Your first week, at your own pace
This handbook covers your first week as an independent Stratamize agent. This is your training. Together with your certification, it teaches you the whole job, and you work through it at your own pace, on your own schedule. Each day tells you what to do, in what order, and how to know you’re done.
You run your own business. You’re an independent 1099 contractor. You choose your territory, your hours, your stores and your pace. The plans and times below are our recommendation, based on how this work goes in the field. Change them to fit your life. Nobody checks your calendar, and there are no quotas. Joining costs nothing, and certification is free and self-paced. You get real freedom, and you also own the results.
What we handle and what you handle. Our team runs operations. We process and approve applications. We send your equipment: card machines, signage and receipt sheets. We run the tracking app. We report your residuals and pay you every month. We answer program rules and compliance questions, and we return an analysis of any statement you send us within one business day. You handle everything about finding and winning stores: your territory, your list, your schedule, your visits, closing, installs, follow-up and referrals. This handbook and your certification train you for all of it.
New to all of this? If you’d never heard the words "merchant services" before today, that’s fine. Read the next two chapters first, then work the days in order. Look up any unfamiliar word in the short glossary at the end of the next chapter. The reference chapters after Day 5 are what make this handbook complete, and you’ll keep coming back to them in your first months.
Already have a book of business owners? If you sell insurance, deliver to stores or already know a lot of owners, load your whole book on Day 1, not just 20 names. After the Day 2 rules modules, you can visit people you know to collect statements. Don’t fill out an application until you’re certified.
Be honest with yourself about money. This week pays nothing. You’re paid on stores that go live, and your first residual check arrives the month after your first store goes live. For one typical store at the 50% starting split, that check is about $230, and it can be smaller if the store’s first month was a partial one. Counting from your first door, plan on two months or more before money lands, and longer if you work part time. Budget your gas and time for that.
By the end of this week you should have these five things done:
How the business works, in plain words
What a store pays today
When a customer pays with a card, the store’s card processor takes a cut, usually around 3% of the sale. It comes out of the owner’s deposits, and every month the owner gets a statement that shows it. A typical owner-run store does about $30,000 a month in card sales and pays about $910 a month in fees. That’s close to $11,000 a year. Smaller stores like salons, barbers and dry cleaners run closer to $15,000 a month. Bigger ones like convenience stores, auto repair and package (liquor) stores run closer to $50,000.
What cash discount is
On our cash discount program, the posted price is the card price, and customers who pay cash get 3.5% off. That’s the whole program. The discount is posted at the entrance and at every register, it prints on the receipt, and the terminal does the math. Gas stations have priced this way for decades, so customers already understand it.
Cash discount is always a discount for paying cash. It is never a fee, surcharge or extra charge added for using a card. Card network rules allow a store to offer a discount for cash as long as the discount comes off the standard price. Our program is built exactly that way, and certification covers the details.
Who pays, said plainly
Owners will ask this, and a sharp one will say it before you do, so give the straight answer. Most owners raise their posted prices a little when they start, so the posted price covers what taking cards costs them. Card customers pay the posted price. Cash customers get 3.5% off. The monthly processing bill that used to come out of the owner’s pocket stops.
Here’s a worked example. A $10.00 item moves to a posted price of $10.36. A card customer pays $10.36. A cash customer gets 3.5% off and pays $10.00, the old price. A raise of about 3.6% on the posted price means a cash customer pays exactly what they paid before. The owner sets the prices. Your job is to show the numbers both ways, never to set the price.
On a typical store, the owner keeps about $10,920 a year that used to go to fees. That number is your whole pitch.
How you get paid
You’re paid on the stores you sign that go live. Each live store pays you a residual every month, which is your split of what the program earns on that store’s card sales. It keeps coming every month the store runs cards, whether or not you walked doors that week. You get no pay for recruiting anyone.
Your split starts at 50%, about $230 a month for a typical store. It rises as the monthly card sales across all your stores grow, and when you move up, the new split applies to every store you have. Your level is based on your stores’ average monthly card sales over the last three months. Your agent agreement spells out exactly how residuals work, including what happens if you stop selling. Read it on Day 1.
You don’t need to memorize the levels and bonuses below this week. Come back to them once stores are live.
Glossary
Statement: the monthly report a store gets from its processor, showing card sales and fees.
Processor: the company that handles a store’s card payments.
Effective rate: total fees divided by total card sales. It’s the real percentage the store pays, however many fee lines there are. You’ll practice it on Day 3.
Residual: your monthly pay on each live store.
Underwriting: the review we do on an application before approving it.
Low-risk: an ordinary, established business type with complete paperwork. These are usually approved within hours. Certain types, like vape, tobacco and CBD, need a check with us first.
Go live: the day a store starts running cards on the program.
PIN on debit: a terminal setting that asks debit card customers to enter their PIN. A PIN-verified sale is more secure for the owner. It’s a setting, not a price, and certification shows you how to set it.
