Many happy returns. You probably hear this phrase spoken every year-end holiday season. You might even use it yourself to express your wish for those who matter to you that the good things that happened in the previous year will return to them, again and again, in the new year.
I want to convey this wish to everyone who reads and has come to rely on The Green Sheet. Hopefully, you will be returning, again and again, to this space, and it will continue to help bring you results in the form of satisfied customers and professional success.
I also hope you have many happy returns in the coming year in the form of numerous new and profitable merchant accounts, and that the merchants you board in 2015 will remain satisfied customers for years to come.
Many happy returns can also apply when thinking about all the people returning holiday gifts in the month of January, either for refunds or exchanges. Such returns are often regarded as a pain. Having to return something to the store makes some people grumpy. This is particularly true when you have to return a gift that you gave, because that means you didn't please the recipient. The failure to please, when you make a sincere effort to do so, never feels good.
Having to process store returns can make salespeople grumpy too. When someone is unhappy with a product purchased at one of your merchant's stores, it might indicate that the customer is unhappy with the merchant. However, the merchant might not be the problem. It's just as likely that the product is the problem, or that it's the wrong iteration, the wrong size, the wrong color, etc. In any case, a return can feel like a rejection.
But store returns can also be happy returns. For many merchants, getting people to return to their stores can be a good thing, even if it's just to return something they bought there. In many cases, after returning a product, the customer will buy something else. Or the return will turn into an exchange for something similar. In either case, the merchant still ends up ‒ after a short delay of a few days or weeks – with a satisfied customer.
The important thing is that you, as ISOs and merchant level salespeople offering POS products and services, can help ensure that these exchanges are quick, efficient and painless for your merchants. A successful return, like a successful sale, shows the worth of your business and ensures stickier relationships.
Returns, even when they are many, can be happy for all concerned. Store returns can provide shoppers an opportunity to express their preferences, can inform merchants of what is selling and what isn't, and can show the true value of having a stellar merchant services team on the job. This is something worth celebrating in the new year and beyond. 
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