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Small Business Merchant Services Small Business Merchant Services helps local businesses evaluate payment processing, POS systems, merchant statements, online ordering, & payment technology.
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Sometimes the most important part of a business conversation has nothing to do with why the person called you in the fir...
10/16/2026

Sometimes the most important part of a business conversation has nothing to do with why the person called you in the first place.

A towing company owner I met about a year ago recently called me because he was ready to purchase an ATM for his business.

He wanted to own the ATM, stock it himself, and earn the surcharge revenue.

Pretty straightforward conversation, right?

Well, not exactly. 😂

As we talked about his towing operation, I mentioned another towing company we work with that has one of our ATMs and also uses us for credit card processing.

He stopped me.

“Wait. You do credit card processing too?”

Yep! We sure do!

In all fairness, when we first met, we mostly talked about ATMs, so he really had no reason to know that.

But then he told me something interesting.

He’d lost SIX chargebacks through his current payment setup.

SIX!

His software uses Stripe for payment processing, and while the dispute information is available in his dashboard, he wasn’t always going in to check it.

So some of those disputes were going unanswered.

Ironically, earlier that same day, I’d received a chargeback notification for another towing company we work with.

I explained how we help our merchants when chargebacks come in.

We receive notifications, work with the merchant to gather invoices, receipts, and other supporting documentation, and prepare rebuttals based on the applicable Visa or Mastercard rules.

And sometimes we go a little further.

I told him about a chargeback where a cardholder claimed there wasn’t adequate signage in the parking lot where their vehicle had been towed.

So I drove to the parking lot myself.

And photographed THIRTEEN signs showing the parking restrictions.

THIRTEEN! 😂

We submitted that evidence as part of the rebuttal, and we won the dispute.

Now, that doesn’t mean we win every chargeback. Nobody can guarantee that.

But our merchants have someone who knows their business and is willing to help them put together the strongest response possible.

We also talked about ways his drivers could accept payments right from their phones using Tap to Pay, rather than relying entirely on payment links.

By the end of the conversation, he asked me to send him the invoice for his ATM AND information about our credit card processing services.

Here’s what struck me about that conversation.

He called because he wanted to buy an ATM.

But if all I’d done was give him a price and send an invoice, I never would have known about those six lost chargebacks.

And he never would have known we could help him with that too.

Sometimes the best way to help a business owner isn’t to immediately start talking about what you’re selling.

It’s to ask questions, listen, and understand how their business actually operates.

Because sometimes the biggest problem you can help solve isn’t the one they called you about.

If you’re dealing with chargebacks, frustrated with your payment processing, or just wondering if there’s a better way to do things, I’m always happy to be another set of eyes.

No pressure. Just an honest conversation.

Small Businesses Deserve Better.








10/14/2026

He called about an ATM.

But that wasn’t the biggest problem we ended up talking about.

A towing company owner recently reached out because he was ready to purchase an ATM for his business.

As we talked about his operation, the conversation took an unexpected turn.

He mentioned a problem he’d been having with his current payment processing setup.

And when he told me what had happened, I realized there might be something else we could help him with.

It even reminded me of a time I drove to a parking lot and photographed THIRTEEN signs to help one of our merchants. 😂

Watch the reel for the story.

Sometimes understanding a business owner’s needs starts with asking questions that have nothing to do with what they’re originally looking to buy.

Small Businesses Deserve Better.







09/27/2026

When a business owner tells you they’re unhappy with their current POS or payment setup, it’s really easy to immediately start talking about what you can offer instead.

But that might not be the best first question.

A local business owner recently called me because he’d had enough with his current setup.

Before recommending anything, I wanted to know something else.

What does he actually LIKE about the system he already has?

His answer gave me a much better idea of what any potential solution would need to accomplish.

Watch the reel for the story.

Sometimes solving a problem isn’t just about figuring out what needs to change.

It’s also about figuring out what shouldn’t.

Small Businesses Deserve Better.







