500 cancellation fee, just give them a new terminal and have them put their old one under the counter for 12 months.  They will still save around $200 to $350 the first year even with paying the other processor to leave that account open and then they can cancel with no penalty and increase their savings the next year.</p>
<p>One last tip on how to pitch this, I often say, &#8220;Bob, do you have any investments like a 401k or retirement account?&#8221; They respond, &#8220;Yes&#8221; if they respond &#8220;No&#8221; just say &#8220;&#8230;but, you understand how investments work obviously since you are in business.&#8221;  Then say, &#8220;If I offered you a stock that was $500 per share and there was a guaranteed dividend payment of $80 per month on that stock, do you think this is a good investment since you will have your money back in about 6 months and after that it would be pure profit, I mean that is what 200% return on your investment?  Pretty good deal right?&#8221;  That is exactly what I am offering you today Bob, if you pay $500 to cancel your old processor and you continue accepting credit cards which I&#8217;m sure you will do, you will make a profit or in this case a savings of $80 per month (or however much they will be saving).  If you decide that you do not like our service, we have no contracts and your old processor would gladly give you the $500 back to earn your business so you really have a no lose situation here and your investment is literally guaranteed.&#8221;</p>
<p>Hope this helps!</p>
<p>James Shepherd</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>2 Quick Tips on Selling Merchant Services Part Time</title>
		<link>http://ccsalespro.com/2012/2-quick-tips-on-selling-merchant-services-part-time</link>
		<comments>http://ccsalespro.com/2012/2-quick-tips-on-selling-merchant-services-part-time#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 07 May 2012 17:14:26 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>jshepherd</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blog]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ccsalespro.com/?p=1212</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Before you read this article read Part 1 on selling Part Time.  In this video I want to give you some quick tips on how to use your limited time effectively. I will answer questions like, &#8220;How do I create inbound leads?&#8221;, &#8220;What advantages do I have selling part time?&#8221;, and &#8220;How can I sell large [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Before you read this article read <a title="Selling Merchant Services Part Time" href="http://ccsalespro.com/2012/selling-merchant-services-part-time" target="_blank">Part 1</a> on selling Part Time.  In this video I want to give you some quick tips on how to use your limited time effectively. I will answer questions like, &#8220;How do I create inbound leads?&#8221;, &#8220;What advantages do I have selling part time?&#8221;, and &#8220;How can I sell large accounts on a part time basis?&#8221;</p>
<p>If you prefer to listen to this article, click this link to subscribe to my<a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/multi-merchant-processing/id492171266" target="_blank"> iTunes podcast</a> or you can watch the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgIzZAJS08I&amp;feature=youtu.be" target="_blank">embedded video</a> below.</p>
<p><iframe width="420" height="243" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/bgIzZAJS08I" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>Before I get to the tips, lets talk about your competitive advantage over full time agents. That&#8217;s right, if you are working another job in addition to selling credit card processing you have one huge advantage over most full time agents. Your competitive advantage is &#8220;cash flow&#8221; or in other words, you are not as desperate for the up front money since your job is paying the bills. I am assuming your goal of working part time is to generate enough residual income to go back into the processing business full time and working another job allows you to focus on several huge generators of long term residual income that full time agents simply cannot afford to do because they need the money right now.</p>
<p><strong>1. Generate inbound leads through blogging and social media.</strong> I could write an entire book on how I have done this with my own business but, rather than do that, you can just read the book that I read! Here is a link to purchase &#8220;Inbound Marketing&#8221; on Amazon. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Inbound-Marketing-Google-Social-Series/dp/0470499311/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1336402036&amp;sr=8-1" target="_blank">CLICK HERE</a> (In case you are wondering, this is not an affiliate link, I make no money on links I include in my blog)  The bottom line is that this strategy requires patience and an investment of time over the long haul that you as a part time agent can afford to invest.</p>
<p>There are a few things I have done specific to our industry and I would like to share those with you in another post: <a href="http://ccsalespro.com/2012/sell-merchant-services-using-social-media-and-blog-articles" target="_blank">&#8220;Using Social Media and Blogs to Sell Merchant Services&#8221;</a></p>
