Personally I put off accepting credit cards for years. Then incrementally I tried Pay Pal and Google invoice for those rare occasions that clients insisted on paying by credit card. Pay Pal and Google invoice, while helpful, didn’t provide the credibility for our business; as we’d experience problems with no one to call. So here’s what we’ve found since adding Sage Payment solutions with their virtual terminal.
1. We’ve lowered our days to collect; as many prefer to pay via credit card (reward points).
2. Sales have increased (allowing non bank financing for our products and services).
3. We’ve reduced our exposure to bad debt. A credit card on file for those accounts who might not have enough credit terms with your company allows the sale to move forward without risk.
Yes, accepting credit cards cost around 3% off your top line, however if your margins are really tight, add a credit card processing fee. You’ll be surprised how many people understand and accept the fee in order to use their credit card.
We’ve only been accepting credit cards with a true merchant account since the July. The volume of sales through the credit have been astounding.
BrainSell has once again earned Sage’s distinguished Million Dollar Club award.
The Sage Partner Advantage Award Series is a prestigious awards program that recognizes top partner performances. Partners are rewarded for their diligence in representing Sage and consistently going above and beyond to achieve excellence throughout the year.
BrainSell exceeded $1 million in annual sales of Sage products and services – earning the prestigious Million Dollar Club award. BrainSell has been in the Million Dollar Club and Sage President’s Circle for numerous years in it’s 15 year history.
Fred Reichheld is widely recognized as one of the world’s leading authorities on business loyalty and is a frequent speaker to major forums and groups of senior executives. Audiences around the world consistently rate him as an outstanding communicator. Mr. Reichheld has written the book “The Ultimate Question” which has been ranked #1 on the Wall Street Journal’s Business Best Seller list and #1 on USA Today’s Money best Sellers list.
So what is the ultimate question?
How likely is it that your customers would recommend your company to a friend or colleague?
This single question allows companies to track promoters and detractors, producing a clear measure of an organization’s performance through its customers’ eyes. It is also known as your Net Promoter Score.
Good relationships are hard to build. It’s extremely difficult to understand what people really want, keep promises and maintain a dialogue to ensure customers’ changing needs are met. Even initiatives to “better understand” customers can backfire, drowning firms in a sea of data.
Net Promoter Score is based on the fundamental perspective that every company’s customers can be divided into three categories.
“Promoters” are loyal enthusiasts who keep buying from a company and urge their friends to do the same. “Passives” are satisfied but unenthusiastic customers who can be easily wooed by the competition. And “detractors” are unhappy customers trapped in a bad relationship. Customers can be categorized based on their answer to the ultimate question.
In concept, it’s just that simple. But obviously, a lot of hard work is needed to both ask the question in a manner that provides reliable, timely, and actionable data—and, of course, to learn how to improve your Net Promoter Score. Asking the ultimate question allows companies to track promoters and detractors and produces a clear measure of an organization’s performance in its customers’ eyes. Analysis shows that, on average, increasing this Net Promoter Score by a dozen points versus competitors can double a company’s growth rate.
Do you how what your Net Promoter Score would look like?
Recently, a fantastic client, Online Information Services, came to us with the intent of ditching their old CRM system. Instead of throwing them into a new, expensive solution, we fixed what they already had. It made sense for them. Their response to our performance is what we strive to achieve on every job, no matter the income potential.
What Online Information Services has to say about BrainSell…
“I cannot say enough good things about our experience with the Brainsell group. Our organization was utilizing an existing CRM solution that we thought would not be able to meet our needs. Through Brainsell’s consultative approach and their experience with different CRM solutions they approached the job with “first let’s see what you currently have and see if we can make it work,” instead of automatically trying to sell us a new system. Through their expertise we were able to make minor modifications to our existing system and continue to use it instead of implementing a new expensive CRM. Thank you to the Brainsell group.”
Your web site is awesome. I don’t know about other people, but I wait until I can barely function with my last pair of gunky contacts until I reorder. It’s easy to order and the shipping is free if you spend $50, which is easy to do.
You remind me when I need to reorder with nice, very infrequent emails.
All of your salespeople are overly friendly, mid-western women who thank you up and down.
You can talk to one of those awesome customer support people VERY easily.
Your prices are great.