B2B: business-to-business, meaning a store whose card sales come mostly from other businesses, not walk-in customers.
Package store: a liquor store.
Cluster: a group of 15 to 20 stores close enough to walk in one outing.
Receipt sheet: the one-page sheet in your kit that shows what a month looks like on the program. You hand it out, text a photo of it, and fill it in with a store’s real numbers once you have their statement. See the Field Playbook.
Your split and bonuses
- Day one: 50% split, about $230 a month per typical store.
- $500K a month in total card sales (about 17 typical stores): 55%.
- $1M a month (about 34 typical stores): 60%.
- $1.5M a month (about 50 typical stores): 65%.
- Partner, with your own office: 70% to 80%. Ask us what Partner requires before you plan around it.
- Founding Agents (the first 5): 60% from your first store, for 12 months. Ask us whether any spots remain. If they’re filled, the standard split above applies.
- $150 for each store once it has taken cards for three full months.
- $500 fast-start when your 5th store goes live within 120 days of finishing certification.
- Big-month bonus: $300 when 3 of your stores go live in one month, $750 when 5 or more do.
- A store must do at least $10,000 a month in card sales to count toward bonuses. Once a bonus is paid, it’s yours.
- Timing: low-risk applications are usually approved within hours when complete, 3 days at most. You install the next day. Your first residual check comes the month after your first store goes live.
- Plan a buffer: card sales often settle 10% to 15% below the quoted statement once some customers switch to cash, about 9 in 10 signed stores go live, and you’ll lose about 1 store in 10 each year to closings and sales.
- These are examples, not promises. Your income depends on how many stores you sign, how much they sell on cards and how long they stay.
Who does what
Keep this list where you can see it. When you’re stuck, check which side the problem is on. If it’s ours, contact us. If it’s yours, the answer is in this handbook.
| Area | Stratamize handles | You handle |
|---|---|---|
| Applications | processes, underwrites and approves them, usually within hours when complete. | fill them out with the owner in the store and collect every document. |
| Equipment | ships card machines, signage and receipt sheets, and replaces anything broken. | keep a terminal, signage kits and receipt sheets in your car, and install them on install day. |
| Tracking app | runs and supports it. | log every door, every conversation and every follow-up in it, every day. |
| Pay | reports your residuals and pays you monthly. | check your report against your live stores, and handle your own taxes as a 1099 contractor. |
| Rules, compliance and merchant terms | answers program and compliance questions, including restricted business types, leases, contracts, register systems and what the merchant pays and signs. | follow the rules exactly and ask before you promise anything you’re not sure about. |
| Statement analysis | returns an analysis within one business day of receiving the statement. | collect the statement, read the basics yourself, and bring the proposal back in person. |
| Territory and list | — | choose your area, build your 100-door list and group it into clusters. |
| Schedule | — | set your hours and protect your field time. |
| Visits and closing | — | open, get the statement, return with the numbers and close in the store. |
| Installs and follow-up | — | install the day after approval, train staff, make the 7-day call and the 30-day visit. |
| Referrals and growth | — | ask for names, walk them within 48 hours, and keep your own scoreboard. |
Before Day 1: get ready to run a business
Get the short list below ready before you start. The business setup is split in two: what to do now, and what can wait until your first check is close. This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Talk to a tax professional about your own situation.
Do now
EIN. An Employer Identification Number lets you put a business number on your W-9 instead of your Social Security number. It’s free on the IRS website and you get it right away online. Never pay a website for one.
A separate bank account. Open a checking account just for the business. Residuals go in, business costs come out, and tax time is easier.
A tax savings account. Nobody withholds tax from your checks. On top of income tax, self-employed people pay self-employment tax, which is 15.3% for Social Security and Medicare. Plan to move a fixed share of every check into savings the day it lands. A tax professional can tell you the right share.
A mileage log. Driving between stores is usually your biggest deductible cost. Log it as you go, not from memory later: date, where you went, why, and miles.
Your day job’s rules. If you work for someone else, check their policy on outside work. Never pitch stores on your employer’s time or route without their permission. Visit the stores you know from work on your own time.
Do before your first check
Business structure. Most agents start as a sole proprietor, which needs no filing. Some form a single-member LLC. Ask a tax professional or attorney which fits you.
Local business license. Inside city limits, check with your city. Outside city limits, check with your county. Ask whether you need a home-occupation permit. In Coweta County, for example, business licenses go through the Community Development department in Newnan.
Quarterly taxes. If you expect to owe $1,000 or more for the year, the IRS generally expects quarterly estimated payments, due around April 15, June 15, September 15 and January 15. Georgia has state estimated payments too. Put the dates in your phone.
Insurance. Ask your auto insurer whether your policy covers driving between stores for business.
- A government photo ID.
- Bank account and routing numbers for your pay, ideally a separate business account.
- A smartphone with room for the tracking app and a camera, plus a car charger.
