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Education

• Cost of living ucts and services, among a host of other options.
• Minimalism A toast to you
• Financial freedom No matter what you do going forward, whether it's re-
• Ethics branding to lead in with one of the solutions I've covered
• Inefficient business-to-business sales tactics or rebranding by choosing another sales career altogether,
always remember the words of Senator Bill Bradley: "It will
A new direction be ambition that will be the path to success, but persistence
is the vehicle you arrive in." Keep running, keep fighting,
While I covered a significant amount of material over 24 keep innovating, keep closing, and keep your tenacity.
issues in the past 12 months, there's still a lot more material
I could cover. However, unfortunately, I've run out of time Making a living in sales can be likened to taking care of
as your quarterback. But before I go, I want to offer you one a child with special needs: it's often extremely difficult to
final rebranding option. manage, but there's no greater reward than the joy you re-
ceive from seeing the progress made as a direct result of
As you know, I have stated many times that I believe direct- your hours of labor and dedication.
ly leading in with merchant processing is no longer viable
due to the low barrier to entry into our space, which has Most of the time sales professionals are underappreci-
created substantial overcrowding, as well as the Internet, ated, underpaid, undersupported and misunderstood, but
which provides merchants easy access to information on despite this less than optimal situation, I believe ours is
interchange and the actual value of a terminal (which typi- one of the most important professions around. We are the
cally is $350 at best). ones who are responsible for introducing and implement-
ing complex solutions into the marketplace, helping others
These two phenomena have done nothing but diminish the comprehend today's multifaceted business landscape, and
worth of the MLS's knowledge, an asset that was once con- helping to maintain long-term value in the marketplace.
sidered to be valuable due to its scarcity. This helps create and sustain revenues and profits, as well
as jobs. So, sales guys and gals, here's a toast to your contin-
While over the past year I have tried to bring solutions to ued success. Keep giving 'em hell, kid.
the table that you could use as a lead-in that tied merchant
processing to the sales implementation on the back-end, my
final rebranding option is to leave the space altogether. John Tucker has over 10 years of professional experience in commercial
finance and business development. He is also an M.B.A. graduate and
The reality going forward is that merchant processing holder of three bachelor's degrees in accounting, business management
will become even more of a commodity, which is a service and journalism. To connect with John, please send him a connection
shopped exclusively on price that is basically interchange- invite via LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/johntucker99 or email him
able with other commodities of the same type. Merchants at tucker@1stcapitalloans.com.
will become even more
knowledgeable about inter-
change and how different
pricing structures work,
causing more pricing pres-
sures to the point where it
will become even more dif-
ficult to sustain a living as
an MLS.

With that being said, have
you considered sales posi-
tions that are completely out-
side of the payments space?
If you have succeeded in this
industry for some time now,
there are many attractive
options to consider in other
types of financial services,
as well as sales positions
in the fields of technology,
insurance, health care, real
estate, manufacturing, and
business-to-consumer prod-

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