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Education
Debunking four myths It's wise to stay abreast of new offerings for sales purposes,
but the emergence of a hot new product doesn't necessarily
about our future indicate an immediate need to change.
Myth 2: If you don't convert to __________ as your
primary product, no merchants will sign with you
By Jeff Fortney
Clearent LLC I hear this myth voiced all the time. I've heard many
warnings like, "If you don't stop selling terminals and
can almost set my calendar by it. Every year at this start selling POS systems, you will find you can't sign
time conversations turn to the question of what the merchants." Or, my favorite: "Everything you're doing is
future of the ISOs and merchant level salespeople wrong."
I (MLSs) in the payments industry will be. Lately, the
question has been more along the lines of whether there This line of thinking has persisted for almost 20 years.
will be a future for independent sales agents at all. Every MLS faces a fear of his or her products and services
becoming obsolete. However, many forget that if they are
This year – like every year – the talk about this began in successful today, changing to a different product, new
late March. It was a common theme on message boards solution or even a different approach would likely blunt
and forums. Sure, many discussions were more specific, their success – at least in the short term and potentially in
for example, referencing the future of terminals versus the long run as well.
POS systems, cloud-based systems versus static terminals,
and of course, the continued debate about U.S. Europay/ For example, if your sweet spot is merchants who use
MasterCard/Visa implementation. terminals and you are gaining new customers in this
demographic, while also retaining a healthy share of your
Yet throughout all of the posts and comments, an portfolio, and if your merchants don't seem particularly
underlying current remained the same. Folks were saying, interested in a cloud system, what do you think their
"I like what I am doing, but will I be doing it a year from reaction would be if you stopped offering to reprogram or
now?" or "There is so much press about sweeping industry replace their terminals and pushed a more expensive POS
changes today. Is my future at risk?" solution instead? You would probably need to find a new
market or target.
Let me be clear. There is nothing wrong with wondering
what tomorrow will bring. It's a common human desire to One caveat: if you are not currently successful in your
know what the future holds (one common sales approach sales efforts, you likely do need to make changes. If your
is to sell based on the prospect's fear of the future). And efforts have been consistent, reevaluate your plan and your
it is perfectly fine to ask for people's opinions about our targets, but don't drop your current offerings unless you
prospects. can see that the new product or solution you're considering
is better suited to your targeted merchant group.
However, problems arise when we base decisions solely on
others' prognostications about the future. To avoid doing Yes, POS solutions have a place in the industry, as do
so, it is important to separate the facts from the myths. In terminals and other types of devices. That place is one that
an effort to assist with this, I'm listing herein four myths fits your marketing plan and your target merchants.
whose debunking time has come. Myth 3: The payments industry is evolving so rapidly
Myth 1: You can predict the future that nothing from the past applies today
by keeping track of new products
I find this recurring myth troublesome. One of my favorite
It seems proponents of this myth base their opinion on sayings is: He who doesn't learn from history is doomed
the belief that companies wouldn't offer new products to repeat it. This statement has proven to be true time and
without first studying the demands of the marketplace. time again. It applies to our industry as well.
In certain spheres, this could be considered a valid
argument. However, the payments industry is littered This myth came up in a conversation discussing EMV,
with companies that have fully researched the market, in particular its U.S. rollout and deadlines. The people
identified a need, addressed that need and still failed. I was speaking with were advocates of replacing every
terminal with an EMV terminal today. One approach they
In some cases, the reason for failure was timing. For suggested was to tell merchants they "have to do it," since
example, near field communication (NFC) was the if they do not, they will fall behind everyone when "the
buzzword in the first decade of this century. There were EMV acceptance begins."
two companies offering NFC devices that easily connected
to existing terminals, yet neither survived the decade. It made me think of the late 1990s and the push of smart
Today, with the advent of mobile wallets, it appears NFC cards. Many terminals equipped with smart card readers
is making a comeback. were rolled out with the anticipation of full acceptance.
