Merchant satisfaction is a major contributing factor to the success of payment service providers (PSPs). PSPs need to consistently be measuring, optimizing, and acting on merchant satisfaction. So, why is it so important for PSPs to consistently work on merchant satisfaction?
The list is long and strenuous but some of the main reasons for PSPs to focus on merchant satisfaction is to increase merchant retention. One of the primary reasons your merchants leave for your competitors is their dissatisfaction from the service they are provided. Over 30% of merchants leave their payment service providers due to being unsatisfied. From high fees to a lack a support, merchants need to feel that you truly care about their business thriving.
Why else does merchant satisfaction matter? Satisfied merchants help increase your sales revenue providing lifetime value. Once you have gained a merchants’ trust, they are more likely to purchase new products and services from you, recommend other merchants to your company, and are less likely to leave reducing merchant churn.
The Solutions
Remember, a dissatisfied merchant is a vicious cycle, and your competitors are waiting with a better offer. How do you mitigate dissatisfied merchants? While many factors contribute to merchant satisfaction, here are 3 simple ways to maximize your merchant satisfaction.
- Smart Digitization
In the digital age, innovation is key and that’s precisely what smart digitization brings to the table.
If you, like many others are struggling to get feedback from merchants you can start here. Utilizing digital tools creates a seamless experience for merchants. You can start with these options:
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software: CRM software can help manage merchant interactions, track leads, and improve overall communication.
- Smart Payment Terminals: Since your merchants are consistently using smart payment terminals, why not send surveys, promotions, and notifications directly to them? By utilizing your merchants’ smart payment terminals you can avoid the dreaded email.
- Automation
By automating processes such as onboarding, outreach, and feedback surveys you empower your merchants. Automating onboarding creates a frictionless merchant experience creating a great first impression of your company. You can do this by creating a digital onboarding and providing applications online. Once your merchant is onboarded successfully, it is imperative to consistently monitor their satisfaction. To ensure this you can automate outreach and gather feedback after onboarding, changes in transaction volume, or upgrades. This will show your merchant you care and enhance trust.
- Keep Merchants Informed
Keeping merchants informed is crucial for increasing merchant satisfaction and reducing merchant churn. For example, when outages occur merchants, especially small merchant businesses are deeply affected. When Moneris had an outage in December 2023, led to lost customers in-store and online. Or when Square had an outage in September 2023 many merchants reported a loss of revenue and customers. It is vital to keep merchants informed as many merchants can rarely reach call centers when this occurs. This leaves merchants in the dark, feeling stressed and confused.
To mitigate this, you can use real-time notifications to inform your merchants that networks are down. If your company doesn’t have the capacity to do this, partner with an innovative company that offers real-time notifications. Not only will this increase merchant satisfaction, but it will enhance merchant loyalty increasing overall sales and merchant referrals.
Each solution plays a crucial role in fostering a positive merchant experience. The key to your business’ success lies in prioritizing merchant satisfaction. In the digital age the odd email is not enough to keep your merchants. Remember a satisfied merchant is a loyal partner, and investing in their satisfaction is an investment in the future success of your company.