Recently, after wanting to learn more about how our Customer Care Associates spend their time, I decided the best way to do this was to experience the job first-hand. And so I assumed the role of a Customer Care rep, answering the phones and problem solving customer questions. My first reaction was “This job is hard!” It is more complicated and has more moving parts than one might expect. It requires a problem-solving train of thought, good listening skills, the ability to smoothly multi-task, and the temperament to remain upbeat and personable—no matter what is coming at you. Since one component of PaySimple’s service is to help our merchants maneuver between multiple vendors and payment processors, our Care reps must also be able to research questions across several different platforms and CRM tools. It is not a job for the faint of heart. Next, I realized that the degree to which the decisions made and processes created in the company come home to roost in our Care department-–in mostly good, but sometimes unexpected ways. Want to know if your sales team is positioning your product accurately? Listen to the questions that come in to Customer Care to understand if you are under or overselling certain functions or features. Want to know on which features your development team should focus? Talk through the intricacies of your product with a customer who has had no exposure to … Continue reading…
We provide payment software AND we cook!
At PaySimple we are always looking for ways to get involved in the community, so earlier this month, we got a group together to volunteer at the Ronald McDonald House in Denver. If you’re not already familiar with the organization, the Ronald McDonald House is a wonderful charity that provides housing for families with children in the hospital. It allows families, who might not otherwise be able to afford it, to be close to their children – so they can provide support and love during the healing process. No family is ever turned away. The Ronald McDonald House serves as a home for 3.7 million families around the world each year. And during their stay, families are offered a number of amenities including home-cooked meals. As such, we decided the best way for us to help out was to cook for the families at the Denver RMH. On the menu was: Sloppy Joes, chips, coleslaw, Rice Krispies Treats, and drinks. And while some of us don’t have the best cooking skills, all of the families seemed to enjoy our home-cooked meal. It was a wonderful experience being able to put a smile on the faces of families that are going through a tough time. We encourage all small businesses and individuals to do what you can to volunteer and give back to the community. If you’re interested in volunteer opportunities at the Ronald McDonald House … Continue reading…
Great News – ACH Payment Processing Experienced Q4 Growth!
Despite the doom and gloom in the economy lately, a recent press release from NACHA states that ACH payments actually experienced growth in the 4th quarter, with an amazing 4.5% increase in Q4 2008 over Q4 2007. That means that more than 3.8 billion ACH transactions were processed last quarter. The growth shows that more and more people and businesses are using ACH as a payment method, which is a promising sign that businesses (especially small businesses) are moving toward utilizing new cost-cutting, green technologies. The overall 4.5% increase was spurred from some remarkable double-digit growth in specific segments of ACH processing. One segment was Internet ACH payments (known as ‘WEB’ entries), which had a 16.5% increase, reaching 552 million transactions, and accounting for $220 billion. Another segment with double-digit growth was business-to-business ACH payments (known as ‘CTX’ entries), which had a 15% growth, with 14.4 million transactions, and accounting for $691 billion. One of the most impressive areas of growth, though, came from back-office conversion (known as ‘BOC’ entries) which grew to more than 39 million payments – up from 3 million payments in 2007. Growth is the buzz word in the ACH payments industry and we should expect that word to stick around. NACHA President and CEO states that opportunities exist for great adoption of all native ACH payment types as the safe, secure, and green attributes of ACH are embraced by businesses … Continue reading…
Merchant Account – Card Acceptance Guidelines
With more and more small businesses obtaining merchant accounts to accept credit cards, it is essential to review some common scenarios that business owners and their consumers may run into. The merchant account agreement contains a complete explanation of key procedures, but here are some highlights. Within the merchant agreement, there are card acceptance procedures, also known as Operating Rules. Most of these rules are generally set in place to protect all parties in the process and keep commerce flowing. If you are a business owner, at first glance, some of these conditions may not seem advantageous to your business. But it is important to keep in mind that aside from running a business, you are a consumer protected by these rules just the same. The following is a list of common merchant violations (most you have probably even witnessed): Honor All Cards Policy: Merchants are required to honor all cards presented by their customers if they have a merchant account set up to do so. They cannot turn away Corporate Cards, Purchasing Cards, Rewards Cards or the like to prevent paying additional fees and potential surcharges for accepting them. Although those card types may carry an additional expense, businesses are actually likely to experience a net benefit by taking these cards because the Corporate & Rewards card transactions are generally higher than normal Consumer cards. In other words, the higher transaction amount offsets the … Continue reading…
Small Businesses Save with SaaS Solutions
With the rapid expansion of technology seeming to be coming at us from all angles, small businesses have the opportunity to test the early adopter waters to see if they can harness these advances. If all turns out as desired, this could help mitigate business expenses, while increasing business productivity – switching what would be high operational costs into increased value for consumers. We have spoken countless times in the past about how our electronic payment processing solution gives small businesses the opportunity to collect payments like large corporations. This value can largely be attributed to the PaySimple Solution being a Software as a Service (SaaS). The value that SaaS can bring is clearly seen by the maturation and migration of companies of all shapes and sizes, shown in this survey by Gartner. What are the small business benefits of using SaaS? Reduced or eliminated costs – There isn’t the need to invest in expensive hardware or software, which means low maintenance costs and no licensing fees. The rental of a web-based application means the allocation of expenses to operational, not capital focuses. Easy integration and functionality – Most systems are designed to be simple enough for the average Internet user. This means, for implementation and day-to-day operations, expensive IT usually isn’t required. Easy to use = Limited IT Expenses – Take away the need for a highly technical employee, and do it yourself – … Continue reading…
Recurring Billing with Credit Cards and eChecks? No Sweat!
