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In a recent blog post, Selecting the Right Payment Technology Partner for Your Software Business, we included a list of essential components to look for when choosing a payment technology partner.

One of those key pieces is a well-thought-out, comprehensive integration plan.

As with any endeavor, you need to know what is involved and what is needed before committing to that project and getting started.

So what’s involved in the gateway integration process at Constellation Payments?

Here’s an overview of the process and phases when integrating with our gateway — from “Kick-off” to “Go Live”:

1. Integration Guide

At Constellation Payments, we first provide a thorough Integration Guide, as well as online access to API information and guides that merchants and channel partners use for processing transactions, analyzing previous transactions, dealing with chargebacks and more. The Integration Guide clearly spells out API specifications and supported operations.

2. Kick-off Meeting

After necessary support documentation has been provided to the channel partner, the Constellation Payments Channel Partner Project Manager meets with your team to discuss use cases, integration types, the integration process and next steps. The meeting typically takes an hour.

If applicable, a demo of your current environment is requested to help define project scope and requirements.

3. Finalize Project Scope

The scope will be identified during the kickoff meeting. The next step is to complete an integration form to validate the integration strategy. The Constellation Payments Integration team will use the details from the form to build your test account in our test environment.

4. Test Environment Set-Up

The next step is to confirm your test environment access with the account credentials provided. If your project includes terminal integration, you are asked to complete a Development Terminal Order Form.

5. Complete Development

A standard implementation is spread throughout a 4-week development phase. The Constellation Payments Integration team is available for any questions your team may have during your development. Also, during this time, there is a weekly development status meeting to review open issues and guide you through the completion of the development.

6. Perform Testing

A test plan is provided based on your implementation type (Real Time, Batch, Terminal). Testing includes transactions with various approvals and declines for each transaction type, card types and various payment options. The Constellation Payments Integration team will certify that your transactions contain the appropriate parameters.

This phase starts with a test kickoff meeting and includes weekly testing status.

7. Production Set-Up

At this point, the production environment is set up with access for your team. The Constellation Payments Channel Partner Project Manager will coordinate with the Constellation Payments Sales team for merchant onboarding.

8. Production Go Live

A production readiness review will confirm all testing and production set-up is complete to ensure you are ready to go live. Initial transactions will be monitored by the Constellation Payments Integration team.

At this point, you are integrated with Constellation Payments!

If you’re looking to integrate with Constellation Payments’ gateway, or have any implementation or gateway questions, feel free to contact us at 888.248.7060.

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What’s a Cloud-Based Terminal Solution? What’s the Advantage Compared to a Traditional Terminal Set-Up?

Constellation Payments | November 15, 2016October 17, 2018

Did you know Constellation Payments is one of the first in the payments industry to offer a cloud-based terminal solution?

A cloud-based terminal solution is where merchants simply connect their terminal to the Internet to make payments that are initiated from their software application.

Traditional Terminal Solution vs. Cloud-Based Terminal Solution

With the cloud-based solution, the gateway is in the middle of the process flow with a direct connection to the terminal. This is a shift from the traditional terminal solution where the software would be in the middle of the process flow and interact with the terminal directly.

To get a bit more specific … say a merchant, a gym owner, processes a transaction through one of our channel partner’s software, EZFacility. The EZFacility software sends that request to the Constellation Payments transaction gateway. The gateway will then interact with the terminal until the transaction is complete. Once completed, the transaction details are sent to the software application.

The Process Flow of a Cloud-Based Terminal Solution

*Note that initially the terminal needs to be connected to the gateway prior to this process taking place.

Merchant initiates the transaction in their software application and the software sends a request to the Constellation Payments gateway.
The Constellation Payments gateway connects to the terminal, prompting the cardholder through the transaction. The transaction processes and forwards the response to the gateway.
The completed transaction response is sent to the software application.

>> Click here to view the full-size Flow Chart

Why Go with a Cloud-Based Terminal Solution?

Many merchants don’t have an on-site IT team to assist with the set-up connections. They don’t have an IT team to install drivers or web services to allow communications over a USB to connect via the traditional terminal approach.

