7 Steps To Taking Orders And Boosting
Sales Online
You have your website up and running and visitors are starting
to arrive. People love your product and can't wait
to order! How are they going to order is the question.
Charge.com is the most popular choice among merchants, because
it's real time processing with a virtual terminal and it also
has the lowest price. This is the option for any business that has
a Web site on the Internet. It is the most powerful and flexible method
of credit card processing available anywhere.
There are many different ways to accept payment for your
business online, by far the most important is the ability to accept credit
cards right on your site. Research shows that 90% of all payments
made on the web are made by credit card, so you need to get set up with
this payment method as quickly as possible.
When visitors can make impulse purchases in the privacy and convenience
of their home or office, the likelihood of generating more sales
will definitely be higher. The more available options you give
your customers the better off you’ll be.
But if you don't accept credit card payments as the MAIN option,
the competition will eat your lunch! It’s a major reason customers
decide to buy from one company and not the other. Providing more
options may be your ace in the hole, a competitive service advantage
you have over your competitors.
Some businesses increase their sales up to 400% simply allowing
their customers a more convenient way to pay. Of course, you
should also accept other forms of payment.
Step Two: Mail
Now that you are operating online
doesn't mean you forget the real world. Many people still
don't trust e-commerce because of credit card fraud. These
people are potential customers too and should be given an
alternate method of payment. That's where an address comes
in handy.
Many may not want to call your company because they feel the
mail is safer and hassle free. You also have to think about
potential customers outside your country, who don't want to
make an international phone call to place an order. That call
could raise their cost significantly.
Processing orders should also be as automated as possible to provide
prompt customer service and free up your time to generate more
revenue. You'll need both automated processing for Web site orders
and manual processing of e-mail, telephone, faxed, mail order,
and face-to-face sales.
This enables you to automatically process credit card orders
securely whenever your customers enter them, 24 hours a day, 7
days a week.
Step Three: Telephone
Many of the reasons people use the mail coincide with why they
chose to use the telephone. A good majority of sites
lack information that makes ordering online easy. Sites
are confusing to many and may make it difficult for the consumer
to trust. A phone number gives them someone to talk to if ever
a problem should arise and gives confidence that the order has
been seen by a real individual and not just a computer.
Step Four: Fax
Your website can take advantage of the fax machine in two ways.
First, you can have a printable order form on your site
that can be filled out and faxed in to your company. This
requires that your fax machine be connected at all times and
be looked after constantly.
Second, and possibly the most efficient way, is one of the
online fax services. Most are available at no cost and
you receive a fax number and any fax received gets sent directly
to your e-mail address. That way no matter where you are in the
world you can check orders.
Step Five: e-Mail
This avenue may be the fastest growing and most effective way
to be contacted by a potential customer. Again, why limit
yourself to only the country in which you live? It is the
world wide web.
An e-mail address, or several e-mail addresses lets people
from all over the world place an order effectively. This
also allows for an easy response to any post-purchase question
a customer might have. The multiple addresses can be used for
the placement of orders, customer support and general inquiries.
Also keep in mind what Peter Kent in his book 'Poor Richard's
Web Site' said, "remember that whatever method a user employs
to order from you, you should always get his e-mail address."
You need the e-mail address for your database of customers so
in the future you can contact that previous client. Remember that
80% of your business comes from 20% of your clientele that come back
to you for their next purchase.
Step Six: Find the most suitable processor for your business
Many companies charge you outrageous application and setup fees!
Sometimes as high as $1,000.00 or more. Almost all of this money
is pure profit for the sales rep (it's basically their "bread and
butter" commission). The lowest application fee is around $200
and sometimes, with the right connections, you can have this waived.
I only recommend merchants with NO application and setup fees!
If you run a brick and mortar business of any kind, where you
will have to actually swipe your customer's card through a terminal, you'll
need to pay a little more for hardware equipment. This is the best choice
for businesses that sell mostly face-to-face such as retail store fronts,
professional offices, restaurants, hotels, and government agencies.
However, if you are going to have mail order, phone or online
orders exclusively, then just go with the software or virtual terminal because
they give you more options. This is the best choice for businesses that receive
the majority of their credit card orders by telephone, the mail,
and orders placed through a World Wide Web site.
It's very hard to find the right company that will give direct
marketing entrepreneurs all the services they need
in one neat package, from one company, i.e. not
just merchant accounts, but also a secure server to process
the cards over the Internet, the proper shopping cart,
processing software, real-time gateway transaction processing,
etc.
Usually online drop shippers use one company to get the merchant
account and another to get the shopping cart and
another to get a secure server and real-time gateway
transaction processing.
But what they really need is an all-in-one ecommerce solution
that makes it easy to get setup and start taking credit cards
and processing secure transactions online. And is less expensive
than what most people charge just for merchant accounts
without any of the secure server access, real-time processing
gateway, shopping carts, etc. An
eCommerce Solutions Package gives you:
- Shopping Cart Software - This
allows customers to pick items throughout a site
and put them in virtual "shopping carts". (Just
like at the supermarket!) Before they exit, they can confirm
what is in their shopping carts, make changes, and pay
for their merchandise.
- Secure Server
- This allows customers to buy on the Internet
without worrying about fraud.
- Gateway Processor
- This processes customers' credit cards instantly
when they complete your order form. It gets their
cards approved, transfers the money into your merchant
account, and sends e-mail confirmations to both you
and your customers.
- Merchant Account
- Once the gateway has processed the credit card,
the money is deposited into the merchant account!
For more information about an eCommerce Solutions package and accepting
credit cards at your website
click here
now!
Step Seven: Premium Processing for big dollar volume
Nothing is more important to your online business
than clearing credit cards fast and fraud-free, with superior personal
service whenever you need it... at a discount rate that recognizes
your substantial volume of business. After all, price is critical,
too. Every 10 basis points off your discount rate adds straight to your
financial bottom line. You require premium transaction processing if
your company processes big dollar volume per year online, or you fit into
a special situation, such as the following examples...
- you process $100,000 or more, but are growing rapidly
- you are a well-funded startup seeking a bargain
discount rate
- you are a large offline company, moving to online
sales
- you insist upon 100% up-time -- reliability is key
- you want bullet-proof, sophisticated fraud protection.
- you need simple, secure, fast setup; no headaches
- you want a single point of direct personal contact,
24 x 7 support.
- you have special and multiple currency needs? No
problem.
To get more information on state-of-the-Net Premium
Processing simply
click here now!
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