How to convert customers into clients?

How to convert customers into clients?

In this article we are going to briefly explain to you what lead nurturing and lead scoring are. 

They are the answer to the question.

We’ve written about what lead generation is and how relationships require nurturing.

Before we start nurturing potential customers, what about getting to know them better first?

Gather all of the valuable information before you make any moves.

This is a smart one. Think about it. 

First, you need to know which flowers your girlfriend likes before actually nurturing her i.e buying them for her.

This is when lead scoring steps onto the big scene. You need to rank those leads and see where they are with the sales-readiness.

Sometimes marketers assign numbers or letters to these leads. 

Some call them cold, warm or hot leads. 

No matter how you score them, the most important thing is that you are doing it.

Maybe some of your customers are already hot leads and they need to be fast-tracked to sales while others need a little bit of pampering and nurturing to get to that point.

 How do you track your potential customer’s behavior?

 There are multiple ways you can go about this, we are going to list a few.

  • A Website Widget
  • Heatmaps
  • On-Site Survey
  • Google Search Console
  • Google Analytics
 

We’d like to add one of the Marketing Automation Tools we offer. It’s great for collecting information – SMART LINE.

Why do we need to track the behavior of our customers?

Is it a waste of time?

No! Actually, it’s time well invested. 

Adding Marketing Automation as a part of your marketing team is going to be joined forces working together towards the same goal.

Therefore, knowing how your customers behave, puts you into a better position than your competitors who don’t do the same.

Now you can personalize and customize your approach eventually turning them into clients.

Not all of the people who land on your website are your potential clients.

Nevertheless, follow their behavior.

See how and how much they engage with the content you’ve put out doing cross-channel marketing.

Some you’ll find are not qualified leads and the good thing is you realized that on time by letting your marketing team do their job.

Now you can actually stop wasting and investing time better with the actual, qualified leads.

Does it make sense?

Email Campaigns for nurturing leads

There are many ways to personalize emails for lead nurturing. 

You can:

  •  send triggered emails when a visitor completes an action
  • clicks on links in your emails,
  •  visits certain pages on your website, 
  • demonstrates a high level of engagement.
 

Combining marketing personalization with behavioral triggered emails allows you to deliver the right message at the right time to the right person.

Final Thought

Lead scoring and lead nurturing are essential for every business no matter what industry you work in- spa or moving company.

If you want people to make a purchase, start using that product or service you’ve been working on, now is the perfect time to introduce Marketing Automation to your marketing team.

You can finally encourage people to do what you need them to.

How to have a great relationship with your clients?

 

The answer is Lead Generation.

Let’s start off with a question: What is a “lead”?

First of all, it’s a person.

What we all know but sometimes forget is that the key to a healthy relationship is communication.

 

Transparent communication and showing honest care builds up trust.

At the end of the day, this is what Lead Generation is all about.

 

 

Therefore, a lead is simply someone or an organization interested in what you offer.

 

The interest is expressed by sharing contact information, like an email ID, a phone number, or even a social media handle.

 

Not every lead is a good lead though and it doesn’t mean that all of them are going to eventually buy from you, but you still should never stop anybody from entering the sales funnel.

 

Nevertheless, there is something called an “ideal” lead.

 

Your existing customers are a good place to start when defining your ideal lead.

Is there anything they have in common?

What are the similarities and differences in their demographics?

First, you should decide what an ideal lead looks like for your company and then define a profile so that your sales and marketing teams can put more focus on those leads.

 

Because relationships require nurturing.

Information is power, especially in marketing.

In order to attract people and turn them into loyal customers, you’ll need to personalize your approach or let’s be real, approaches.

For that, you need info.

The question is, how do you get the valuable data and pieces of information?

 

The best way to make this topic more understandable to you is to go through some of our marketing automation tools and see how they can help you gather data and use them in the best way possible.

 

  • *Note: Be aware that people will be in different stages of buying.
 

