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Education

"The other is my personal favorite. mentors and friends who helped guide us in this complex payments world.
When people would ask why he did Here is my top advice:
things a certain way or made certain
decisions, he would respond, 'I have "1. Grind on. Just like any other business, you are going to come to a point when
to be able to sleep straight in bed at you question yourself—a lot. Put your head down and grind on. It's a season,
night.' It applies in all facets of a busi- and it passes. Stay focused on the prize, and as my mentor would say,]put your
ness, the way you treat your employ- head down and keep grinding.'
ees, the way you treat your vendors,
and the way you treat your custom- "2. Find a partner with good solutions, great service and that is ethical. And
ers. It is important to always act with- when you do, know how rare it is, and hold on to them! The right partner will
in your ethical comfort zone, to treat help you grow. You need a great partner, so you can focus on acquiring ac-
others with respect, and to know at counts, and trust that your partner will take care of your merchants. Your time
the end of the day that you acted in a should be spent more on selling and less on operations and support.
fair and honest manner."
"3. Find a niche and get to know it inside out. Become expert in it. When I
From Michael Baron started, I gravitated towards petro and lodging. I learned how petro works,
Next, we continue with more guid- found pump vendors who do the reprogramming, and created a list of referral
ance from Michael Baron: sources. Find your niche and own it."
"Know your weaknesses and learn Dee Karawadra is president and CEO of Impact PaySystem. Since 2001, Impact
how to deal with them," Baron said. PaySystem has been a leading provider of payment processing technologies
"Selling is tough. It comes with rejec- and services to merchants throughout the United States. Dee can be reached at
tion and insecurity. Stay strong. If dee@impactpays.com.
you are having a great day, then push From Hawkins Siemon
your luck as far as it will take you.
And, if you are having a crappy day, Next, are insights provided by industry veteran Hawkins Siemon.
keep at it until you achieve success.
When I used to shoot hoops with my
son we would not quit until we got
the shot we were trying to make. We
never quit on a missed shot.

"Two final pointers. Align yourself
with an organization that values you,
your ability and supports what you
bring to the organization. Secondly,
listen. Most salespeople do not listen HOLIDAY PAYMENT
and miss what it is that their clients
really want. Lastly, get out of bed in
the morning!" SOLUTIONS

Baron has been in the industry for
more than 30 years and represents ACH • LEVEL III • EMV
several ISO organizations. He can
be reached via email at mbaron954@
gmail.com. WEB • RECURRING
From Dee Karawadra
CASH DISCOUNT
Dee Karawadra is undoubtedly a
name familiar to Street Smarts CUSTOMER DATABASE
SM
readers. He wrote the column for the
first time from April 2007 through
March 2008, and again with his wife
Emily Karawadra from April 2019 C A L L F O R A D E M O
through March 2020. When asked for 8 0 0 - 2 9 6 - 4 8 1 0
his advice, he said the following:

"Having been in this business for
over 23+ years, I have had many great
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