ayne Damron readily admits that sales is his life. And while he has built a career around the art of selling payment services, he has seen the industry evolve from the early days of paper credit card drafts and phone authorizations.

Knowing an industry that well, of course, has helped him through the years. Beyond that, it has been the satisfaction that results from closing deals and, perhaps more important, meeting people that has fueled his love for what he does.

Damron's contributions as Senior Vice President of Sales at Lynk Systems, Inc. have enabled the company to grow and expand into new areas. His role there has changed a little, too, but a successful sales effort always will be his primary focus even though he isn't pounding the pavement the way he used to. As Lynk has added personnel, Damron has watched over sales managers in expanded territories and has supervised the formation of a new MSP program.

Damron, who was born and raised in Kentucky, has been in the payment industry since 1982. He attended college (University of West Florida) on the G.I. Bill. "I wanted to do it and be debt-free when I got done. I was taking 24 units a quarter. I had one quarter left and ran out of money," he said.

Instead of applying for financial aid, he said, he went to New Orleans and "went to all the tall buildings there," knocking on doors looking for work. His efforts paid off when one of the doors in one of the tall buildings opened for him. The Bank of New Orleans offered him a job as a sales rep selling merchant credit card services. He had found his niche. Three months later, Damron said, his boss was fired and he was asked to replace him. He never looked back.

Not only did those days mark the beginning of his career, but they also were the beginning of the payment industry. "When I started, in 1982, you had to physically take your credit card receipts to the bank and turn them in to get credit," he said. "In 1984, the World's Fair was held in New Orleans. I sold electronic draft capture technology to them - it was a first. This opened the door to electronic settlement and to consolidating merchant accounts."

Over the years, Damron learned a lot about many jobs within the industry. "I was a salesperson on the street, then I managed salespeople. I also learned to do actual support, like operations and risk management. I saw many points of view. I learned by hook or by crook. I was a jack of all trades, a master of none," he joked.

In 1994, Damron joined Lynk Systems, which had been formed three years earlier and was beginning to grow. He started on Lynk's credit card side but said his range of experience within the business, combined with his passion for sales, definitely worked in his favor. "My wide knowledge base of the industry served Lynk well in those early days," he said.

Lynk Systems provides single-sourced electronic payment, cash dispensing and e-commerce solutions, including merchant account processing, ATM services and a range of stored-value card options.

"Our founder and CEO, Edward Uzialko, came from a technology background; that was a big plus," Damron said. "We planned carefully and purposefully. From the beginning, many people said we were crazy to enter into a business ruled by giants. The others were focused on acquisitions. But we took a contrarian view. We were probably more single-sourced than any of our huge competitors.

"To characterize Lynk informally, two things come to mind. The first is, 'Inch by inch, anything's a cinch.' The second is, 'Ready, fire, aim!' "

Damron said Lynk set out from the beginning to establish survivability for the long haul; the philosophy of "slow and steady wins the race" has served the company well. He said Lynk is now the 16th-largest acquirer in the country with 80,000-plus merchant sites and 15,000 off-premise ATMs. The company's corporate staff numbers more than 500.

"All our growth has been organic," he said. "We worked under the radar screen, developing our own solutions. For example, there were inherited legacy platforms that didn't offer contemporary solutions. So instead of buying back-end settlement applications, we spent two years developing our own. Also, there was call center software out there that didn't address the needs of the users. We developed a solution that supported our 24-hour help desk access."

Damron's own work schedule was practically 24 hours, too. He "lived and breathed it," he said.

"During those formative years with Lynk, I was a 'Lynkaholic,' " Damron said, describing the long hours that he - and everyone else there - was putting in. That was especially true for the sales department, where 99% of the credit card business was generated by the company's in-house sales force. Work weeks of 100 hours were not unusual.

"My first love is sales," he said. "Being in sales allows more creativity, more positive feedback and a sense of accomplishment. There's a sense of immediate gratification - you don't have to wait to see the results of your efforts. There's also a sense of fulfillment in aligning yourself with a good company.

"You end up with a 'win' in each column."

Damron knows well the highs and lows salespeople face and the challenges involved in staying focused and motivated. He said he tries to share his knowledge and experience with new sales staff members. These days, he finds real satisfaction in conducting training sessions.

"When I'm speaking in front of a group of salespeople, it's a real positive thing for me. I know the roller-coaster these folks are on. I try to be a motivator and a positive influence," he said.

Lynk has an in-house W-2 sales staff of more than 600, including 35 managers and 60-70 territory managers throughout the country. Damron is heading a new MSP program that will increase the company's presence nationwide. While Damron acknowledges that the primary training takes place on the street, Lynk has developed sales materials and online tools to assist its agents.

"We've reached a point of maturity," he said. "We feel the systems are in place and we need more points of distribution. The partner program is designed to form partnerships with financial institutions, VARs and associations. They will endorse us to their customer base and then share in the profits of the referred merchant. Our MSP program, for the first time, will allow indirect distributors to market Lynk's products and services under their own brands."

There's also the part of selling that involves dealing with other people - good interpersonal skills are essential. Successful salespeople know that not only do you have to have a good product to represent, people always do business with people they like.

Damron is a people person. Underneath his affable manner is a guy who knows the payments industry inside and out.

Damron's contributions as Senior Vice President of Sales at Lynk have helped the company expand in several ways - its products and services, its personnel, its physical space requirements. The point of selling is to make money for the company. When the company sells a lot, everyone's happy. It begins to grow, the number of customers or accounts increases, and then more staff people are needed.

And now, Damron said, the downside - if you can really call it that - of the ongoing success and growth of Lynk is the fact that he doesn't know everyone in the office by name anymore. It's not surprising and even understandable: Lynk is now the sole occupant of a 105,000-square-foot, four story office building, as well as an off-site 25,000-square-foot shipping and warehouse center. An area that size can hold a lot of people.

Damron said the days of the 100-hour work weeks are over, and it's allowing him to focus on other important areas. Damron's family, for instance, consists of kids and grandkids of all ages: He has a 9-year-old son, a 5-year-old daughter, a grown daughter and four grandchildren ages six months to 10 years; his grandchildren's uncle and aunt are younger than their niece and nephew.

"I've been able to add more balance to my life the last couple of years," he said. "I have more time now to give back to the industry."