<p><strong>2. Go after big accounts.</strong>  Take a minute to watch a video I created called <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tyj9mIDP6bE" target="_blank"> &#8220;Tips on Closing Big Deals&#8221;</a> to learn more about how I do this.  Again, these larger accounts do not create the quick up front compensation that full time agents must have when they get started and because of this, you will usually find that these larger accounts are much less competitive than smaller accounts.  It is not unusual for me to call a large client and hear that no agent has personally contacted them or visited their headquarters in over 6 months, even in markets where the small business merchant services is very competitive.  Most agents simply do not have the knowledge or business savvy to handle a large account but, with your long term time investment and access to my training resources and support, you are in an excellent position to go after these larger accounts.  One sale of a large account can easily generate $1,000 per month or more in residual and although they usually take 2 to 6 months to close, if you could get 2 of these in the next year you would be well on your way to coming back full time with a solid residual base.</p>
<p>Don&#8217;t forget to Join the Conversation on   <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=4302139&amp;trk=hb_side_g" target="_blank"> LinkedIn</a>   &#8211;   <a href="http://www.facebook.com/groups/300526406673366/" target="_blank">Facebook</a>   &#8211;   <a href="https://plus.google.com/112007900433312176916/posts" target="_blank">Google+</a>   or    <a href="http://www.twitter.com/ccsalespro" target="_blank">Twitter</a></p>
<p>I hope these short tips give you some ideas of how you can grow your business part time!</p>
<p>James Shepherd</p>
<p>james@multi-merchant.com</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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			<itunes:subtitle>Before you read this article read Part 1 on selling Part Time.  In this video I want to give you some quick tips on how to use your limited time effectively. I will answer questions like, &quot;How do I create inbound leads?&quot;,</itunes:subtitle>
		<itunes:summary>Before you read this article read Part 1 on selling Part Time.  In this video I want to give you some quick tips on how to use your limited time effectively. I will answer questions like, &quot;How do I create inbound leads?&quot;, &quot;What advantages do I have selling part time?&quot;, and &quot;How can I sell large accounts on a part time basis?&quot;

If you prefer to listen to this article, click this link to subscribe to my iTunes podcast or you can watch the embedded video below.



Before I get to the tips, lets talk about your competitive advantage over full time agents. That&#039;s right, if you are working another job in addition to selling credit card processing you have one huge advantage over most full time agents. Your competitive advantage is &quot;cash flow&quot; or in other words, you are not as desperate for the up front money since your job is paying the bills. I am assuming your goal of working part time is to generate enough residual income to go back into the processing business full time and working another job allows you to focus on several huge generators of long term residual income that full time agents simply cannot afford to do because they need the money right now.

1. Generate inbound leads through blogging and social media. I could write an entire book on how I have done this with my own business but, rather than do that, you can just read the book that I read! Here is a link to purchase &quot;Inbound Marketing&quot; on Amazon. CLICK HERE (In case you are wondering, this is not an affiliate link, I make no money on links I include in my blog)  The bottom line is that this strategy requires patience and an investment of time over the long haul that you as a part time agent can afford to invest.

There are a few things I have done specific to our industry and I would like to share those with you in another post: &quot;Using Social Media and Blogs to Sell Merchant Services&quot;

2. Go after big accounts.  Take a minute to watch a video I created called  &quot;Tips on Closing Big Deals&quot; to learn more about how I do this.  Again, these larger accounts do not create the quick up front compensation that full time agents must have when they get started and because of this, you will usually find that these larger accounts are much less competitive than smaller accounts.  It is not unusual for me to call a large client and hear that no agent has personally contacted them or visited their headquarters in over 6 months, even in markets where the small business merchant services is very competitive.  Most agents simply do not have the knowledge or business savvy to handle a large account but, with your long term time investment and access to my training resources and support, you are in an excellent position to go after these larger accounts.  One sale of a large account can easily generate $1,000 per month or more in residual and although they usually take 2 to 6 months to close, if you could get 2 of these in the next year you would be well on your way to coming back full time with a solid residual base.

Don&#039;t forget to Join the Conversation on    LinkedIn   -   Facebook   -   Google+   or    Twitter

I hope these short tips give you some ideas of how you can grow your business part time!

