Reflecting on her youth in Slovakia, Silvia B. remembers having a huge appetite for exploring Europe and improving her English, so when she graduated high school she set off for England and enrolled at Exeter University. Overcoming the language barrier by tapping into her outgoing personality, she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in management and public relations and went on to earn her MBA at the University of New York in Prague.
After moving to Barcelona, Silvia was invited to a Friday beer meetup where young professionals were courted by the local tech sector. That’s where she met some of the team from Vendo, then a fintech start-up. She learned about openings, interviewed and started her professional career. That was 14 years ago.
In the fast-moving world of payments, we believe communication is not just key, but mandatory.
Leveraging her experience, knowledge and extroverted enthusiasm, Silvia has since risen through the ranks to become an account manager, a role in which she focuses on ensuring that new and longtime merchant clients are satisfied with the level of service they’re receiving. As WIA’s Woman of the Month, she shares her insights and professional journey in this up-close interview.
XBIZ: What are your main responsibilities in your current role and how have they evolved over time?
SILVIA: My role has evolved from being hired as an accountant, to moving to sales with one small client, to leading a team for automation of onboarding and laying the groundwork for our merchant support ticketing system, as well as answering all our partners’ requests within 24 hours. I make sure our partners have a pleasant experience from the very first contact through the onboarding process, all the way to sustaining an ongoing relationship for continued prosperity.
XBIZ: Discuss your approach to recruiting new clients.
SILVIA: We like to keep it simple. We have plenty of merchants who are willing to share their Vendo experience, so if someone is interested in knowing what it is like to work with us, we connect them with our existing merchants. This way, they can learn firsthand what it is like to work with us.
I also manage and run our Vendo Merchant Conferences. On a quarterly basis, we get our merchants and interested community members together for networking, problem-solving and a review of what is happening at Vendo, in payments and in our community. For example, at our last conference, our speakers included a global expert in marketing who gave recommendations for Black Friday. We also discussed KPIs and rolled out free crypto processing through 2023 for all merchants that applied.
Things like this get merchants pretty excited. One of my favorite quotes that speaks to our mission to turn all merchants into raving fans is, “I know I am not your largest or most important merchant, but you always make me feel like it.” That for me is my benchmark for all of our merchants.
XBIZ: How do you retain merchants long-term?
SILVIA: We are committed to turning all our merchants into raving fans. I always say, “Happy client = long-term client.” Like in marriage, if you have healthy communication with your partner, all good and bad days can be discussed, and together we are stronger as a team. My partners are my team and my co-workers are my team. We are in the same boat, with the same goals and celebrating the same achievements.
XBIZ: What is your sales pitch for why someone should get involved with Vendo?
SILVIA: Thanks to winning the Payment Service Provider of the Year at the XBIZ Europas this year, we have a great opener! Since we are constantly improving, I like to see what is important to the market and speak to that. Our “free crypto processing through 2023” offer is another great door opener. We also recently introduced PIX to the market, which is the fastest-growing e-payment solution in Brazil. Our merchants are loving it and this makes the pitch super easy to deliver.
XBIZ: How has the market changed in recent years?
SILVIA: Well, for women, it has changed tremendously. From visiting the trade shows 15 years back when men were wearing flip-flops and women were considered only as models, to now, where any woman at the show could be a model, entrepreneur, owner or banking partner, everybody simply looks at you professionally and takes you as an equal. It is still a male-dominated industry, but the women in it support each other where they can.
XBIZ: What is your strategy for keeping merchants up to date on the latest issues they should be aware of?
SILVIA: In the fast-moving world of payments, we believe communication is not just key, but mandatory. Just like our sales and marketing teams attend industry events and trade shows, our payments team is also on the road meeting face to face with our banking partners and providers at events like the MRC or Money 2020. If you want to stay current and have a seat at the table, you must be physically present and investing in relationships.
We have two main sources of information. First, our marketing department produces a highly curated, weekly-to-biweekly newsletter covering everything that happens in our universe. If you are not signed up yet, I highly recommend it. Second, as I mentioned earlier, we have our quarterly Vendo Merchant Conferences where we can dive deeper into any current event or upcoming regulatory change. Here, we not only present and keep our merchants updated, but we also problem-solve and answer their most important questions.
XBIZ: Tell us about the biggest innovations and new services Vendo has rolled out this year.
SILVIA: If I had to choose and prioritize, I would start with the rolling out of our completely built-from-the-ground-up corporate website and rebrand with a focus on clear communication and merchant success. But we have so much more happening. As I mentioned, we were first to market with the Brazilian payment method PIX; we’ve partnered with ACI Worldwide as their first PSP partner for crypto; we’ve been bringing global featured speakers to the Vendo Merchant Conference and we expanded our team in marketing, sales, merchant success, payments, customer service and finance to better serve our merchants. We have certainly been busy!
I am also very proud of the launch of the Vendo Care Foundation. We created the foundation to give back and support those in need or those who are less fortunate. This year, we partnered with a children’s hospital and the experience has been humbling and inspiring at the same time. The foundation was also created to support Vendo team members and their families with education needs or assistance with challenges.
XBIZ: What are your biggest goals for 2023?
SILVIA: I am so excited for 2023. We already have a theme that I helped create for the company: “Unstoppable!” We are going to eliminate the fear and doubt of chargebacks with our new chargeback insurance. It will cost our merchants less while keeping them 100% protected.
We invest heavily in AI and data as well. Our analytics department continues to grow and they will be available for our clients. If our merchants need a deeper dive into their data or market research, our analytics team will be offering a custom reporting service. Finally, we will start offering our merchants a complete customer service package that we beta-tested in 2022, which offers not just billing support, but end-to-end consumer support. We are getting great feedback from our merchants in the pilot, so it’s time to roll it out. And, of course, we want to bring free crypto processing to as many merchants as possible in 2023.
I love to travel and love being face to face with our merchants. I am a mother of two young children, who next year will be just old enough for me to start traveling again. I can’t wait to see you all at an upcoming XBIZ show!
Each month, XBIZ spotlights the career accomplishments and outstanding contributions of Women in Adult. WIA profiles offer an intimate look at the professional lives of the industry's most influential female executives.
