Bootstrapping a Credit Card Processing Business: Payscape CEO Adam Bloomston (Part 5)

Sramana Mitra: What else is interesting in that 2010 to 2014 growth story?

Adam Bloomston: For us, our focus has always been on revenue. We have always been focused on selling something, selling it well, and supporting it well. I think the most interesting thing we have done is, we created Payscape University. It is an intensive month-long training course where sales representatives for the headquarters are trained  for a few days on-site. Then, they have ongoing training for couple of weeks. It’s highly focused on sales and generating revenue.

Sramana Mitra: What is your strategy for hiring these sales reps? What do you look for in these sales reps?

Adam Bloomston: We like our sales reps to have some sales experience. We don’t necessarily like them to have industry experience. There are too many opinions on how every other company did it. But we like people who understand the basics. They have to do follow ups, be well-dressed, be well-spoken, and have to create professional presentations.

Sramana Mitra: You are not looking for rocket science level of IQ. You are looking more for presentation and style, and then you train them on the specifics of your business.

Adam Bloomston: Yes. I need street smart people. I am not looking for MBAs.

Sramana Mitra: When you select which city to go in to next, what is your strategy? How do you determine where you are going in next?

Adam Bloomston: We follow the people. So, if we have the right person internally ready to be promoted out and if they have a city they want to go and if it’s a good fit for us, or if we find the right person we think can manage, then we will go to that city. We always follow the person.

Sramana Mitra: And how many cities are you in now?

Adam Bloomston: We probably have representatives in 30 cities. Sometimes, we have representatives in a smaller city where we cannot have bricks and mortar offices.

Sramana Mitra: Very interesting.  Thank you for your time.

This segment is part 5 in the series : Bootstrapping a Credit Card Processing Business: Payscape CEO Adam Bloomston
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