James Shepherd

james@multi-merchant.com</itunes:summary>
		<itunes:author>CCSalesPro</itunes:author>
		<itunes:explicit>no</itunes:explicit>
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		<title>Using Social Media and Blog Articles to Sell Merchant Services</title>
		<link>http://ccsalespro.com/2012/sell-merchant-services-using-social-media-and-blog-articles</link>
		<comments>http://ccsalespro.com/2012/sell-merchant-services-using-social-media-and-blog-articles#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 07 May 2012 15:28:54 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>jshepherd</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blog]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ccsalespro.com/?p=1214</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[If you are reading this article it is because you found me through my social media presence or my blog.  In a niche industry where I can only target agents who sell merchant services, I have had almost 50,000 YouTube views, I have 7,000 twitter followers (@James_Shepherd1) and I get over 4,000 visitors every month [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>If you are reading this article it is because you found me through my social media presence or my blog.  In a niche industry where I can only target agents who sell merchant services, I have had almost 50,000 YouTube views, I have 7,000 twitter followers (@James_Shepherd1) and I get over 4,000 visitors every month to this website.  What many of you may not know is that I learned all of this as a way to generate leads for my own credit card processing business.  Below I am going to share with you a simple list of procedures that I put in place a long time ago that generated a lot of business for me in my local community.  I have never spent 1 penny marketing online for merchants or agents and if you are willing to work hard and do the things I list below for an extended period of time, you can experience the same success.</p>
<p><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/bGiqs0Alnlc" frameborder="0" width="420" height="243"></iframe></p>
<p>Side note:  Just about everything I have learned about inbound marketing, I either learned or later found in this book. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Inbound-Marketing-Google-Social-Series/dp/0470499311/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1336402036&amp;sr=8-1" target="_blank"> CLICK HERE</a><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Inbound-Marketing-Google-Social-Series/dp/0470499311/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1336402036&amp;sr=8-1" target="_blank"> to get a copy of &#8220;Inbound Marketing&#8221;</a></p>
<p>There are a few things I have done specific to our industry and I would like to share those with you. This is a list of procedures you can follow to generate inbound leads through blogging and social media.</p>
<p>Don&#8217;t forget to Join the Conversation on   <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=4302139&amp;trk=hb_side_g" target="_blank"> LinkedIn</a>   &#8211;   <a href="http://www.facebook.com/groups/300526406673366/" target="_blank">Facebook</a>   &#8211;   <a href="https://plus.google.com/112007900433312176916/posts" target="_blank">Google+</a>   or    <a href="http://www.twitter.com/ccsalespro" target="_blank">Twitter</a></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Visit Blogger.com to create a free blog.</strong>  I recommend starting with blogger because it is free and because google hosts it and so it shows up in their search results faster.  Name the blog using the words of your nearest large city where you sell and the words &#8220;Merchant Services&#8221;  this will create a blog named yourcitymerchantservices.blogspot.com and this is a great way to start your blog. <strong> If you are on my team</strong> and consistently getting 12+ sales per month and you would like to do the things I talk about here, <a title="Contact Us" href="http://ccsalespro.com/contact-us-2" target="_blank">Contact Me</a> and<strong> I will pay my web designer to make you your own custom blog on WordPress</strong> (like mine) with your own domain name.  But, if not, you can easily use blogger to get started and see excellent results.</li>
<li><strong>Once per week, post a blog article with a title that matches a local search keyword that you want.</strong>  For instance, I might create a blog called, &#8220;Top 10 Mistakes Altoona Business Owners Make When Choosing Merchant Services&#8221;  This way, if someone types in &#8220;Altoona Merchant Services&#8221; into google, my article has a good chance of showing up.  I might also create a post like, &#8220;Why my Merchant Services Business is based in Claysburg Pennsylvannia&#8221;  Claysburg is a very small town which means I will not get much traffic to this post but, it also means that once or twice a month when someone does search for it, I would be at  the top of the results.</li>
<li><strong>Make your blog posts personal and interesting.</strong>  Post a blog about how much you enjoyed meeting a certain business owner and put in a plug for his business, then email them a link to the article saying, &#8220;I really enjoyed meeting you, I posted a blog article about my visit.  I hope you enjoy the article and I hope it sends some new business your way!&#8221;  This will go along way in taking a prospect and turning them into a client.  Don&#8217;t use the blog as a sales tool rather, use it to show that you are a professional, use it to drive traffic and then make sure your contact information is prominently displayed.</li>
