or this month's edition of "AgenTalk," I interviewed Joyce Leiser of electronictrans.com, based in Dallas. Joyce has seen a lot of changes in technology in the payments industry, but she has embraced these changes throughout her career and created a successful business and reputation by doing so.

Matthew Swinnerton: Why and how did you enter this industry?

Joyce Leiser: I had been involved in sales at the corporate level for many years in a variety of industries so I already knew that my area of enjoyment and expertise was in sales. A friend who had actually worked for me at a previous company suggested that I try merchant acquiring.

I knew little about this industry and feel fortunate that my introduction to it was working with an ethical company that taught me the basics from interchange on up and educated me correctly from day one.

Jack Martin, one of the founders of the Bankcard Services Association (BSA), which is now Electronic Transactions Association (ETA), was the President of the Dallas ISO for whom I worked in the early 1990s.

His involvement with the BSA/ETA exposed me to the key players across the board in our industry (terminal manufacturers, card Association executives and network innovators) so I became networked very quickly during this time of rapid industry growth.

MS: Provide a timeline of your experience in the industry.

JL: I began my career as an agent and worked out of an office surrounded by a hardworking, full service help-desk and underwriting, deployment and IT departments.

I believe that was my most valuable experience because it enabled me to understand merchants' needs and what our office personnel had to know to get a merchant up and running and to supply customer service.

I clearly saw what was required to make the entire process flow smoothly and how every detail had an effect on the signing, set up and servicing of a happy merchant.

I quickly learned that if I was knowledgeable about a particular merchant's industry that it was easy to infiltrate all merchants in that type of industry since I was familiar with their jargon and needs and spoke their language. I also found it easier to establish rapport by quickly gaining their respect with a true knowledge of their needs.

With the ongoing education provided to me by my ISO, I was also able to communicate that I was a professional in my industry. If I signed merchants whom I enjoyed working with that were also profitable, I immediately asked about their professional/trade association and became an actively involved member.

I became the first ISO Sales Manager of Martin Howe Associates and enjoyed signing new offices and helping to grow the business.

By continuing to be actively involved in signing merchants, and since I had walked in the shoes of ISOs and agents, I was also able to relate to them.

I think it would be hard to establish rapport with "feet on the street" on behalf of any ISO if you have not "walked their walk." In the mid 1990s, I was drawn to wireless technology when the first Lipman units came out on BellSouth. These unique devices impressed me, and the first merchants who needed wireless were the ones that had a larger average ticket and required both speed and portability. Those merchants were the stadiums and arenas for concerts/ sports teams across the country.

Back then, no one from our industry had taken the time to understand how to sell wireless correctly, so it was very easy for me to talk with merchants, educate them and gain their trust. I solved problems for them that no one else could talk about.

Plus, I really enjoyed learning about the emerging NASCAR industry and servicing merchants at All-Star games and other sporting events. Some of my associates teased me that I signed teams because I liked the logos on their merchandise.

I had no competition and a very high closing ratio along with a strong word-of-mouth referral business. The ISO I worked with became a PMT company, and I left when they sold to Nova.

I went to work as Director of Emerging Markets for U.S. Wireless Data and stayed in wireless as the technology evolved. I enjoyed working with the card Associations to break new ground in taxi, vending, QSR and cell phone wireless technology. After so many years specializing in only wireless, I felt I was missing out on other areas of payments such as electronic check conversion, gift cards, Internet and fixed location wireless (IP), so I made the decision to work with an ISO to re-educate myself and get caught up on the rest of the industry. This brought me back to the world of the ISOs and also to their "feet on the street" and the day-to-day issues selling directly to merchants.

When I had to begin turning down some large opportunities that came my way because the ISO with whom I worked was not equipped to handle them, I decided to go out on my own.

I did this in order to have the ability to "shop the deal" and make sure that I could direct the national merchant, VAR or merchant association to the best solution based on their needs.

I still get calls from ISOs/merchant level salespeople (MLSs) in the industry who are looking for a "home." I direct them to some reputable organizations based on their level of experience and their requirements for ongoing education to become successful in our industry.

MS: Do you focus on a certain market?

JL: I work with retail merchants and their associations and still lead with wireless; however, wireless today also means Internet protocol (IP)-based connectivity or "fixed-location wireless."

Many of the early mobile wireless users with whom I have maintained relationships for the past decade are now ready to upgrade to IP for POS. A lot of these are QSR. In addition to setting up merchants, most of my time is spent getting VARS up and running.

The bigger deals involve putting together companies that can compliment each other to obtain merchant accounts and share revenue. What keeps me busy are the vast number of companies that have existing relationships with their customers and see the value in adding merchant acquiring as another product to tie the customer to them. It also adds an additional revenue stream.

It's possible for these companies to become ISOs and learn our business if they're able to dedicate resources, but most companies I work with choose to partner with an ISO where cultures and resources fit and are complimentary.

They negotiate duties and responsibilities of signing the customer/merchant and share revenue based on that equation.

MS: Do you have a mentor?

JL: I really have to give credit to ETA as my mentor and as a key to my success. I started attending meetings many years ago, and I've been able to gain industry knowledge and meet other industry experts.

