Why are you talking to me?

Last week a merchant sales rep asked me a great question.  After spending fifteen or twenty minutes on the phone getting my tips and advice, he said, “So, how do you make money talking to me?”  I replied, “I don’t.”  His response will stick with me for a while.  He said, (without the expletive) “So, what are you doing?”  His response seemed to indicate spending time with him for his benefit and not mine was either too good to be true or a ludicrous waste of my time.  I don’t believe it was either.

For the last seven years or so, my schedule has been packed with fifteen minute phone calls.  These are with individual sales people who have requested a call to get my advice on ways to grow a merchant portfolio.  For me to talk with twenty or thirty such agents in a single day is not uncommon.  Why do I invest so much of my time talking to these reps?  For the same reasons you should volunteer and seek to help all merchants, whether they buy from you or not.  Those reasons are because you enjoy it and creating massive value for others is the only long-term guarantee of success.

Are there days when I see thirty back-to-back phone calls in my schedule and think, “I would rather run my own business today?”  Yes.  But the only reason I have a business is because ten years ago I was adding value to others.  Back then I used my time to help merchants in my local market.  I branded myself as “The Credit Card Guy.”  I provided a local guarantee to any business having a terminal problem:  I would fix it, even if the merchant was not my client.  In my spare time, I made videos to educate agents in our industry for free.  Ten years later, I have several merchant portfolios, agent referral portfolios, and a successful merchant sales software company.

Are you passionate about your work and leveraging your strengths to help others?  If not, you are probably too busy working towards short-term success.  This type of success is almost impossible to achieve and doesn’t last very long.  When you are doing what you love and helping everyone you encounter without regard for your own interests, you are going to be successful over time.