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How to Fast-Track Your New Year Business Planning

Do you feel it, too? That heavy weight on your shoulders to get your business plan in order? Pressure to plan for the new year, while meeting all the other work deadlines during the busy Holiday season?

We all feel it. Fortunately, there is a way to squash the stress and worry, and set your plan in motion — quickly.  

The answer? Your business management software and Payments Insider.

By running reports found in these two resources, you’ll gain important insights to guide your decision-making, and form key action steps that make up a solid business plan.

1. Start with the financial reporting in your business management software

Whether you’re using EZFacility, Member Solutions, Shortcuts, or another partner software integration, most software programs have dashboards and detailed financial reports that can be easily run and exported into Excel or PDF to review and share with your team at your planning meeting.

Start with the Accounts Receivable Report. Reviewing accounts receivable for this past year, and years prior, can shed light on both the flaws and opportunities in your accounting procedures, as well as in your sales and marketing processes, and general operations.

For example:

  • Maybe you find that you have too much cash tied up in unpaid invoices. This discovery could lead you to adjust your billing process in the new year, like activating automated recurring billing in your software.
  • Or, maybe you find that a seasonal sale drove a surge of paid-in-full membership packages. Knowing this confirms that you should repeat that same promotion in the coming year.

Whatever the case may be, this financial report — along with other financial reports like package sales, active members by programs, revenue report — tell the story of what actually happened during the year. From this data, you can gain insights to make solid, data-based decisions and create action items that make up your business plan.  

2. Review your merchant processing statements in Payments Insider

Not familiar with Payments Insider? It’s well worth taking a moment to set up your account. Payments Insider is the online portal that houses all your business’ payment information.

The portal makes it easy to access your merchant account credit card statements from the past 13 months. Statements can be filtered by date range, location, and statement type.

One of the best features of Payments Insider is that you can click on any of the values in the statement for greater detail.

Payment Insider also provides tables and graphs that break down transactions by sales, returns, chargebacks, card/dollar/transaction amounts, and average ticket price.

These visual representations of your payment activity can help you quickly identify areas of strength, and those that could use a little help.

For example:

  • Maybe you find that chargebacks have increased this year. This finding could lead you to take steps to prevent chargebacks, like making your charge description clearer on the customers’ credit card statement, or adding your phone number as part of the charge description.
  • Or, maybe you find that sales grew in the Spring and declined in the Summer, steering you in the direction of implementing a Summer special to draw in more business.

Taking Action is Crucial to Achieving Success

Remember that the financial reports in your business management software and merchant processing statements in Payments Insider is just the start.  

The key to achieving success in the new year is to take what you’ve learned and act. What good does it do if you simply know that something worked, or didn’t, and you don’t take action to repeat the success or take a step to improve a process or procedure?   

Implement a plan. Act. Assign action steps to staff. And, rest assured knowing your new business plan is now rooted in data-backed decisions to help your business grow and improve regularly.

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6 Fun Marketing Ideas to Bring in More Business This Fall

It’s coming. Bright-colored leaves. Cool, crisp air. Pumpkin-flavored everything.

The changing season brings tons of festive fun, and tons of opportunity to raise your customer engagement game, and generate new business.

Not quite sure what promotions to put in place though? Or even where to start?

Here we’ve gathered 6 ideas and some inspiration — from in-store promotions and ecommerce, to selfies on social media:

1. Create ‘Treat Yourself’ Packages

What do a lot of your customers — and prospective customers — have in common? They’re parents. And for many, back to school means back to order and sanity after the Summer.

Show your customers “I get you” by creating Treat Yourself packages to commemorate the start of the school year. 

If you run a salon/spa, consider bundling a manicure, pedicure, massage, and facial. Call it a “Four Hour Vacation”.  

Martial arts studio? Bundle 3 free classes with a personalized assessment. Stress in your marketing message the importance of mom and dad making time for themselves despite their busy schedules.

Treat Yourself packages make great gifts, too. Include the gifting option as part of your promotion. Create simple flyers to pass out and hang around your facility. Send emails to customers and prospects to ensure they’re aware of your new offer. Post on social media.


2. Launch a Fall Photo Contest

People love contests and games; it brings everyone together and provides a sense of accomplishment, while having fun.