Why is this important? 

Some people are maybe in the first stage, getting to know the business, 

gathering information and you try to sell them the product fiercely?

It won’t end well. You’ll lose them pretty fast.

 

For example, Email Marketing is still alive and kicking.

It is one of the best ways to keep your customers engaged and alert.

You can educate, inform, thank your clients using this marketing tool and trust us, they are going to appreciate the effort.

Especially if they feel and know that you’re intention is genuine.

 

 

 

Another excellent free automation tool that you can use for data collection is Smart WiFi.

You can easily set it and it has a seamless login so when guests return to your venue the network remembers their details.

This way your customers won’t miss out on any of your offers.

Based on the collected data, you’ll be able to make smarter moves.

Now that you’ve captured data, sent personalized, automated emails or texts

 

Reputation Management needs to be the top priority.

 

Since we live in the digital era, online reviews have become an inevitable part of every business.

What’s also inevitable are bad reviews that can hurt a business’s reputation.

We had this in mind therefore with our Smart Review Technology the bad reviews are sent to the backend and only the good ones are shown.

We believe this is a good approach because, while working on the unfortunate reviews and their resolution, your reputation is safe.

Capturing leads doesn’t have to be difficult and impossible.

Yes, it requires strategy and planning but when done correctly with the tools you need lead generation is going to become something you actually enjoy doing.

Are Merchant Accounts a Necessary Part of Accepting Debit and Credit Cards?

If you want to accept credit and debit cards from your customers, you will need a merchant account.

It is as simple as this.

Imagine you have just started a business and you finally got that first customer

that will definitely use your services or purchase the product. 

You made the deal, you signed the contract (if necessary), and the paying time has come. 

But being a rookie can entail certain difficulties. 

The overwhelming feeling of selling your first goods,

has made you forget to ask how the customer would like to process its buying. 


Before you know it the customer has already pulled out its credit/debit card 

and happily awaits to finish the paying process.

Instead, he or she got rejected because your business 

doesn’t have an option of processing card payments. 

So, it’s obvious that credit, nor debit cards can’t process by themselves. 

That’s why the merchant account is necessary.


What’s a merchant account 

and does my business really need one 

in order to process electronic payments?


No alt text provided for this image

A merchant account represents a middleman between your bank account

and your client’s bank account in order to process card payments. 

When the sale is made, the merchant account works in the background 

in order to withdraw funds from the customer’s bank and transfer them 

into your business’s checking account. 


By setting up a merchant account with a payment processor 

you can start accepting card payments and transactions.

Another necessary thing when opening a merchant account is to own hardware. 

This is usually available to purchase from your credit card processing partner. 

Sometimes, even the payment processor may even provide you with a free credit card reader when you first start out.


If you are running a business, online or in-store, you will most likely need the merchant account.

And here’s why. 


Living in the 21st century it’s not unusual to see people paying with their cards. 

Actually, it is more common than paying it with a form of cash. 

If you are in a dilemma about whether your business needs a merchant account 

in order to process electronic payments, the answer is yes.

It is absolutely the best way to process card payments. 


If, on the other hand, you refuse to set up a merchant account, 

there are complications you will have to deal with regarding your business. 

Not only that you can upset your customers, 

but you will most likely lose potential buyers due to a lack of accepting card payments. 


This can even lead up to ultimately losing your business,

 which is the main thing to avoid in the first place.

The bottom line is that you need to understand why you are in need of a merchant account and how that can benefit your business. 

With this in mind, it’s ultimately your choice whether you will set up a merchant account, or rather skip this important step in the business running process. 

What is Cross-Channel Marketing?

Help them remember you

Strategy vs Tactic

 

Strategy is success.

There is a reason we want to start the article about cross-channel marketing talking about strategy.

If a company has an unclear sense of its direction, how can it have hope of attaining its goals?

The vision of the desired future needs to be clear.