- A reliable car with a valid license and insurance.
- An EIN (free from the IRS) or your SSN for the W-9.
- A tax savings account opened.
- A mileage log: an app or a notebook in the glove box.
- Your employer’s outside-work policy checked, if you have a job.
- Clean, simple work clothes. Dress like a local business owner on a good day, not like a salesperson.
- A tax professional’s name and number, for when your first check gets close.
Set up your business
Goal: Finish the paperwork, get your tools working, start certification, and decide who you’ll sell to and where.
The links for your agent agreement, W-9 and pay setup, certification, the tracking app and the kit order come from us when you sign up. If one is missing, contact us before you start.
Plan (full time):
Tip: Warm names are people you’ll visit as store owners. They aren’t people to recruit. Your first statements usually come from people who already trust you, so take your time with this list.
Learn the product and the rules
Goal: Understand cash discount well enough to explain it simply and stay inside the rules. Get the merchant’s terms in writing. Get comfortable with the card machine and the application.
Plan (full time):
Knowledge check:
- What does a cash customer pay, and what does a card customer pay?
- An item was $10.00. What’s a typical new posted price, and what does a cash customer pay?
- Why is it never called a fee or surcharge?
- Where does signage go on install day?
- What is the one sentence every employee learns?
- What does PIN on debit mean, and is it a price?
- What are the five application documents?
- How fast are complete low-risk applications usually approved, and what’s the longest before you contact us?
- What do a typical store’s card sales and fees look like, and what does it save in a year?
- Which business types need a check with us before you collect paperwork?
- What does an owner pay and sign with us? (Answer from your owner card.)
- When can you promise an owner a specific saving?
Have a book of owners? Once the rules and compliance modules are done, you can start calling or visiting people who know you to ask for a statement. Don’t fill out applications until you’re certified.
Tip: Testing yourself beats rereading every time. If you miss a question, don’t reread the whole module. Find the answer, close the page, and answer it again.
Learn to read a statement
Goal: Pick up any processing statement, find the two numbers that matter in under three minutes, and turn them into a proposal an owner understands.
Plan (full time):
Worked practice examples:
Typical store: $30,000 in card sales, $910 in fees. $910 divided by $30,000 is 3.03%. Times 12 months, that’s $10,920 a year.
Small salon: $15,000 in sales, $470 in fees. That’s 3.13%, or $5,640 a year.
Big c-store: $50,000 in sales, $1,480 in fees. That’s 2.96%, or $17,760 a year.
Some statements show a low rate up front, with fees spread across many small lines. Add them all up. The total is what matters to the owner.
Tip: Never promise a specific saving until you’ve seen that store’s statement. Estimates open conversations. Real numbers close them.
Build your territory and practice
Goal: Build a 100-door list grouped into walkable clusters, and practice the words on camera until they sound like you.
Plan (full time):
- Your opener, 10 times in a row, with your own one line in the first sentence. Each take is about 15 seconds, so this is about five minutes. Watch only takes 1, 5 and 10.
- The statement ask, 5 times.
- The one-paragraph explanation, 5 times.
- Three objections, 3 times each: "I’m happy with my processor," "Who pays for it?" and "I need to think about it."
Score what you watch with the recording checklist in the Coach Yourself chapter. Keep your best take of each. Work on one thing per round.
If you don’t reach 100 today, finish the list in your Day 5 desk hour or that evening. Walk the cluster you have first.
Tip: Practice sharpens your words, but real conversations teach more than any rehearsal. Keep practice short and save your best hours for the field.
Walk your first doors
Goal: Walk 15 to 20 doors (10 if part time), warm names first. Log every one, review the day honestly, and set your week 2 targets.
Plan (full time):
Evening, 30 minutes. Self-review. Fill in your first scoreboard (Coach Yourself chapter): doors, owner talks, statements. Find the step that went worst and write one fix. Set your week 2 targets.
Log every door, every time: business name, who you spoke to, outcome (no owner, owner talk, statement, not interested), next step and date. If a door isn’t logged, your pipeline doesn’t know it happened.
Week 2 targets we recommend: full time, at least 60 doors, working up to 80 a week by week 3. Part time, 30 doors a week. Return to every statement within 2 to 3 days full time, or at your next field block part time.
Tip: Most doors are a no. When one goes badly, tell yourself "this owner, today," log it, and walk to the next door. The agents who last treat a no as information, not a verdict.
The same week, part time
If you have a job, do the same five days over about two weeks. Plan on 12 to 15 hours a week. Nothing gets skipped. It just takes longer. Keep your job while you build. Stay part time at least until 5 stores are live and your first checks have actually landed, then decide based on your real numbers.
Pick the version that matches your free hours. Learning and desk work fit any evening. Doors need open stores, so put your door time where owners are in.
Which stores to walk when
Saturday mornings: auto repair, tire shops, convenience and package stores, feed stores, pawn, flooring and boutiques. Skip salons and barbers, which are packed on Saturdays.
