[Sean Cash]

WOW Sean that is a horrible story

Seriously how many months did it take for you to make any money? Did the company just not offer any marketing or something? Did all of your deals get declined? How did you not make any sales?

I made the leap from underwriting to sales just as the financial markets were collapsing, in September 2008. It was a bit of a dark period for the industry for awhile. Talk about your bad timing! As a newbie, it was my job to cold call UCCs, businesses on some random lists, and the few leads we got per day. Picture Glengarry Glen Ross where each rep got their 3 good leads for the day and it was up to you to pound them into deals. On each you competed with 2-4 other companies.

I slashed and burned upfront commissions early on in the name of just winning accounts so I could build up a merchant account portfolio with residuals. I also didn't charge closing fees. It may have looked sad early on, but after a year, it was pretty common to get a check for more than 10k each month. You got better leads as time went on, especially since the ISO was doing well. Because I priced my deals so low, my renewal rate was through the roof as were my residuals. It took more than a year to regularly bring home big checks, but it happened.

The game is different now. Residuals and merchant accounts are the last thing on anyones mind today. It's all about upfront commissions. That's great if you're okay with starting at $0 all over again each month. That grind isn't for me. I like things that build and last.