After this, implementing the strategy with commitment, consistency and determination is the key.

Strategy and tactic are equally important.

Let’s make sure you can differentiate them easily.

Strategy is the overall plan for deploying resources to establish a favorable position; 

a tactic is a scheme for a specific action.

However, being strategic doesn’t always mean having a detailed plan.

Sometimes, what it takes are simply clear ideas of what you want to achieve 

and how you’d want to achieve that.


Multi-channel 

and Cross-channel Marketing

 

Cross-channel marketing simply means staying in communication 

with your customer through various channels.

Making a strong online presence and building a relationship with the clients

ensures better visibility and more sales.

Note that there is a difference between multi-channel and cross-channel marketing.

The key distinction is that the multi-channels are separate and cross channels allow customers to easily hop from one channel to another during the same journey.

Channels are connected and communicate with one another, as well as a central data platform, to provide a cohesive, personalized experience across each channel.

Customers expect to have a seamless experience interacting with all of the channels before they make a purchase.

Fortunately, they also leave a wealth of data that the marketing team can collect, 

later on, examine thoroughly and send personalized messages/emails to them 

regardless of the channel of communication.


This is why Marketing Automation can improve your cross-channel campaign.

Different marketing automation tools collect different kinds of data.

  1. A web analytics tool will gather data on what a customer does on your website(s).
 
  1. The services of email marketing will allow you to segment customers based on various parameters, resulting in enhanced insight into customer engagement.
 
  1. With Smart WiFi you can collect customer data, send valuable offers and promote your loyalty programs and referral rewards.
 
  1. With Smart Line you can take advantage of every call and increase sales.
 

The bottom line is that a cross-channel marketing campaign is here to make sure your message is delivered at the right time, to the right person on a channel they prefer.

Meet them where they are 

because they expect you there.

How do you develop trust and credibility with customers?

Add value, build credibility and gain trust

 
 

Email Marketing Automation tools track a recipient’s behavior

within your email campaign. 

Now you can have the bigger picture of each lead’s journey

though your funnel which lets you plan more 

targeted campaigns based on observed behaviors.

The title of our blog is taken from a book called “Email Persuasion”, written by a marketing coach Ian Brodey.

We’ve learned a lot from reading the book and now we want to share our knowledge with you.

He mentioned that he had lots of traffic to his website and not so many clients. 

He tried to avoid email marketing for so long because he thought it was “old hat”.

Ian had a conversation with one of his friends whose advice was using email marketing. 

He took it eventually and after months he saw an increase in enquiries. 

It was a long road for him from seeing email marketing as an “old hat” to having his engagement rate with his email subscribers increase.

Now, he states that 70% of his coaching clients come from email marketing.

 

Why does Email Marketing work?

Why does Email Marketing work?

Before we explain Marketing Automation let’s state why email marketing works in general.

First of all, everyone uses email.

It’s often the first thing people check before anything else on social media. 

Secondly, email is personal.

Generated email tends to be overlooked by recipients. 

They have no effect. 

But being personal doesn’t only mean calling them by their first name.

Because email automation makes it possible to track and measure email, you can find out who is opening your emails, who is clicking your links, and who is buying from you.

You can make adjustments and improve your strategy based on facts. You will have just enough information to create messages that are tailored to your audience and appeal to their interests and their current needs.

Email marketing has been a powerful tool for building relationships and driving sales

As Ian states in his book, the key reason that email works is that email marketing is perfect for follow-up.

Follow-up is a way to show your prospect you care and it gets you sales.

People need to trust you with their business first. So you need to be persistent and follow up. Some people buy at first purchase, a lot don’t.

Only 2% of sales occur at a first meeting.

The remaining 98 percent will only buy after they have built up their trust.

What can Email Automation do for businesses?

 

With Marketing Automation you can send a series of emails automatically triggered by the actions of your subscribers. 

