Phil de Fontenay asked:


Since the advent of the Internet, the dynamics of business have changed. Today’s companies put forth as much effort to create websites that facilitate business as they do to run the company itself. If your business isn’t online, you are at a disadvantage.

Having a website enables you to reach a wider audience and far more potential customers. You may be familiar with the “rules” for a business website:

-Be professional

-Be accessible

-Look good

-Include sharp, error-free copy

-Don’t clutter

-Don’t spam

-Offer reasons for repeat visits

-Publish a newsletter or blog

However, there is another unspoken caveat that’s becoming more essential than ever: If you sell online, you must accept credit cards.

Many of today’s Internet consumers are used to the ease and convenience of paying with credit cards online. For these ‘net-savvy buyers, the inability to pay with a credit card is a deal-breaker. They don’t want to bother writing out a check or a money order and mailing it to destinations unknown, then waiting six to eight weeks for their purchase. Instant is in, and the more purchase options you can offer, the more buyers you will get.

When e-commerce first took off, there were several security concerns among consumers and businesses alike. Scams and cyber-crime made buyers wary of entrusting their credit cards and bank account numbers to websites. Now, more people are buying online than ever before, and improved security and encryption processes are keeping financial information safe.

If your website does not accept credit cards, you could be missing out on a huge amount of business. What are you waiting for?

The benefits of accepting credit cards and other forms of electronic payment online are numerous, while the disadvantages are few. Even small, local businesses can benefit by accepting credit cards online. What makes virtual plastic such a powerful method of doing business?

Everybody’s Doing It

Credit cards are an almost universally accepted form of payment. No matter where you are in the world, you can get by with a credit card. This is one of the reasons they’re so popular online: they’re everywhere (just ask Visa). Even those who don’t qualify for a credit card can get a checking account debit card that works the same way.

Like any other phenomenon, the more people jump on the credit card bandwagon, the more interest it generates for everyone else.

Buyers have them

The majority of people who make online purchases have credit cards, and they aren’t afraid to use them. According to AC Nielsen, as of October 2005, a whopping 59 percent of online purchases were made with credit cards, while an additional 23 percent were made through bank transfers. In total, 82 percent of online buyers used an electronic payment system to make their purchases.

Merchants accept them

Most online merchants now accept credit cards, through one of various methods available to them. In fact, it is becoming increasingly rare to find a website that sells products or services and does not offer a credit card option.

What does this mean to you? If you don’t accept credit cards, many buyers will be reluctant to make a purchase from you. They’ll look for another merchant with similar products or services who does accept credit cards – your competition. You will lose business.

From Canada to China

Another benefit to accepting credit cards is automatic currency conversion. If your website offers products or services that can be purchased around the world, you don’t have to worry about how many rupees or Yen are in a dollar. A good credit card system will automatically convert the amount. This is an advantage for your customers as well, as they won’t have to try and figure out how much it will cost them.



Rafael

Christopher Swift asked:


Let me ask you a question…

If I told you that I could show you how to increase your sales, avoid losing potential customers, increase your cash-flow, expedite your invoice collections, and provide a service that will keep your customers buying from you over and over again for only a few dollars per day would you be interested?

It always amazes me how many people say “yes” to that question.

So what is this proven method to improve your business cash-flow?

All you need to do is simply start accepting credit cards!

Clearly we’re moving in the direction of being a cashless society as fewer and fewer people carry cash the way they once did.

With that said doesn’t it make sense to make purchasing from your company simple and convenient by accepting credit cards from your clients?

It always amazes me to see how much emphasis business owners spend on promoting their websites and how little they spend on their payment solutions.

The one thing you have to understand about selling on the Internet is that people buy on emotion and impulse!

Think about all the time and money you invested to get customers to visit your website and buy from you. There’s expense in the website & blog you’ve created. It takes time to write good content and have it syndicated. Maybe you’re paying a search engine optimization company to help you gain favorable organic listings. Perhaps you’re participating in Pay per Click marketing. Next, you need to develop a sales funnel which includes a great follow up system to manage your potential sales leads as well as an auto responder system or whatever other means you’re using to close the sale.

The point is it takes time and money to create sales & marketing strategies and I think you’d agree that the reason behind all of these efforts is simple….

To make a sale!

It’s important to have a merchant account (electronic payment system) that is as professional as your existing marketing efforts. Sure you can use a 3rd party provider such as PayPal but remember their credit card processing rates are much higher than a conventional credit card processing rates (in some cases 1% higher) and your money isn’t electronically deposited directly into your account. Instead, you need to manually request the transfer which can take 4 or more days for the funds to be deposited into your account. Having to manually request the funds transfer is time consuming and can cause cash flow challenges.

PayPal isn’t transparent to the user, and won’t allow you to promote your brand to your customer. Instead, you’re forced to promote PayPal’s brand, which can give you a less than professional image. Lower tiered PayPal accounts force your buyer to register for a PayPal account which can have kill the sale as it forces your buyer to leave your site and go through a lengthy registration process. As an internet marketer the last thing you want to do is allow your buyer to leave your site without making a purchase. So as you can see while a 3rd party provider such as PayPal is an intriguing solution as there’s no monthly service fees it can be catastrophic to your sales should your buyer not be a PayPal user.

A conventional merchant account will afford you the opportunity to accept credit cards from your customers without jumping through hoops and it guarantees you get paid at the lowest rate possible. So if it only costs you a few dollars to make your customers happy and have them buy from you over and over and over again, doesn’t it make sense to begin putting a little more thought into the system that ultimately brings you what you desire – the sale?



Gloria