Weekday afternoons, 3:00 to 5:30: almost everything, and restaurants in their slow window before the dinner rush. Salons and barbers are often slower early in the week.
Weekday evenings after 6: most owner-run shops are closed. Use evenings for learning, logging, texts and statement work.
Returns, closes and installs on part-time hours
You don’t have to return in 2 to 3 days. Return at your next field block, and tell the owner the exact day before you leave: "I’ll be back Saturday at 10 with your real numbers." A specific day you keep beats a fast day you miss. Then set the install for your first free block after approval, and tell the owner that day when you sign. A week’s wait you planned for won’t lose the store. Going quiet will. If an owner needs an earlier install than you can manage, ask us before you promise anything.
Version 1: evenings and Saturdays
The week-by-week plan is in the list below.
Version 2: free weekday afternoons (after 3:00)
Week A: Monday, Day 1 setup. Tuesday, certification module 1, warm names and territory. Wednesday, rules and compliance modules, merchant terms request and your explanation. Thursday, demo sales, document card and knowledge check. Friday, the statement module and drill.
Week B: Monday, finish certification and the proposal. Tuesday, the list. Wednesday, clustering plus recorded drills. Thursday, your first 10 doors from 3:00 to 5:30, warm names first and restaurants last, then log and self-review. From here, walk doors two or three afternoons a week and do returns on the afternoons between.
- Week A, Monday evening (2 hours): Day 1 setup. Read and sign the agreement, W-9 and pay setup, install and test the tracking app, order your kit.
- Week A, Tuesday evening (2 hours): Certification module 1, warm names into the app, territory and corridors written down.
- Week A, Wednesday evening (2 hours): Rules and compliance modules, merchant terms request sent, your one-paragraph explanation in your own words.
- Week A, Thursday evening (2 hours): Card machine demo sales (if the kit is in), the document card, the knowledge check.
- Week A, Saturday (4 to 5 hours): Day 3. Statement module, effective-rate drill, a full receipt-sheet proposal, a real statement sent in if you have one, certification finished.
- Week B, Monday evening (2 hours): Day 4 list building, warm names first, toward 100.
- Week B, Tuesday evening (2 hours): Finish the 100 doors, cluster them, choose a Saturday-friendly first cluster.
- Week B, Wednesday evening (1.5 hours): Recorded drills for the opener and the statement ask, scored.
- Week B, Thursday evening (1.5 hours): Recorded drills for the explanation and three objections, scored. Load the car and text your closest warm names.
- Week B, Saturday morning (3 to 4 hours): Day 5. 10 doors, warm names first, every one logged.
- Week B, Saturday afternoon or Sunday evening (30 minutes): Scoreboard self-review and week 3 targets. 30 doors a week from here.
Your daily rhythm
Every field day has the same three parts. The template keeps you moving when nobody is checking on you. Put your field blocks on the same days and times each week, so they become habit. If you miss a block, that’s fine. Just don’t miss two in a row.
- BEFORE (30 to 45 minutes): Confirm today’s return visits by text. Pick today’s cluster and map the route. Check the car kit: terminal, signage kits, 20 receipt sheets, document card, owner card, pen, charger. Send any statements from yesterday for analysis. Do a two-minute mental walk-through. Text your route to someone you trust.
- DURING, morning: Return visits and closes first, then new doors. Mid-morning is best for retail.
- DURING, midday desk hour (parked): Log the morning’s doors, text receipt sheet photos, submit applications, and read any analyses we’ve returned.
- DURING, afternoon: A second cluster, restaurants between 2:00 and 4:30, and installs. On Friday afternoons, skip new doors and do returns and installs.
- AFTER (30 minutes): Log every door with an outcome and a next step. Book your next returns. Record your mileage. Write tomorrow’s if-then plan. Put one number on today’s scoreboard line.
Field playbook
This is your reference for every conversation, from the first door to the referral. Come back to it often.
Where to walk
Look for an owner in the building who decides alone and feels the fees. Start with people who already know you, then high-volume stores, because one $50,000 store does the work of three salons. Walk in to: convenience and package stores, auto repair, tire and transmission shops, pizza, wings and local quick-serve, salons, barbers and nail shops, boutiques, gift and antique shops, pet groomers, dry cleaners, feed stores, flooring and pawn. Square users are a yes, not a no: they have no contract, they pay a percentage on every swipe, and you have a terminal in the car.
Walk past national franchises (corporate picks the processor), stores on a register system they love (note them for later), B2B businesses, and stores under about $8,000 a month in card sales. Vape, tobacco and CBD shops have extra approval rules. Check with us before collecting paperwork from one.
What the owner gets and pays
Before an owner says yes, they’ll ask what they’re signing up for. Never guess. On Day 2, get our current merchant terms in writing and copy them onto your owner card. Ask us:
- Does the owner pay anything for the terminal, or a monthly fee?