No matter what space you operate in — fitness, retail, health/beauty — you can create a fall photo contest. Ask customers/members to post a selfie while at your studio with a designated hashtag. Enter those that post a selfie into a raffle for a prize. Choose a winner weekly and announce it on social media.

You’ll win too — the likes and shares on social media will get your business more exposure, and your customers will come to associate fun with your business.

3. Partner Up

Is your facility part of a shopping mall? Know of a local restaurant, ice cream shop, wine and liquor store, gift shop, or dry cleaning business that might be willing to work with you? One that serves the same community members? Consider reciprocal marketing — where you and another business promote each other’s products and services.

Labor Day weekend is a great time to join forces as people are looking for events and activities to take part in during the holiday. Consider testing the waters with a Labor Day special. Be sure to promote the special with flyers and emails and social media posts.

Just think: if the partnership ends up being successful, you’ll have a great, new marketing channel lined up for the Holiday season and new year.

4. Sponsor a Local Sports Organization

With soccer, football, field hockey, and more Fall sports starting their seasons, sponsoring a youth athletic league, team or club can be a great way to show your support and get your name out in the community.

Many youth athletic associations also hold start-of-the-season and end-of-season ceremonies and tournaments — another opportunity for you and your staff to get out into the community, talk about your products/services, and show your support.


5. Get Your Online Storefront in Tip-Top Shape

It’s not uncommon for business management software to come with ecommerce functionality to run an online store. And even better, when you have a merchant account with Constellation Payments that’s set up to take online and in-person payments, that same payment gateway and account can be used to run and authorize ecommerce orders.

Make sure to take advantage of your software’s capabilities. Active your online storefront. Clean up your product pages and descriptions. Add new products like your new ‘Treat Yourself’ packages (see #1).

Again, create a simple flyer that lets customers know what’s available online for purchase. Send an email to customers and prospects and post about it on social media.

6. Observe Non-Traditional Holidays

Seems like everything under the sun has its own holiday. Why not take advantage of the opportunity to host a themed event of your own — especially if the day, week, or month-long observance relates to the market you serve.

For instance, August is National Wellness Month — a month-long celebration that focuses on self-care and forming healthy routines. You could run a self-care seminar for customers and members with a message that ties into a new Fall promo, a new offering, a new class, or a new service.  

The key is to remember that even if it’s just a one-day holiday, you aren’t limited to just that day. You can celebrate and/or promote awareness of a special cause for days or weeks, depending on what makes sense for your business.

Whatever You Do, Don’t ‘Fall’ Behind

Whatever marketing idea you choose to pursue, remember: You MUST plan ahead in order for your promotion to be effective.

“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” —Benjamin Franklin
  • Pick a promotion and a date to launch your promotion, then work backwards from that date.
  • At least 2 weeks prior to the launch date, send 2 to 3 emails to your customers and lead list to let them know about the promotion. Note that most business management software comes with built-in email communication tools; some with automated drip campaigns that you could set and run before and during the promotion.
  • Post on social media several times prior to your launch date and during the promotion.
  • Have front-desk staff mention the promotion while checking customers in and out of your facility.
  • Make simple flyers that can be posted around your facility, shared at the front desk, and shared with other businesses.

    Now’s the time. Get planning. Get your staff involved. Get your Fall marketing game down on paper.  The sooner you get your promotion preparation underway, the sooner you bring in new business — and fun — for the Fall season. 

    Have a seasonal marketing idea of your own? Share it below.
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Mid-Year Financial Checkup: 5 Steps Every Business Owner Should Take

CSIPay photo

Remember back in January? Those goals you set for your business?

Like so many of us, your it’s-a-new-year-let’s-crush-it enthusiasm has probably faded a bit. And maybe, now at the halfway point of the year, your business’ fiscal fitness isn’t exactly where you’d like it to be.

Not to worry; mid-year is the perfect time to relax, re-center, and re-focus on those financial goals for a strong year-end finish.  

As a launchpad, we’ve gathered key pointers and considerations for you to add to your checkup to help your business get financially fit — and ready for the second half of the year:

Tip #1: Evaluate costs and ROI

Look at your expenditures and their return on investment. Are you paying a monthly subscription fee for a service, but maybe not getting much out of it? If it isn’t producing a solid return, consider stopping the service and re-purposing those dollars into something else that does more for your business.

Tip #2: Review your cash flow and billing strategy

Do you have cash tied up in unpaid invoices from customers? Many businesses do. And many businesses spend unnecessary time and energy trying to collect those payments.