That said, the main benefit is that the cloud-based terminal solution reduces the IT set-up and maintenance involved. With the cloud-based terminal solution, the terminal simply needs an Internet connection to connect to the cloud.

Our cloud terminal solution is versatile, supporting both on-premise and web applications. In December 2016, we are releasing a mobile option for our cloud terminal solution for card present transactions!

In all cases, the application just needs to have the terminal identified when initiating the sale transaction for the Constellation Payments gateway to connect to the terminal.

If you are looking for ways to simplify your terminal solution, or have any questions about our terminal solution set, feel free to reach out to our integration team at integration@csipay.com.

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

Constellation Payments | October 28, 2016September 17, 2018

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.

Selecting the Right Payment Technology Partner for Your Software Business from Constellation Payments

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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8 Elements Every Great Business Partnership Must Have

Constellation Payments | October 13, 2016September 17, 2018

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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Help! I Want to Switch to Constellation Payments But Already Have a Relationship with My Bank. What Do I Do?

Constellation Payments | September 30, 2016September 17, 2018

“I use a software application that’s integrated with your platform. I’ve heard good things about your customer service and I’m excited about the potential cost-savings. The problem is I already have a relationship with my bank.”

We understand that a lot of businesses have relationships with their bank.

When you first open up a business, you often get a new checking account and you may use other services with your bank. It seems like the natural thing to do is to set up a merchant account with the bank you’re working with.

However, in order to get the best service and payment processing power added to the software you’re using, you’ll want your merchant account to come from Constellation Payments.

Having a merchant account with us makes payment processing secure and fluid … ultimately a lot easier for you because our payment processing platform and scalable technology is already integrated with the software you’re using.

Instead of having to exit your software application and run some other program to process payments, you’ll be able to process payments directly within your software and benefit from other software-integrated solutions Constellation Payments provides such as tokenization and recurring billing (depending on the software you use).

So what do you do? We don’t advise ending your relationship with your bank. In fact, we encourage you to continue working with your bank for your checking account, savings account and other services. But we also advise having your merchant account with Constellation Payments, so that you benefit from the robust payment processing capabilities that integrate with your software – and make your business life a lot easier at the same time.

Have a question of your own? We’re here to help! If have any questions regarding the merchant account sign-up process, or how Constellation Payments can assist your business with payment processing, please don’t hesitate to give us a call at 888.244.2160 or send an email to support@csipay.com.

Angela Summa is the Vice President of Constellation Payments. She is responsible for business development, implementation, channel partner support, and merchant support. Her goal is to ensure businesses offer the highest level of payment processing security and ease of processing to customers. You can reach Angela by sending an email to asumma@csipay.com.

Image courtesy of Pixabay.

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Focus on These Marketing Metrics (& 7 Tactics) for SaaS Success

Kristen Campbell | September 16, 2016September 17, 2018

Are you familiar with CAC? LTV? They’re both worth getting to know. These two tiny acronyms can make a big impact on the success of your software-as-a-service (SaaS) business.

Earlier this year, Inc. published an article on marketing metrics for SaaS success. Author, Ameeta Soni, talked about Customer Acquisition Cost and Customer LifeTime Value.

For SaaS businesses:

Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) is the cost involved to get a customer to subscribe to your software.
Customer Lifetime Value (LTV) is the total projected revenue that a business will derive from their entire relationship with a software customer.

Implementing ways to reduce the costs to acquire a software customer, as well as tactics to increase a customer’s lifetime value, will yield continual business growth and success.

It’s important to keep this formula front and center when determining which initiatives to carry out in your business.

Reducing Customer Acquisition Costs (CAC)

As Soni points out, CAC usually involves, in large part, costs associated with your sales and marketing process.

“Consider simplifying your product to reduce human sales touch and any other wasteful costs associated with closing the deal.”

This great piece of advice can be accomplished in a number of ways that shorten the sales cycle for software companies. Tactics to decrease CAC:

1. Create a 1-to-2-minute overview video of your software.

Cover the main features and benefits and most importantly, show how the software solves the prospective user’s problems.

A brief overview video is a great supplement to a live demo — especially for prospective customers that are in the beginning stages of their software search, want to learn the basics of your offering and don’t necessarily have time to invest in an in-person review.