- Is there a contract term, and is there a cancellation fee?
- How fast do deposits land?
- Who does the owner call if the terminal stops working after hours or on a weekend?
- Does the terminal need wifi, a phone line or cellular service?
- Which register systems work with it, and what happens if the store’s register is tied to its card processing?
- How are tips handled for salons and restaurants?
What you can always say: the posted price is the card price, cash customers get 3.5% off, signage comes with the program, and install is the day after approval. If an owner asks something that isn’t on your card, say "Good question. I’ll get you the answer in writing," then ask us.
The receipt sheet
The receipt sheets in your kit show what a month looks like on the program. Before you’ve seen a store’s statement, use the typical-store numbers: about $30,000 a month in card sales, about $910 a month in fees today, about $10,920 a year kept. Leave one behind at every owner talk. That evening, text a photo of it to owners who gave you their number. After you have their statement, fill in a fresh sheet with their real monthly and yearly numbers and bring it back in person. If your kit’s sheet looks different from this description, use it the way certification shows you.
The opener and your one line
You have ten seconds to earn two minutes. The opener has one job: get the owner to tell you a number.
YOU: "Morning. I’m [name] with Stratamize. [Your one line.] I’ll be quick. Are you still paying the three percent or so on card sales, or did you switch to the cash discount setup yet?"
OWNER: "We’re still paying it."
YOU: "Most folks around here are. Roughly what do you run on cards in a month? Ballpark is fine."
OWNER: "Maybe thirty thousand."
YOU: "Stores that size usually pay around nine hundred a month. Here’s what a typical month looks like on our program. Can I grab last month’s statement so I can show you your real number instead of my estimate?"
Your one line. Pick the one that’s true for you: "I ran a store for [X] years before this." "I deliver to stores around here, you’ve probably seen my truck." "I’ve written insurance for businesses in this county for [X] years." "I live right here in [town]." Owners listen to people who have something in common with them.
First-door version, for nervous beginners. Use this until the main opener feels natural.
YOU: "Hi, is the owner in? I’m [name] with Stratamize. [Your one line.] I help local shops cut what they pay to take cards. Can I ask you one quick question?"
OWNER: "Sure."
YOU: "About what do you pay in card fees each month? Most shops your size are somewhere around nine hundred."
Then go to the statement ask. It’s fine to say "I’m new at this." Owners respect honesty more than polish.
Reading the room
If a customer is at the counter, step aside and wait. Never pitch over a sale. If the store is slammed, say "Looks like a bad time. When’s it slow?" and leave. If you’re talking to an employee, ask "Is the owner in?" If not: "No problem. When is she usually in? I’ll come back then." Get a name and a time, write it down in front of them, and leave a receipt sheet. If the owner is short with you, give the number fast and offer to come back. If you see cash discount signs already up, ask how it’s going. Unhappy owners on another program still have a statement. If someone tells you to leave, say "Sorry to interrupt, have a good day," log it, and walk to the next door.
The one-paragraph explanation
"The price on your shelf is the card price. Anyone who pays cash gets 3.5% off. Most owners adjust their posted prices when they start so the price covers what cards cost them. It’s posted at the door and the register, it prints on the receipt, and the terminal does the math. Card customers pay the posted price, cash customers get a deal, and that monthly processing bill stops coming out of your pocket. Gas stations have done it for forty years."
Getting the statement
Ask right after the number: "Can I grab last month’s statement?" If it isn’t handy: "Can you pull it up on your phone or email? A photo of the summary pages is all I need." If they want to find it later, set a time and come back. Tell them what happens next: "I’ll bring back your real number in two or three days" (or the exact day of your next field block if you’re part time). Send it to us for analysis and we’ll return it within one business day. Read the basics yourself too, so you understand what you’re bringing back. A statement shows sales and fees, not card numbers. Handle it carefully anyway, and delete copies from your phone once they’re submitted.
Objections and answers
"Who pays for it? Do I have to raise my prices?" "Straight answer: most owners raise their posted prices about 3.6%. A $10 item becomes $10.36. Card customers pay $10.36, and cash customers get 3.5% off and pay $10, the same as today. You set your prices, and I’ll show you the numbers both ways from your statement."
"So my card customers pay more." "They pay the posted price, the same way they do at the gas station. The difference is that the $900 a month stops coming out of your deposits. You decide the prices."
"What does this cost me? What’s the catch?" Answer from your owner card, word for word. If it isn’t on the card: "Fair question. I’ll get it to you in writing before you sign anything."
"My customers will complain." "A few might ask. People know cash pricing from the gas station, and the sign plus one sentence from your staff, ’we offer a discount for cash,’ answers most questions. If it turns into a real problem, call me and we’ll work through it."
"I’m in a contract." "Can I see it? Many are month-to-month after the first term." Check for an early termination fee and whether the terminal is leased. Put both against the monthly savings on the receipt sheet, and bring any lease to our team before you promise anything.