<li><strong>Create a Twitter feed where you post once or twice per day</strong> about a business owner you met. This feed should be very possitive about how much you love your business, love credit card processing and should include some helpful tips along with a link to any new blog posts.</li>
<li><strong>Create a facebook business page and Google+ profile</strong> and do basically the same thing but,<strong> add pictures</strong> to your posts of businesses you went to, have an employee take a picture of you with a new client and ask their permission to post it online along with a plug for what a great business they have.</li>
<li><strong>Update your LinkedIn profile</strong> and follow my instructions in &#8220;<a title="Using LinkedIn to Generate Leads" href="http://ccsalespro.com/2012/using-linkedin-to-generate-leads" target="_blank">Using LinkedIn to Sell Merchant Services</a>&#8221; in order to generate new leads from that and also post links to new blog articles on LinkedIn and<strong> see if there are any groups you can join</strong> for your area like, &#8220;Small Business Owners in Altoona&#8221; would be a group I would want to join.  If there are not any groups yet, start one and DO NOT SELL IN THAT GROUP!!!  Simply post interesting business tips good business books, talk about business owners you have met in the area, etc. If you join someone else group become an active (but not annoying) participant in the group.</li>
<li><strong>Lastly, start reading up on video blogging and creating podcasts</strong> to see if this is something you could do.  All the same principles apply.  Create videos and descriptions that are geographic in nature and watch your videos come to the top of the search results for those keywords.  Create a podcast for &#8220;Business Owners in Mycity&#8221; and after a few months you might start getting some subscribers.</li>
</ul>
<p>Understand that it will be <strong>at least <em>3 months</em> of consistently doing everything I just mentioned before you will see any results at all.</strong>  Understand that it will be <em><strong>6 months</strong></em> before you really start to get significant traffic and realize that it <em><strong>could take a year</strong></em> before your content is creating a steady flow of 4 or 5 leads per month but, think about how much of an impact this could have on your business if you had<strong> 5 sales every month without even trying</strong>?  Think of what this would do for your reputation in your community?  Think of how many leads you would be getting in 3 to 5 years if you followed the procedures above consistently?</p>
<p>Take some time every week to begin building your online presence for your local community.  I personally stopped doing all of this about a year ago because the recruiting now takes most of my time but, I can tell you from experience there and also from experience in recruiting agents that these strategies and procedures do work.  They take a lot of time and it is very disheartening when you post your 10th article and realize that not one person has even looked at your site but, keep going.   Within 3 months google&#8217;s search crawler will notice you and you will start to creep into the search results.  Next thing you know you will have 40 or 50 business owners per month reading your posts, following your twitter profile and connecting with you on LinkedIn.</p>
<p>James Shepherd</p>
<p>james@multi-merchant.com</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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			<itunes:subtitle>If you are reading this article it is because you found me through my social media presence or my blog.  In a niche industry where I can only target agents who sell merchant services, I have had almost 50,000 YouTube views, I have 7,</itunes:subtitle>
		<itunes:summary>If you are reading this article it is because you found me through my social media presence or my blog.  In a niche industry where I can only target agents who sell merchant services, I have had almost 50,000 YouTube views, I have 7,000 twitter followe...</itunes:summary>
		<itunes:author>CCSalesPro</itunes:author>
		<itunes:explicit>no</itunes:explicit>
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		<title>5 Worst Reasons to Sell for a Processor</title>
		<link>http://ccsalespro.com/2012/5-worst-reasons-to-sell-for-a-processor</link>
		<comments>http://ccsalespro.com/2012/5-worst-reasons-to-sell-for-a-processor#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 03 May 2012 15:36:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>jshepherd</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blog]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ccsalespro.com/?p=1206</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Having talked with and provided training to hundreds of agents in the merchant services industry I have heard a lot of reasons why agents sell for their current credit card processing company rather than switching over to North American Bancard. Some of these reasons do make sense and there have been many times when I [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Having talked with and provided training to hundreds of agents in the merchant services industry I have heard a lot of reasons why agents sell for their current credit card processing company rather than switching over to North American Bancard.  Some of these reasons do make sense and there have been many times when I have advised an agent to stay with their current processor however, many times the reasons are not great and sometimes they make no sense at all.  Below are the top 5 Worst Reasons to stay with your current provider.</p>
