5 Easy Contact Free Ways to Collect Customer Payments

For many business owners, staying on top of cash flow and ensuring timely payments from your customers is time consuming but also key to a smooth operation. The success of your business primarily depends on the ability to collect on time payments from vendors, suppliers, employees, and customers. As payment technology continues to evolve, the expectation for a great customer experience does as well. This includes the payment process.

Offering multiple ways to pay, whether it’s online or on-the-go, provides a more convenient experience for your customers, and a faster way for your business to get paid. Additionally, a streamlined collection process can mean less time spent on the phone providing back and forth for your office staff. With a streamlined collection process for your business, getting paid on time is easier than you think. Here are 5 easy contact-free ways to collect customer payments.

Send Electronic Invoices

Invoices are frequently used by professional services or service based companies to request payment. Invoices can be sent via mail however, sending paper invoices can be a time-consuming and expensive process between printing, addressing envelopes, and sending them through the mail.

Online invoicing technology allows business owners the opportunity to streamline the collection of customer payments through a powerful online payment solution. Sending an electronic invoice allows you to email a balance due directly to your customer’s inbox, along with a convenient button to securely pay online! With more bill payments occurring online, customers have come to expect the convenience of sending a credit card payment with just the click of a button.

For the business owner, online invoices can significantly cut down on the amount of administrative work needed; plus, you can even include payment due dates on your online invoices helping you to better manage expectations with your customers!

Add a “Pay Now” Button to your Website

For many businesses a website is more than just a destination for potential customers to learn about the business. It’s also a potential revenue stream, allowing them to securely accept payments online from customers without having to physically be in the office to answer a phone call.

For example, a business that requires their customers to pay a deposit prior to an event or before any work is done could add a "Pay Now" button to their website, allowing their customers to submit a payment at their convenience – including outside of normal business hours. With the right technology partner, business owners can rest easy knowing that their customer payment information is securely stored, and online payments can be collected at any time of the day!

Accept Text 2 Pay Payments On-The-Go (this feature is coming soon!)

Text payments have a 97% open rate compared to email. Once received it takes the average customer 90 seconds to respond. With fewer consumers carrying cash, more business owners are almost required to obtain payment processing technology that allows them to accept mobile payments from anywhere. With contactless payment solutions on the rise, Text 2 Pay will become a necessity for businesses that want to optimize their payment experience.

Businesses with field technicians for example, need the flexibility of having an online invoicing platform with a mobile payment option. Using a virtual terminal gives users the ability to create an online invoice from their office and complete the sale using Text 2 Pay.  This flexibility ensures that businesses are able to close out transactions as soon as the work is completed – meaning a more reliable cash flow, and faster payments without any of the hassle. Plus, from the customer’s side – the convenience of paying right from their phone means they no longer have to wait to receive a final bill or worry about trying to remember to mail in a payment!

Schedule a Payment in Advance

Payment automation platforms allow business owners to quickly schedule payments ahead of time – ensuring that late payments are a thing of the past. Scheduling a payment in advance automatically charges your customers based on a yearly, monthly, daily, or even hourly schedule. Used frequently by businesses charging subscriptions, like gym memberships, scheduling a payment ahead of time allows you to streamline your payment process and save countless hours per month in billing your customers.

The main benefit of using a payment automation platform is that it allows businesses to securely tokenize and store their customer payment information one time, and save it for future auto-pay transactions. Plus, with card expiration notifications business owners can easily see when a payment method is about to expire, allowing them to reach out proactively to their customers to update their card information before a transaction attempt!

Pre-authorize a Transaction

Pre-authorized payments are another way to quickly accept payments from your customers. For businesses like hotels or car rental agencies, where the final amount of the sale is unknown when the card is first swiped, pre-authorizations are a core function of doing business.

Pre-authorizing a transaction acts as a hold for funds on a credit card, and no funds will be deducted until the business processes a capture on the card. Using a payment platform like a virtual terminal allows you to easily see how much of your business’ cash flow is currently held in a pre-authorized state from your dashboard – and it can help you to plan ahead for any incoming funds.

What payment collection methods work best for your business?

In today’s day and age, business owners no longer need to rely on traditional payment collection methods – gone are the days of waiting for checks to be mailed into the office, or for customers to call in a payment. With a growing list of options for accepting contactless payments, businesses simply need to understand what options are available to them and identify options that help improve the customer experience.

With the right technology partner, business owners can rest easy knowing that their customer payment information is secure, while also freeing up time and energy to focus on what matters most – growing their business! Click here to speak with our payment processing expert here at National Merchant Advisors - we'll lead you to the best, most cost saving solution for your business.

Credit: Allison NeJame / Fattmerchant