Sometimes a potential customer tells you exactly what they need without ever asking you for a product.I recently walked ...
09/19/2026

Sometimes a potential customer tells you exactly what they need without ever asking you for a product.

I recently walked into a golf club to introduce myself.

I had never met John before.

We started talking about the systems they were using, and at one point he said something that made both of us laugh.

"If I have to learn and teach one more POS system, I might have to start working for you."

Funny line.

But it also told me something important.

John wasn't telling me he needed another POS system.

He was telling me he was tired of dealing with POS systems.

There's a difference.

Instead of immediately telling him about everything I could offer, I started asking questions.

What are you using now?

What's working?

What's not working?

What's driving you crazy?

What started as me simply walking into a business and introducing myself turned into a really good conversation.

It was also a reminder of something that's easy to forget when you're trying to sell something.

Sometimes we're so busy explaining what we offer that we miss what the person standing in front of us is actually telling us.

A business owner doesn't necessarily need another sales pitch.

They might need someone to listen long enough to understand the problem they're trying to solve.

Whether it's a POS system, payment processing, or something completely unrelated, I think a pretty good place to start is:

"What's driving you crazy?"

The answer might tell you a whole lot more than asking:

"What can I sell you?"

Small Businesses Deserve Better.








Sometimes the person standing in your way isn't actually trying to make your life difficult.They might just be having a ...
09/18/2026

Sometimes the person standing in your way isn't actually trying to make your life difficult.

They might just be having a problem of their own.

We were setting up ATMs at the Hamburger Festival and had one more ATM to get into place.

There was just one problem.

We couldn't get down the street.

A food vendor with a trailer was blocking one side. Someone had taken their assigned spot, so they were trying to improvise and were already frustrated.

On the other side was a minivan belonging to another vendor who was trying to set up their tent.

There wasn't enough room for our Jeep and trailer to get through.

I walked over to the ladies by the minivan and quickly discovered why they hadn't moved yet.

They couldn't get their tent up.

One of the women was extremely frustrated.

That's when I realized we might be able to solve both problems at the same time.

I told her that if she moved the minivan so we could get through, Kathy would come over and help her put up the tent.

There was just one small detail.

I hadn't actually asked Kathy yet. 😂

The woman moved the minivan.

I waved Kathy over.

Kathy helped her get the tent up.

I moved our Jeep and trailer through.

And we got our second ATM set up.

Everybody got what they needed.

What I liked about the whole situation was that nobody was intentionally making anybody else's day harder.

The food vendor had a problem.

The other vendor had a problem.

We had a problem.

Instead of getting frustrated with each other, we figured out how to help.

It's a pretty good lesson for business too.

Sometimes the person standing between you and what you're trying to accomplish isn't the problem.

They have a problem too.

Figure out what they need, and sometimes solving their problem helps solve yours.

Small Businesses Deserve Better.







09/15/2026

Sometimes a potential customer tells you exactly what they need without ever asking for a product.

I recently walked into a golf club to introduce myself.

Within a few minutes, one comment completely changed the direction of the conversation.

It wasn’t about rates.

It wasn’t about features.

And it wasn’t about buying another POS system.

Watch the reel for the story.

Sometimes the best place to start isn’t:

“What can I sell you?”

It’s:

“What’s driving you crazy?”

Small Businesses Deserve Better.







09/09/2026

Sometimes running a business requires a little creative problem solving. 😂

We were setting up ATMs at the Hamburger Festival and needed to get our Jeep and trailer to our second location.

There was just one problem.

We couldn’t get there.

What happened next involved several vendors, a blocked street, a little negotiation, and one member of our team who was volunteered for a job without her knowledge. 😂

Watch the reel for the story.

Sometimes the solution to your problem starts with understanding someone else’s.

Small Businesses Deserve Better.






Sometimes people know you, but they don’t actually know everything you do.I’ve known this business for quite some time.T...
09/02/2026

Sometimes people know you, but they don’t actually know everything you do.

I’ve known this business for quite some time.