These emails are timely, hyper-relevant, and personalized. As a result, they are opened more frequently, they drive visits and revenue for your business.

Email Automation tools can be so powerful 

if used correctly.

You could:

  • Generate leads
  • Send Personalized, One-One Communication
  • Reach Your Customer
  • Email Gets Read and You Get Seen
  • It’s Not Expensive
  • Drive traffic to your landing page
  • Set It and Forget It — Well, Almost
  • Track and Measure Results
  • Easy to Segment and Send Targeted Messages
 

Segmenting and A/B Testing in Email Automation

How to improve email open rate with segmenting and A/B testing?

 

Email segmentation allows you to segment people into groups based on similar behavior and traits. 

It’s very important to do this step before sending your campaign.

By doing so, you can send highly targeted, personalized content to your leads.

Your leads are in different stages of the funnel.

This is the main reason why segmentation works and brings results.

A/B testing is another technique that can help you because this way you’ll be checking which version performs better.

Testing different subject lines and body of the text canactually help you in the long run.

Therefore, keep in mind that 

you’re wasting your time, energy and resources

 if no one is responding to what you’re publishing.

Talking in a language that your leads resonate with 

and sending them automated emails/texts is

 a step closer to them becoming faithful customers.

 

 

Is Marketing Automation going to give you results?

Yes. Having said that, let’s dive in deep.

 

It’s vital to listen to and understand customers’ needs.

Times are changing and businesses need to be up to date with the trends.

Following trends and implementing them in your projects can help your business immensely. 

It can give you a better insight into what you are doing well or wrong and how to fix it.

As we mentioned, trends are changing and your customers expect you to be professional and have them in mind too.

Is Marketing Automation going to give you results?

Why are companies using Marketing Automation?

It may come to you as a shock but 36% of small businesses still don’t have a website. 

Even so, we all know that customers are online.

Before buying anything, we either hop on the website or the Instagram Page before we make a decision.

We suppose that the product or service we need must be online. 

We look at everything.

From the product itself, the people who are selling it, the design, the tone of their business.

All of it counts in that moment of deciding whether I am going to take the product from the XYZ company or simply their competitors who aroused interest in me more quickly.

It took people a lot of time to even consider the concept of digital marketing. 

They were confused in its very beginning wondering if this makes any sense at all.


Those who took the risk first are now thriving. 

They gave it a try because they listened.

 

Those business owners realized where their customers were shifting to, so they followed.

Now, we have a very similar situation with Marketing Automation.

Again, people are behaving skeptically.

Marketing Automation won’t replace your marketing team.

Quite the opposite in fact. 

It’s going to empower the team by saving tons of their time so that they can now focus on acquiring more knowledge on the side and add more value to the company.

Even direct their attention to the creative part of the process which also has its perks. 

Marketers can now qualify the hot leads more accurately and faster, pass them onto sales resulting in higher revenue and greater growth.

What can be automated

by implementing Marketing Automation?

 
 

Marketing Automation Features

Emails are not the only thing that can be automated.

There are other features that automation allows you to manage and they are:

  • Landing page creation
  • Cross-channel marketing campaigns
  • Lead generation
  • Segmentation
  • Lead nurturing and scoring
  • Cross-sell and up-sell
  • Retention
  • Website personalization
  • Smart Line
  • Smart WiFi
  • Reputation Management
 

Listed this way, these tools may seem confusing.

They have many benefits that you may not even be aware of and how powerful they can be in helping you understand your customers better thus increase revenue.

 

 

How can Marketing Automation help the Spa Industry?

How to beat them without a fight?

 

The Spa Industry is rapidly growing because people are finally seeing the benefits of having quality “me time”.

This is great news for the people in this business.

What it also means though is that we’ll be seeing more and more spas emerging.

The problem we are alluding to is not only attracting the clients but also providing them with excellent, ongoing service and care that will make them come back to your place.

This is not an easy job to do.

