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MeetTheExpert

Mark Dunn people I have ever met are driven. They have that drive in
the belly, that internal fire, and they are not going to stop.

Andre Agassi said in his book the reason why he got
really good at tennis was because his dad insisted he hit
2,500 ground strokes a day, every day for 10 years. If you
can find something you are passionate about and want to
be the best at, it may take 10 years to get it done, but if you
have that kind of level of commitment and dedication, it
can happen.

What was your inspiration for the
Field Guide Seminars?

I created the seminars for sharing ideas, tips and techniques
to develop solid strategies for becoming better as an ISO
and MLS. I bring in speakers who have a message about
current topics, about how to build the ISO business, and
how to up your game and take it to the next level.

Nobody is more loyal than a satisfied customer, and if
you're helping and taking care of people, most customers
will be a little bit less ready to jump to a competitor if
somebody says there is a better price. The only time
merchants think about merchant services is when it's
ark Dunn, founder and President of Field broken or not working, and merchant services works
Guide Enterprises LLC, is a payment con- really well for the most part in the United States, so we
sultant and popular coach for ISOs and don't even think about it. But you have to have somebody
M merchant level salespeople (MLSs), who there who is ready to respond if you have a problem or a
regularly attend his Field Guide Seminar series. In this question.
interview, Dunn talks about what it takes to become a
successful salesperson, what the future holds for the pay- What do you envision in the industry's future?
ments industry and how raising a family is the accom-
plishment he's most proud of.
I think the payments industry is going to be refocused, and
the way payments are built into the modern experience
What makes a successful salesperson? is going to change. Payments are becoming increasingly
integrated, and people are thinking about the payment
function even less now. Certainly, they won't stop tracking
You certainly have to have dedication and passion for the price of things, but there is an attempt now to take
what you're doing. That doesn't necessarily express itself down all of the barriers for making payments. In the
by being hyper emotional about it. I am not one of those background, you still have to do the merchant accounting,
people who gets pumped up in the morning, puts on the the risk management and all the other things, but the
head banging music and sails out the door to the acclaim attempt now is to put all that stuff in the background and
of the entire world. There is an old expression: some just make it effortless.
days you eat the bear and some days the bear eats you.
Dedication and commitment involve taking a day when
the bear eats you and going right back at it again the next What lessons from your parents do you still live by?
day ‒ and doing it every day time after time.

Let's face it: selling entails a tremendous amount of I think there are two important lessons that every person
rejection, especially if you get assigned a job in telephone needs to come to grips with in life. One is knowing
yourself, and the second is you have to know what you
sales. That's the hardest job on the face of the earth right
now. Customers just don't have enough time. If you can be can do and what you can't do. My parents have given me
good guidance on both of those and really enabled me to
passionate and be committed about getting better at sales,
at honing your skills, and learning the job from other learn who I am.
people; you have a chance to be successful. The best sales

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