Instead of repeatedly sending invoices and making phone calls, take a different approach. Consider setting up recurring billing through your business management software to automate invoices, and ensure reliable recurring revenue. This is an especially effective approach for membership-based businesses that have monthly membership fees like fitness clubs, yoga studios, and martial arts schools.

Tip #3: Utilize your software’s financial reporting to gain insight

You’re investing in a business management software, why not use it to its fullest capacity? Most software programs have dashboards and detailed financial reports to help you get a read on key business elements like revenue, sales and value, active members by program, and membership packages.

Utilizing these reports will provide important actionable insights and benchmarks that you can then use to take immediate action and improve business performance.

Tip #4:  Review your online merchant processing statements to get a good read on volume and trends

Take a moment to familiarize yourself with Payments Insider, a new, interactive, online portal that houses all your business’ payment information.

The portal gives you online access to your merchant account credit card statements from the past 13 months. All statements can be filtered by location, statement type, and date range — and you can click on any of the values within the statement for greater detail.

Be sure to pay attention to the tables and graphs provided that break down transactions by sales, returns, chargebacks, card/dollar/transaction amounts and average ticket price. These visual representations of your payment activity can help you quickly identify areas of strength, and those that could use a little help.

Tip #5: Readjust your goals

Remember, goal setting is an ongoing activity and a means for guidance and direction. You’ll likely need to readjust your goals based on your past 6-month’s business performance. And that’s OK! Most of us do. The key is to make smart goals (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound), get them in writing, make an action plan, and stick with them. And be sure to celebrate any and all progress!

Review Your Finances Regularly

Just like taking your car in for regular maintenance checkups, it’s important to take your business into the shoppe on a regular basis. Get under the hood, take a hard look at your business finances, and see what needs to be fine-tuned to improve performance.

Do that, and no doubt, you’ll thank yourself come December 31. You’ll smile hard as you reflect back on the year and how you helped your business achieve peak financial fitness.

Have a success tip of your own? Share it below.
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Manage Incoming Payments Like a Pro: 3 Tools to Start Using Today

Ever begin using an app that immediately becomes part of your everyday, leaving you thinking: “How DID I ever get along without this?”   

That’s how you’ll likely come to feel about these three tools.  

Incorporated into your business routine, they’ll quickly become your go-tos — making it far easier to keep your finger on the pulse of your business and its funds. 

Before getting started, you’ll want to sign up for a My Payments Insider account, if you haven’t already. My Payments Insider is your primary source for managing your merchant account, and accessing all your business’ payment information.  

To register, fill out the form here. A confirmation email will be sent to you with instructions to complete your account set-up. 

Now, about those tools 

1. Interactive Online Statements 

How much was deposited to my account last month?” …  “10 months ago?” …  “What did I pay in chargeback fees? 

You can easily get answers to questions like these with My Payments Insider. Within the portal, you have access to statements from the past 13 months that can be viewed online and easily downloaded to PDF, CSV, or XLSX. No more waiting for paper statements to be mailed to you and storing paper documents at your facility. All statements are secure and in one spot for easy access whenever you need them.  

Even better, the statements are interactive, meaning you can: 

  • Filter by business location, statement type, and date range (3 months, 6 months, 9 months, and year) 
  • Change views to deposits, fees, chargebacks and adjustment activity 
  • Drill down to batch and transaction level to get greater detail 

2. Funding Alerts  

No doubt cash flow is the lifeblood of your business. And like a monitor records the activity of the heart, you need a tool to keep a pulse on cash flow. Funding alerts are a quick and easy way to do that.  

With funding alerts, you’ll know the moment funds have been settled and processed to your account.  

To sign up, follow the steps below or call our Support Team at 888.244.2160, option 2.  

  1. Click on the ‘Personal Information’ dashboard tile 
  2. Click ‘Notifications’ 
  3. Check the ‘Funding/bank activity’ box 
  4. Enter your mobile phone number  

Select your merchant ID (MID) or all business locations. You’ll receive one text message per MID. 

3. Chargeback Alerts 

Managing chargebacks and retrievals can be a difficult and confusing part of payment processing. And, if you don’t respond to a dispute within the allotted timeframe, the banks will simply process the chargeback. (Typical timeframe is 120 days, however, in some cases, the timeframe may be longer or shorter depending on the chargeback reason code.)  