People are often hard to please and they really do expect a full-lounge experience in these surroundings.

 

The good news is that we are now easy on money and we don’t mind spending it on something that will put us in the zen mode but it needs to be “perfect” and worthy.

22,054 Health & Wellness Spas are operating right now, according to the US Statistics.

It’s vital to somehow find a way to stand out among the crowd and beat them without a fight.


Thankfully,

Marketing Automation is thriving right now.

Using the right tools, businesses can now reach a huge number of people in a personalized way on various online and offline channels.

One of the biggest opportunities marketers have today is the ability to create targeted marketing campaign on a large scale.

Automation even allows you to follow up on every hot lead immediately.

You can count on your automation system to keep busy even when you are away.

There are various marketing automation tools and features available.

The basic tools and features are email marketing, lead management, personalized messaging, landing page

 

Lead management allows you to:

  • Identify prospects and capture leads

  • Analyze their movement through the sales funnel

  • Keep track of potential buyers

  • Customize content and sales outreach
 

Your email marketing platform

should provide features like:

  • Triggered emails — based on events, time, occasions, etc.
 
  • Engage your customers with customized emails and earn their loyalty
 
  • Scheduled messages
 
  • Sorting and categorizing email groups according to priority.
  • Keeping track of email campaigns for validation and bounce rate reduction
 
  • Tracking communication and customer behavior through the number of opens, clicks, etc.
 

These are some of the fundamental features every marketing automation software should have.


On Point offers supplementary tools that can boost revenue

increase customer retention and improve online presence.

 

Since you have a business, you must also be processing payments, otherwise, you wouldn’t have clients.

As a credit card processing company, we are making sure that you are provided with 

information regarding chargebacks and fees on time 

and your payments are processed with the latest technology.


On Point Pay Credit Card Processing Equipment

What you can always do is schedule a call and you’ll get all the information needed to make the transfer.

A piece of additional information you’ll receive is that this is the first credit card processor that implements free marketing automation tools.

Sounds too good to be true, but you might be surprised.

Below, we provided you with an infographic on the marketing automation tools we have in offer.


Free Marketing Automation Tools with On Point Pay

There are going to be more blogs on the topic going in-depth about the marketing automation tools the company On Point Pay offers, so stay tuned.

We can help you attract the right prospects, engage them to build relationships, and close more sales opportunities.

Why is customer engagement important and how can it benefit your business?

It is too obvious that customer engagement is a crucial thing. 

How else can you get loyal customers and invoke potential ones?


The 21st century is the time of “customer is always right” 

besides that consumers expect brands to be attentive 

not only to their needs but to anticipate them, as well.


Getting to know your customers

is the first step and also the key to successful

 engagement.

Meet their needs, make sure they are heard, 

show them you care, and that you would do anything 

to help them solve their problems.


Why is Customer Engagement so Important?


As mentioned before, engaged customers are loyal customers. 

This means they will provide you with brand growth, 

they will always rely on your services, 

plus they’ll literally become your walking ads. 


Yes, if the customers are satisfied,

there’s a big chance

they will spread a good word about your business, 

thus attracting a targeted group of consumers.


Brands that cultivate customer engagement 

emphasize value creation 

by connecting with customers 

on a more meaningful level than merely selling.


Let’s check out the best ways 

on how to increase customer engagement!


1. Personalized messages 

and communication

Put yourself in customers’ shoes. 

Would you rather like to

receive an automated computer message 

or one with a personalized and friendly tone?


Thanks to the technology, this could be done in several ways

like personalized emails and messages,

social media accounts, in-product messaging,

and also by using the customer support.


Numerous channels are offered 

and you can choose whichever you like the best.

But, if you want our recommendation, 

in-product messaging has proven to be the most effective.


Well, in-product messaging 

or IPM sends messages to the end-users 

that are directly tied to their internet-connected device. 

These messages can be about informing,

 getting feedback, or marketing as well.