Even during the years I attended as a vendor, I spent many hours in the breakout sessions learning about new issues, problems, solutions and the developing technologies and industry trends.

MS: What factors made you choose your current processors?

JL: The industry knowledge and access to information I need to stay up-to-date are critical, and tools provided to me in real time that make it easy for me to keep track of all details concerning my merchants are key. Those tools were not around many years ago, and all ISOs are not equal in regards to making this type of information available to agents and partners.

Also, every sales organization has its own level of professionalism. This was also key in my decision. The ISO that gets the majority of my business is one that fits with my mode of sales and service. It provides true 24/7 customer service to both me and to my merchants.

I do not believe in outsourcing a help desk on evenings and weekends. I will not work with too large of a "shop." My business is based on my reputation. The level of professionalism, industry knowledge and trust that my merchants receive from me must also be a match at the ISO/processor level.

I can't afford to trust business sent to me via referral to any ISO that will not have my same professional standards.

I am the first line of communication with my key merchants and want to stay in the selling mode; finding an organization that has the same standard of service allows me to concentrate on selling since I know they will be there for me and for my merchant when issues arise.

Sure there will be problems, but it's how the problems are handled that impress my merchants. Also, although I've been in this industry many years, it's important to find those whom you truly respect and who have also "walked the walk."

It's important that they can think through a creative solution in order to gain good business. After all, if you're sharing revenue, they should be as interested as you in finding a solution to keep the merchant happy.

MS: What future technologies do you look forward to in payments?

JL: Payments technology integrated into other business solutions that merchants use so that it isn't sold as a stand-alone product. I'm also excited about the contactless payment technology being rolled out in Dallas and New York.

MS: How has The Green Sheet helped you?

JL: I like the Industry Updates and also the articles highlighting new technology.

MS: If you could tell a new MLS one thing, what would it be?

JL: It's all about the people in this industry. If you are serious about making a life-long career in payments, then it's your responsibility to stay up-to-date on the industry and the professionals in the industry.

Make it a point to attend industry trade shows at least once a year so that you can meet and learn from the people that make this industry run.

If you find people you can relate to and trust, then you'll be in a better position to find out "word of mouth" who is real and who isn't and who has experience and who's looking to make a quick buck and sell.

There's no way to know this unless you talk to people who have been around a long time. All of these industry veterans are accessible, but it's up to you to go out and meet and get to know them. It's also key to work with an ISO where the top management, including the Chief Executive Officer, has experience as an acquirer.

Also, the majority of the board and owners must also be from this industry and have walked in your shoes. This is critical because the industry is rapidly changing. I've experienced first-hand the frustration of how time-consuming and difficult it is to educate a decision maker on certain aspects of the industry in order to get a decision made.

If there's a history and base of industry knowledge, good decisions can be made faster and more efficiently. Just because an ISO has quickly assembled a staff of industry veterans, doesn't mean that it's the best company with which to align yourself for business.

MS: Do you attend any regional or national association shows?

JL: I have always attended ETA's Annual Meeting and Expo in the spring and try to get to one or two regional acquirers' shows every year when the time and location are convenient.

In recent years I've made attending the merchant association shows a priority. After all, that's where the merchants come for face-to-face time. It also saves a trip to their location.

MS: What has been your biggest achievement in this industry?

JL: My involvement in breaking new ground to bring card acceptance to Pepsi vending, the taxi industry and QSR business have been some of the most enjoyable highlights of my career.

It was exciting to be among "the first" in these areas and to lead the way for others to accelerate card acceptance in new areas from advances in wireless technology.

MS: Describe a typical day in your life.

JL: The beauty of the MLS lifestyle is that you can control your appointments and schedule around any personal events without feeling guilty. E-mail, toll free phone numbers and cell phones make it easy to keep in touch with merchants from anywhere in the country.

I generally spend 50% of my time on new business and the other 50% split between servicing existing customers and consulting commitments.

I will make time in my schedule for early morning installations or the occasional Saturday installation/ training. For large multi-location merchants, I will spend a lot of time training one person within an organization to train the others.

I try to return all phone calls and e-mails the same day or within 24 hours. Many merchants and business associates are not surprised to find a late night voice mail message from me simply letting them know that I received their message and that I plan to respond.

Working from the "home" office allows me to catch up at odd hours and work the occasional fragmented day.

MS: Is there anything else you'd like to add?

JL: I've found that it's really simple to succeed if you do two things consistently:

1. Demonstrate that you have a clear knowledge of this industry when speaking with merchants so they trust you and feel like they can depend on you, and
2. Follow-up. A lot of people make great presentations (including your competition) but lack the skills to follow up. Once prospective merchants understand that they can trust you to always follow up then they relax and become loyal merchants and a great source of referrals.

MS: Thanks, Joyce. What an inspiration you have been. You have certainly given us some great advice. Thank you for sharing your ideas and your story.

Matthew Swinnerton of Merchant Services Direct has sold credit card processing solutions for the last seven-plus years as an independent agent. To find out more about Merchant Services Direct, visit www.msdirect.net or e-mail Matthew directly at matt@msdirect.net or call him at 512-255-9791.