Chargeback alerts help you stay on top of payment disputes. With this service, you’ll be notified by fax, or by email and online alert, of any payment disputes posted to your account within 24 hours, so you can proactively handle chargebacks as soon as they’re made.  

Also, within the portal, you can set preferences for your alerts whether it’s new chargeback and retrieval cases, status updates, high value amounts, and case aging. My Payments Insider also includes a broad selection of reports to manage your activities and measure your results. 

To enroll for chargeback alerts, contact our Support Team at 888.244.2160, option 2 or open a ticket under the “Request a Change” reason and add notes to sign up for chargeback alerts via email. 

The Tool’s In Your Court 

Like outfitting a gym with essential equipment to train effectively, businesses need to incorporate the right tools to manage money effectively. Start using these three today to keep your finger on the pulse of your business and its funds, and make managing incoming payments a whole lot easier. 

Have a question about the tools listed here? Post your question below or visit our Support Hub Portal.

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Global Payment Perspectives: Key Considerations that Can Make or Break Your POS Software Global Expansion – Part 2

Global POS photo

Thinking of expanding your POS software into international markets? Great! As a global merchant services company, we can help you do that. We’re able to provide a single gateway integration that allows software companies to enter foreign markets without having to integrate with multiple new banks and acquirers.

But First …

When going into new markets, I always advise my clients to make sure you’ve done your due diligence. In a previous post, I talked about the first step to take before entering international markets. Please check out that post first if you haven’t.

My last post covered specific considerations to take into account before global expansion.

There’s a bit more I wanted to cover, so let’s get into it and complete our list of key considerations.

1. Regional and Cultural Payment Preferences

Payment preferences are very different in different countries. You’ll want to know the common practices in the country you’re expanding into.

For instance, did you know, over 58% of online transactions that occur in Asia Pacific are done with alternative payment methods — not with standard credit cards or even direct debit?

In Asia Pacific, consumers pay with alternative payment methods like PayPal e-wallet services that are specifically geared towards specific regions.

Another example of payment differences: In Europe, especially in Germany, consumers prefer to set up direct debit for any transaction. Whether it’s their cable bill or gym membership, they are not accustomed to payment with a credit card. They prefer to use direct debit.

2. Consumer Behavior from a Consumption Perspective

You’ll want to consider different cultural differences when deciding which regions to expand into. For example, maybe you sell software used by fitness centers and are considering expanding to the Middle East-North African region. If one of those areas is primarily Muslim — which is one of the predominant religions in that region — you’ll want to consider making adaptations to your software to allow for cultural differences that would happen in a health club environment.

An example: you might want to provide the ability for women to have their own spaces or times to exercise without men present, and vice versa. You’ll likely want to account for that somewhere in your software so that the set-up of that software can include specific hours for specific groups that may need their own time.

3. International Fulfillment

If your product is typically sold domestically and you’re selling internationally, you’ll want to make sure your customer understands the logistics of shipping. Communicate the logistics by way of your marketing materials and website. Make sure the communication is clear and concise about what the fulfillment times are going to be, so that you set clear expectations.

4. Regulatory Issues

There are regulatory and legal issues to consider when moving into specific foreign markets. For example, the UK has specific, strict requirements to protect consumers from unauthorized charges. It takes a good while for a bank transfer to be authorized before you can begin debiting someone’s account.

If you want to debit someone’s account on the first of the month, that process needs to start anywhere from 10-14 days prior. There’s a customer mandate which is essentially the customer giving permission for you to debit their account and that must be submitted at some point 10-14 days prior to the day you want to debit their account.

Additionally, if consumers have an issue, you need to make sure everything is compliant. PCI compliance applies in all countries. Specific things about how customers will be charged needs to be communicated. If you are not a native speaker, you may need a website designer that can provide you a native language website and ongoing website support.

5. Legal Partner

It’s strongly recommended you hire legal counsel that can advise you to the nuances associated with moving into new international markets and make sure you’re following local laws of the region.

One international issue in some countries is that if you wish to process payments, you must have a local entity where mail can be sent and meetings can take place face to face with representatives of the company. This is particularly the case in the Middle East.

Yes, there’s a lot to consider before expanding internationally. And while this post and Part 1 of Key Considerations for POS Software Global Expansion give you a good starting point, it is by no means exhaustive.