 

Receiving messages is done on different devices like computers, 

smartphones, iPads, or tablets.

The advent of new channels, including IPM, 

enables companies to reach customers 

during the most critical moment,

whether it’s a marketing message or customer support related.

 

2. Increase customer engagement through a WiFi connection

 

If you let your customer use Smart WiFi, 

you are just one step closer

to increasing the number of loyal customers.

This automatic tool can create

a greater level of customer engagement 

while capturing their data 

and promoting your products and offers.

Additionally, you will be able

to reward your customers for sharing your products 

and offers on social media via this method.


3. Engage the most influential users

Even if you are at the beginning of your business, 

you are probably having a few engaged users.

Those users can also be your friends or your connoisseurs,

that can help you with your promotion. 


Or even the loyal customers 

that are there from the very beginning.

With their involvement,

you can create some of the most innovative 

and mutually beneficial relationships.


When it comes to product launches, 

this strategy has proven particularly effective.

Because both sides can have a good benefit. 

You can let customers see a preview of your product 

while in exchange you ask them to help you promote it 

on social media accounts or various blogs.


4. Provide VIP customers with special promotions 

and introduce a reward system

 

If you are not sure who your VIP customers are, let us help.

A VIP customer is not always the one

who is in alignment with your brand, 

but certainly is one of your top consumers.

Those users are usually the ones

that are there from the very beginning 

are kind of “permanent” consumers. 

They have used your services many times 

and they always come back for your products.

 

This is the way to detect your VIPs 

and know that they are the key

to spreading the good word

about your business to other people.


As mentioned above, the “permanent” customers 

are not one-time consumers

and because of that, they should feel special. 

Therefore, you are ensuring

and retaining loyal customers 

while targeting potential ones.


You can achieve all that 

by getting to know your customers.

By determining the needs 

and motivations of these VIP customers, 

you will have gained long-term value

that is crucial to the success of your business.

 

Be careful when doing this. 

If you somehow go in the wrong way, 

you might lose them. 


So, remember this, remarkable service

is always about the customers 

rather than the products.


Rewarding with special offers other than

VIP customers can be a big plus.

Each and every person likes to receive

some gifts-card or discounts 

when they are making a purchase. 


This is all in order to generate more user engagement 

and gaining more potential trustworthy customers.

5. Set up a listener assistance center

This is something that is also known as customer support.

You would want to show your clients

that they are being heard and respected. 

Thus, the key to engaging your users is

to communicate effectively with them. 


Therefore, by noticing details,

you can develop a closer relationship with clients.

At this point, being effective is all that matters.


Provide a fast response 

by prioritizing the most important questions.

By doing so, you will strengthen your relationship 

with your customers even further.

 

 

Is Marketing Automation your ally?

Yes, if you use it properly.

Let’s suppose you own a business. What do you need for it to be up and running?

Yes, clients. Not only that but –happy, satisfied, want to come back again and buy– clients.

We are being Mr. Obvious now but it doesn’t hurt to send out a kind reminder from time to time.

Let’s not forget that customers are people.

Can Marketing Automation benefit your business?

Profiling your audience is crucial if you want to hit the target right.

Therefore, you can’t only rely on intuition and shoot aimlessly.

Strategy is everything.

You can interpret the data, apply it successfully and then get high-quality leads with Marketing Automation.

Having the right team by your side is just what you need because they can carefully measure prospects’ engagement levels, thus deliver appropriate content to them.

Sometimes, all you need to do either to gain or regain your client is to push pause on the communications for a bit.

Maybe change the tactics and stop sending out email campaigns and start with SMS automated texting because that’s what YOUR high-quality leads prefer.

 

There is this really inconvenient situation that might happen and which we want to avoid.

You may not be aware that if you send emails to people who are not interested in your organization, Google will penalize your business for having a low open rate and even those messages sent to engaged prospects will go to junk mail.

We know. It sounds pretty alarming because it is.

