Page 46 - GS140601
P. 46
Education
dependent upon being the lowest cost option, are typically the prospects who Unfortunately, the business owners
give him the most blow-back. Since those aren't his target clients anyway, this on that 528-foot strip of 6th Ave. did
strategy can be seen quite successful for market segmentation and qualifying not demonstrate this kind of out-
a merchant. of-the-box thinking. Neither tried
adding variety to their menus with
Make dough while you bake dough? chicken or burgers. No one tried
MLS Forum members did a great job in highlighting strategies for success in becoming the high-end pizza of 6th
an industry with a shrinking margin for its flagship product. Setting up in- Ave., offering fancy toppings and
house development for technology or VAPs was pointed out by Mbruno and exotic items to reach a specific crowd.
Steve Norell, while user Ccguy suggested emphasizing hardware sales, such
as POS systems. Instead, their war ended with a
handshake and an armistice. In what
StreetSweeper pointed to targeting merchants who are not focused solely on would likely be determined collusion
the lowest rate and instead "being their go-to partners for a) when they run if it ever went to court, the owners of
into problems, or b) keeping them industry-current with resources that can Bombay Fast Food and 2 Bros. Pizza
forward or streamline their business operations." simply agreed to raise their prices
to $1.00 and leave them there. With
His answer is a strong reminder of the economic theory behind price wars: the consideration that regulators and
when lowering the price of a product, a business is simply adjusting one merchant lobbying groups would
variable with the intent of capturing a specific customer base. It is in no way never allow a move like this in our
a magic bullet that will attract everyone, just those who associate a particular industry, it's a good thing that many
price with their perceived value of the product. There are still those who can of us have figured out creative ways
afford to, and are willing to, pay more for something they think is worth it. to turn obstacles into opportunities.
This is why the window sticker on a Bentley still reads in the range of hundreds
of thousands of dollars.
Tom Waters has been dedicated to the mer-
chant service sales profession since 2001.
Currently, he is responsible for cultivating
relationships with entrepreneurs in informa-
tion technology, accounting, sales and mar-
keting in his role as Sales Director of Bank
Associates Merchant Services (www.bams.
com). Using fresh and matter-of-fact train-
ing methods, Tom has contributed to the
success of thousands of agents, affiliates and
clients. He can be reached via email through
t.waters@bams.com or via phone at 347-
651-1065.
Ben Abel is Regional Director at Bank
Associates Merchant Services. Since joining
the team in 2006, he has risen through com-
pany ranks with a paradigm that his success
was measured by the success of those around
him. Ben is a dedicated, pioneering trainer
whose methods of merchant services consul-
tation have helped many agents expand their
portfolios in terms of processing volume, deal
count and profitability. He can be contacted
at 347-866-9571 or ben@bams.com.
Did you know?
That 40,000 people visited
the Green Sheet’s website
last month.
46
dependent upon being the lowest cost option, are typically the prospects who Unfortunately, the business owners
give him the most blow-back. Since those aren't his target clients anyway, this on that 528-foot strip of 6th Ave. did
strategy can be seen quite successful for market segmentation and qualifying not demonstrate this kind of out-
a merchant. of-the-box thinking. Neither tried
adding variety to their menus with
Make dough while you bake dough? chicken or burgers. No one tried
MLS Forum members did a great job in highlighting strategies for success in becoming the high-end pizza of 6th
an industry with a shrinking margin for its flagship product. Setting up in- Ave., offering fancy toppings and
house development for technology or VAPs was pointed out by Mbruno and exotic items to reach a specific crowd.
Steve Norell, while user Ccguy suggested emphasizing hardware sales, such
as POS systems. Instead, their war ended with a
handshake and an armistice. In what
StreetSweeper pointed to targeting merchants who are not focused solely on would likely be determined collusion
the lowest rate and instead "being their go-to partners for a) when they run if it ever went to court, the owners of
into problems, or b) keeping them industry-current with resources that can Bombay Fast Food and 2 Bros. Pizza
forward or streamline their business operations." simply agreed to raise their prices
to $1.00 and leave them there. With
His answer is a strong reminder of the economic theory behind price wars: the consideration that regulators and
when lowering the price of a product, a business is simply adjusting one merchant lobbying groups would
variable with the intent of capturing a specific customer base. It is in no way never allow a move like this in our
a magic bullet that will attract everyone, just those who associate a particular industry, it's a good thing that many
price with their perceived value of the product. There are still those who can of us have figured out creative ways
afford to, and are willing to, pay more for something they think is worth it. to turn obstacles into opportunities.
This is why the window sticker on a Bentley still reads in the range of hundreds
of thousands of dollars.
Tom Waters has been dedicated to the mer-
chant service sales profession since 2001.
Currently, he is responsible for cultivating
relationships with entrepreneurs in informa-
tion technology, accounting, sales and mar-
keting in his role as Sales Director of Bank
Associates Merchant Services (www.bams.
com). Using fresh and matter-of-fact train-
ing methods, Tom has contributed to the
success of thousands of agents, affiliates and
clients. He can be reached via email through
t.waters@bams.com or via phone at 347-
651-1065.
Ben Abel is Regional Director at Bank
Associates Merchant Services. Since joining
the team in 2006, he has risen through com-
pany ranks with a paradigm that his success
was measured by the success of those around
him. Ben is a dedicated, pioneering trainer
whose methods of merchant services consul-
tation have helped many agents expand their
portfolios in terms of processing volume, deal
count and profitability. He can be contacted
at 347-866-9571 or ben@bams.com.
Did you know?
That 40,000 people visited
the Green Sheet’s website
last month.
46