However, I’m by no means trying to deter you from expanding. There’s much opportunity and business to be had when expanding globally. It’s just in your best interest to take the necessary steps to consider the entire picture along with the opportunity.

Many of Constellation Payments’ partners found integrating with our gateway more preferable than doing it themselves. With a single gateway integration, they were afforded access to multiple foreign markets and gained a partner already familiar with the payments landscape they were preparing to enter.

As always, if you have questions about our global payment capabilities or expanding your business into specific regions, feel free to give us a call at 888.248.7060 or send an email to sales@csipay.com.

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globeGoing Global: How to Successfully Sell Your Software Internationally

Considering expanding to international markets? Request a copy of our 30-minute webinar for more tips and guidance on growing your base outside the U.S.

 

 

 

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Global Payment Perspectives: Key Considerations that Can Make or Break Your POS Software Global Expansion – Part 1

Global Payment Perspectives: Key Considerations that Can Make or Break Your POS Software Global Expansion – Part 1 photo

We recently held a webinar on Constellation Payments’ global payment capabilities. And while it’s extremely exciting to provide our partners with the opportunity to expand into different markets, we encourage our partners to be aware of the challenges they may face when expanding. And encourage them to have a plan to overcome those challenges.

Our last post covered the very first step in taking your POS software to international markets. It’s also extremely important to review this list of key considerations before moving forward into foreign markets.

Native Language Web Experience

If your product is marketed on the web or sold directly over the web, you’ll want to consider the native language web experience of your prospective audience. There is a large amount of evidence showing that you’ll get more sales and convert more leads from your site if there’s a native language version of your website in the regions you serve. For example, if you provide a product or service in Mexico, a Spanish version of your site is strongly advised.

Native Language Customer Support

What kind of inbound calls do you get today? Presumably you’re going to get similar calls from your international clients. How are you going to handle that? Should you get a third-party to handle support calls on your behalf? If not, should you consider online only, text-based support and judicious use of translation software? Knowing how you’re going to provide customer support is critically important.

Purchasing in Native Currency

This is very important because cart abandonment in ecommerce is a big issue. Put yourself in the shoes of a foreign consumer.

Say you were doing a search for a product or service you are interested in buying, and came upon a website written completely in Russian. You don’t speak Russian or understand Russian currency exchange, and now you’re deciding whether to hit the final button to pay with your credit card and make the purchase. Would you be OK with it? Would you be at ease?

Most people would be much more comfortable to read a webpage in their native language and pay in their currency. They don’t have to worry: “Did I get that exchange wrong? Am I overpaying?

13% of all cart abandonment in 2016 was due to prices not being presented in native currency. It’s important to present native currency on the marketing side and on the ecommerce side when it comes to the shopping cart experience.

Cash Flow Considerations

Consider native financial regulations. In North America, for example, funding happens pretty quickly. We’ve got a very robust internet backbone and robust financial system. Merchant processing and direct debit processing happens relatively quickly compared to the rest of the world.

On the other hand, you may be doing business in a foreign country where there’s a 10-15-day delay between purchase and funding into your account. Understanding those effects on your business is important so that you can make sure you have enough cash flow to float during that time.

No doubt this is a lot to take in. We’ll leave you with these four considerations and wrap up the list in our next post. If you have questions about our global payment capabilities or specific countries, payment principles, or regional differences regarding cash flow timing, please call us at 888.244.7060.

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Global Payment Perspectives: The First Step in Taking Your POS Software to International Markets

Global Payment Perspectives: The First Step in Taking Your POS Software to International Markets photo

It’s an exciting time here at Constellation Payments. We’re expanding our global payment processing capabilities at a rapid pace. It’s a unique opportunity we can offer our POS software provider partners.

For example, if a partner wants to enter the European market, they don’t have to go with another gateway provider. We’re able to offer a single gateway integration that allows our partners to enter this market, and many others around the world, without having to integrate with multiple new banks and acquirers. One integration allows the ability to process with many, many processors. Partners get a single point of contact with us.

Thought it’s exciting and unique, expanding into international markets shouldn’t be done on a whim.

We know it’s very easy to get really excited about the opportunities to expand a business. But, you want to make sure that you don’t get so excited about the opportunities that you miss the challenges you’ll need to overcome to do things the way you want them to be done.

