We recently came across a terrific blogpost entitled Demystifying Merchant Attrition by Adil Moussa, which identifies the stages leading to merchants leaving their payment processors in search of a better solution.
Understanding why merchants leave their payment processors is the key to improving your merchant attrition rate. Instabill does its collective best to maintain its merchants when contracts near completion, and we think we’re pretty good at it.
Contract Details: They Often Slip Through. Or Go Unread.
In a perfect world, all merchants would read, understand and abide by the contract with which they agree with their merchant account providers. That is hardly the case, however, isn’t it?
There are a number of issues that can go awry in the merchant-processor relationship. Alas, most of those issues can be avoided with the merchant taking the time to thoroughly read through the contract and through constant communication. Most offshore merchant account contracts average about 14 pages in length while the average contract for the domestic merchant account is anywhere between 4-6.
It can be a lot of reading, but we urge our merchants to study their contract. Underline. Highlight relevant areas. Ask if unsure about a particular item.
In the long run, it is time very well spent.
Fighting Merchant Attrition
Reputable payment service providers can identify what Mr. Moussa calls the ‘irritants,’ any instance that can lead to a merchant’s dissatisfaction: unexpected or hidden fees, fee increases or access to funds.
No payment service provider is perfect. Occasionally, a merchant is going to shop around for a number of reasons – perhaps for lower processing fees, better chargeback management or payment gateway issues. One of the ways to combat merchant attrition, wrote Mr. Moussa, is to contact the merchant after the end of the partnership and ask the merchant why they opted to pursue another processor.
Instabill Offers an All-Encompassing Solution
We’ve never really taken to the terms salesmen, salesperson or sales associate. It entails that we are solely focused upon the sale. We feel our merchant account managers are more like consultants. True, we bring you through the merchant account boarding process, but that is only the beginning.
Once your business is processing, Instabill representatives will check in every now and then. Merchants should think of us as consultants – for the life of the merchant account.
Perhaps most importantly, we want to know when there is an issue. We are available by the live chat option below or by phoning us at 1-800-318-2713.
What does your company do to mitigate merchant attrition? Please leave a comment below.
