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Education

You just need to calendar a visit for the future when the
answer will be yes. You must have a professional persona
that is absolutely neutral.
Step 2: Don't let business results define you
No matter how political you are, or
The second key area is related to how you respond when how loyal you are to your favorite
you hear a merchant say no, but it's more complex. It ad-
dresses how you define yourself? If your self-image is sports team, you can't allow your
tied to success in business, and that success is building a personal feelings to permeate your
large residual income or signing a record-breaking num- conversations with merchants.
ber of merchants, you are allowing outside factors to de-
fine you.
I work hard not to allow my level of success in business to Taking care of yourself is essential. We all have to adapt
be how I define myself. Whenever I feel that I am allow- to today's market. The changes we face are extremely
ing work to impact how I define myself, I remember an challenging. Take time to look inward at least weekly. It
experience my son had when playing high school foot- will help you retain your positivity in this time of uncer-
ball. He was playing against a team that was much bigger tainty.
and faster than his. By the third quarter, my son's team
was down by 40 points. After the last score, one of the Jeff Fortney, a senior associate at The Strawhecker Group, is a long-time
moms of the other team yelled out, "Don't worry; it's not payments industry executive and mentor. He is focused on sharing his
personal; it's business."
industry knowledge and experience with others to help them grow their
Her statement succinctly drew a clear line between the business. He can be reached at 214-458-1379.
person and their business (or sports) performance. Busi- Calendar
ness success or business failure—neither defines who
you are. No one is 100 percent successful. Don't forget the
quote from Thomas Edison when asked how it felt to fail
so many times before inventing the lightbulb. He said, "I
didn't fail. I invented 1,000 ways not to build a lightbulb."

If you find yourself allowing business to impinge on https://www.stapayments.com/registration/
your definition of yourself, take time for yourself away
from work. Whether it's a day or a week, use that time to
recharge and refresh. And reset your definition of you. I
define myself first and foremost as a husband, father and
grandfather. I do what I do to help me be the best me. April 6 -7, 2022
And I refuse to allow my professional life to define me
differently. https://northeastacquirers.com

Step 3: Maintain neutrality
The third step is one word: consistency. As you sell, your
personal persona can't define your professional persona.
It helps to remember a simple statement about buyers: April 12-14, 2022
People buy from people like themselves. https://events.jspargo.com/ETA22/
Public/enter.aspx
Unless you know each merchant personally, you don't
know whether a particular merchant is like you, or
whether you're like them. You must have a professional
persona that is absolutely neutral. No matter how politi-
cal you are, or how loyal you are to your favorite sports
team, you can't allow your personal feelings to permeate https://payments.nacha.org
/what-payments#
your conversations with merchants.
For example, if a conversation takes a political turn, avoid If you have a show you
implying that you agree or disagree with a merchant's would like listed, please
views. A statement like "I have heard that" doesn't imply send information to
you agree or disagree. It is open enough that it can be events@greensheet.com
understood as an agreement or concurrence. Yet it is also
neutral.
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