“But I suppose the most revolutionary act one can engage in is… to tell the truth.
― Howard Zinn, Marx in SoHo: A Play on History
“Just because something bears the aspect of the inevitable one should not, therefore, go along willingly with it.”
― Philip K. Dick, The Transmigration of Timothy Archer
In our experience, the payments processing and technology industry too often gets the “hard” things – like security and communications technology – right, but fails its customers on the “easy” things – like transparency, proactive service, and honesty.
When an existing order fails to serve its constituents while unfairly enriching others, revolution is called for. We aim to be revolutionaries in this field. To achieve productive change, though, every revolution must be guided by and live up to a vision of a better, fairer future: a manifesto.
This is the Desormais Manifesto
Our governing concept will be the simple, yet timeless and unambiguous maxim we were all given as children: Treat others as you would want to be treated. Here is how we will strive to live this principlein our dealings with you – our client or prospect – and in all that we do:
Honesty in all matters Under no circumstances will we knowingly misrepresent the facts or hide information from our clients and prospects. Rather, we will be proactive in providing information. Perfection is a standard we will strive for, but honesty is non-negotiable. Your trust is the most precious reward we could hope to earn, irrespective of whether you choose to be our client or not.
Eye on the ball We are in business to provide reliable, secure, user-friendly, and economical payments services and technologies. We’ll diligently seek the best ways to deliver these values. This will include:
- finding the best, like-minded partners to provide you with fully realized services,
- valuing your time,
- helping you make a fair comparison across providers, with an eye to total cost of service rather than focusing on individual components of cost that can be swamped by hidden expenses or future aggravations, and
- recognizing that the beginning of our business relationship is just the beginning: that what happens after you say “yes” is infinitely more important than getting to that point.
Easy comparison Many service and technology providers in this business go out of their way to make comparison difficult, because they are hiding costs in every nook and cranny. Others hold out apparent simplicity and transparency, but under that banner actually charge an unfair price for that simplicity. Without transparent information, comparison is impossible. We will work tirelessly to provide you with clear, understandable information that will enable you to compare real values and costs of service. We will provide this information to the market without self-advocacy or prejudice, but we will also develop
proprietary approaches to deliver exceptional value to our clients.
Fair pricing We’re all in business to make a living; profit is the fruit of our capital at risk and our honest labor. Undeserved or egregious profit, however, is an abuse. Our pricing will be consistent with these concepts:
- Price for a margin that’s reasonable.* Our proposals for services and technology will not feature margins that are outside the norm for the industries we most resemble.
- Be clear about pricing elements that are negotiable, and those that are not. Unethical or uniformed providers will represent some costs as “pass-throughs” that are in fact sources of profit for the processor. We will be clear about which costs are out of our control, and those that are within our control.
- Be clear about alternatives. While working with us, you may have options for securing some products and services from alternate sources. We will provide outstanding solutions, but also be sure you know when you have options.
- Select leasing. Leasing a multi-million dollar mainframe computer in the 1970s was sensible from a cash flow and tax-efficiency perspective. Leasing a piece of equipment that wholesales for several hundred dollars, with a total lease cost in the thousands, is robbery. We will only propose equipment leasing to our prospects or clients in select circumstances where it offers a superior value.
Earn our customer’s business
- Provide value We will strive to provide you with the best value. This means we will compete on your overall cost of service, not on the price of some individual component. Your time is valuable. We will respect the value of your time.
- Be there We will be reachable. We will be in your corner. When you have a problem, we will work diligently toward a resolution you see as fair and satisfying.
- Client by choice, not by penalty We will engage with you on a month to month basis. Requiring a multi-year contract and charging you a penalty to leave are practices that imprison you and unfairly deprive you of choice. Not to mention the fact that they have no reasonable support in costs incurred by your provider. You should not work with a provider who imposes these conditions; you will be our client by choice, not by penalty.
Achieve and maintain expertise Payment processing can be a complicated and rapidly evolving business, with many sources of change. We will keep current with industry developments, through our own efforts and by maintaining relationships with trusted partners. As a visible indicator of our commitment, where we see clear value to our customers, we will earn and maintain relevant industry certifications. We will respect the differences across sectors by learning your business and putting that knowledge to work in seeking the best solutions for you.
Hold partners to a high standard There are many players involved in processing payments. When we partner with other providers, we will seek out and engage only those who we judge to be in concert with our values, committed to excellence, and successful in delivering exceptional products and services.
These principles and aspirations will guide all that we do. This is our promise.
* For example, see http://pages.stern.nyu.edu/~adamodar/New_Home_Page/datafile/margin.html
