Credentials, please
I have been reading your online ezine for many years on and off - even before you were online - and remember you writing a book for sales reps and people in this field on how the whole industry works and how to be successful at it. Do you still have that book or an updated version for today's sales force and industry changes?
Also, I would like to know if there is a national training/certification company/agency that new and seasoned reps can go to get further training and have some credentials - other than their companies' training - to walk into a merchant and talk to them.
Shawn Jones
Advocate Merchant Solutions Inc.
Shawn,
The book you referred to is either Good Selling!SM or Good Selling!SM 2 by Paul H. Green. They have not been updated recently but nevertheless contain considerable information that is still useful to the feet on the street in the payments industry. Both are available - free of charge - in PDF format on our website's book reviews page, www.greensheet.com/publications.php?flag=book_reviews.
For up-to-date information, The Green Sheet, a semimonthly magazine, and our quarterly publication, GSQ, help readers stay abreast of new developments and trends in the industry, as well as enhance their sales and business skills. And for reference, both publications are archived online dating to 1995 and 1999, respectively. Go to our publications page, www.greensheet.com/publications.php, to peruse specific issues or feature categories, or use the Fast Finder search engine found on the upper left-hand side of our home page, www.greensheet.com.
It will locate what you type into the search field and then provide a list of articles containing the exact word or phrase you entered. You will also be given the option to search for more than one term at a time. It's like having an encyclopedia of payments at your fingertips.
Regarding national training and certification. The Electronic Transactions Association created the Certified Payments Professional (CPP) program specifically for that purpose. Periodic tests are held throughout the United States, and those who pass are awarded the CPP designation. A study guide is provided for those who sign up for the exam. Further information is available at the ETA's website, www.electran.org.
Other training resources that come to mind include:
Field Guide Enterprises LLC. Founded by payments industry veteran Mark Dunn, the organization provides consulting for small to midsize ISOs, as well as bankcard sales training and seminars. The Field Guide seminars are also a popular draw at the various regional acquirers associations' annual meetings. For more information, visit www.gofieldguide.com.
Performance Training Systems offers The Bankcard Toolbox, (www.bankcardtoolbox.com) an online resource for training and tools for ISOs and merchant level salespeople (MLSs). PTS also runs the Bankcard Bootcamp training program (www.bankcardbootcamp.com) founded by Marc Beauchamp, who authored the book, How to Survive and Thrive in the Merchant Services Industry.
Bill Pirtle, President of C3ET Credit Card Consortia for Education & Training Inc., has written two books and a workbook to further the professional education of payment professionals: Navigating Through the Risks of Credit Card Processing, Credit Card Processing for Sales Agents and a study guide for the latter book. For more information, email him at billpirtle@yahoo.com
These aren't the only resources available, but they should go a long way toward helping you and your colleagues obtain the comprehensive professional education and resultant recognition you desire.
Editor
Positively POS-itivity!
We received the following note from CardWare International regarding "A POS for Main Street merchants," a new product story published in The Green Sheet, Sept. 24, 2012, issue 12:09:02:
"There seems to have been a misprint on the info sheet we provided to you about CardWare's POS-itivity! The name/logo should have a hyphen after POS, (POS-itivity!) and the domain name is also with a hyphen and no exclamation point: pos-itivity.com. Is there any way you can print a correction in your next issue clarifying this?"
In addition to providing the correct information on this page, we've also revised the online version of the story in the magazine. We wish CardWare the best of luck with POS-itivity!
The Green Sheet Inc. is now a proud affiliate of Bankcard Life, a premier community that provides industry-leading training and resources for payment professionals. Click here for more information.
Notice to readers: These are archived articles. Contact names or information may be out of date. We regret any inconvenience.
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