The father, Kevin Sr., knew I handled credit card processing. We had talked about it before, but at the time he wasn’t interested in making a change.

No problem.

Then his son, Kevin Jr., I noticed started becoming more involved in the business.

One day we were talking and he asked me about my weekend and I said it was super busy as we had an ATM event, a POS install and a credit card terminal install.

Immediately Kevin said:

“Wait. You do credit card processing too?”

I said yes.

His next question was the one I hear all the time.

“What are your rates?”

Instead of just throwing a rate at him, I started asking questions.

How are you accepting payments now?

What problems are you having?

What works well?

What doesn’t?

That’s when the conversation got interesting.

Their tow drivers were taking credit card terminals out on the road. Sometimes the terminals weren’t charged. Sometimes they got broken.

So we talked about ways their drivers could accept payments right from their phones.

Then I reviewed their processing statements.

We found opportunities to save them money.

We also discovered that the way they were passing some of their processing costs on to customers wasn’t set up compliantly.

So we were able to address that too.

This wasn’t an overnight sale.

Eventually Kevin Jr. and his brother took over the business, and when the time was right, he called me.

Today they’re one of our merchant processing customers along with being an ATM customer.

We helped make it easier for their drivers to accept payments.

We helped save them money.

And we helped make sure the way they were passing fees to customers was set up properly.

But there’s another lesson from this story that has nothing to do with credit card processing.

I had known this business for years.

Kevin Sr. knew what I did.

Kevin Jr. didn’t.

That’s a pretty good reminder for every business owner, including me.

Don’t assume people know everything your business does just because they know you.

Sometimes your next customer already knows you.

They just don’t know you can help them.

Small Businesses Deserve Better.








09/02/2026

“What are your rates?”

That’s where this conversation started.

But rates weren’t the most important thing we ended up talking about.

Once we started asking questions and looking at how the business was actually accepting payments, we found opportunities involving:

Accepting payments in the field.

Processing costs.

And how fees were being passed on to customers.

Watch the reel for the story.

Sometimes the biggest value doesn’t come from simply finding a better rate.

It comes from taking the time to understand how a business actually operates.

If you’d like another set of eyes on how your business is accepting payments, we’d be happy to take a look.

No pressure. Just an honest conversation.

Small Businesses Deserve Better.








Sometimes the “extra step” isn’t actually extra work.I recently had a conversation with one of my merchants who used to ...
08/27/2026

Sometimes the “extra step” isn’t actually extra work.

I recently had a conversation with one of my merchants who used to run the finance department at a couple of car dealerships.

We somehow got on the subject of how dealerships accept credit card payments.

I asked if the credit card processing was integrated with the dealership software they used.

He said it was.

I mentioned that integrated processing can sometimes be more expensive and that some businesses may be able to save money by using a separate credit card terminal instead.

Then I said there was a tradeoff.

Using a separate terminal could mean an extra step.

That’s when he stopped me.

“What extra step?”

He explained that at the dealerships where he worked, employees were manually entering the entire credit card number, expiration date, and security code into the system anyway.

That made me stop and think.

If the customer is standing right there, a separate terminal could potentially allow the customer to tap or insert their card instead.

The employee may still need to go back into the dealership software and mark the invoice as paid, but that could actually involve less manual entry than what they were already doing.

There can be another benefit too.

How a credit card transaction is entered can affect processing costs and risk. Manually entered transactions are treated differently than card present transactions where a customer taps or inserts their card.

Does that mean every dealership should stop using integrated payments?

Absolutely not.

Integration can be incredibly convenient, and every business has different needs.

But the conversation reminded me of something.

Sometimes we assume the way we’re doing something is easier simply because it’s the way we’ve always done it.

Every once in a while, it’s worth asking:

Is this still the best way to do it?

If you’d like another set of eyes on how your business is accepting payments, we’d be happy to take a look.

No pressure. Just an honest conversation.

Small Businesses Deserve Better.









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Rehoboth Beach, DE
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