"I’m happy with my processor." "Good, keep them. I’m not asking you to switch today, I’m asking what you pay. If I can’t show you a real number on paper, I’ll leave you alone." Then get the statement.
"My rate is already low." "Could be. Even at 2.3%, a $30,000 month is about $690 in fees, over $8,000 a year. Let me look at the statement and we’ll know for sure."
"I use Square." "Square’s fine and there’s no contract, so this is easy. Can you pull up last month’s fees on your phone? Keep Square for invoices if you like, and let this terminal handle the counter." Have the terminal in your hand.
"Is this even legal?" "Yes. It’s allowed as long as the posted price is the card price and the discount is for cash. That’s exactly how we set it up, with the signage included."
"I need to think about it." "Sure. What would you need to see to say yes?" Listen. Then: "I’m installing this week. I can hold Thursday at two for you. If it’s a no, text me and I’ll give the slot to someone else."
"My tickets are too big." "You’re paying the fee on every one of those tickets now. On a $600 brake job, paying cash saves your customer $21. Some will pay cash to get it, and that’s even better for you."
"Just email me something." "I’ll text you a sample tonight. The real number takes your statement, though. Can I grab it now, or when should I come back for it?"
"I don’t have time right now." "Totally fair. When’s slow for you? I’ll come back then." Write the time down in front of them.
If you hear a question you can’t answer, don’t guess. Say "Good question. I’ll find out and bring you the answer," then ask us.
The return visit and the close
Owners say yes to a person in the room and "later" to a proposal in their inbox. Go back with their statement marked up and the receipt sheet filled in: within 2 to 3 days full time, or on the exact day you promised part time. Lead with the yearly figure: "You’re giving away about $10,900 a year." Run a $1 demo sale so they see the cash discount print on the receipt. Hand them the signage. Then ask one question: "Do you want to keep paying that, or keep it?" Then stop talking and let them answer.
The application on the spot
Fill it out together in the store. Plan on about 15 minutes. You need the owner’s driver’s license, a voided check or bank letter, the EIN letter, recent statements, and photos of the storefront and interior. Missing documents slow approval, so check every item before you leave. Submit it the way certification shows you. We’ll tell you when it’s approved or if anything is missing.
Before you leave, ask the install questions, so install day has no surprises: How many registers? Is there power and an internet connection at each one? Is your register system tied to your card processing, and if so, what’s it called? Do you take tips? Send us anything unusual before you promise a date. Then set the install for the day after approval, or your first free block if you’re part time. Complete low-risk applications are usually approved within hours. If one takes longer than 3 days, contact us.
Install day
Block about two hours for your first one. They get faster.
Before you go: Confirm the time with the owner by text. Check the kit: the store’s terminal, signage for the entrance and every register, receipt sheets, a charger. Reread the certification install walkthrough and any notes we sent about this store.
At the store:
- Set up the terminal and connect it the way certification shows you. Run a $1 test sale and check that the cash discount prints on the receipt.
- PIN on debit. Set the terminal to ask for a PIN on debit cards. It’s a terminal setting, not a price. Run a live debit sale and check the receipt.
- Signage at the entrance and at every register. Take a photo for your file.
- Staff wording. Teach every employee on shift one sentence: "We offer a discount for paying with cash." Never "there’s a fee for cards." Have each one say it back. Ask the owner to teach anyone who isn’t there.
- Show the owner and the staff how to run a card sale, a cash sale and a refund. Leave the support number from your owner card next to the register.
- Two referrals. Ask while the owner is happiest: "Who else around here would want to stop paying this?" If they’re in the same center, walk there that afternoon.
Before you leave the lot: Put a 7-day call and a 30-day visit in the app. If anything didn’t work, contact us the same day.
Follow-up cadence
Most stores sign because you came back.
Day 0: first visit. That evening, text a photo of the receipt sheet: "Good to meet you. Here’s what a typical month looks like."
Days 2 to 3 (or your next field block): return visit with their real numbers, terminal in hand.
Day 7: a quick stop or call. Once you have live stores, bring a short quote from one of your owners.
Day 14: deadline visit. "I’m holding Thursday for you." Still no? Move them to your 60-day list.
Day 60: one more visit. Fees go up and owners get bad statements. Timing closes deals the pitch didn’t.
On follow-up calls, say who you are and why you’re calling in the first sentence. Don’t ask "Is this a bad time?" Text only owners who gave you their number. If anyone asks you to stop calling or texting, stop that day and note it in the app.
Referrals
Store owners know other store owners. Ask for two names on install day, at the 30-day visit and every time you stop in. Walk referral doors within 48 hours and use the owner’s name in your first sentence. After a store has been live a month, ask the owner for a one-line text you can show prospects, like "Been on it a month, customers barely noticed." Go to chamber events and downtown merchant meetings to meet people, not to pitch. Get to know a commercial insurance agent, a CPA and a commercial realtor. They know who just opened and who’s complaining about fees. If you are the insurance agent, your own client book and your agency peers are your first referral source.