SWOT It Out

Before entering new global markets, we strongly suggest taking all challenges into consideration.

The best way of doing this is to perform a SWOT analysis on the countries and regions in which you’d like to expand.

A SWOT analysis means looking at your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Strengths and weaknesses are internal factors that give your business an advantage or disadvantage, like financial resources, internal processes, and systems.

Opportunities and threats are external elements that influence your business like market trends, customer demographics, environmental issues, and suppliers.

After identifying the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, you’ll want to have an internal discussion with your key product stakeholders of what markets are attractive to your software business and why.

Look at what offerings you have and make sure they’re as relevant in certain countries as they are in the countries you’re currently operating in.

How the SWOT Helps

If you’re born and raised in North America, you have a good understanding of how consumers feel about a product like yours. But when you’re entering a foreign country with different currency, different language, and a different culture, it’s very important to understand how your product or service is viewed by the prospective audience.

Is there a need for your product?

For example, we recently worked with a business that has an app with a payment component for personal trainers. They’re looking to expand into North America. A SWOT analysis revealed that there are challenges based on the current products that are currently on the market in North America. In this example, the SWOT analysis was key. The analysis uncovered the current competitive landscape and provided an eye into the future.

Deep Industry Experience Can Give You a Leg Up

If you have lots of experience with your industry, a great practice is to look at the foreign markets and say to yourself: “What’s missing from those markets? What’s missing that we can offer?”

Some emerging and foreign markets are a bit behind a more modern, robust market like a North American or European market. All the growing pains that have occurred and all lessons that have been learned in markets you’re familiar with can be applied into a new environment. That market may be lacking services and opportunities you can fill that others can’t.

Experience is also a key factor in choosing a payment processing partner. At Constellation Payments, many of our integrated partners chose us because we’ve done much of the work with regards to payments in these foreign markets already.

Bottom Line

Do your due diligence. Run a SWOT analysis. It’s important to note too that there are limitations to a SWOT analysis. We’ve seen very extensive SWOT analyses, but also very simple iterations that are more a summary than anything else. Regardless, a SWOT analysis of any kind is a good starting point and can provide valuable insight before venturing to foreign markets.

Should you have any questions about our global payment capabilities or performing a SWOT analysis, feel free to contact us at 888.248.7060.

Images courtesy of Pixabay.com.

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How Payments Are Done: The Most Popular Posts of 2016

If you’re going to read any articles from the How Payments Are Done blog, these five are it. Some clear up the confusion around specific payment processing jargon and technical complexities like “What’s the difference between a surcharge and a convenience fee? Who can charge what?”.

Other articles cover critical, need-to-know payment challenges like how to reduce the chance of chargebacks from occurring.

Check out the most popular posts of the year … share them … then let us know which one’s your favorite by commenting below.

Take Charge(back)! How to Proactively Prevent Credit Card Chargebacks [Infographic]

If you accept credit cards at your business, it’s nearly impossible to rid yourself of chargebacks. The good news? There are steps you can take that will drastically reduce the chance of chargebacks from happening.

Check out this handy infographic for seven proactive pointers — perfect for sharing on your social pages, with colleagues and at your next team meeting.

8 Elements Every Great Business Partnership Must Have

“Great partnerships just don’t happen.” Research shows there are elements that are essential for creating great alliances.

In this article, Constellation Payments CEO, Steve Pinado, outlines the eight components of effective partnering as identified in the book, “Power of 2: How to Make the Most of Your Partnerships at Work and in Life” by Rodd Wagner and Gale Muller, Ph.D.

What better time than now to measure your partnerships against these components and see how they stack up?

Convenience Fees & Surcharges: What’s the Difference? What’s Permitted? What’s Not?

How does a convenience fee differ from a surcharge? What if you’re a government agency, a school, college or university? What’s allowed?

This post spells out the differences between the two fee types, the rules around each and what businesses are allowed to charge extra — a great primer providing clarity around what can be a very confusing topic.

Understanding Credit Card Processing Charges? A Look at Interchange, Tiered and Flat Rate Pricing

Trouble reading your statements or evaluating rates? This article explains — in simple terms — the different pricing options and methods of billing available for merchant processing services through Constellation Payments.

Glossary of Payment Processing Terms

That payment processing jargon I spoke of earlier? Here’s a great go-to resource worth bookmarking. This glossary defines the most commonly-used payment processing terms in simple, easy-to-understand language.