48
Debunking four myths It's wise to stay abreast of new offerings for sales purposes,
but the emergence of a hot new product doesn't necessarily
about our future indicate an immediate need to change.
Myth 2: If you don't convert to __________ as your
primary product, no merchants will sign with you
By Jeff Fortney
Clearent LLC I hear this myth voiced all the time. I've heard many
warnings like, "If you don't stop selling terminals and
can almost set my calendar by it. Every year at this start selling POS systems, you will find you can't sign
time conversations turn to the question of what the merchants." Or, my favorite: "Everything you're doing is
future of the ISOs and merchant level salespeople wrong."
I (MLSs) in the payments industry will be. Lately, the
question has been more along the lines of whether there This line of thinking has persisted for almost 20 years.
will be a future for independent sales agents at all. Every MLS faces a fear of his or her products and services
becoming obsolete. However, many forget that if they are
This year – like every year – the talk about this began in successful today, changing to a different product, new
late March. It was a common theme on message boards solution or even a different approach would likely blunt
and forums. Sure, many discussions were more specific, their success – at least in the short term and potentially in
for example, referencing the future of terminals versus the long run as well.
POS systems, cloud-based systems versus static terminals,
and of course, the continued debate about U.S. Europay/ For example, if your sweet spot is merchants who use
MasterCard/Visa implementation. terminals and you are gaining new customers in this
demographic, while also retaining a healthy share of your
Yet throughout all of the posts and comments, an portfolio, and if your merchants don't seem particularly
underlying current remained the same. Folks were saying, interested in a cloud system, what do you think their
"I like what I am doing, but will I be doing it a year from reaction would be if you stopped offering to reprogram or
now?" or "There is so much press about sweeping industry replace their terminals and pushed a more expensive POS
changes today. Is my future at risk?" solution instead? You would probably need to find a new
market or target.
Let me be clear. There is nothing wrong with wondering
what tomorrow will bring. It's a common human desire to One caveat: if you are not currently successful in your
know what the future holds (one common sales approach sales efforts, you likely do need to make changes. If your
is to sell based on the prospect's fear of the future). And efforts have been consistent, reevaluate your plan and your
it is perfectly fine to ask for people's opinions about our targets, but don't drop your current offerings unless you
prospects. can see that the new product or solution you're considering
is better suited to your targeted merchant group.
However, problems arise when we base decisions solely on
others' prognostications about the future. To avoid doing Yes, POS solutions have a place in the industry, as do
so, it is important to separate the facts from the myths. In terminals and other types of devices. That place is one that
an effort to assist with this, I'm listing herein four myths fits your marketing plan and your target merchants.
whose debunking time has come. Myth 3: The payments industry is evolving so rapidly
Myth 1: You can predict the future that nothing from the past applies today
by keeping track of new products
I find this recurring myth troublesome. One of my favorite
It seems proponents of this myth base their opinion on sayings is: He who doesn't learn from history is doomed
the belief that companies wouldn't offer new products to repeat it. This statement has proven to be true time and
without first studying the demands of the marketplace. time again. It applies to our industry as well.
In certain spheres, this could be considered a valid
argument. However, the payments industry is littered This myth came up in a conversation discussing EMV,
with companies that have fully researched the market, in particular its U.S. rollout and deadlines. The people
identified a need, addressed that need and still failed. I was speaking with were advocates of replacing every
terminal with an EMV terminal today. One approach they
In some cases, the reason for failure was timing. For suggested was to tell merchants they "have to do it," since
example, near field communication (NFC) was the if they do not, they will fall behind everyone when "the
buzzword in the first decade of this century. There were EMV acceptance begins."
two companies offering NFC devices that easily connected
to existing terminals, yet neither survived the decade. It made me think of the late 1990s and the push of smart
Today, with the advent of mobile wallets, it appears NFC cards. Many terminals equipped with smart card readers
is making a comeback. were rolled out with the anticipation of full acceptance.
48
