ack in the early 1980s, a fledgling industry started to spread tentative wings throughout the payment services community. Taking flight outside traditional bankcard routes, this new business offered convenient and simpler alternatives for merchants wanting to expand their consumer sales to credit card processing.

Independent of traditional parameters, Independent Sales Organizations were born. And, of course, women were part of the pioneering effort and became more numerous over the years in a corporate arena dominated by men.

According to the National Foundation for Women Business Owners, the number of women-owned businesses in the U.S. had grown to more than 9 million by 2000. One of the more prominent such companies in the ISO world is Nashville-based Advanced Payment Solutions, owned and operated by three women.

Partners Debbie Bowles, Janice Joerger and Jennifer Brinkman boast an aggregate of more than 45 years experience in sales and merchant services. Having honed their craft with various industry leaders, including IMA and First Data, the three women joined forces in 1999 and created a business model that epitomizes the female entrepreneurial spirit - personal service, follow-up, long-term relationship building, fairness, honesty and a rock-solid commitment to career.

From retail to restaurants, from mail order to e-commerce, the women of Advanced Payment Solutions are a prosperous partnership.

"Most people will tell you partnerships don't work, but we are all versatile and bring something valuable to the table. We're all dependent upon each other," Brinkman says. "Our strengths are different from each other, but what makes ours a good partnership are the things that each one does best. A hard closer, a brilliant advisor, a technology wiz - we all have special expertise that make a good mix." Like many other women in the ISO community, a prominent strength of Advanced Payment Solutions is customer service.

"We give our customers unbeatable service 24/7, personally," Bowles says. "We even call processors to research our customer problems. Our clients are running businesses and don't have time to sit on hold with a help desk. We either go on site or work it from our office. If necessary, we'll take a terminal to a merchant at 8 p.m. on a Friday."

And how do these women sign their merchants? The answer lies in their approach.

"We are not the business owners that don't know what our customers are doing and going through," Bowles says. "We are hands-on. We're in their face, answering questions. We all do installation. We all do sales. And, most important, we all do the follow up after the sale - in person. We know our customers, everything from their cash-flow problems to what their kids are doing in school."

That customer service comes with a price, and these women are willing to pay it.

"It's not fun when you have to leave your family at night on a Saturday," Bowles says. "We always have that pager or cell phone close at hand."

They take turns being on call for nights and weekends, which means their customers can and do reach one of them. Janice recalls she once had to go out to an ATM at 1 a.m. because it went down.

"My husband was not happy, but he supports me. He knows this business is part of our future," she says.

Is it fair that a late night call wouldn't be questioned if it were a man answering that call? Probably not, but the women of Advanced Payment Solutions recognize responsible ownership of their company solidifies their families' future.

Rather than sell a piece of equipment and leave, APS is focused on the long haul. "Long-term relationships are where you can build a business. ... We're in for the long term," Joerger says.

Relationship-building also involves honesty for APS. "We don't hide fees," Bowles says. "We tell everything up front. There is no sense in hiding costs."

That approach has worked. As Joerger says, "Our customers say we're worth more to them than a competitor's price. ... Loyalty is the key to ISO business. This is a commodity-driven business, but it is not all about price. It's all about service."

One of their biggest challenges, however, is getting similar service from outside sources. According to Advanced Payment Solutions, many providers don't share the same commitment to customer service.

"Sometimes it takes a dozen calls to get the information we need. Some providers just drop the ball," Bowles says. "In the beginning, we were getting physically ill from the lack of support and wondered what we had gotten ourselves into."

Does APS feel challenged selling in and to a male-dominated marketplace? "Selling to men is a piece of cake," Joerger says. "They'd much rather see us."

The fact that there are only women working sales at Advanced Payment Services wasn't a conscious decision. Most of the company's applicants are women.

"We have no problem working in a male-dominated business," Joerger says. "We don't feel it. We're not intimidated by it. 'Let's make this work' is our attitude. We work well as a team with the people who work with us and for us. At our company, there are no chiefs. We are all Indians."

The three partners see the future of APS changing, not in how business will be handled but in who will be handling it. Their goal is to groom people to do what they are doing now, in part.

"It's not to say that we won't be doing in the future what we do today," Joerger says. "We'd like to take a fourth of the inch off the competitive ball. If we can just ease off of that gas pedal, then we will have more flexibility in our lives."