So, what do you think? What’s your favorite article? Have a topic you want to see covered? Comment below and let us know.

We hope you’ve enjoyed the How Payments Are Done blog and look forward to sharing more payment education, strategies and insights in 2017.

Kristen Campbell is the Marketing Brand Manager at Constellation Payments.

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Selecting the Right Payment Technology Partner for Your Software Business [SlideShare]

The SaaS marketplace. It’s crowded. Fiercely competitive.

To stay in the game — and remain relevant — you MUST provide valued solutions that prevent your software users from seeking an alternative option.

Integrated payment technology can be one of those unique differentiators that sets your software apart from the rest, increases customer loyalty, and boosts retention.

But finding the right payment technology partner can be an extremely arduous task. Where do you even begin? What should you look for in a payment technology partner?

Start with This Slide Deck

This visual shortlist of must-haves is a great starting point to get you on your way to finding the right payment technology partner for your software business.

Take a look and share it with others. Comment below.

 

As always, if you have any questions about selecting a payment technology partner — or how Constellation Payments can assist you as a single-source provider for all your software-integrated payment processing needs — call 888.248.7060 or email sales@csipay.com.

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Subscribe to our blog, How Payments Are Done, to receive continual guidance on important payment topics.

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8 Elements Every Great Business Partnership Must Have

Teaming up with others is a part of business. You partner with colleagues, with employees, with other organizations.

But are those partnerships great? Do they include the elements of effective partnering?

One title I really enjoy and often recommend is: “Power of 2: How to Make the Most of Your Partnerships at Work and in Life” by Rodd Wagner and Gale Muller, Ph.D.

The authors studied the dimensions of partnership, and through their research, set out to determine what separates a great partnership from a poor partnership.

What they found is that “great partnerships don’t just happen.”  Powerful alliances include eight essential components. These elements can be used to make the most out of your business partnerships and the partnerships in your personal life.

8 Elements of Successful Partnerships

1. Commitment to a Common Mission
While basic, it’s essential. Successful partnerships need to rally around a common goal and commit to it. That means understanding the goal … believing in it … living it.

2. Complementary Capabilities
This is one of the most powerful reasons for partnering. Focusing your time on what you do best and allowing your partners to focus on their strength makes a well-rounded team.

The element of complementary strengths can be seen in the partnerships we form at Constellation Payments. Software providers team with us to integrate their solution with our payment technology. We focus on the payment processing needs and PCI compliance requirements, while our partners focus on their core competencies in software development and delivery. Together we provide a well-rounded software solution.

3. Ongoing Communication
Continuous communication is an absolute requirement for successful partnerships. Without it, your mission and vision can become lost. Worse yet, team members can end up in silos, rather than staying focused on the key objective.

4. Acceptance of Differences
Everyone is different. Each person has their own personality … perhaps a unique way of communicating, a different workstyle or way of presenting. Effective partners accept habits and quirks for the better of the organization.  The differences need to be accepted as long as they don’t negatively impact the team or deter the team from its mission.

5. Fairness
There is an instinctual need for fairness and equality among all humans. No one wants to be part of a one-sided relationship or feel that they’re getting a raw deal. Successful partnerships require balance. Effective partnering requires fairness.

6. Forgiveness
We all make mistakes. If we don’t, we are not trying hard enough. Effective partnering requires that we move on after mistakes are made and not harbor ill feelings. We must forgive our partners – and ourselves – when we make mistakes.

7. Unselfishness
The power of cooperation is well known to all of us. True collaboration to accomplish a great goal together can be hugely fulfilling. Even more fulfilling and effective are working relationships where partners are truly happy seeing the other succeed.

8. Trust
Business partnerships require trust that is built upon mutual respect, honesty and demonstrated integrity. Without this, all is lost.

I’m very fortunate to be part of so many great teams and to have solid business partnerships at Constellation Payments and Jonas Software. Together, we’ve enjoyed strong business growth – as well as professional and personal growth. We continue to grow through hard work, discipline and a focus on these essential partnership success drivers.

Steve Pinado is CEO of Constellation Payments. He also leads several Jonas Software portfolio companies within the fitness, payment processing, online registration and association management verticals. Steve has over 20 years of experience in technology-enabled financial services. Prior to being named CEO, Steve held executive roles at several Fortune 500 companies.

 

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