Business management software is meant to support a business and its growth by automating, streamlining, and improving processes. By reducing - or removing - human error from the equation and removing duplicate processes, business management software can improve the overall efficiency and productivity of a business. The result is a positive impact on the bottom line.
While many different business management systems excel in these areas and provide cutting-edge technology to their small business customers, without a true payments partner, many are missing the boat. The fact of the matter is that few small business owners have payments management at the forefront of their minds. Unfortunately, many ISVs do not either. This is a missed opportunity for ISVs to meet and exceed their customers’ needs and expectations - even the ones that are not top of mind. We look at how the lack of integrated payments may be hurting business management software sales and performance and how ISVs can help their customers boost top-line growth by partnering with a true technology partner that provides the payment expertise they need.
Cash Flow is King
The reality for small businesses is that customer demands are the underlying force behind many of their needs in a software solution. Payments are a key component; customers expect the buying experience to be simple, fast, and friction-free. If merchants cannot offer this type of experience, they may lose out on sales. Customer preferences have grown more sophisticated and stringent. If businesses cannot meet customers where they’re at, customers are prone to move on.
According to Intuit QuickBooks’ recent study, the State of Small Business Cash Flow, payments management is a major source of heartache for businesses when it comes to cash flow challenges experienced by small business owners. The study shows that 61% of small businesses regularly struggle with cash flow.
When it comes to payments management, almost two thirds (66%) of small businesses say that the largest impact on cash flow is the time it takes the money to process after receiving a payment. The other 35% said that not getting paid by customers or clients within the terms of the payment system caused the biggest impact on cash flow.
With speed being a primary issue for these business owners, it’s even more discouraging to learn that almost one third (31%) of small businesses estimate that it takes more than 30 days to get paid. The wait, on average, is 29 days. Why the wait? The study also pointed out that more than half (53%) of small businesses in the survey reported invoicing as the primary way of managing payments, meaning they bill customers for goods and services on a specific date. The other 47% reported using advanced payment, where they charged customers before or at the time of receiving goods and services.
On top of payment issues related to invoicing and receiving payments, ISVs also need to consider how their clients struggle with customers that don't pay, along with the fraud and chargeback issues that accompany some payments. All of these problems lead to poor cash flow, which trickles down to impact every facet of the business.
Even the most robust software solutions cannot contend with the financial headaches caused by ineffective — or nonexistent — integrated payments. Instead, poor cash flow can actually inhibit a business’s growth and have an opposing impact that could negate any benefits gleaned from improved efficiencies that business management systems create.
Integrated Payments Management: Keys to the Kingdom
ISVs can help their customers fight the uphill cash flow battle by integrating payments into their software. Not only does this increase the value of the software, but it also presents a new revenue stream opportunity for the ISV’s business by monetizing the payments volume that flows through the system. It’s a win/win: your clients improve cash flow and you add a predictable and forecastable revenue stream on your P&L.
Global Payments Integrated has deep experience complementing what ISVs already do so well. Our flexible partnership model offers superior features, security, white-label capabilities, and support without the hassle or complexity of managing regulatory headaches yourself. Even better — you can still own the customer and the payment processing experience.
With more than 1.1 billion annual transactions processed totaling to more than $94 billion in transaction volume, we are a payments partner you can trust. Our integrated payments management offering is a good fit for any environment, as we offer an API tailored to your customers’ needs. We also go beyond simple payment processing. We help you help your customers enable commerce through customer engagement, delivered via the following features:
- Customer Analytics - Give your clients a tool that delivers metrics based on their customers and in other markets. They can leverage powerful market research and actionable information to improve the customer experience.
- Cross-Chain Performance - Give customers with multiple locations insights into how each one is performing comparatively in their respective markets
- Competitive Insight - Provide clients with competitive information so they can benchmark their performance against others in the market.
- Callpop Technologies - Help your clients streamline communication with their customers, improve customer experience, and boost top-line growth. Callpop empowers businesses by providing key information about a customer each time they call, including balance owed, personal information, appointment times and history, and Smart-Caller ID. Practices can also push texts when lines are busy and send appointment reminders and Google Maps directions via text.
For more information about how Global Payments Integrated can help you help your customers streamline payments management and improve cash flow, contact us today.