Give Me Credit for Not Losing Sales

Many small businesses start out as a cash-only company.

Slowly, they may work their way into merchant accounts, and only after then think about mobile sales.

For the best start out of the gate, small businesses need to have a merchant account, online sales center, and an on-the-go payment solution such as Intuit or Square.

If your small business is looking to improve it sales numbers, keep the following in mind:

Increasing Technology in Credit Card Terminals

Today's business owner has many credit card terminals to choose from.

Some of these terminals have increasing technology that puts your business on the cutting edge. The up-to-date terminals will have the ability to take not only credit cards, but debit cards and foreign cards as well.  While there are terminals that have to have the card to work, there are others that will allow you to manually process the card and not have the physical one to work.

Other technologically advanced terminals will let the business calculate their own tips or additions, allow for software updates from a remote access terminal, and will let you have the ability to preauthorize the card.

Styles of Credit Card Terminals

Even the style of the credit card terminal can help open up your business to different methods of payments.

With every additional method of payment you are able to take, you are increasing your bottom line. With careful comparison shopping, you are able to get credit card terminals that will have built in printers, be able to work with your smartphone to turn your phone into a card terminal, or have the ability to scan a check and accept as payment just as you would a credit card. While these are all cutting edge items, there is no limit to how far the credit services will go in the coming years.

Getting Your Sales Virtually

With trade shows you'll need an on-the-go smartphone credit reader and you'll be remiss not to have a functioning e-commerce website to take online sales.

Forty-five percent of Americans use a smartphone according to Pew Internet and American Life Project's report. Incorporating this statistic means your website also needs to be mobile-friendly, so people can access your website on their phones.

Potentially, your customer wants to surf your shop while on the subway and may not want to wait --or be able to remember-- to buy when they get home. Having them able to access the site, browse, and buy all while away from their computer means more sales, and happier customers.

Optimizing your payment solutions means that you are never without a way for sales to come in. That credit customer isn't going to walk back out the door because you only take cash, and that internet shopper isn't going to go to Amazon because you are offline sales only.

Maximizing this type of business gives you higher profits and a wider demographic of customer.

About the author

Tina Samuels writes on small business topics and for About.com's Radio Controlled Vehicles.

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