Not attending a school play, arriving late for a ball game - what working woman hasn't experienced the pain? The APS partners certainly have, but do they regret their choices? "Not for a minute!" is their collective response.

A Lesson in Social Studies

Another sector of the ISO community that has the feminine touch is the ISA side. A true independent seller, Suzanne Cummins is the only woman on an all-male sales staff at Unity BankCard, a registered ISO since 1987. Cummins brought her years of ISO knowledge and experience to Unity BankCard in '91, having worked for Merchant Services Group, Data Capture Systems, PeachTree and Harbridge Merchant Services.

Cummins' specialty is associations, and she keeps her customers happy in this highly competitive arena because, like the APS partners, her service is excellent. "I'm always there for them," she says. "Women ISAs tend not to lose their merchants. ... Women live off their referrals. We don't just make a deal. We make a relationship." Selling is a social experience for Cummins. She enjoys meeting people in every type of business. "It's not just a job, it's a fun job," she says. "Women are social. This is a job based on social skills."

Those skills involve ploys like always wearing white when she has to visit the type of business that has dirty floors - those merchants often feel inclined to spread a towel for her, and she gets the account.

But she feels strongly about using sexuality inappropriately to make a sale. There are women who use their sexuality as a sales tool. For Suzanne, however, it doesn't work.

"If you're going to go that route, fine. Just don't confuse it with the reality of the ISO marketplace and make it bad for other women," Cummins says. "Men will laugh behind that woman's back, then sign the contract with someone else in front of her."

Are come-ons a problem? Of course. It happens to women in all business environments. Suzanne's approach: "I work around it. I stay professional. I never see being a woman as being a disadvantage. I get angry when I walk in and a man is requested. I don't see what the difference is other than maybe we laugh more than men and we're liked. No matter how wonderful the product is, if you're not liked, you won't make the sale."

She adds, "One thing women have taught men in this business is to be more of a soft sell. We get the job done softly. We show merchants why they should have our service, not that they have to have our service."

Suzanne also enjoys the freedom the ISO community affords her. She recommends the ISO field to women because it allows them to go anywhere, meet a lot of people, network at multiple levels and build long-term relationships while creating profitability for themselves and their clients.

"I looked into other businesses but really feel strong about the ISO arena. I'll stay in it 'til I retire," she says. "I love what I do. I have hundreds of merchants and could never leave them. They're my family."

'Round-the-clock Education in Vegas

Another vital ingredient for women ISOs is education and training. And one woman who has built her business on knowledge is Nikki Box.

Box got into the ISO industry by accident. She answered an ad in the mid-'90s that advertised for a national sales manager. Despite knowing nothing about the industry, Nikki was hired because of her strong business background and professional persona.

"The only thing I knew about credit cards back then was 'charge it' and how to dispute the bill," she says, laughing.

Even after eight days of training, she still knew nothing about credit card processing. So she went home, locked herself in a room with spreadsheets on product and services and learned everything she could. That next Monday morning, she walked in and explained it to her new staff of 22 sales agents. Six years after that eventful beginning, Nikki ventured out alone and started her own company, Merchant Processing. In the first year, she signed 240 clients, a success rate she attributes to honesty, not hurting her clients, not lowballing them and not deceiving them.

She has slowed the growth of her workforce - she has only eight employees - even though she has a staggering total of 2,700 clients, many of them through referrals. "If you do right by a merchant, he or she will refer you to another," she says.

The company is based in Las Vegas and handles accounts across the board, from automotive to antiques and everything in between. Nikki's business includes a check program as well as credit card processing and keeps rates lower than some competitors.

"We're not greedy. We keep rates low. We're not about big mark-ups," she says. "We care! We're not out there to throw enough against the wall, see what sticks and hope they call us again."

Because Las Vegas is a 24-hour town, Merchant Processing does service calls around the clock. Whether responding to a malfunctioning terminal at 2 in the morning on a Sunday or installing a terminal at a casino at 3 a.m., Nikki stresses live, superior customer service. "I owned a retail store and have a lot of empathy for merchants," she says. "I was on the other end, so I can sit with merchants and really talk with them, person to person."

Training is a key element of Merchant Processing's profitability. Box set up her own training program years ago and frequently is adjusting it, introducing new products and services. "Invest time, energy and money to training and you can become very good at what you do," she says. "You can create a staff to be almost as good if not as good as you."

