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MLSs can be the saviors not spend time worrying about. Today, I think about the
problem a bit differently.
of small business A new way of viewing the
MLS/merchant relationship
Reliable, reasonably priced processing is now table stakes
for any MLS wanting to sell effectively. As I've written
before ("Five-step plan for cross selling to merchants,"
The Green Sheet, Oct. 23, 2017, issue 17:10:02) it's vital that
MLSs stop pitching low processing rates and move into a
consultative role with their merchants.
Today, many sophisticated products and tools are available
to ISOs and acquirers to help small businesses survive and
grow. Unfortunately, most business owners are so busy
By Barry Davis they are simply uninformed about the latest technologies
Womply available to them. MLSs are ideally placed to provide
technology solutions that can relieve the merchants'
e often wring our hands about the frighten- deepest concerns.
ingly high levels of merchant churn in the
payments industry, with most ISOs/acquir- If your solutions don't grow revenue, don't bother
W ers seeing annual churn rates between 20 So what are your merchants actually worried about?
and 30 percent. While it is indeed upsetting to find your Womply recently surveyed small businesses and asked
hard-won merchants have found happiness in the arms of them to share their top business goals. Overwhelmingly
another processor (or have "involuntarily" churned due to (over 82 percent), they told us that their number one
a failed automatic billing/payment setup), there's a more business goal was growing revenue.
sinister secret in the merchant services industry that few
people want to talk about: the high rates of churn due to When it comes to the thought-provoking "would you
merchants going out of business. rather have more time or more money" question, nearly

eight in 10 merchants said that earning 20 percent more
The latest report from the U.S. Small Business Association's money would have a greater impact on their life than
Office of Advocacy is full of encouraging statistics to buoy saving 10 hours of work per week.
the spirits of small business owners: according to the
SBA's definition, small businesses comprise 99.9 percent So examine your portfolio, identify merchants that have
of all firms (including a staggering 98 percent of high- flat or declining sales volume over the past last year, and
tech firms), providing two thirds of U.S. jobs created and research options you can provide that can increase their
roughly half of all private sector employment. revenue, including proven reputation management, CRM
and email marketing services. Whatever options you
However, some worrying realities are also familiar to choose, make sure you fully educate yourself on the ins
all local merchants, and should be on the mind of every and outs, and present a solution that helps your merchants
merchant level salesperson: starting a small business is grow their businesses, not just another time-sucking,
still very risky.
"value added" flash in the pan.
How bad is 'out of business' attrition?
I use the term "solution" intentionally, in the truest form
Although four out of five businesses started in 2016 of the word. You should be solving their revenue problem.
survived until 2017, numbers from the Bureau of Labor For local merchants struggling in an increasingly difficult
Statistics' Business Employment Dynamics show that a marketplace, you might be the one person who can save
third of new businesses fail in their second year, only half their business – and their livelihood.
last through their fifth year, and two thirds don't survive
10 years. If you help your merchants grow their revenue, there's a
much greater chance they will still be in business – and in
Think about that for a minute: based on these stats, fully your portfolio – 5, 10, or 20 years from now.
one half of the new-business accounts you sign this year
will be out of business before their fifth year is out, not to
mention those that you lose to processor churn. Barry Davis is vice president of business development at Womply, the
top software partner to the payments industry and the top provider of
I've found that over 30 percent of all merchant attrition is front office software to small businesses (www.womply.com/about/
"out-of-business" attrition. Previously, I considered this to our-customers). For more tips or resources, reach out to the Womply
be uncontrollable churn – something an acquirer should team at partnerships@womply.com.
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