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Education

Merchants first, key wasn't whether a product was the
next best thing. The key was whether
technology second it met my immediate needs and had
potential for expansion while im-
proving my productivity. For exam-
By Jeff Fortney ple, I purchased the first flip phone,
but the need was there, and it greatly
TouchSuite LLC improved the use of my time – and
my work product.
bought my first computer well over 30 years ago. My friends were using
a Commodore 64, and I was impressed. But I wanted the next-generation Technology pressures
computer, one that did "more." When the Commodore 128 was intro-
I duced, I knew that was the one for me. It ran every program the 64 did Throughout my time in the payments
but had a bigger memory and obviously could do more. It also cost more. It industry, I have observed and partici-
took me six months to discover more isn't necessarily better. pated in the evolution of technology
we all use. From the first terminals of
The 128 had twice the memory, but that extra space didn't necessarily translate yesteryear to today's cloud-based and
into greater functionality. Software for it was in development, but most never software-as-a-service solutions, we
came to fruition. Applications that did – like a Windows WYSIWYG (what you have seen a continuously expanding
see is what you get) product (an overlay that made the Commodore look like array of new products and opportu-
windows 2.0) – were extremely slow. Within six months, this fancy computer nities hit the market. The volume and
had become an expensive game console, a use for which the 64 version would sophistication of these advancements
have sufficed. And a costly lesson: sometimes bigger is not better or needed. can be confusing – and a bit frustrat-
ing.
This experience did not sour my interest in technology. I remained an early
adopter but became more selective and did more research before buying. The Lately, I have been asked this ques-
tion often: I want to grow my busi-
ness and keep the merchants I have
today. Where do I invest my time and
energy to insure I am on the cutting
edge of the new solutions?

Although the particulars of my an-
swers vary with each conversation,
my message has remained constant
from my first year in the payments
world to today. Don't invest your time
in learning cutting edge technology.
Invest your time in identifying your
prospects' needs first. And do this
one prospect at a time.

Probing follow-up questions
The most common question merchant
level salespeople (MLSs) ask mer-
chants hasn't changed over the years:
How do you process today? However,
many MLSs fail to ask the questions
that should follow, including:

1. What do you like about it? Al-
ways begin with a positive. It's im-
portant that you not comment on
or criticize the merchant's existing
process, as merchants often take
that as a direct criticism of them.

2. What don't you like about it?
No matter how many examples
merchants give about what
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