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May 2010 Issue

Product Spotlight

Finally a wireless solution that fits your iPhone and iPod Touch needs!

Are you leaving jobs on the table by not accepting cards?  Are you losing money to fraud, declines and chargebacks?  Now you can increase sales and make larger sales, lower your interchange rates and protect your drivers from theft!  Never have to collect on bad checks again!

The top five reasons you need a mobile solution for your business:

1.  Lower rates for swipe transactions.

2.  Guaranteed payment.

3.  Increase sales.

4.  Higher average ticket.

5.  Increased customer satisfaction.

This new device is a lightweight, portable credit card machine that connects with the iPhone or iPod Touch, allowing businesses to process financial transactions on the go.  Its built-in encrypted card swiper ensures all transactions are safe and secure.  The swiper reads level 1 and level 2 card data, which is then encrypted at the time of swipe and sent over to the payment gateway for processing.  This allows you to keep a �lower� retail rate with our merchant bank.

This new device also allows orders to be created quickly by scanning product barcodes.  The software provides the ability to control a complete inventory or products, including barcodes and SKUs.  Businesses can easily scan their products at the time of purchase calculating the total, taxes, and discounts with a simple swipe.

Businesses can either email receipts to customers after capturing an image of their signature and / or print a receipt on-site for the customer through its integrated quick, thermal printer.  Shoppers still prefer to get a physical receipt at time of purchase so one can be printed quickly.  All receipts also have a unique barcode printed on them for the quick-scan return feature built into the software.

There are lots more features available with the product and software. 

Please feel free to give us today and learn more about this exciting opportunity!

Observations

A topic for May's newsletter wasn�t jumping out at me for some reason.  I reviewed previous subject matter and email responses to see if there was an issue that needed to be delved into deeper, explained in more length or approached in a different manner that may key in on a specific area that is often overlooked.  It�s also my goal to stay on top of the latest trends in business, any of which may change our tactics in the future.  I don�t know what was going on, but �it just wasn�t happening�!  Rather than be frustrated, I decided to take my mind off of it.  I sat down in my favorite recliner, leaned back, closed my eyes and just let my mind wander.  In doing so, I became aware of �the outside world�. I hadn�t noticed the gusting wind before but anyone living in the Midwest knows how fickle the climate is and - - �the weather was a changing�.   

Only yesterday it was sunny, 84 degrees with a slight breeze.  More people were out and about than I had seen in recent weeks.  They were wearing shorts, sleeveless shirts and there were a lot of smiles and pleasantries.  Today, however, it was an overcast and cold 43 degrees outside.  The wind was up and we were under tornado watch.  People had visibly reacted to the change in both their clothing and their demeanor.  A thought came to mind - - the weather can be a metaphor for business!

Decide and Act

Much of what I learned about trends and statistics - - I learned from McDonalds!  Let me explain.  Many years ago while on military active duty, I earned extra money working a part time job at a local McDonald�s restaurant.  Every morning the store manager would hang up a �daily guideline�, in half hour increments, for potential customer food demands.  Here�s what was interesting:  The numbers were based upon trends and buying habits for that day from the previous year!  Obviously, the numbers could be tweaked a little based upon that day�s actual customer demands - - but for the most part, and here�s what I found remarkable - - the numbers were right on! 

I never forgot this lesson and brought that knowledge with me when I went into business for myself.  For any of us that have been in business for a period of time, we need to incorporate this practice of keeping statistics and trends in order to wisely �weather the changes� within our business environment.  Businesses that are fairly new should begin keeping statistics so that they can be reviewed and used to project goals for the future.  These trends and statistics must be used as a guideline so we are not always trying to figure out what to do on the fly.

 

 

 

Our Reactions

Much of what I learned about trends and statistics - - I learned from McDonalds!  Let me explain.  Many years ago while on military active duty, I earned extra money working a part time job at a local McDonald�s restaurant.  Every morning the store manager would hang up a �daily guideline�, in half hour increments, for potential customer food demands.  Here�s what was interesting:  The numbers were based upon trends and buying habits for that day from the previous year!  Obviously, the numbers could be tweaked a little based upon that day�s actual customer demands - - but for the most part, and here�s what I found remarkable - - the numbers were right on! 

I never forgot this lesson and brought that knowledge with me when I went into business for myself.  For any of us that have been in business for a period of time, we need to incorporate this practice of keeping statistics and trends in order to wisely �weather the changes� within our business environment.  Businesses that are fairly new should begin keeping statistics so that they can be reviewed and used to project goals for the future.  These trends and statistics must be used as a guideline so we are not always trying to figure out what to do on the fly.

 

Undue Stress

Those of us that already utilize this information have basic steps and procedures in place.  We periodically review our past statistics and trends, project for the future, plan for increased revenue during those times and plan economically for those where we know it may be lean.  But most importantly, we don�t stress ourselves out at the start of every business day wondering how we�re going to tweak marketing strategies to increase our bottom line.  This is important because the time to make wise and well thought out business strategies is not during a time of stress.  �Wish & Whim� are not �business terms�; stress can cause us to over think and react emotionally where in the end this can possibly hurt or hinder our overall goals.  If you don�t know this already, consumers truly are creatures of habit with fairly predictable responses.  Would you agree that we all enjoy purchasing something attractive to us; buying a gift for a friend or loved one; feel we deserve a vacation.  We can utilize this and, for the most part, predict what our sales are going to be during certain times of the year.  Having this information and using it to our advantage within our businesses is encouraging - - not discouraging!

As always I look forward to the opportunity to aid in the process of helping your business grow and become stronger.

 As always, please feel to contact JG Consulting Group with any questions you may have.

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