When running a small business, one of the things you need to do correctly and efficiently is handle payments while keeping all data organized. You’ll need to understand and implement strategies that can help you optimize your overall process, as well as find the best payment processor.
When you take the time to streamline your process, you improve your payment processing and purchasing system, as well as bump up customer satisfaction. As a small business owner, you have to remember that your payment acceptance affects everything else in your company, and can directly affect your success.
Give these business strategies a shot to help you streamline your method of payment acceptance:
- Accept a Variety of Payment Methods
Part of zeroing in on customer convenience entails making the payments an easy process. You can achieve this goal by accepting a variety of payment methods. By doing this, you boost your likelihood of sales, as customers who enter without certain types of tender on them can pay in different ways.
Here are a few payment methods you can incorporate:
Debit, Credit and Prepaid Cards
Many businesses accept these cards as payment methods. These options, however, have some caveats. You should look at convenience and security, and this will include EMV chips.
Take note that this applies mainly to physical cards. Non-physical cards, such as digital or virtual prepaid cards, should have the usual features, such as the 16-digit card number and a CVV number.
At the end of the day, make sure you consider the options that accompany these payment methods and integrate them into your business’ payment processing system.
Cryptocurrency
Tesla made headlines when it announced it was accepting Bitcoin as payment. Although this may no longer be true today, what is important is that businesses can accept cryptocurrencies as a payment method. If you want to explore this option, get in touch with companies that enable businesses to accept cryptocurrencies as payment.
Mobile and Contactless Payments
Mobile pay has evolved from simply including paying in-app and online purchases to a mobile wallet system that lets individuals perform contactless payments like Samsung Pay. Customers can place their EMV-chipped mobile phones and credit cards near a configured payment terminal, cutting down the transaction time and keeping the queue moving.
Allowing your customers to use various types of payment methods has many benefits. It helps boosts your sales, keeps your lines running smoothly and raises the level of satisfaction with each visit. Even keeping a close eye on your cash flow can become more accurate and manageable if your workers adhere to a stress-free and streamlined process to manage all types of payment.
- Determine the Payment Processing Costs
The type of payment processor you will choose for your business will depend a lot on the cost. On a bigger scale, determine what your sales volume averages to, how big your business is and what the needs of your business are. Also, don’t forget to factor in the processing fees. These include the following:
- Credit Card Fees – Consider how your Point of Sale (POS) system will handle payment processing fees. Some providers, for example, may require a tiered fee or a flat-rate fee.
- Merchant Account Processing Fees – If your business already has a merchant account configured and wants to continue using that with your company’s POS system, this fee will depend on the processing fees of the merchant.
- In-House Processing Fees – POS system providers charge you either a credit card processing fee or a monthly usage fee that makes up for not having a monthly fee.
- Think About Your Customers
Your customers serve as the foundation of your business. Thinking about these people is crucial, as their satisfaction and convenience will keep your business going.
When assessing your customers in terms of payment processing, prioritize security. A data breach in your payment system could destroy the reputation of your business. Make sure that you’re using secure tools for both in-secure and online payment processing. This way, the information of your customers remains protected and safe.
Don’t forget to focus on user experience, as well. If your customers are purchasing from your online store, make sure that the overall user experience is intuitive and straightforward. Your goal is to minimize, if not avoid, shopping cart abandonment.
Following these three best practices will help you correctly and efficiently handle payment processing. If you keep your customers in mind and determine exactly what you need for your business, you’ll be well on your way to successfully accepting payments and maintaining good levels of customer satisfaction.
