Imagine the scene: your business is busy, customers are lining up to pay you, and just as you’re processing payments, the card machine stops working. Now what are you going to do?
This might sound like a nightmare scenario, but it’s something that every business, big or small, might have to deal with, which is why you need a backup payment plan to ensure you can keep your business running and keep your customers happy. With that in mind, read on to find out why having a plan B might be the best thing you can do.
Technology Isn’t Always Reliable
Tech is amazing, and most of us couldn’t get through the day without using it in some form or another, and that’s just as true when it comes to business as anything else – perhaps more so, in fact. After all, you’ve probably experienced some frustrating moments when tech decides not to work for some reason, whether it’s a power problem, WiFi issues, or even a system update that’s taking longer than you thought it would – annoying, isn’t it?
This is why you need something like a mobile credit card reader – these handy devices don’t rely on complex setups or even constant connectivity, and they’re easy to use, portable, and perfect for keeping things going if there’s an issue with your primary payment processing tools.
Customers Expect Options
Today’s shoppers are used to having plenty of choices – since you’re a shopper yourself, you’ll know exactly what this means and what choices you want. Some people prefer to pay cash, others like using cards, others like things like ApplePay, and so on. If you only offer one payment method, that’s not great for your customers. If you only offer one payment method and it fails, that’s not great for anyone.
A backup plan means you’ve got flexibility, and if your main system goes down, you can easily switch to another one without any time lost – or hardly any, at least. Your customers might not even notice there’s a problem, which is ideal.
Emergencies Can Happen at Any Time
From natural disasters to glitches in the system, the unexpected can strike when you least expect it (and when it’s least convenient), and not only is that a problem at the time, it’s also going to take time and effort to put things back as they were afterwards and get things running smoothly again.
When you’ve got a backup payment method, that’s your safety net, so no matter what happens, you really don’t have to panic – you can keep running your business while things get fixed behind the scenes and you won’t have to miss out on any sales, and your customers won’t get frustrated and decide to buy from someone else, which could mean you lose them forever.
It’s Easier Than You Think
Setting up a backup payment plan doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive – you just have to start by thinking where the potential weak spots are in your current system and then work out ways to plug those gaps where possible.
True, that’s going to take a little time, but isn’t it better to invest some time now and then have your backup plan in place rather than ignoring the fact that there could be a problem and then having to deal with that problem when it actually happens?