Box even offers her five-day training program, for a nominal fee, to other ISOs who want to do business honestly and profitably. "The more good people that are out there educated and honestly doing business, the less we have to overcome," she says. Reps are taught how to evaluate, find extra savings and promote profit for merchants while increasing their own income.

The program consists of three days in the classroom, with written and oral exercises, and two in the field. Box stresses the importance of knowledge in the ISO marketplace and knowing what to do with it.

"Be as educated as you can. Never think you know it all, because you don't, whether it be equipment, services or leasing," she says. "There's something new every day. Keep learning and perfecting your craft."

Box's philosophy is to advise, not sell. She reminds her staff that they're dealing with merchants, and merchants are people, not just an address and a place to make a commission.

"We don't sell anything. We are business consultants," she says. "We show our customers the numbers and advise them on what can or can't be done."

Like other women in the sales force, Box believes men tend to sell while women tend to advise. "I think women listen better, as a rule," she says. "I have both male and female reps, and there is a difference in how they work." Ineffective ISOs are just order-takers instead of being negotiators and advisors, she says.

Reputation is critical to Merchant Processing, particularly because of its location. "How good is our reputation? We were referred to a casino (by) the North Las Vegas police!" Box says, adding, "If you are getting into the industry just to make money, you're going to get in trouble." As many successful ISOs know, lose your reputation and you won't be in business very long.

As for doing business surrounded by males, both on the merchant side and the provider side, Box says, "I have no difficulty in being a woman. I took everything I thought was wrong and could change - and did. And I only deal with companies that are willing to make it right - regardless of gender."

And Box has a way of making it right, too.

"I once went before a board and immediately noticed the patronizing attitude of the roomful of men with questions like, 'Did you check with your boss?' - when I owned the company! After awhile I finally got ticked, took off one of my high-heeled shoes, broke the heel off on the table and said, 'I took off my heels - now we are all on the same playing field.' "

She laughs. "I was not intimidated. I was insulted. They assumed wrong, but I got their attention."

ETA Co-founder Is in it for the Long Haul

A somewhat different approach, and one that has set a standard for women in the ISO industry, is that of Joyce Cook.

In its very, very early stages, even before Visa coined the acronym ISO, Cook got into the business by accident as well. Through an odd back door - namely, insurance - she was introduced to the credit card business via her husband, who had been contacted by an association putting together a menu of products to sell to merchants.

While her husband provided the insurance portion, Joyce was intrigued with the selling of all the merchant services, especially the credit card aspect. She was able to cherry-pick her location and, after one year, bought her portfolio from the owner and started her own company. In 1985, she introduced Independent Merchants Association to the young ISO community.

Twelve years later, IMA did a stock merger with PMP Merchant Services and became the first ISO to go public on the Nasdaq. Cook continued with PMP because its philosophy was a good fit - it was transparent to sales reps and non-invasive to the operation of her company. She now had a full-blown organization with a national sales force and centers for customer and tech support.

PMP continued to be a totally independent subsidiary until it was sold to Nova Corp. in 1999. However, Nova proved to embody a different philosophy. Cook opted to start all over again - new company, new staff and new clients. She partnered with another entrepreneur, Martin Hilber, and International CyberTrans was born in March 2000. Based in Nashville, her new organization specializes in midsize accounts.

"We really like accounts that do $100,000 to $1 million per year, though some of our merchants do $9,000 while others do $9 million," she says.

During this time, one of Cook's most respected contributions to the ISO industry was being one of the co-founders of ETA. Investing her personal finances with five other professionals, she helped create an organization where professionals in the ISO community came together to share educational information and raise the image of their industry, which after its emergence was suffering from negative portrayals among major credit card providers and in the media.

Cook's commitment to being a long-term ISO player served ETA well. Under her guidance during her early term as president and then later as a board member, ETA has grown from the initial meeting of 36 to more than 1,000 members.

Cook also embraces the business philosophy of being more than just a salesperson.

"It's not just about selling the merchant; it's about creating a family of sales reps and merchants," she says. "We're not just in the selling business. We're also in the merchant business."

To that end, Cook stresses to her salespeople a dedication to re-occurring income by focusing on the merchant and not just focusing on selling that lease. "Employees must be professional in their presentation, not cramming a lease down someone's throat who doesn't need or want it," she says. "We take particular care. Employee needs to demonstrate that care to merchants."

