Sticky relationships with satisfied customers lead to growing recurring revenue streams.
The next time you update your business strategy, you’ll probably look for ways to ramp up marketing campaigns, partner to provide more Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions, or double down on the most effective sales incentives for your team. However, don’t forget to factor in the impact that user experiences can have on passive residual income and business growth.
Your clients want technology that’s easy to use. It helps them work efficiently, eases the burden during labor shortages, and saves time and money. Additionally, technology can boost a merchant’s success through upselling while building customer loyalty.
When merchant account Agents provide total solutions that benefit their clients with greater efficiency, productivity, and higher revenues, they’re less likely to look for another provider. A merchant account alone may be relatively easy for one of your clients to change. However, a complete system with integrated components that offers better user experiences leads to stickier relationships and increasing recurring revenue.
Here are some tips for improving user experiences for your merchants and ultimately, increasing passive residual income for your business.
User experiences that sell point of sale technology.
In a market that can feel oversaturated with options, it’s important to understand your merchants’ businesses and the technology that will truly help them. Point of sale (POS) technology built with user experience in mind will streamline operations and provide the greatest value.
Take a consultative approach to assist your clients as they choose each component of their solutions to ensure it delivers the best user experience.
Choosing the right hardware.
Discuss the answers to these questions with your merchants.
1. Is it the right choice for the workforce?
Cashiers are on the front lines of customer service, and time pressure from customers is very real. It might seem like a good idea from a business standpoint to base hardware selection on price. However, in the long run, a less expensive product may slow employees down, create frustration, and stand in the way of enhancing consumer experiences.
2. Is it ergonomic?
Checking out customers involves repetitive motion. Hardware that is designed for the efficiency and comfort of fast-paced working environments with little room for movement will aid in delivering a better user experience.
3. Does it use a touchscreen?
Touchscreens improve the user experience, allowing cashiers to checkout customers more quickly. Additionally, touchscreens are intuitive interfaces, and consumer familiarity with them makes it easier to train employees.
4. Does it have a fast processor?
In the world of retail and restaurants, time is everything. A device with a slower processor might delay a transaction by as much as two or three seconds. This might seem inconsequential, but it’s enough to result in longer lines and increase customer frustrations.
Choosing the right software.
The SaaS solutions you sell can enhance checkout experiences, but also employees’ day-to-day work. Software that will make a positive impact on user experience features includes the following.
- Integrated payments: An integrated payment platform helps streamline checkout, decreases back-office paperwork and enables merchants to accept the payment methods their customers prefer. Additionally, integrated systems allow merchants to pull payment data, accounting, and marketing into a centralized location, giving them insights that help forecast more accurately and market more effectively.
- Intuitive screens and navigation: Screens based on industry-best practices allow employees to learn the system and work more quickly. Minimizing steps and clicks are key to streamlining the user experience.
- Integration with back-office systems: No merchant wants to rekey payment transactions into an accounting system. POS software should enhance user experiences in the back office as well as in the front of the house or the retail floor.
Provide training support.
Merchants’ employees need training on the POS hardware and software solutions they use. Solutions that are easy to learn minimize training time and costs — especially as more than 75 percent of merchants admit to being 10 percent below necessary staffing levels.
You will enhance user experiences by teaching your clients’ employees about their POS solutions and how to use them to save time and make their jobs easier.
Covers all the bases.
To maximize user experiences — and build passive residual income — ensure your clients have all of the features and capabilities they need by providing value-adds and third-party solutions. Two popular options include:
Inventory management.
Finding inventory quickly and accurately will allow employees to provide prompt service. The best inventory management tools to increase efficiency and user experiences include the following.
- Multiple pricing.
- Product images.
- Low-stock alerts.
- Real-time stock tracking.
Customer management.
Look for customer management solutions that help merchants maximize revenue and marketing ROI by answering these questions.
- Who spends the most money?
- Who visits most often?
- Who is a first-time buyer?
- Who is most likely to respond to targeted promotions?
UX holds the key to increasing passive residual income.
When you provide solutions that improve user experiences, you’ll build a satisfied customer base that pays monthly fees, some of which contribute to your revenues. When your payments partner and solutions vendors provide support and service for the solutions you sell, you’ll build a passive residual income stream. And if you hold checkpoints with your clients, you’ll foster strong, long-lasting relationships.
Help your clients find the POS solution and payments technology that will help them reach their business goals, and help you grow your portfolio.
For more information on providing total solutions, contact North American Bancard.