It may seem silly to like an eye-wear company so much, but it’s refreshing to get excellent service. I relish it! And hope to replicate it every day.
A point of sale (POS) system can be a big investment, both time and money-wise. When is time to make that investment? Let’s start from the ground up… What exactly is a POS system? Point of Sale systems are packages of software and hardware that run the selling process in a business. Think bar code scanners, inventory, layaway.
Ok, but when is it time to invest in one of these systems?
Inventory Overload: Taking inventory cannot be done by hand. You just have too much stuff to count.
Buy the Right Items: Do you know what your best sellers are? Why not stock more of those items? If you don’t know what’s selling well, you aren’t stocking your store correctly.
Theft: If you don’t know what you have, you don’t know what’s been stolen. If you have NO clue if things have been stolen, assume they have. Taking inventory and seeing what’s missing will answer your theft question… and you’ll be able to CLAIM that number!
Marketing: Do you know who your best and worst customers are? Want to send mailings/email promotions to them? Ever thought of a customer loyalty program that can be tracked by a computer? You can with many POS systems.
Employee Automation: Are your employees “clocking in” with a pen and paper? Stop inaccurate hours with a time clock on your POS system. Employees simply sign in and out on the computer. Payroll can happen right from there too. Piece o cake.
Layaway: Do you have piles of items in the back room with sticky notes declaring who they’re for and how much is owed? This can often be a disaster. Automate your layaway process with POS, you can take deposits and payments from the computer and keep track of aging items.
Think meeting face to face is a thing of the past? Think again; there’s nothing like breaking bread, shaking hands, and getting to know your customer. Even with new technology like online meetings (gotomeeting), instant messaging, email, and social media (think Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn), face to face holds real value in the business world.
What I really enjoy about our business is meeting clients and learning about their business as well as their people. During a client meeting I have no other agenda but to learn and often it’s surprising to find out what I didn’t know. On Wednesday last week I had the pleasure of meeting a new client, Susan at Conproco. We had the chance to get to know one another and gain an understanding of the issues she faces day to day while using Sage MAS 200 ERP software that we service and supply.
We had far more in common than just the accounting/ERP software we service. In fact, Conproco is a manufacturer of architectural coatings and masonry applications. In my earlier career, my family business was also a manufacturer of architectural coatings and my understanding of the business is part of my DNA. I’d worked almost every facet of such a manufacturing operation. Not only did I have an appreciation for their business, and a new means to provide better service with personal experience, but I also enjoyed a walk down memory lane. My thoughts went all the back to my teenage years and begging my dad to let me work at the factory. It was a place I had loved to visit and come to enjoy the smell of paint.
You may think this meeting trivial, however, for me it was an awakening to how we might be able to help this client further. All because of a fateful face to face meeting. Even better, when we asked Susan what restaurants were nearby she meantioned great place called Margarita’s. Funny, also a client of ours. I had to make sure we gave our business back to another great customer.
Get out and see you customers. In a market where new business may be a zero sum game, building relationships and knowing how to help the ones you serve will be one of your best investments.
If you’re a frequent flyer like me, air travel has become a drag. Cramped seats, bag charges, getting through security, stress and then the infamous meal plan. Right, no meal plan. Well ok, maybe nuts and crackers if you’re lucky. Or if you’re real lucky you get to buy a meal, if they don’t run out before they reach the 12th row. It’s an understatement to say that air travel just isn’t fun anymore.
I’ve held fast to that unfavorable impression of air travel, until yesterday. Thanks to two Jet Blue flight attendants, my seemingly ordinary Denver to Boston flight was pleasurable and fun. Yes, fun.
In typical fashion I joked with the flight attendents as to what time my steak would be served. What happened next was fantastic. During the flight instructions that we all listen to so attentively, one of the attendants that will remain anonymous (Suzanne) mentioned that there would be no steaks served on this flight Mr. Ward. That got a chuckle out of me.
Then as the typical snacks were being offered, I was presented with a special serving.
My Airplane Dinner
A beautiful white paper towel as my table cloth, plastic flatware, followed by pictures of a rare steak, desert and of course my cold roasted nuts (they were real). Yes, it made me feel special and I laughed as did all the passengers around me!
So, you think you’re selling a commodity? What can you do that makes you different. People make the difference in a world filled with same old, same old. Thanks JetBlue for the customer experience!
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