Your payments vendor partner may hold the key to expanding your solutions’ features and functionality.
Point of sale (POS) systems are rarely perfect for merchants right out of the box. No two businesses are the same, so merchants need different POS and payment features to operate most efficiently and competitively. Fitness clubs, hair salons, municipal offices, or gift shops can have substantially different ways of operating. The question for ISVs is how to meet each of your users' needs – without investing all of your profits into continued feature development. The answer may be value-added services from your payments partner.
Here are two examples of value-added services you can provide to your users that deliver significant value and, with your payments partner’s help, require only minimal effort to integrated with your software.
Virtual terminal.
The pandemic drove changes in consumer behaviors, including hesitance to handle cash, and a preference for curbside pickup, and limited interactions with employees. A virtual terminal helps small- and medium-sized business (SMB) retailers accept credit and debit cards online. This technology also enables merchants to authorize payments via PCI DSS-compliant processes that keep payment data safe when customers order by phone.
You can think of a virtual terminal as an online version of the credit card reader that your client uses at the point of sale. Merchants can use nearly any internet-connected computer or mobile device to enter payment information on a web browser and complete a payment transaction. Then, merchants can cap off a touchless virtual terminal payment experience by sending an email or text a receipt.
Adding a virtual terminal to the solutions you provide will give your clients more flexibility when it comes to the payment types they accept and how they accept them, which is a feature that adds value during times of social distancing and beyond.
Customer surveys.
Customer feedback can be gold for SMBs. A short, one- or two-question survey at the checkout (or conducted online) can provide merchants with information on the items the customer purchased, staff members who provided service, and the customer’s history or loyalty program activity. It can also help level the playing field with larger competitors using advanced data collection and analytics to learn more about their customers to gain an edge in the market.
Analyzing customer survey results can provide SMBs with insights to help them make informed business decisions about introducing new products or services, how to enhance customer experiences, and what to do to create a business that customers will recommend to their family and friends.
You can do it all.
As an ISV, you may feel limited in the features you can provide to your users – and somewhat helpless to compete with other developers who deliver the functionality merchants need. With value-added services provided by your payments partner however, you can expand your solution’s capabilities. Also, because your payments company has carefully vetted the solution and ensured it integrates with their platform, there is minimal work for your team to deploy it for your users, and you’ll have the confidence that it will work as promised.
It’s time to research the value-added services available from your payments partner and talk to them about what they will introduce in 2021 and beyond. It’s also vital to share this news with your users who may not be aware that options are available to help them build their businesses. The next time a client asks if you have solutions that can help them overcome a pain point or meet a new challenge, your answer can be yes.