2. Develop FAQs.

Having a list of commonly-asked questions will give your website visitors an extra level of support. Your potential customers will have as much information as they need without having to contact sales.

Quick Tip: Get the entire company involved in developing your FAQs. Every time someone in customer service, implementation, sales, marketing — any department — is asked a question, have them make note of it and the answer in a shared document that is then used to update your FAQs page on a continual basis.

3. Create a feature/benefit comparison table.

There are typically a few software solutions that your buyer is considering. Side-by-side feature/benefit comparison tables provide an easy way for your potential buyers to see how your software stacks up against other solutions.

4. Implement email lead nurture campaigns by segments.

You have prospects that have visited your demo or trial page, but did not fill out the form. Prospects that have scheduled a live, in-person demo but did not show. Prospects that have completed a live, in-person demo, but are hesitant to transition to another software solution.

Harness the power of automation and the cost-effectiveness of email marketing. Through marketing automation software, you can send email lead nurturing campaigns with personalized content that supports the buying cycle and stage each prospect is at. These campaigns, once set up, deploy on their own at the frequency you deem, so you save your marketing and sales teams from having to stop and start up new email campaigns continually.

Increasing Customer Lifetime Value (LTV)

In previous posts, I talked about ways to increase usage and loyalty to your software to strengthen retention — in other words, increase the lifetime value of your customers.

Tactics to increase LTV:

1. Implement a nurturing campaign as part of your onboarding process.

Have tips on how to best use your software? Share them with your users through an email campaign to get them excited about using your software.

Have a consulting arm to your software business? A blog? Webinars? eBooks? Encourage new customers to take advantage of these materials to get the most of their relationship with you.

2. Form partnerships that add value to your offering.

Your software can’t do it all. To remain competitive you need to develop partnerships with companies that complement your offering and provide value to your customers.

For example, partnering with Constellation Payments for merchant and gateway services makes it easy, fast and secure for your customers to process payments directly within their software. In other words, our channel partners leverage our scalable technology, gateway and processing platform to deliver the best value-added solutions to their software customers.

3. Host a user conference.

Gather your software users in one place to introduce new features, review development plans, talk upcoming features, and share best practices. User conferences also strengthen retention by cultivating community. Attendees are part of a group using the same tools and techniques … striving to achieve common goals and business success.

How have you reduced CAC and increased LTV for your software business? Share below.

Kristen Campbell is a Marketing Specialist with Constellation Payments.

Image courtesy of Pixabay.

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Improving Your Bottom Line with a Single-Source Payment Technology Partner [Infographic]

Constellation Payments | September 2, 2016September 17, 2018

“I have a merchant services provider. Why should I switch to Constellation Payments?”

While cost-savings is certainly a plus, there are other big-picture advantages for merchants that move to Constellation Payments for their payment processing and merchant services.

Having an all-in-one payment processing solution — one point of contact for gateway services, the merchant account and software-integrated payment solutions — streamlines support, eliminates multiple implementations and gives merchants overall greater control.

We’ve put together an infographic to illustrate this point. The infographic shows the process flow WITHOUT Constellation Payments and WITH Constellation Payments.

Ultimately, a single point of contact will save merchants time and money, which leads to increased output and growth.

CLICK HERE to view the full-size infographic

Connect with Constellation Payments

There are lots of ways to connect with us. Connecting through your favorite social media is a great way to get updates on our company, along with recent blog posts and relevant news.

>> Follow us on LinkedIn
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Best Practices When Using an EMV Chip-Enabled Payment Terminal

Constellation Payments | August 18, 2016September 17, 2018

It may seem like a small, insignificant change — going from swiping a credit/debit card to inserting one into a payment terminal. But let me assure you, the chip card change has caused LOTS of confusion — and it’s created longer lines at the register throughout thousands of stores in the U.S.

Knowing that, it’s definitely worth taking proactive measures to guide your customers and staff on using the new payment terminals. Doing so will ensure you keep the checkout process quick and efficient.

