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POS and payments · Washington

New business leads for merchant services reps

The counter gets planned while the walls are still open, and the processing agreement gets signed with the POS. You get the restaurant or shop while it is still in the build-out, address in hand, before a terminal is ordered.

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Sample lead · SeattleExample
Business name hiddenUnlocks in app
Full-Service Restaurant · Seattle · King
Two signals confirmedLiquor license filedKitchen build-out permit
Business’s verified direct lineDetected October 2026
  • 3Counties live · King, Pierce, and Snohomish
  • 31Food businesses in the build-out now
  • 7 daysExclusive in your territory
  • FreeFirst month, no card
Public-record filings

The window

The processor gets chosen with the counter

Station placement, kitchen printers, and network drops follow the system the owner plans to buy, so the POS decision happens during the build-out, with the walls open and the electrician on site. The processing agreement usually rides along with it, so the rep who walks the space with the owner during the build-out tends to write both.

A storefront that has never taken a card has no statement for you to undercut. Once it opens, the first processor is hard to move in year one, because the owner has just signed a contract, trained a crew on the hardware, and has no appetite for a second setup.

  1. Lease and plansBefore any filing

    The owner
    Signing the lease and sketching a floor plan, with a rough idea of where the counter goes.
    For you
    The address is not public yet, and there is no hardware budget to quote against.

  2. Building permit filedUsually 3 to 11 months out

    The owner
    Drawings go to the city. The plans show the counter, the line, and the dining room.
    For you
    File the address away. The permit says a storefront is coming months before anyone shops for terminals.

  3. Permit issued, build-out startsWeeks after the filing

    Your window
    The owner
    The contractor starts, and the owner picks the POS so the electrician can place drops and the counter can be built around it.
    For you
    Call, walk the space, and quote the hardware and the processing together.

  4. Final inspectionThe last weeks of the build-out

    The owner
    As the inspectors sign off, terminals and printers get ordered if they were not already, and the processing agreement gets signed.
    For you
    If the hardware order is not yours by now, the processing usually goes with it.

  5. Business licenseWithin about five weeks of opening

    The owner
    Registering the business and setting an open date. Staff are training on whatever system is on the counter.
    For you
    You would be asking the owner to swap hardware before opening, which few will do.

  6. Opening dayDay one

    The owner
    Taking cards on day one through the processor signed months ago, under a contract with a term.
    For you
    The account belongs to someone else. Record the contract term and come back when it ends.

Timings are typical for a Washington restaurant, from the openings we have measured. Several steps rest on fewer than 30 openings, so read them as a rough guide. Read more: The measured POS timeline · Where merchant services reps find new restaurant leads.

See who is in this window now

Why it closes

The cost of calling late

  • Hardware already on the counter

    Once the terminals are installed and the crew is trained, a switch means new hardware, a second training, and a reinstall during the busiest weeks the business will ever have. Most owners say no.

  • A contract with a term

    The processing agreement at a new storefront usually carries a term and an early termination fee. Pitching against it means buying out the contract or waiting out the year, and the owner knows it.

  • Residuals go to the early rep

    Every month the first processor keeps the account is a month of residuals for the rep who called during the build-out. A late call competes on rate against someone who already has the relationship.

What you get

Getting ahead with a lead

  • Found during the build-out

    Leads come from permit and license filings, so a restaurant reaches you while its walls are open and its counter is unbuilt, with the expected opening when the filings give one.

  • An address you can walk

    Each lead carries the street address and the filing behind it. Drive by, look at the build-out, and talk to whoever is on site that morning.

  • A head start in your territory

    On First Look, a lead is exclusive in your territory for 7 days, then moves to Second Look. That is time to walk in before the next rep hears about the address.

  • New restaurants, cafes, and bars, plus new shops, clinics, salons, gyms, and child care centers.
  • The address, the expected opening when the filings give one, and the filing behind each lead.
  • The business’s line where we have verified it.
  • On First Look, exclusive in your territory for 7 days, then the lead moves to Second Look.

How it works

How MorningSheet gets you there first

  1. We read the public record

    Permits, licenses, liquor and health filings: the trail every business leaves before it opens.

  2. We verify and score it by hand

    We confirm it across two filings, verify the business’s direct line, and score it 0–100 on how soon it opens.

  3. You call before anyone else

    It lands in your inbox with the reason to call and the business’s direct line. You book the meeting first.

Right now

31 restaurants and food businesses in the build-out now

Counted from the latest public record in King, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties. New shops, salons, and clinics reach the feed on top of these.

Common questions

POS and payments leads, answered

When should I pitch a new business on payment processing?

During the build-out, after the building permit is issued and before the final inspection. The counter, the terminals, and the network drops get planned then, and the processing agreement is usually signed with the POS. After the final inspection you are competing with hardware that is already on order.

How is this different from a merchant services lead list?

A bought list is mostly businesses that are already open and already processing, sold to many reps at once. These leads come from public filings before the business opens, and on First Look each one is exclusive in your territory for 7 days before it moves to Second Look.

Can I sell processing without selling the POS?

At a new storefront, usually not for long. Card processing tends to be signed with the POS, so a rep who sells processing alone has to reach the owner before the system is chosen, or work with whoever is selling it. Either way, the build-out is when both get decided.

What does a POS lead include?

The business type, the street address, the expected opening when the filings give one, the permit or license behind the lead, and the business’s line where we have verified it. For a restaurant in its build-out, that is often an address and a plan before there is a phone or a website.

Do shops and clinics show up, or only restaurants?

Both. A restaurant usually reaches the feed at its build-out permit, months before opening. Shops, salons, clinics, and gyms more often reach it at their new business license, closer to opening, with a build-out permit at the same address when there is one.

Where do you have leads today?

King, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties in Washington. We read the public record there every day and add new areas where reps ask for them.

How do I try it?

Your first month is free, and there is no card to enter. You can also unlock this week’s King County sample on this page before you sign up.

Other trades

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