And, like Box, Joyce made a concerted effort to educate herself about every aspect of the ISO industry and continues to do so. International CyberTrans also has a training program, consisting of a three-day classroom program as well as a three-day field program. If the rep is new to the ISO industry, then it's a five-day class and field instruction.

Cook says she has had nothing but positive experiences working with both men and women in the industry. "If you have the intelligence and can hold you own, you're not inferior," she says.

If there's any advantage in being a woman in the ISO marketplace, Cook says it is only slight: "Maybe in sales ... it could be an advantage to be a woman. Whether because of more grit or stick-to-it-iveness or maybe because of a less aggressive approach, women may have an upper hand."

Cook agrees that men tend to take more risks and have a more aggressive, hard-sell approach. "But when you get to the point where you are running a business and you really are a qualified, legitimate business with a solid plan and model, then there really isn't a difference," she says. "I have and do run with the boys."

She contends, however, men do a much better job of networking among themselves in any industry, not just in the ISO world. Women tend to be more proprietary and less able to network with each other.

For example, while Cook was the lone woman on the ETA board, she and the other men would hammer out issues and come to agreement in the best interest of the association. Afterward, everyone would go out and be best buddies over a beer, never referring back to any boardroom conflicts.

A year later, Cook became a member of the all-women board for the Women Business Owners organization, but she resigned before her term was up. Why? Mudslinging. Cook says they conducted business and reacted to conflict differently. "They kept the grudge after leaving the boardroom," Cook says.

Despite that one incident, Joyce believes this is a good business for women, though she admits it is a tough business to get into and stay in. Competition can be fierce, and she warns women about the misrepresentations of fast money. She also recommends, "If you want to play in this arena, you have to have really tough skin on the outside but not tough inside."

Joyce plans to play in the ISO arena for a while. With eight staff members, a co-shared help desk and a national sales force on any given day of 25-30 reps, International CyberTrans has a definitive business plan. The company's timeline was moved back by two years because revenue was growing more slowly than expected, but Cook's goal is for her company to be a leader in the ISO community within five years.

She also would like to take the company public with acquisitions along the way. "Rather than be a merged company, we want to be a parent company," she says.

And this parent wannabe is looking for small ISOs to adopt. "We have lots of ... resources, and we are ready," Cook says.

Single Mom Uses 'Mother Instinct' with Merchants

Where can selling merchant services lead for a successful woman? Consider Liz Fairbanks, who went from selling agent to leasing agent.

A single working mom whose career was geared toward flexible hours to meet the needs of her family, in 1994 Liz answered an ad placed by Card Service International. She interviewed at CSI, got the job and immediately started hustling. In her first month, Liz wrote 14 accounts even though she was not only the oldest rep but also the only female rep on the team.

Fairbanks says that the camaraderie of that team made a difference to her. "I never felt isolated as the only woman," she says. "We all went out and threw back beers. If I didn't know something, the guys would take me out and hand-feed me."

Instead, the greater challenge to Fairbanks was the patronizing attitude of merchants, some of whom were intimidated.

"Most merchants wanted to deal with men because they thought men knew more," she says. "But then these merchants realized I really cared about their business and their account, and their attitudes would change."

Fairbanks believes women have more of a "mother instinct" with merchants. For example, Fairbanks still is contacted by merchants she met five years ago even though she no longer is their ISO rep.

But Fairbanks also admits that she hasn't always gotten the contract. Those painful professional episodes were productive, however. "My experience in this industry has gotten me to be more acceptable of rejection in all areas of my life," she says, "and that's a good thing."

Like many other ISOs, Fairbanks has had to discipline herself to be consistent and do those cold calls. "My kids and my bills became my biggest motivators," she says.

Fairbanks has learned that maintaining a sense of humor helps women in business. There was the time she overheard a vendor refer to her as a "bimbo" during the course of a telephone conversation. When she came back on the line, she said, "Hello again, this is Bimbo Liz."

Liz's advice to women entering the ISO arena: "I highly recommend it. We are making a definite presence. Just accept the fact that sales will be dominated by men."

Yes, and it will continue to be dominated by men. But women are showing that they can add innovation, style and strong sales figures to the ISO world.