With over 25 million small businesses , all in a wide range of industries, all needing a variety of products and services – and most willing to invest to improve right now – it’s important to take a look at how advances in technology have brought down the cost of implementing services like recurring billing and electronic invoicing for your customers, and how this can help your niche. Recently, we’ve had an influx of customers from membership and contract-based businesses, like health clubs and gyms. So I wanted to share information we have learned from our day-to-day operations about how online payment processing helps this niche. The payment solutions that have advanced over the years are allowing small businesses to use the same payment collection technology as larger corporations – but it doesn’t stop there – the functionality of the solutions allow additional benefits, such as setting up recurring billing through credit card payments or ACH-echeck processing. If you own a business that requires a membership or contract, it makes sense to automate your collection process. This is not only going to improve your cash-flow, but reduce invoicing costs, eliminate late payments and collections calls, and prevent manual data entry so you can focus on what matters most – your business. By automating the transaction side of your interaction with clients, customer loyalty and service will improve because the focus can be on the service … Continue reading…
While Big Biz is Making Layoffs, Small Businesses are Going Fishing
Regardless of the economic climate, finding and retaining great employees is essential for a small business, even more so than for large companies. Most small businesses have limited resources and thus talent becomes one of the most important assets they have. So the good news for 2009, according to a press release by TriNet, is that two-thirds of small businesses will be looking to hire. With the recent splash in the unemployment pool this year, there are undoubtedly top prospects available to help your company’s productivity and profitability moving into the New Year. Looking at the projections going into 2009 might leave some skeptical, but small business hiring is up 3.3% in 2008, and 80% of respondents in the TriNet survey said they tried to hire this year. This is just point-in-hand that small businesses are able to run leaner than companies we see in the news on a daily basis. So if you are a small business, here are a few benefits of recruiting in 2009: With so many people in the job market, there are plenty of highly-motivated and qualified candidates available. This is a great opportunity to stock up on talent. And even if your business can’t afford to hire right now, when the markets are back up you will. It doesn’t hurt to have your foot in the door with exceptional candidates. With the advent of social media and other free … Continue reading…
Accepting online payments could be the opportunity knocking at your door
Opportunity knocks. It is difficult to turn on the television or browse through most publications without finding analysts and professionals of all types declaring a gloomy outlook for the economy. When coming across an article or post that may be negative, it’s important to remember that this is an opportunity to find solutions for the problems at hand. For instance, there was a recent post on Small Business Trends discussing industries feeling the crunch the most that starts off: “The year 2008 is turning out to be a tough one for small florist businesses. Sales are down nearly 15%.” True, there are less consumers going out and purchasing flowers. But are these small businesses giving consumers more reasons to buy from them? According to research, online sales could increase up to 12% from last year — which is a market that needs to be tapped into if in-store sales are lagging. As many companies trying online payments have discovered, not only do they provide convenience and cost-savings for the business and the customer, it also allows for you to be more resilient by improving cash flow. By increasing your “portfolio” of payment options (and even sales options if your business type fits), you’re increasing your probability to catch more sales. The beauty of offering goods and services online is promotions can be changed very quickly to address those shoppers looking for value, especially during the … Continue reading…
Top 3 Holiday Discounts to offer customers that SAVE YOU money!
Sale season has arrived and bargain hunters abound. It seems everywhere you look prices are slashed 70%, yellow clearance signs scream out deals, and consumers are carefully considering every penny spent. On top of the holiday spending, this is the time of year when many gift subscriptions, club memberships, and service contracts come up for renewal and consumers are thinking about the value of each one and whether they plan to continue it, or whether they can get a better deal elsewhere. The result is price wars that can bring an increase in sales, in conjunction with a decrease in profits because of the deep discounts. In the case of rates for year-long service contracts, the profits lost from holiday price cutting reverberate throughout the entire next year. While large businesses can absorb the declining profits, small businesses often cannot. The key to winning the holiday discount game is to develop offers that provide real savings as well as real value to both your customers and to your business. The following three discount offers do just that. Recurring Billing Discount for Scheduled Services The Offer: Save 5% All Year When You Enroll in Recurring Billing for 2009! The Details: By enrolling in recurring billing your customers will be billed for your services on the schedule you set (weekly, monthly, quarterly, etc.) with the amount automatically deducted from their bank account or charged to their credit … Continue reading…
8 Outstanding Blogs and Resources for Small Businesses
With new social platforms popping up seemingly every day, small businesses have the opportunity to inexpensively connect with like-minded people in their industry’s niche. These social platforms can them help discover valuable resources and give them the ability to learn from seasoned professionals. However, the limited amount of time available for small business owners makes it difficult to weed out the tools that are most valuable to them. Fortunately, there are plenty of reputable blogs that provide an aggregation of useful small business resources. Now, I realize there are hundreds (if not more) ‘Top Blog’ lists out there, but these are my absolute favorite resources. What makes them my favorites? First, all the authors behind these blogs are extremely experienced and knowledgeable. More often than not, when I stumble upon (no pun intended) a random business blog, I question the ‘voice’ behind it. Everyone in this list has proven themselves as a reputable source – they are all in the same network of professionals. Second, they post relevantly and frequently. And finally, they promptly, politely, and helpfully respond to questions and comments. They may have positioned themselves as experts, but in no way do they neglect responding to any comment, as long as it is genuine. Duct Tape Marketing – Great at providing daily resources and advice for small businesses. Small Business Trends – A variety of distinct voices that help small businesses get on … Continue reading…
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