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Inspiration

What to do when results disappoint

hen reviewing your endeavors for 2022, as but not improved your results, it could mean that the
an ISO, merchant level salesperson or other particular initiative or relationship is not feasible or
merchant services professional, you may simply not a good fit for your company.
W find that some projects, products or busi-
ness relationships didn't go as planned. 3. Are there other promising opportunities that I could
realistically pursue? If the ongoing project that's eating
Maybe you invested in a new CRM system to make your into your time and resources is lackluster at best, it's
outreach and onboarding more efficient, but after months worth it to investigate other projects that may be a much
of use, you found no improvement whatsoever. Or perhaps better fit for you.
you launched a new product but, despite market research
done beforehand indicating it would be a hit, merchants Pros and cons
simply weren't interested when it rolled out. Maybe you It is essential to weigh the pros and cons when faced
established a referral partnership that resulted in zero with something that's not coming close to meeting
new business. expectations. Getting your thoughts down on paper or
in a digital file can be helpful. List questions about the
When this sort of thing happens, there comes a time when project/product/relationship in one column, and then in
you have to make a difficult decision: should you dig in three associated columns answer yes, I'm not sure, or no.
and endeavor to improve the situation, or should you stop Naturally, questions should be tailored to your situation.
working on it and move on? When it comes to a product, for example, one question
Factors to consider could be, Do I believe wholeheartedly in this product? For
a relationship, you might ask, Does this relationship bring
When I've faced this type of situation in the past, out my best and that of my partner?
considering the following three questions has helped my
deliberations: You may decide, despite frustrations, it's worth staying the
course for now. You also may find, after examining the
1. How much of my resources and time have I invested situation from multiple angles, that you were mistaken
in the project? Sometimes if you've been investing in about the source of dismal results, and now that you've
something for an extended period, it's hard not to feel clarified the true origin of the problem, you can act
like a failure when determining whether, in the face of decisively to remedy the situation. Or you may decide that
negligible results, it's time to let go. It can be hard to be in 2023, you're just going to move on. And that's just fine.
objective in the face of this, but it is essential to be as You're not a failure if you do. You're a smart payments
objective as possible when assessing whether further professional.
investment is warranted.

2. Are there possible solutions or new approaches to the
problems that I haven't identified and tried? If you've
brainstormed in depth and tried a variety of approaches, Kate Gillespie, President and CEO