Coach yourself
Your training gives you the skills, and your numbers show you which one to sharpen next. People who write down their progress and share it with someone reach their goals more often. So every Monday, fill in last week’s scoreboard from the app and text it to someone you trust: a spouse, a friend, another business owner. A bad week is over once it’s written down.
The weekly scoreboard
Track five numbers: doors, owner talks, statements, proposals, signed. An experienced full-time week looks like 80 doors, 30 owner talks, 10 statements, 6 proposals and 2 signed, which is about 40 doors per signed store. Part time, the weekly minimum is 30 doors, 12 owner talks, 4 statements and 2 to 3 proposals, with about 3 signed a month. Your first weeks will take more doors per store, and that’s normal. As a rough guide, about 1 in 3 doors gets you an owner, about 1 in 3 owners gives you a statement, most statements become proposals, and with practice about 1 in 3 proposals signs.
Which step broke, and the fix
When signed stores come up short, don’t try to fix everything. Find the one step that broke and work on that one next week. The fixes are in the list below.
Recording and reviewing yourself
Gut feel is a poor judge of your own performance, so score against a fixed checklist instead. Once a week, record one full mock visit, or jot notes right after a real one, and score each checklist item yes or no. Pick the item you missed most and drill only that, five quick takes, in your next practice session.
Handling rejection alone
Most doors are a no, for everyone. Treat each no as specific and temporary: this owner, today, at this time. Then ask a task question, not a personal one. "Which step lost this owner?" helps you. "Am I bad at this?" doesn’t. After a rough day, do something concrete: review the log, fix the opener, move to a better cluster. If a question kept coming up that you couldn’t answer, send it to us and add the answer to your owner card. Be as kind to yourself as you’d be to a new employee who’s learning.
Small wins to count
Residuals take time to build, so mark the wins you control along the way: first 10 doors, first statement, first analysis back, first proposal, first signed application, first install, first referral, first residual check, 5 live stores.
- Doors short: a calendar problem, not a skill problem. Block field time and protect it.
- Owner talks under 1 in 4: wrong times or wrong stores. Check the "which stores to walk when" list in the Part Time chapter, check Popular Times, and skip chains.
- Statements under 1 in 3: your opener. Ask for a number sooner and offer to bring back their real number.
- Proposals lagging: you’re slow getting back. Return on the day you promised with their numbers filled in.
- Signed under 1 in 3: you’re closing by text or email, or leaving the terminal in the car. Close in the store with a demo sale and a specific install time. If owners balk at cost, make sure your owner card is complete.
- Live stores lagging: send complete applications so they’re approved in hours, install on the date you promised, and contact us if approval takes longer than 3 days.
- Recording checklist: Did I say my name, Stratamize and my one line in the first ten seconds?
- Recording checklist: Did I ask for a number within the first 30 seconds?
- Recording checklist: Did I ask for the statement directly?
- Recording checklist: Did I explain cash discount as a discount for cash, never a fee?
- Recording checklist: Did I answer the objection, then ask again?
- Recording checklist: Did I set a specific next step with a day and time?
- Recording checklist: Did I sound like a neighbor, not a pitch?
Run it like a business
Your weekly schedule
Put your week on a calendar before it starts, the way a store posts its hours. Full time: Monday, a longer desk block for your pipeline and scoreboard, then field. Tuesday through Thursday, two field blocks a day with a midday desk hour. Friday, returns and installs, with no new doors in the afternoon. Part time: your door blocks where owners are in (Saturday mornings or weekday afternoons), plus one block for returns and installs and one for desk work. Write each block as an if-then line, so the decision is already made when the time comes.
Tracking time and mileage
Log miles at the end of every field day: date, start and end, where you went, why. Keep receipts for supplies, phone and business costs, filed by month. Note your hours too, so you know what each signed store really costs you in time.
Saving for taxes
Move your tax share into savings the day each check lands, before you spend anything. Pay quarterly estimates on time once they apply. Have a tax professional set your share and check it as your checks grow.
Keeping your pipeline in the app
The tracking app is your memory. Every business, every conversation and every follow-up date goes in it the same day. Each morning, open today’s follow-ups first. Each Monday, clear anything overdue: visit it, reschedule it, or move it to the 60-day list.
Professionalism
You’re the face of the program in every store you walk into. Be on time for every return visit, and text ahead if you’ll be late. Do exactly what you said you’d do. Dress neatly and simply. Never badmouth an owner’s current processor. Give straight answers, and when you don’t know, say so and find out. Keep owners’ documents private.
Your day job
If you have one, keep this business off your employer’s clock, out of their vehicle and away from their customers unless they’ve said yes in writing. Visit stores you know from work on your own time. Check your employer’s outside-work policy before Day 5.
