The Launch Pad brings you innovative ideas and insights from experts and service providers from across the automotive industry. Our goal is to help dealerships find the next big thing to launch their dealership to success.
This week on The Launch Pad, Lindsey Nickel de la O, Marketing Manager, Paymaxx Processing Solutions and Textmaxx Pro, brings you cutting-edge insights about mobile payment options for your dealership.
As business owners, we are always being inundated with the “new” when it comes to customer marketing. For example: “this app dominates the 18-24 market” or “this social network has rapid growth in 55+.” In a recent survey by Code ComputerLove, consumers aren’t clambering for the next best thing, instead they are hungry for improvements to the products and services they are already using.
A poll was conducted earlier this year of 1,000 members of the public to find out how they really felt about emerging consumer technology. The number one thing they wanted to use in 2017 was mobile payments.
It can’t come as a surprise that more than 77% of Americans own smartphones. What’s interesting is the rapid growth of “Smartphone-only” internet users. From 2013 to 2017, Internet users accessing only via smartphones jumped from 8% in 2013 to close to 15% in 2017.
Enabling your dealership’s mobile payment options is now more important than ever. Here is a breakdown of the best tools on the market for you to accept mobile payments:
Text-to-Pay (T2P®)
Creating a secure payment option via text message for your customers is not out of your grasp. We often see national brands like AT&T, GEICO, XFINITY and more that accept recurring monthly payments via text message. However, not all of us are supported by multimillion-dollar IT departments. With progress comes innovation, partnership and demand. Textmaxx Pro is a company notably leading the pack in SMS Text Communications. Textmaxx partners with payment processing software to create secure payment options via text message for businesses large and small.
Online Payment Portal
This is a must have for any payment processing for your dealership, mobile or not. Consumers rely on the internet for everything from ordering dinner to walking their dog. Online bill pay is part of your customers’ everyday lives and being accessible to them to make payments to your dealership online is good business 101.
Here are a couple of tips to improve your customers’ experience when making a payment with you online.
- Create your online payment portal to be responsive to the screen size (Mobile, iPad, Lap Top, Full Screen) it’s being opened on
- Design your online payment portal for touch (the thumb) and the mouse
- Break out the mobile checkout into multiple pages
- Optimize the web payment portal to load faster for a speedy checkout
- Allows users to save their information for a one-click checkout
Closed Loop Payment Options with a Secure Mobile App:
This is the most costly of mobile payment processing options for the average business. Closed loop mobile payments are when companies create their own type of mobile payment system, most prominently via a mobile app like the Starbucks app or Amazon App. The app securely holds your customer account information and payment options and allows them to manage payments directly from their smartphone.
Making the move to mobile payments will improve your collections process and your customer relationships.
Resources:
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/06/28/10-facts-about-smartphones/
Lindsey Nickel de la O, Marketing Manager, Paymaxx Processing Solutions and Textmaxx Pro
A strategic problem solver, Lindsey manages marketing and communications for Paymaxx Processing Solutions and Textmaxx Pro. With 12+ years in the marketing and advertising industry, she has worked for brands including Starbucks, Saks Fifth Ave, Goodwill Industries, Uncle Bens, DeBartolo Sports and many more. Lindsey is a master of words, both spoken and unspoken and she defeats evil with her tenacious energy. She is a graduate of Eckerd College and Bond University of Australia.