<p><iframe width="399" height="233" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/SmbwaidW-eY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p><strong>5. &#8220;They are a local company and I need the local support.&#8221; </strong> As I discuss in the video above, if you are working for a local provider and you do not have an ownership interest in the business, you are actually working for your competitor unless you plan to remain small.  Eventually you will want to be the owner the top brand name processing company in your market and if you work for a local provider you will not achieve this goal.  I have people that have worked for me in my local market and their goal it to have a secure job.  If this is your goal, you should continue selling for a local provider but, if your goal is to build a business, you should become the local provider.</p>
<p><strong>4.  &#8220;My friend or family member got me into the business.&#8221; </strong> This can be a tough one!  Can you ask this person the tough questions like, &#8220;Am I an independent agent or a sub-agent?&#8221;  &#8220;Do I own the residual and would I continue to get paid even if I had an accident or moved to another business?&#8221; Along with many other questions.  Keep personal and business separate!  </p>
<p><strong>3.  &#8220;They provide me with appointment scheduled leads.&#8221;</strong>  Let&#8217;s face it, most of these &#8220;leads&#8221; are a waste of time.  Why would you spend all of the gas money to go to 3 leads per day that are 30 minutes apart and don&#8217;t really want you to show up anyway when you could literally walk around your local community and visit 15 to 20 businesses per day?</p>
<p><strong>2.  &#8220;They pay me so much up front money but, no residual.&#8221;</strong>  North American Bancard has the best up front compensation in the industry among processors that provide a true residual split.  Our agents make an average of $275 per sale up front.  Many agents tell me, &#8220;I get $750 or $1,000+ on every sale that I get!&#8221;  The only way to get this is by selling leases or by selling future residual and either one of these is going to damage your long term business and income.</p>
<p><strong>1.  &#8220;They give me a larger residual split than North American Bancard.&#8221;</strong>  Don&#8217;t be fooled by inflated cost structures and higher residual splits.  Most agents are choosing 80% of $20.00 per month in profit over 50% of $100 per month in profit.  It isn&#8217;t about what percentage of the pie you get but, rather how big of a pie you are working with.  NAB has a much lower cost structure and that has a huge impact not only on your residual but, your ability to remain competitive.  </p>
<p>Vist out <a href="http://ccsalespro.com/2011/become-an-agent" title="Become an Agent">&#8220;Become an Agent</a>&#8221; page today.</p>
<p>Thanks for reading!<br />
James Shepherd<br />
james@multi-merchant.com</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>How to Sell Point of Sale (POS) Systems to Small Business Owners</title>
		<link>http://ccsalespro.com/2012/how-to-sell-point-of-sale-pos-systems-to-small-business-owners</link>
		<comments>http://ccsalespro.com/2012/how-to-sell-point-of-sale-pos-systems-to-small-business-owners#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 27 Apr 2012 15:16:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>jshepherd</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blog]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ccsalespro.com/?p=1201</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Too often those involved in a particular industry are afraid to confront reality about the future of that industry.  Credit card processing is becoming more and more of a commodity every day.  A Commodity as defined in Wikipedia, is a product or service with significant demand that the market treats as &#8220;equivalent or nearly so [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Too often those involved in a particular industry are afraid to confront reality about the future of that industry.  Credit card processing is becoming more and more of a commodity every day.  A <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodity">Commodity</a> as defined in Wikipedia, is a product or service with significant demand that the market treats as &#8220;equivalent or nearly so no matter who produces it.&#8221;</p>
<p>More specifically, a commodity is something that has almost universal demand (everyone needs it) but, it is difficult to differentiate one service from another.  Electricity is a commodity.  When it was first introduced, it was a novelty and very expensive to have installed and serviced.  The up front costs and the differentiation between providers was enormous.  The contracts for service were long term and the government regulation was non-existent.  Today, it usually costs nothing to get electricity hooked up and started, there is never a long term commitment involved and the government highly regulates the industry.  That is what inevitably happens to a service that has universal demand with service needed only in emergency situations.</p>
