Page 44 - GS180601

Education

Help your merchants To be clear, attracting customers is a huge
problem for merchants and shouldn't be
increase customer loyalty understated. That said, it's obvious that
merchants don't understand the value of
getting their existing customers to come
By Barry Davis back, or they may assume that they already
have a solid stable of loyal regulars. Either
Womply way, merchants need to recognize the value
of repeat business and have a plan for getting
t has become common knowledge in the payments industry that their consumers back in the door.
the role of the merchant level salesperson (MLS) has shifted to
a consultative one. As technology has changed the frontlines of The value of every customer
I small business, merchants are increasingly looking for advice on has increased
how to adapt to these changes. MLSs are ideally positioned to become
trusted advisers and add more value to merchant relationships as a Ironically, the mobile Internet has made small,
result. brick-and-mortar businesses more relevant
than ever. These businesses are now easier
One of the most important things agents can do to add value to merchant for consumers to find via local search apps
relationships is to help their merchant clients turn one-time customers and websites, and digital engagement with
into loyal regulars. According to recent research we've done at Womply, customers is easier for small merchants to
"attracting customers" is the top worry for merchants, with "retaining achieve than trying to outspend competitors
customers" coming in at No. 8 on the list. That's a big disconnect, given in traditional big-budget advertising.
how much more valuable repeat visitors are.
According to Google research on the
consumer decision journey, foot traffic to
AN OPPORTUNITY local retailers is down 57 percent, but the
value of every customer who enters a store
has tripled. In other words, it's harder to
AS BIG AS YOUR attract casual window shoppers, but the
value of each person who walks through the
door has never been higher. That's a huge
DREAMS! opportunity for local merchants.

The problem of repeat business

Agile At Electronic Merchant Systems our At Womply, we often hear merchants say that
their businesses run on repeat visitors. Take
Contracts agent partnering approach stems Barbara Criswell, for example. She owns and
from the understanding that our operates a new-age bookstore and gift shop
Lifetime success is based upon your success. in St. Louis. Due to the nature of the business, The Conference for CX Innovators in Finance
Residuals We are committed to building you would assume Aquarius Books attracts a July 10-12 2018 • Westin Copley Place, Boston
small but loyal niche audience. When Barbara
a lasting relationship with you found out that most of her patrons were first-
Success and strive to provide you with time visitors, she told us, "It totally changed
Assurance the personal service that you how I viewed people coming into the store."
deserve from an Agent partnership Barbara's story underscores an unfortunate Financial Institutions
Portfolio with EMS. truth about running a small business: up to
Management 80 percent of satisfied customers never come Get 25% off your CXFS pass
back, Forbes reported in 2016. It's not that when you register with code:
they don't want to, but we live in an age of
unlimited options and information overload. CXFS18GREEN
Take Your Career To the Next Level Every day, there's a new deal pinging your
Call 866.272.5247 inbox, and large companies have figured out
how to use advanced digital marketing and
retargeting tactics to drive increased loyalty.
Meanwhile, most small businesses just
assume happy customers will return. Visit us at:
www.emsagent.com
cxfinance.wbresearch.com

44