any merchant level salespeople (MLSs) are skeptical about opportunities in selling to quick service restaurants (QSRs). However, the QSR industry is a great niche to focus on for a number of reasons.

The first is the type of business owner targeted: a franchisee. We all know that the odds for achieving success are against the average business; however, the average franchisee undergoes a vigorous background check and must have proper financial strength.

Franchisees are often required to have at least $250,000 in liquid assets and impeccable credit. What this means to MLSs is that they will not lose merchants because the merchants went out of business. QSRs beat the national average for business longevity by 75%.

Additionally, most franchise contracts average about 12 years in length, which further cements the establishment as a business that will be in business for years to come. As an MLS, there is nothing worse than working hard to close a deal only to have the business eventually close.

QSR transactions are based on interchange pricing at pass through plus a transaction fee, but rate means nothing in the QSR marketplace; rather, it's all about clicks, or customer counts.

The average QSR franchise serves more than 2,500 customers per month. An average hamburger location serves more than 5,000.

A rate of $0.02 to $0.07 a transaction over interchange (including dues and assessments) might not seem like a lot, but multiply this by an average of 1,400 transactions a month, and you're earning a sufficient residual.

Additional revenue streams often overlooked are batch header fees. The average QSR has approximately three shift changes. During these shift changes, the manager "batches out" the terminal so employees can cash out the register.

For a typical QSR with two terminals per location, this equates to three batches a day multiplied by 30 days. This is 180 batches. Depending on your cost on batch headers and the amount at which you price them, this is another revenue stream worth considering.

Most important, aside from revenue, is the prevalence and growth of QSR locations in America. According to "QSR Magazine," there are currently more than 225,000 branded franchised QSRs in the United States.

There are also 200,000-plus nonbranded QSRs. More than 30,000 new QSR locations were added in 2003 alone.

Did you also know that 40% of Americans eat twice a week at QSRs? QSRs are on every corner of every town and city in America, and the "quick casual" restaurant has taken off. As credit and debit card use continues to increase, so will revenues at QSRs.

Aaron Slominski is Director of Agent Services for Direct Technology Innovations. E-mail him at aaron@directtec.com or call him at 800-724-7000, ext. 464.