Merchant Warehouse Named to 2008 Inc. 5000 List of Fastest Growing Private Companies
Merchant Warehouse has been named among the top 100 businesses in the Boston/Cambridge/Quincy (Massachusetts/New Hampshire region) category on the Inc. annual ranking of the 5,000 fastest-growing private companies in the country. The company also posted a strong overall rank on the coveted Inc. 5000 list with three-year sales growth of 145.3 percent. The Inc. list is the most comprehensive look at the most important segment of the economy - America’s independent-minded entrepreneurs. Taken as a whole, these companies represent the backbone of the U.S. economy.
“We are honored to be included in the Inc. 5000 list among some of the top companies in the United States,” said Henry Helgeson, President and Co-CEO of Merchant Warehouse. “Celebrating our tenth year in business, we have seen tremendous growth, and that success is in direct correlation with our dedicated employees and the loyalty of our customer base.”
“Our second annual Inc. 5000 continues the most ambitious project in business journalism,” said Inc. 5000 Project Manager Jim Melloan. “The Inc. 5000 gives an unrivalled portrait of young, underreported companies across all industries doing fascinating things with cutting-edge business models, as well as older companies that are still showing impressive growth.”
With more than 40,000 merchant customers and ten years experience, Merchant Warehouse has set the standard in the credit card processing industry by providing credit card processing software, POS equipment, and merchant services ethically and at a reasonable price.
About Inc.com
Inc.com, the daily resource for entrepreneurs, delivers how-to guides, advice, tools, breaking news, and rich multi-media to help business owners and CEOs start, run, and grow their businesses. Inc.com offers dynamic marketing solutions to help advertisers effectively reach Inc.com’s audience of business leaders. Visit http://www.inc.com.
About Inc. 500|Inc. 5000 Conference
Each year, Inc. magazine and Inc.com celebrate the remarkable achievements of today’s entrepreneurial superstars - the privately held small businesses that drive our economy. The Inc. 500|Inc. 5000 Conference brings together members of the Inc. 5000 community-both a new class of Inc. 5000 honorees and the list’s alumni-for three days of powerful networking, inspired learning, and momentous celebration. For the first time ever, this powerful networking event is open to all. Please join us September 18-20, 2008 at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in Washington, D.C. For more information or to register, visit www.Inc500Conference.com or call us at 877-211-0489.
The Educated Sales Rep
Throughout my 2 years working in this industry, I have noticed a few common threads that have remained unchanged over the years: Merchants do not WANT to accept credit cards, and furthermore, don’t have TIME to spend researching processing companies. They want a quick fix and easy fix. But I have seen this industry change more rapidly in the past 3 years than any other industry, and merchants are having a hard time keeping up.
By the time a merchant calls in to Merchant Warehouse, chances are he/she has spoken with 2-3 credit card processing companies and has been told 2-3 completely different things. Most of the time, it seems like competitors will throw a lot of numbers and “deals” at the merchant without backing any of it up with facts or statistics. These competitors only know how to “sell” but know nothing of the merchant account industry itself. By the time the merchant gets to me, he/she is more scared to accept credit cards than ever before.
On a typical incoming sales call, the merchant arrives already frustrated, confused, and extremely guarded. Luckily, when I started working for Merchant Warehouse, I spent 8 full weeks in training before I ever touched a phone, and every Friday morning the Sales Team gathers for a weekly meeting with the Executives to discuss industry changes. – This IS an extremely competitive industry, and as Merchant Warehouse reps, we are required to know what we are selling, and who we are selling to.
I am able to educate the merchants who come to me knowing nothing about any of this “credit card stuff” and I have found that there are very few questions I can’t answer – even for the most educated merchant! One would be surprised at how many merchants I’ve talked to who say, “Oh, I never knew THAT” “Thank you for telling me that; the other guy I talked to never brought that up.” “No, he didn’t explain this to me; I totally get it now!” The call ends with a happy, educated merchant who, 99% of the time will come back and set their account up with me.
The best part about feeling knowledgeable is that I get to relax when I’m on the phone with a merchant. Then they, in turn, also feel relaxed, and pretty soon we’re debating about who’s going to clinch the division title this year… (That’s baseball for you non-sports fans!)
Erin Leddy - Account Executive
Merchant Warehouse Ready To Help Solve the World’s Blog Shortage.
This blog stinks. At least it did until now. Starting today, we will be posting the real stuff. The insight into the mysterious world of credit card processing and merchant accounts that we think is lacking from any other blog.
We will have key employees from every major department of our in-house team posting about the issues they run into every day during their jobs here at Merchant Warehouse. They promise to be insightful, honest and if we can help it, interesting and educational.
Expect to hear about what we are seeing in the merchant services industry and what credit card machines are new to the market. We will share stories of success and also areas where we think we need to get better. In other words, the day to day life working for a merchant account provider as written by the best employees in the industry.
We hope you enjoy and please let us know if you have any feedback or suggestions for topics.