<p>When the credit card processing industry was born, there was a high up front cost for equipment, long term contracts and no government involvement or regulations.   Today, most processors give the equipment out for free, require no long term contract and with the Durbin Amendment, the government has taken its first stab at regulating portions of our industry.  Add to this the experience of most agents in the field and you will learn that merchant&#8217;s today are motivated to buy primarily because of cost.  There are many other things that go into the sales process but, most of these are simply to obtain enough trust from the merchant to get them to trust that you are telling the truth when you say, &#8220;My service is cheaper.&#8221;</p>
<p>I believe it will be 5 or 10 years before our industry takes a serious turn towards regulation or commoditization but, I want to start preparing for this change now!  How can we add value and differentiate ourselves from the competition in this industry?  What services would add value to our clients and keep them from switching to another provider based only on price?  <strong>I believe POS System sales is the future for independent agents selling credit card processing. </strong> If you have ever tried to switch a client over from another service provider that had set up their POS System, you know just how difficult that can be.   POS Systems provide a realistic way for us to provide true value to our clients and over the next few months I will be rolling out some new training resources and partnerships that you can participate in (if you are on <a title="Become an Agent" href="http://ccsalespro.com/2011/become-an-agent">my sales team</a>) to offer POS Solutions to your client base.  In the mean time, here are some action steps for you to take:</p>
<p>1.  Get as many Credit Card Processing Clients as you can while we are still able to differentiate ourselves based on price and local service over the next 5 years+.  The more clients you have, the more powerful your position will be in the future as we offer added beneficial services to our client base.</p>
<p>2.  Start to familiarize yourself with the way POS Systems work.  Go on www.google.com and search for POS Systems or POS Software and look at our competition.  I personally like posnation.com, Micros and Quickbooks POS, to name a few that I have used in the past.</p>
<p>3.  Be prepared to fully engage in new training resources and change what you are doing now over the next few years to include value added products and services to help you differentiate from the competition.</p>
<p>One last side note.  There are some processors who are or who are thinking about offering POS Systems for free to clients who use their processing services.  I personally think this is a huge mistake and I do not recommend that you participate in a programs like this.  I was very close to making a deal with such a company and after further consideration, I realized how illogical this would be.</p>
<p>It would be like the electric company telling you that they wanted to charge you more for your electrical service but, in exchange, they would provide you with light bulbs, a microwave and an electric water heater.  It just doesn&#8217;t make sense.  Why would we offer the most valuable part of the equation for free? As merchant&#8217;s gain a better understanding of credit card processing, they will learn how to lower our margins to the bare minimum and that is inevitable but, POS Systems that provide inventory management, accounting, advanced reports, off site access and other valuable features should be presented as the most valuable part of the deal and therefore should make up most of the profit.  The credit card processing service should be only one part of a more complex and profitable deal.  Something we provide so cheap that they would never want to switch (which we already do without offering POS Systems).   Keep in mind that as an independent agent, you can offer enormous value to the merchant by learning your different POS Systems and offering on site training and technical support.  We will present you with an opportunity to charge for these services and make a completely separate stream of residual and up front compensation from the sale, installation and service of the POS Systems themselves.</p>
<p>Please post comments below with any feedback or thoughts you have.</p>
<p>James Shepherd</p>
<p>james@multi-merchant.com</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Selling Merchant Services Part Time</title>
		<link>http://ccsalespro.com/2012/selling-merchant-services-part-time</link>
		<comments>http://ccsalespro.com/2012/selling-merchant-services-part-time#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 20 Apr 2012 04:50:33 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>jshepherd</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blog]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ccsalespro.com/?p=1131</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[One question I get from a lot of agents in the credit card processing industry is, &#8220;How can I sell merchant services on a part time basis?&#8221;  When I started as a sales agent, I started full time with a processor that did not pay well and I very quickly ran through my savings.  I [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>One question I get from a lot of agents in the credit card processing industry is, &#8220;How can I sell merchant services on a part time basis?&#8221;  When I started as a sales agent, I started full time with a processor that did not pay well and I very quickly ran through my savings.  I got an evening job in order to bring home some money for about 6 months before I was able to go full time again, so I know what it is like to work this business part time.  Here are a few tips:</p>