Safety basics
You work alone, so plan for it. Text your route to someone each field day and check in when you finish. Walk doors in daylight. Keep your phone charged. If a situation feels off, leave. No store is worth it. Keep the kit out of sight in your car. Georgia law bars holding your phone while driving, so mount it, set your route before you pull out, and do all logging and texting while parked.
When to go full time
Keep your job until 5 stores are live and real checks have landed. Then look at your actual residuals, not your hopes, and decide.
- Calendar blocked for next week, written as if-then lines.
- Mileage log updated every field day.
- Tax share moved to savings on every check.
- License, structure and quarterly dates handled before your first check.
- Pipeline cleared every Monday.
- Route texted to someone every field day.
End-of-week ready check
Before you start week 2, go down this list honestly. Anything unchecked goes first on Monday’s calendar.
What week 2 looks like
Week 2 is the real start. The learning is mostly done, and now doors turn into stores. Full time, walk at least 60 doors and build to 80 a week by week 3. Part time, walk 30 a week in your door blocks, with returns booked for your next free block. Bring the proposal to every statement in person. Full-time agents usually sign their first store in week 2 or 3, and part-time agents in week 3 to 5. By the end of month one, aim for 2 to 4 signed full time, or 1 or 2 part time. If you’re below that, your scoreboard shows which step to fix.
Remember the timing. A store signed in week 3 is usually approved within hours, installed the next day, and pays its first residual the month after it goes live. Your first check is usually about $230 for one typical store at 50%, and it grows as stores stack up.
For the long road from your first store to your first $10,000 month, with store counts, split levels and milestones month by month, read our companion guide, Your First $10K Month (first-10k-guide.html). If you don’t have a copy, ask us and we’ll send it.
- Every week starts with Monday’s scoreboard and a blocked calendar.
- Cold doors every field block, with returns and closes first.
- Every statement returned in person, on the day you promised.
- Every signed store installed on the date you set, with signage, staff wording, PIN on debit and two referral asks.
- 7-day calls and 30-day visits on every install.
- Read Your First $10K Month for the road ahead.
When to contact us, and what you own
We keep support focused on operations, so you get fast, clear answers on the things only we can do. How you find and win stores is yours, and this handbook is your guide for it. Before you contact us, ask yourself whether it’s an operations question or a selling question. If it’s a selling question, check the Field Playbook and the Coach Yourself chapter first.
The contact below is our team’s line for agents. Use it for operations questions as well as recruiting.
Stratamize Agent Recruiting
(770) 629-0928
josephneese@stratamize.com
30 Salbide Ave, Newnan GA 30263
Book a call with our team: stratamize.com/book
- Contact us for applications and approvals: status, missing items, or anything taking longer than 3 days.
- Contact us for equipment: kit orders, a kit that hasn’t arrived by Day 4, broken terminals, more signage or receipt sheets.
- Contact us for pay: your residual report, a store missing from it, bonus questions, pay setup changes, and questions about your agent agreement.
- Contact us for merchant terms: what the owner pays and signs, deposits, after-hours support, wifi needs, register systems and tips.
- Contact us for compliance and program rules: vape, tobacco and CBD before you collect paperwork, leases and contracts before you promise anything, card security questions from merchants, and anything you’re not sure is allowed.
- Contact us for statement analysis: send it in and get it back within one business day.
- You own your territory, list and clusters.
- You own your schedule and your hours.
- You own your openers, visits, objection answers and closes.
- You own installs, follow-up and referrals.
- You own your scoreboard and your self-coaching.
- You own your business setup, records and taxes.
The rules
Cash discount is legal and widespread, and it only works if it’s done exactly right every time. These rules protect your stores, your income and our name. They are not optional.
- The posted price is the card price. Cash customers get 3.5% off. That’s the whole program.
- Never call it a fee, surcharge, service charge or card charge. It is a discount for cash.
- Never add anything on top of the posted price for card customers. We never surcharge.
- If an owner asks who pays, tell them straight: owners usually raise posted prices a little so the price covers what cards cost. The owner sets the prices.
- Signage at the entrance and every register on install day. The receipt shows the cash discount.
- The program works the same for every card. Asking for a PIN on debit is a terminal setting, not a price.
- Never promise a specific saving until you’ve seen the store’s statement.
- Never guess at what the owner pays or signs. Answer from your owner card, or get the answer from us in writing.
- Never promise anyone an income. There’s no pay for recruiting. You’re paid on the stores you sign.
- Never make up a program, bonus, rate or promise that isn’t in your certification. If you’re not sure, contact us first.
- Check with us before collecting paperwork from vape, tobacco or CBD shops, and before promising anything about a lease, contract or register system.
- Never sell on your employer’s time or route without their written permission.
- Keep owners’ documents private. Delete copies from your phone once they’re submitted.
- Honor every request to stop calling, texting or visiting, that same day.