The Benefits of Collecting Payments via Text at Your Dealership

Apr 23
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~
min Read
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Payments

COVID has changed a lot of things. Some of those things will go back to normal, others will remain changed forever. One of those permanent changes is the reliance and demand for remote forms of payment. We have all gotten so used to buying SO MANY things from Amazon, paying remotely for food on apps, and paying others over Venmo. Now people simply don’t want to wait in line to swipe a card at the service desk at a dealership.

This change towards remote methods of payments was going to happen anyway, but COVID sped up the transition. A recent survey found that 80% of people in the US would prefer remote methods of payments rather than swiping a card.

That’s why we launched Kenect Text-to-Pay. It allows businesses to send a text invoice to a customer, the customer simply replies and pays via text. It’s simple, it’s easy, and your customers LOVE it. In the last 6 months, the popularity of this has grown 100x among Kenect customers. They still keep their card terminals, we’re not necessarily replacing them. BUT, we are providing text-to-pay as an option.

One Kenect user, Byron Powersports, says that text-to-pay has "increased user confidence and empowered their sales people." Read the full customer story here.

A recent survey found that 80% of people in the US would prefer remote methods of payments rather than swiping a card

Dealerships LOVE getting paid via text, and customers love paying businesses via text.

In future blog posts we’ll talk specifically about how it works. But in this blog post we’re going to discuss the benefits of collecting payments via text.

The 5 BIG benefits of text to pay

1) Your customers LOVE IT

Imagine not having to stand in line in a small, crowded room in order to swipe your card. Today’s buyer is simply not comfortable with that. And more importantly, they aren’t patient enough for it. They don’t have to stand in line when they buy something on Amazon. They don’t have to stand in line when they order food at a restaurant or do curbside check out at the grocery store.

Today’s buyer values convenience over everything else. And so any business that gives them the ability to pay via text messaging is going to be adored.

The data that we’ve gathered from businesses who use text to pay indicates something very very clear: customers LOVE the option to pay via text.

It means they can pick up new machines, pay for service items, and even make down payments completely remotely. And it’s gathering that payment via the technology they’re using all day everything: texting.

Trust me on this: if you give your customers the option to pay you via text, they will LOVE it.

2) It saves your employees time

Businesses that use text-to-pay tell us that it’s saving them 10 minutes per transaction in part and service. We even had one dealer tell us that it’s saving his team 45 minutes per person per day.

It is FAR easier to collect payments via text, than it is to swipe a card, make sure the machine is working, deal with receipts, or even email or send invoice via the postal service.

Texting is the way your employees communicate. So why not allow them to collect payments via text as well?

3) It’s more secure

Text-to-pay is PCI compliant and simply more secure than other payments methods.

If you’re swiping a card you have to pull the card out and swipe it, letting people behind you see it. Or, perhaps you have to hand it to the employee behind the counter to swipe. Either way it makes the actual transaction less secure.

Or, in many cases, businesses (especially dealerships) are collecting payments, taking credit card numbers and other sensitive data over the phone. That’s a security nightmare. One dealer even told us his team was routinely writing down credit card numbers on sticky notes and notebooks.

Point is: text to pay is secure and powerful.

4) Your finance team will love it

With text-to-pay invoices are paid more quickly and consistently.

Consumers are more likely to pay an invoice if it is texted to them than if it is emailed to them. But more importantly, money hits your bank accounts more quickly than many other forms of transactions. You’ll have less stress in your finance department

And when finance is happy, everyone is happy!

5) Fees are lower

Most of the time Kenect can save you 10%ish per transaction for fees than what you’re paying now.

So let’s review. Text to pay is preferred by your customers, preferred by employees, saves employees time, it’s great for the finance team and the fees are lower? Sounds like a no-brainer to me!

Get texting for your business