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.
Before joining NETbilling, Wendy Nelson was the head buyer for a California-based firm that delivered high-end promotional gifts and awards to premium golf clubs and pro shops, as well as the LPGA and PGA Tours.
I find that giving my staff members regular, personalized feedback is one of the best ways to encourage them.
Then in 2007, after her daughter was born, Nelson took time off from work to stay home and connect with the new dynamics of her growing family. Once she felt ready to go back to a professional life full-time, a close friend who worked at NETbilling told her about a career change opportunity.
The payment services company had recently opened a sales assistant position, which her friend thought would be a perfect fit, so she applied and was hired shortly thereafter.
Several years later, after learning the ins and outs of ecommerce and merchant services sales, Nelson became fluent in the various services NETbilling offers. Working her way up, she was promoted to VP of sales in 2010 and now, a decade later, continues evolving with the fast-moving market. And in January, she was named Account Exec of the Year at the XBIZ Honors awards ceremony.
Now, in this exclusive WIA Woman of the Month interview, she opens up about her career, management philosophy and ambitions for NETbilling.
XBIZ: Discuss your primary duties as vice president of sales.
NELSON: My primary responsibility at NETbilling is to build new acquiring bank partnerships worldwide for our clients. I devote a significant amount of time and effort to developing and nurturing these partnerships so that we can provide our merchants with a diverse range of domestic and international choices for merchant accounts. I also manage the setup and upkeep of new NETbilling customer accounts in the ecommerce and retail sectors, including merchant accounts, point-of-sale equipment and gateway services.
XBIZ: How do you motivate team members for short-term goals and long-term success?
NELSON: I believe there are several ways to inspire your workers, particularly those working in sales. I find that giving my staff members regular, personalized feedback is one of the best ways to encourage them. To do this, I schedule at least 20 minutes every week with each employee in my department to discuss their professional growth and overall experience. This gives my workers more confidence to speak to me and share their thoughts.
XBIZ: In what ways has the payments industry changed over time?
NELSON: Technological advancements have been a major driver of change in the payments industry, and they have enabled many of the transformations that we see today. For example, the rise of the internet and mobile devices has made it possible for consumers to make purchases online and through mobile apps, leading to the growth of ecommerce and mobile commerce. Similarly, advances in security technology, such as encryption and tokenization, have made electronic payments more secure and reliable.
Overall, the payments industry has undergone significant transformation over the years, and it continues to evolve in response to changing consumer needs and technological advancements. As new technologies and trends emerge, businesses in the payments industry will need to continue to adapt and innovate to remain competitive and meet the evolving needs of their customers.
XBIZ: How do you juggle work and life duties?
NELSON: It is easy for me to combine work and life when I am working with the right company. It really does not feel like work when I am having fun doing it. While I am at home, my family comes first. I make sure to rejuvenate before the work week starts by setting aside time on the weekends to do things for myself. However, I won’t lie: it took me a long time to learn to put “me” first at times.
XBIZ: What truly sets NETbilling apart, in your view?
NELSON: Control and flexibility, I believe, distinguishes us. We deliver the most cutting-edge services, hardware and software available in the market today to our clients. Our solution contains a strong payment gateway with completely adjustable “fraud defense” risk management capabilities, as well as 12 other webmaster tools with total flexibility for the maximum sales conversion rates.
In addition, we provide our merchants with in-house call center services 24 hours a day, seven days a week, which is something many of our rivals do not provide. Mitch Farber, our founder, is a firm believer in providing world-class customer service and believed it was critical from the start to provide merchants with a comprehensive payment processing solution and customizable call center solution under one roof, at rates far less expensive than our competition.
XBIZ: Talk about your philosophy for recruiting and retaining clients.
NELSON: As a sales professional in an ever-changing industry, forming strategic partnerships with companies that offer parallel and complementary services that NETbilling can add to our portfolio has been my best method for recruiting new clients. Not only is this important for new client acquisitions, but it has also proven to help our existing clients to expand their businesses as well. To retain clients, as our industry has gotten more competitive, it has been vital to continuously provide great customer service and to have an always-open line of communication with our clients. I pride myself on knowing that our team and I uphold a standard that our company founders put in place from day one.
XBIZ: What milestones are you shooting for this year?
NELSON: I was able to achieve a long-standing milestone just at the start of this year. I was named Account Executive of the Year at the XBIZ Honors ceremony. It was great to be acknowledged for my efforts and services to the industry. As I approach my 16th year anniversary at NETbilling, I’m looking forward to what 2023 will bring, and how we will continue to evolve as a company.
