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3 Tips for a Great Summer- Developing Life & Business While Having a Blast
As the last day of school arrives I feel the same tendency I had as a child... to drop everything and scream “let’s go play!” After all, extreme self-care is so important. I also wonder if we tend to use the summer as an excuse to procrastinate....
Finding Balance In A Tilted World
I was recently talking with one of my entrepreneur friends. He has started three businesses in the last several years—a budding entrepreneur. He was relating some of the joys he has experienced in those enterprises: a sense of freedom from the...
How to Look After Your People So They Look After Your Business
Imagine being supported in your business by a team that were reliable, competent, communicated effectively with clients and colleagues, had heaps of initiative and a great attitude. No, this is not a pipe dream. It can happen for you. However it...
Personal Training: 6 Secrets of Award Winning Customer Service
Would you believe that your ability to provide quality customer service to your clients is at least as important as your ability to get them results from their training program? Did you even know that customer service was going to be part of your...
What is this Tool Used in Organizations Called Coaching?
There are many different opinions as to what coaching is and
also what it is not. If you look at coaching from a high level,
the Merriam - Webster dictionary defines the root word coach as:
to instruct, direct, or prompt as a coach. The common...
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Increase Your Sales - Accept Credit Cards
Many people today simply prefer the convenience of paying by credit card. If you want their business, you must be able to accept their credit-card payments.
In part one of this series we will discuss why you should accept credit cards, and the basics of getting merchant status. Part two will deal with objections you might get, which credit cards to accept, and the check paying option.
Obtaining merchant status, which allows you to accept credit-card payments, might seem like an unnecessary hassle, especially for those in business where the majority of their customers pay by cash or check. But by not accepting credit-card payments, you lose sales. This is especially true if yours is a mail order business, or consulting business. Just look at the majority of business today, all of them accept credit cards, and becoming more and more popular all the time are debit cards.
As many businesses have found, up to 70 percent of people never mail the check, so accepting credit cards is crucial. When the customer places an order, he’s excited and eager to buy. Faced with the prospect of sending a check, waiting for it to clear and then awaiting shipment, his interest is likely to wane. In the meantime, you lose sales.
The Basics of Merchant Status
In order to accept credit cards, you need to work with a bank that will transfer the money into your account within a day or two of the sale, and then collect the money from the customer. In return, you pay the bank a commission of 1.5 percent to 5 percent for each credit-card transaction; a set, per-transaction fee; and a setup fee. You will also have to pay monthly support or equipment-rental fees for a point-of-sale terminal—the machine
used to swipe the card—depending on the contract.
The fee is based on two things, the average amount per transaction and the total volume for the year.
When you apply for merchant status, the banks evaluate your business based on its sales track record, the type of business it is, your credit record, the business’s credit record and your overall financial picture.
Apply for merchant status when you get your start-up financing. This accomplishes several things. First, it shows that you’ve thought ahead. And you will probably have customers that you wouldn’t have otherwise. In fact, some people don’t pay with anything but credit cards.
Second, you show you’re taking steps to minimize the time and expense involved in recovering bad debts. If someone writes a bad check, for instance, it will cost you time and money to recover the loss. If you swipe a customer’s credit card through a point-of-sale terminal, you can be sure you’ll get paid. The machine contacts the issuing bank to authorize the transaction and runs the account numbers through a variety of fraud-protection procedures.
In part two of this series we will deal with objections you might get, which credit cards to accept, and the check paying option.
Copyright 2004 DeFiore Enterprises
About the Author
Interested in having your own successful, home based creative real estate investing business? Chuck and Sue have been helping folks start successful home based businesses for over 19 years, and we can help you too! To see how, visit http://www.homebusinesssolutions.com for the latest FREE tips and tricks, educational products and coaching in creative real estate investing and home based businesses.
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