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Education

StreetSmarts SM

Keep fighting, keep innovating, keep closing

By John Tucker Inc.; as well as Ben Abel, Jason and Kelley Felts, Jeff
1st Capital Loans LLC Fortney, Amy Garvey, Kathy Harper, Dee Karawadra,
Vanessa Lang, Dale S. Laszig, Ken Musante, Jon Perry,
Bill Pirtle, Ty Rosean, Steve Schwimmer, Jeffrey I. Shavitz,
Editor's Note: It is with much appreciation that we bid farewell to John
Tucker, who has done a stellar job as Street Smarts author for the past and Tom Waters.
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year. He had clear objectives from the start: to offer a number of real- The honor and prestige bestowed upon me as your Street
istic ways in which merchant level salespeople (MLSs) can rebrand for Smarts quarterback was heart-warming, and I will
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enhanced success in today's increasingly complex payments world, and forever be grateful to have contributed to the centerpiece
to broach subjects of importance to MLSs that might be uncomfortable of this great publication, which has been serving the
to examine or otherwise all too easy to overlook. He met his goals, never industry's feet on the street for more than 30 years.
missed a deadline and had a good time interacting with members of GS
Online's MLS Forum in the process. We will miss him and wish him well. MLS rebranding options
As you all know, my theme since I began this assignment
Next month, our new Street Smarts author – Aaron Nasseh, founder has been about rebranding the merchant level salesperson
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and Chief Executive Officer of Finical Inc. – will take the helm, committed (MLS) to lead in with other solutions for prospective
to authoring this column for the next year. We are thrilled to welcome clients, rather than leading in with the same merchant
Aaron aboard. He has previously penned articles for our Education sec- processing-related rate savings or free terminal programs.
tion on such topics as how to choose the right sales model; manage To that end, I offered several options, including rebranding
your ISO during the first year; work less and improve your bottom line; to lead in with:
combat attrition; hire sales professionals, not consultants; and select • Merchant cash advance products
the right ISO partner. Curious? You'll find links to those articles here: • Alternative business loans
www.greensheet.com/search.php?flag=bylineDetail&byline=Aaron
+Nasseh. • Accounts receivable factoring
• Accounts receivable financing
hat a time I've had being your Street • Purchase order financing
Smarts quarterback since April of 2016. I • Equipment leasing
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always referred to myself as your quarter-
W back because I believe the Street Smarts SM • POS systems
column is a collaborative, team effort of contributors and • Electronic cash registers
veterans within the industry who come together to dis-
cuss and debate important themes centered on making • Payroll services
our space better. • Marketing services

As quarterback, I got to follow in the footsteps of some of In addition, I also provided commentary on a number of
the most dynamic players in the history of our industry, important topics, including:
such as Ed Freedman, who founded Total Merchant • Mental health
Services; Mike Nardy, who founded Electronic Payments
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