Nobody likes to be wrong. I certainly don’t. Being called out on a bad call, an inaccurate prediction, or a missed opportunity stings. But over my years in merchant services and payment processing, I’ve learned that holding onto the belief that you’re always “right” is the fastest way to hit a wall.
When you’re building a sales career, you don’t need a static map telling you where to go you need real, unfiltered feedback that keeps you on course. Correction is your direction. Admitting where I was wrong hasn’t held me back; it’s been those situations that pointed me toward my next phase of growth.
Eating Humble Pie: Two Times I Was Completely Wrong
Looking back at the payment processing landscape over the last decade, I’ve had to eat my fair share of humble pie.
- The Cash Discount Wave: I can remember back around 2014 or 2015ish when people started doing cash discounting. I explicitly said, “This will never catch on, and it will never be a long-term thing.” Man, was I wrong on that. While I’m still personally not a big fan of it other than the fact that it gives us incredible residual margins there’s no denying it completely transformed our industry landscape.
- The Rise of Square: Another time I was dead wrong was about Square. When they first came out, I never thought Square would be a threat to real merchant processors. I wrote them off. Wrong again. Square evolved into a massive ecosystem and taking a huge bite of the market while many of us were looking the other way.
Being wrong on these shifts wasn’t a personal failure; it was the market giving me a loud, clear correction on where payments were actually heading.
Why Being Wrong Taught Me Where to Go Next
If I were to poll everyone reading this, most of you would admit that you don’t like being wrong or called out on it either. Our pride makes us want to defend our old positions, even when the evidence is staring us right in the face.
But here is what I’ve learned: we need to be wrong to learn perspective and direction.
- It Forces Perspective Over Ego: My personal opinions on a pricing model or software don’t matter the merchant’s needs do. Getting corrected forces me to look through the eyes of the business owner rather than my own biases.
- It Speeds Up Adaptability: Sales reps who take tough corrections whether from lost deals, changing rules, or market shifts pivot twice as fast as the reps who double down on outdated pitches.
- It Points Straight to the Revenue: Refusing to offer a solution out of personal bias (like Cash Discounting early on) just leaves money on the table for a competitor to pick up. The correction points directly to where the residual margins are hiding.
Letting Course Corrections Drive You Forward
Direction isn’t a fixed line set in stone; it’s a series of constant course corrections. When a prospect shuts down your pitch, when a competitor takes a merchant, or when an industry trend proves your predictions wrong, don’t waste time defending your original stance.
Acknowledge the mistake, swallow the pride, extract the perspective, and let that feedback steer your next move. The top earners aren’t the ones who were right from day one they’re the ones willing to accept correction and let it direct their next win.
What’s an industry trend or technology you were initially skeptical of that ended up pointing your business in a completely new, successful direction?
Happy Selling,
David