<p><strong>1.  You can do this business full time or part time but not some of the time.</strong>   If you want to build your business, you will need to work on it consistently and continuously.  Decide ahead of time how much time you can afford to dedicate to your business, what level of service you can provide to your clients and then do that consistently.  Don&#8217;t do this business for 3 or 4 weeks then take a month off and do it for 2 months and then take 2 months off, etc.  Your clients will get upset, your sales pipeline will stay empty and your residual will never build.</p>
<p><strong>2.  Accept the fact that you will need the processor to provide most of the service.  </strong>Don&#8217;t tell your customers that you will always be available because you wont be.  Have a voicemail that provides the contact number to tech support and if a customer contacts you, you might need to call tech support and have them call the customer to handle the problem.  If y0u only have 10 or 20 hours per week to sell, you might need the processor to do the installation / reprogram and training over the phone so you can spend all of your time selling.</p>
<p><strong>3.  Get a job not a career, keep the main thing the main thing.  </strong>Before I started selling credit card processing services, I was making $70,000+ per year as a successful sales manager.  However, after I started selling in this business and had to get a part time job, I got an hourly, evening job paying $12.00 per hour plus commission.  It was a dead end job and that is exactly what I wanted.  It was really embaracing telling my friends and business connections about the job because it was a huge step down from the type of job I could get.  Many of my contacts said, &#8220;Come work for me if you need money!&#8221;  But, they didn&#8217;t want me to clock in and clock out remaining focused on my business, they wanted my focus, strategic planning and emotional energy, all of which were not for sale and were reserved for my business.</p>
<p>I once got some good advice from a successful business person, he said, &#8220;Think of your life as if you have a huge tank of energy and focus and every time you do something you drain something out of that tank.  You can&#8217;t be successful if you are spreading that energy and focus all over the place, successful people poor most of the contents of their energy and focus tank into one area.&#8221;  Business is hard and you should know that going in.  If you are not ready for that, you shouldn&#8217;t get into this business or any other business.  Be prepared to be broke and stressed but, don&#8217;t take the easy out.  Don&#8217;t allow yourself to take the career job that you get offered if your dream is to succeed in business.  A couple years ago my brother in law purchased a business from me that I had started from scratch and he asked me, &#8220;What is the hardest thing about being in business.&#8221;  Without hesitation I replied, &#8220;Staying in business and not taking the unlimited off ramps you are presented with.&#8221;  The skill, determination and self motivation it takes to be even slightly successful in business is worth a lot of money in the job place and honestly pays a lot better for the first 2 to 5 years of your business.</p>
<p>The merchant services industry is one of the best long term businesses you can find but, the toughest thing is sticking with it.  Are you prepared to do what it takes?  Are you prepared to cut back your expenses for your business?  Have you spoken with friends, family and your spouse or significant other about the sacrifices that must be made?  Are you ready to humble yourself and start back at the bottom?  <strong>What are you unwilling to do to keep your business alive?</strong>  I am unwilling to compromise my marriage or my relationship with God to keep my business alive.  If I felt God leading me in another direction or if my wife said she couldn&#8217;t deal with the business and felt I needed to step back from it, I would sell the business tomorrow.  Other than that, there is no task that I am too good to complete, no price I am not willing to pay, no amount of embarrassment I am not willing to endure and no amount of hours I am not willing to work to make my business grow and prosper.</p>
<p>I know I got a little off point with this article but, I feel like the only way to really succeed part time is to have a dream of going full time, because this business doesn&#8217;t sit well in the back seat.  This business must be a full time focus even if it is currently a part time work.  <strong>If you are working part time, stick with it!  It may take you 2 or 3 years of part time work to build a significant residual income but, it will be worth it if you can stay with it!</strong></p>
<p>Post a comment below this article if you have a story that would be an encouragement to others who are just getting started or share your commitment to your business to motivate the rest of us!</p>
<p>James Shepherd</p>
<p>james@multi-merchant.com</p>
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		<title>Stop Selling Three Year Agreements and Early Termination Fees!</title>
		<link>http://ccsalespro.com/2012/stop-selling-three-year-agreements-and-early-termination-fees</link>
