You’ve sent the invoice, called to follow up, emailed a payment reminder, and the money is nowhere to be seen – this sounds like an all too common problem…
In 2019, one in two small business owners reported that they had to chase 40% of their invoices. What if we told you that there was an easy solution that saves you all this hassle?
By offering online payment options that are instant and secure! But it gets even better – if you combine this with an automated system such as LANA, you can set up payment links to be sent out when it suits you!
For instance, a business takes a 30% deposit before work commences. Within the LANA system, you can set up an SMS message with a payment link for the customer to receive one week before work starts. Wouldn’t that be helpful?
Safe payment options
Debit and Credit card
One of the most common ways to pay online is with a debit or credit card. In a highly secure and easy to navigate environment, your customers can pay off outstanding invoices. Piece of cake!
For extra security, cards like Visa and Mastercard have additional verification procedures. Visa offers “Verified by Visa” to ensure your bank details have not been compromised, where Mastercard has SecureCode as an extra security layer.
Google Pay and PayPal
Handy online payment solutions like Google Pay and PayPal are becoming increasingly popular and are the preferred checkout method for many security-conscious customers (especially on mobile).
These services have an additional layer of security while simultaneously providing a more convenient checkout experience – it’s a win-win scenario for the customer and business.
Stripe
Stripe is a secure payment processing platform. It accepts credit cards, manages subscriptions, and much more. This platform is used by well-known brands such as Amazon, Shopify, and Pinterest.
Like other payment platforms, if an error occurs in the process (for example, inadequate funds in the customer’s account) Stripe will reject the transaction and the customer is notified to use a different payment method.
Stripe also monitors for fraudulent transactions and will block transactions that look suspicious.
LANA integrates with Stripe
With LANA, you can easily request payments via Stripe with an SMS message. A request for payment interaction looks like this on the customer’s side:
- Image 1 – A customer receives an SMS stating that an invoice has been sent and a secure link has been provided to make the deposit.
- Image 2 – The customer can follow the link to make the payment securely.
The importance of offering secure payment options
Instead of taking payment over the phone or in-store, you are simplifying the process by offering secure online payment options directly to your customers. While these options will always exist, there are quicker ways to request payments like sending secure payment links.
Payment security has the power to make or break a business – you could spend years establishing yourself as a trustworthy business, and lose it all in an instant thanks to an online payments glitch!
Here are other advantages to offering online payment options:
- Fast transaction speed – Minimal delay when receiving funds. No more chasing paper invoices!
- Automatic – Convenient for you and your customers.
- Lower labour costs – As online payments are usually automatic, they have lower labour costs than manual payment methods, such as cheques, cash, and EFTPOS.
Simplify your payment process with LANA
Offering online payments carries lower financial risks for businesses, in comparison to traditional methods, where you may have to verify the integrity of cash or deal with fees associated with a bounced check.
LANA is an Australian-owned and supported lead management solution built for small businesses. Our built-in CRM manages and nurtures all your customers, so you can request payments, communicate and convert more leads into actual jobs. It even includes automation so you never miss a call again!
Talk to the LANA team today and we can help you get started with automating your payment process! Call us on +61 2 5503 5262 or book a demo now.
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