But don’t worry. Let’s look at some stats.


An infographic of people using Marketing Automation


Source: Marketo Benchmark on Revenue Performance as of Sept 15, 2012 (N=489)

According to Invespcro, 80% of companies saw an increase in leads thanks to Marketing Automation.

This is great information to know and we are happy to share it.

But don’t be surprised at these numbers.


Implementing Marketing Automation can track lead behavior, track lead information, score and qualify leads and prioritize hot leads. 

Another great thing that makes Marketing Automation your ally is personalization.

Personalized marketing is also called one-to-one marketing.

As we mentioned above your clients are people and people like it when they feel special and connected.

Using these tools and data to target or retarget leads with a brand message that speaks directly to them is going to make the clients appreciate your service.

Restrain from damaging your brand by not personalizing your messaging:

63% of consumers are irritated by brands using old-fashioned, generic messaging.

You see it for yourself. Take a look at the pictures below.


A personalized email

Which one of these two sounds more relatable to you?

We trust you with your keen eye. 

It’s not difficult to see the huge difference it could make if you sent out the first one. 

So, talk to them directly.

 

To conclude, Marketing Automation is definitely your ally.

There are different features and tools to choose from but we can help you see which ones your business most definitely needs.

The features On Point Pay has for you have the ability to increase positive reviews, send the bad ones to the backend, create multiple landing pages that convert, and many more.

Follow us for more blogs on the topic.

 

 

What is Credit Card Processing?

If you are confused about credit card processing, how the whole process goes and how it works, don’t worry.

We are here to help you.

We did our best to simplify each and every step so that the process can be done with ease.

Today, a lot of businesses are using credit card processing.

Whether it’s just a payment in a local cafe shop, big market, or even some expensive home appliances, you will be able to make a payment by using your credit card.

But, this does not refer only to when you are the buyer!

When you want to run your business as well, you should know the basic steps on how credit card processing works.

This is actually a crucial thing in times of pandemics!

Due to all the restrictions but especially for being cautious and staying safe, we wanna avoid all the unnecessary touching.

This situation occurs when the customer needs to make a payment for its purchase. Instead of counting cash, transferring it from customer to customer, it’s way safer to use a credit card.

Not only is it better for our health but it’s more convenient, easier, and quicker to checkout.

Let’s see how we can do that and learn the basics of credit card processing!

What is Credit Card Processing?

Credit Card Processing is a process when the other party, usually the customer, is transferring money from his/her bank account to the vendors/yours, with the aim to successfully pay for purchased goods.

Of course, every business should be able to accept cash and this method is very important as well, but credit card payment is more efficient for both parties.

Who and what is involved in that process?

1. Consumer — known as the credit card holder, and at the same time in terms of sale the Customer that is making the purchase. ✓

2. Merchant — is the vendor having its own business and at the same time a provider of the services that consumer is getting. ✓

3. Credit card processor — a small compact machine or mechanism responsible for transferring the payment. It is also known as a payment processor that is responsible for the connection between the parties ie. the merchant, the credit card network, and the bank of the cardholder. ✓

Credit Card payments can be done in two ways:

Directly -is when you use your traditional consumer plastic card for the purchase.

Indirectly — is when a customer is using CC processing. This means that the payment will be done by using a digital wallet on customers’ iPhones or Android phones.

This is also known as a payment gateway. This term stands for connecting the merchant to a credit card processor.

A payment gateway merges with card-present directly or indirectly/ A payment gateway connects with your card directly or indirectly, takes details of the payment, and directs credit card data towards a payment processor or the merchant bank for authorization.

When the process is done, the merchant will receive a message whether the payment was approved or somehow declined.

It’s very important for every business to have this method of paying.

If not, they are risking budget decline plus the customers will not be satisfied with the full services that they can have.

To make sure you avoid this unpleasant situation, let’s learn about credit card processing more following our next blog post!