		<comments>http://ccsalespro.com/2012/stop-selling-three-year-agreements-and-early-termination-fees#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 17 Apr 2012 02:55:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>jshepherd</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blog]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ccsalespro.com/?p=977</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As of today, North American Bancard agents can sell clients on a month to month agreement with no Early Termination Fee and still receive free equipment and full up front compensation!   Wow, I have been wanting to say that for about a year!   So, what does this mean for you as an agent? 1. More [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>As of today, North American Bancard agents can sell clients on a month to month agreement with no Early Termination Fee and still receive free equipment and full up front compensation!   Wow, I have been wanting to say that for about a year!   So, what does this mean for you as an agent?</p>
<p><strong>1. More Sales!</strong> &#8211; Seriously, how easy can it get?  Your pitch can be, Mr. Jones I know that I am the new guy and you might not be sure that I am going to save you the money I promise, so how about I put you on a month to month agreement.  You will be under no obligation to continue and if, after the first month I don&#8217;t do what I said I would do and provide you with the savings I promised, you can cancel with no early termination fee.&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>2.  Higher Retention Rates</strong> &#8211; You are probably thinking, &#8220;What? How will the retention rates go up if I drop the agreement?&#8221;  Think about this from the customer&#8217;s perspective.  For years you have been screwed by agents from different processors then one day a new agent comes in and offers you a month to month contract and you realize after the first couple months that you are not getting screwed.  What would it take for you to sign a new 3 year agreement with another processor?  All of a sudden your accounts become almost impossible for another processor to take away unless they also drop the ETF which many of the largest processors are not planning to do anytime soon.</p>
<p><strong>3.  Better Customer Service</strong> -  From now on both you and NAB will be working to provide great customer service because it is now our only way to keep our customers and I think that is awesome!!!  This is the best thing that could happen for our industry, no longer can dishonest sales people trap customers in long term agreements (at least not at NAB).</p>
<p>So, what should you do?</p>
<p><strong>1. Join our sales team!!!!</strong>  If you are still selling 3 year agreements, stop!  Come sell with us and enjoy the ability to offer no ETF to your clients.  Think how many more sales you will get.</p>
<p><strong>2.  Change your pitch to incorporate the new offer.</strong></p>
<p><strong>3.  Enjoy the increased compensation that will be flowing your way!</strong></p>
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		<title>CRM Database Solutions for Merchant Services Agents</title>
		<link>http://ccsalespro.com/2012/crm-database-solutions-for-merchant-services-agents</link>
		<comments>http://ccsalespro.com/2012/crm-database-solutions-for-merchant-services-agents#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 16 Apr 2012 18:53:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>jshepherd</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blog]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ccsalespro.com/?p=974</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[What CRM solutions are needed for an independent agent selling merchant services?  I have a unique opportunity to create a custom CRM solution from scratch. I have been using Zoho CRM solutions and providing this for free to my agents but, to be honest, I have been very, disappointed. The CRM is too complex for [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>What CRM solutions are needed for an independent agent selling merchant services?  I have a unique opportunity to create a custom CRM solution from scratch. I have been using Zoho CRM solutions and providing this for free to my agents but, to be honest, I have been very, disappointed. The CRM is too complex for what we are doing and really requires that you move your calendar and email to zoho in order to get the full benefit rather than synchronizing with the systems we already have in place. Basically these CRM solutions like Zoho and Sales Force are designed for corporate clients with longer sales cycles not for independent agents making a large volume of sales in a short period of time.</p>
<p>I brought on a top programmer that is going to make us our own database system to track our leads and marketing programs, so I am looking for some feedback. What are features you would use in a database? What kind of reports do you want to see? What fields other than the standard fields should the database provide? Zoho promised us that we could customize everything but, we quickly found that was not the case, now that we are starting from scratch we truly can customize everything indeed we must customize it, so tell me what you think our final database should look like.</p>
<p>Our database will be hosted at ccsalespro.com and will be available for free to all of our agents. It will also be integrated with our lead management system so an agent can literally select how many business listings they want to add each day and these will automatically be added in daily giving you the group of businesses in the same geographic area as the day before. I look forward to your comments and suggestions.</p>
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