Keeping Your Merchants Satisfied

Are you an Agent trying to make sure that your Merchants are Happy?

Think back to the last time you were on the phone with your cable company. Did they exceed your expectations, keep you happy and build loyalty?

Chances are probably not – cable company customer service is notorious for being frustrating.

As an ISO agent, you don’t want to be like your cable company. What makes great customer service for your merchants is built upon the relationship you develop.

While every merchant’s needs will differ, there’s some best practices to help you provide happy customer service to all your clients.

Let’s take a look at three strategies you can use to provide great customer service and improve your client retention.

1. Boost Your Average Response Time

Have you ever caught yourself thinking about how to keep customers? Part of the answer is your response time when merchants call.

Response time plays a big role in customer satisfaction and is easily one of the strongest contributors to client retention.

Start by digging into your inbox to find out how long it usually takes you to respond to a merchant. With email communication, a good standard is to respond within 24 to 48 hours.

It’s understandable that sometimes work or client volume can make it difficult to meet this standard, so there is some wiggle room in response time if you really need it.

According to an Oracle study, about 50 percent of customers allow a company one week to respond before forming a negative opinion. 

Fewer things are more frustrating to a merchant then when they reach out for help and their contact does not respond in a timely manner.

Keep a watchful eye on your communication and be ready to respond to merchants who have questions or issues. If your customer satisfaction rates are less than expected, response time is a good place to start.

2. Feedback is Your Friend

The role direct feedback can play in client relationships cannot be overstated. Even the best ISO agent can benefit from receiving feedback from their merchants.

When you ask for feedback, you transform a potential problem or pain point into a collaborative experience.

A natural point to ask for feedback is at the end of a merchant interaction. Whether it’s at the end of the sale or follow up call, asking for a merchant’s opinion on how you did helps show your level of dedication to their success.

Keep in mind that feedback isn’t worth much if you don’t take steps to apply it. Merchants will be thrilled when you take their feedback and make positive changes to improve their experience.

It shows that you, as their agent, care about delivering the best solution possible.

3. Create Merchant-Focused Content

Not every communication with your merchants has to be sales related. Creating relevant content is one of the best ways to keep your merchants happy.

A simple quarterly newsletter for example, helps merchants get the most out of their relationship with you and the products you sold them.

Your merchants trust you to provide the best experience possible. Sending personalized and useful content rewards that trust and serves as a differentiator against potential competitors or rival products. The content you
create will have a lasting impression with merchants and help you develop stronger ties with them.

Here is a list of some content ideas you can create or ask for from your ISO to help drive excellent customer service with merchants:

• Product updates
• FAQ’s and troubleshooting tips
• Industry news
• Your merchant success stories
• Business tips and tricks

We’re Dedicated to Your Success as an EMS ISO Agent

As a leading provider in the payment processing & merchant services industry, Electronic Merchant Systems (EMS) supports prospective ISO agents and industry professionals.

No matter what a merchant’s credit card processing needs are, we have the solutions and resources you need to successfully discuss mobile credit card processing with your merchant network.

To learn more about our ISO Agent program click the button below.