Simple Ways to Notify Customers

One of the best things you can do is to utilize all channels — in-store and online — to inform customers that you have a terminal that accepts chip cards. Here are two quick and easy ways:

1. Add a notice in your customer newsletters, emails, social posts (in as many communication spots as possible) to let customers know you now accept chip cards. That way they’ll be prepared prior to making their way to the register.

2. Add a sticker or small sign to your terminal that says: Chip card-ready! Doing so can save time at the register and eliminate the question: “Should I swipe or insert?”

Pointers for Customer-Facing Staff

No one likes change and customers will likely need guidance throughout the process — especially if this is the first time they are using their chip card with a chip-enabled terminal. Make sure your staff is ready to coach customers in need of assistance.

Hold a brief meeting where you verbally review the steps below with customer-facing staff that will be at the register. Print out the pointers and keep them at the register as a reference.

Step #1:

Determine if the card has a chip by asking the customer: “Are you using a chip card today?”

– If they DO NOT have a chip card, instruct them to swipe through the magnetic stripe reader.

– Note: if they DO have a chip card, and it is swiped through the magnetic stripe reader, the chip card contains data that will prompt the cardholder to insert the card into the chip reader.

Step #2:

If the customer has a chip card, prompt the customer to insert their card into the chip card slot. The chip card slot if typically located at the bottom of the payment terminal. Their card should be facing up with the chip closest to the terminal. Remind customers that their chip card should be left in the terminal during the transaction.

Step #3:

Cardholders will be prompted to provide a signature or a PIN, or both. Some transactions may not require either method. This all depends on your specific terminal. Follow your terminal instructions carefully.

Step #4:

The customer should then follow the on-screen prompts and remove the card when prompted to do so by the terminal. Remind customers to remove their chip cards from the terminal and take their card with them.

As your staff goes through the checkout process, ask that they communicate with you regarding any common use case scenarios that haven’t been addressed in training so that they can be included in future training sessions and/or updates.

In Case You Missed It …

Constellation Payments has achieved EMV terminal certification with Elavon and Vantiv. That means our channel partners’ software customers can accept chip cards at their business through a completely integrated, EMV-compliant payment terminal. Each terminal is enhanced to directly interface with our partners’ software.

See our integrated terminal solution set here. Not sure which terminal is best for your business? See our article: Help! Which EMV Payment Terminal Should I Use in My Business?

If you have any questions about our terminal solution set, or need assistance on choosing the right terminal for you business, feel free to give us a call at 888.248.7060 or send an email to integration@csipay.com.

Angie Clarke is the Director of Product Integration at Constellation Payments. She works with Constellation Payments’ channel partners throughout the software integration process including testing, production, platform integration and support. Angie also manages the Constellation Payments’ platform enhancement plan. You can reach Angie by sending an email to aclarke@csipay.com.

Subscribe to our Blog, How Payments Are Done!

Get continual educational guidance and strategies on important payment topics including: data protection, tokenization, EMV, and more.

Visit HowPaymentsAreDone.com, enter your email address into the ‘Subscribe to Our Blog’ box and we’ll send our best advice to your inbox.

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3 MORE Ways to Build Value into Your Software Offering

Kristen Campbell | July 21, 2016September 17, 2018

It happens more often than you think …

One of your top competitors calls your customer with an “almost-too-good-to-pass-up” offer to switch to their software.

And it’s not just any customer of yours that they call. It’s John … 5-years-a-customer, sends-in-referrals-all-the-time, speaks-highly-of-your-company-any-chance-he-gets-on-social-media John.

Fortunately for you, John doesn’t think twice when he gets this call. He politely thanks your competitor for the offer, then starts singing praises about your software and your company.

Done. Conversation over. All’s good.
Continue reading “3 MORE Ways to Build Value into Your Software Offering” →

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

Constellation Payments | June 22, 2016July 24, 2019

“What’s a convenience fee?” … “Who can charge one?” … “How does it differ from a surcharge? … “What if I’m a government agency, a school, college or university? What’s allowed?” …

Understanding the two types of fees — what they are, what’s permitted, and who can charge them — is enough to make anyone’s head spin.

That said, this article is written to shed some light on the subject and hopefully provide clarity around what can be a very confusing topic. As always, if you have any questions, feel free to send us an email or call 888.248.7060.

(more…)

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