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Inspiration

Get ready before the rush

utumn arrived Sept. 22, and with it came that ing a holiday rush. Staff members who aren't completely
unmistakable sense that the year has shifted comfortable with the payment system may benefit from a
gears. For payments professionals, the change refresher before seasonal employees arrive.
A of season is more than a turn of the calendar.
It's a reminder that merchants are approaching one of the It's also a good time to check your own business
busiest stretches of the year. Halloween is barely a month Look at your own operation. Follow up on conversations
away. Thanksgiving follows soon after. Then, seemingly that have gone quiet. Review your portfolio. Reconnect
overnight, the year-end holiday rush is upon us. with merchants you haven't spoken with lately. Learn
Now is a good time to check in with merchants more about a product you've been meaning to investigate.
Make sure you know whom to call when something goes
Ask what's changed since last holiday season. Have they wrong on a particularly busy Saturday.
added locations, sales channels or employees? Are they
expecting more online orders? Do they have the equip- Autumn reminds us that change is inevitable. Leaves
ment they need? Are their payment terminals and soft- turn, daylight diminishes and suddenly we're pulling
ware up to date? Could faster checkout, mobile acceptance, jackets from closets again. Business has seasons, too. The
contactless payments or additional payment options help advantage is that we can see some of them coming.
when business picks up?
So use these early days of fall well. Say hello. Ask ques-
The answers may uncover opportunities, but the conver- tions. Fix the little things. Help merchants prepare. The
sation doesn't have to begin with a sales pitch. Sometimes holiday rush will arrive soon, but there's still time to pre-
the most valuable thing an ISO, merchant level salespeo- pare for it.
ple or other merchant service provider can offer is the
question a busy merchant hasn't had time to ask: What
could become a problem when we're busy?
A terminal that occasionally misbehaves in September
could become a major headache when customers are
lined up in December. An inefficient checkout process Kate Gillespie, President and CEO
that seems tolerable today may not feel so tolerable dur-

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