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Education

StreetSmarts SM

“Starting in the Street

and ending at the

Merchant’s front door”
Steve Norell

The last word on hiring MLSs

By Steve Norell more wrong. There is no trouble-free model; none of us
US Merchant Services Inc. has the solution. Sounds bad, right? It is. I'll tell you why.
1. We are a 100 percent commission business
iring, training, supporting and motivating
merchant level salespeople (MLSs) is the most It takes a long time to make a decent monthly income
challenging job of any ISO or MLS seeking to no matter how good MLSs are or how much money
H build a sales force. I must have hired, trained ISOs throws at them every time they make sales.
or interviewed hundreds of thousands of candidates over Most people attracted to this industry don't begin
the last 25 years. with sufficient money to survive on until they grow
their sales. Under these conditions, it's impossible
When I opened my first office in 1995, I showed my for people to last long enough to generate a decent
80-year-old uncle a Zon Jr and told him that when I lease amount of income. I've tried to find the secret sauce of
this little box, I make close to $1,000. Being the old sage compensation and have come to the conclusion that it
he was, he said to me, "Wouldn't it be better to have 1,000 does not exist. I have done straight commission, W-2
salespeople selling, and you get $100 from each of them employees with straight commission, payroll, payroll
and they get $900?" plus commissions and residuals, etc. The only one that
works is the one this industry started with: straight
I told him that was a great idea, as well as an obvious one. commission. If you want to get paid, sell something.
But getting 1,000 MLSs couldn't happen overnight. So I
began my search. This was 1996. Online advertising didn't 2. The gene pool is shallow
exist. I ran an ad in the paper and arranged meetings at a
hotel, not in my office since it was in my home. As I just emphasized, most people are broke when
they enter our industry. How can they even put gas
Many potential hires not only didn't show up for in the car, let alone succeed if they don't have a penny
interviews, but they didn't even call to cancel. Some who to their name? Maybe one out of 1,000 makes it big
kept their appointments weren't half bad. I'd usually offer time. They end up becoming ISOs or successful MLSs.
them a position. Guess what would happen next? While I should also point out that for every MLS that accepts
shaking hands before leaving the room, more than 80 a position, 20 percent or fewer will arrive for the
percent would ask two questions: 1. When can I get paid? first day of training. Don't expect them to call you to
2. Can I get an advance on my commissions? From there it explain why.
all went downhill. 3. Easy in, easy out

As the years went by, I became convinced a better way This business is easy to get in and just as easy to
must exist and that I would find it. I couldn't have been leave. You don't need much education or experience to

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