The coronavirus is making us examine many of our day to day tendencies. One that comes to mind is how much physical contact is needed to exchange payment and information. Some day to day examples would be the handoff of a credit card at a fast food window, the pushing of buttons on a kiosk at checkout, the handling of mail.
We’ve seen businesses respond with measures across the board like using toothpicks to push buttons, contactless delivery, and video conferencing to keep that face to face interaction. In today’s article we’re going to cover some basic best practices for your business even when there isn’t a global pandemic to be worried about, but definitely help under current circumstances.
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Make Online Payments Easier For Your Customers
Online Payment Portals & Direct Deposit
Most payment processors nowadays offer a convenient way to set up an online portal so your customers can make payments easier. Companies like FreshBooks and Square have online invoicing as part of their service offering and setup is fairly simple so it’s a no-brainer to present this option to your customers. You can include invoice links in an email or link directly from your website.
Cash App & Venmo: Peer-To-Peer Payments
Did you know that some peer-to-peer payment methods also offer an option for businesses?
CashApp has a business account feature which makes it even easier for customers to pay you using one of their preferred methods. The cool part with CashApp is that you can brand your $cashtag and accept payments with a custom business URL and link to it from your website. Incoming business transactions incur a 2.75% processing fee.
While Venmo doesn’t directly support customer-to-business transactions, there is a Braintree integration for business that sounds promising. It’s a bit too technical for this article, so we won’t be covering it in depth, but it’s something to keep an eye on!
Dynamic Checkout
For eCommerce companies, dynamic checkout is an absolute must. Right now, people are in a tough spot when it comes to whether or not they think they should be spending money. So, it’s crucial that you make the buying process as easy as possible to avoid cognitive dissonance. Dynamic checkout allows customers to skip the cart and use their preferred payment method like Apple Pay, Google Pay, Amazon Pay, Paypal, and others. This significantly reduces friction during the checkout process and autofills customer information directly from their consistently used payment method. Checkout and cart abandonment rates reduce significantly with this one simple change and setup is usually pretty easy on major CMSes.
Use A POS System With Tap To Pay Functionality
Whether you’re still doing business with personal contact or just want to make your life easier in the long run, make sure you’re utilizing a POS system with tap to pay functionality. While cash and check are many business owner’s preferred methods of payment, your customers will appreciate you making their lives easier. This means using an updated card reader that works on tap for both credit cards and smartphones.
Update Your Google My Business Page
Google My Business is often one of the first places customers turn to to find out whether or not your hours or change or your business is closed. Make sure you’re keeping an eye on updating critical business information and providing your customers with alternatives if business isn’t running as usual.
You can create posts in Google My Business. This is a great way to talk about how you’re responding to the current situation, what ways customers can still interact with you or derive benefits from your services. Just because offices are closed does not mean you still can’t provide value!
Utilize Social Media & Email For Communication
Gyms, yoga studios, restaurants and so many other businesses can utilize social media and email to communicate their value during social distancing and quarantine. Create instructional videos, write content about recipes or DIY projects, give quick tips about general health and wellness as they pertain to your industry. All of these things will continue to provide value and showcase your expertise.
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If you’re not sure where to get started on any of the above, reach out! We provide affordable consulting services as well as full-fledged marketing strategy and management. We’re also happy to provide general guidance for anyone who is unsure of what to do next.