Point of Sale Software

Here are some Articles from the Blog Subject - customers -

How Small Businesses Get Paid:

POS SOFTWARE

How Small Businesses Can Get Paid:

Introduction

 a small business owner sitting at a desk, looking at a statement with payment options and due dates listed.

As a small business owner, receiving payment promptly to maintain cash flow and ensure smooth operation is essential. Getting some of your customers to pay their bills on time can be challenging. Many need an account to deal with you; some are a problem. You can speed up payment and improve cash flow through a collect strategy.

In this blog post, we'll talk about ways to help small business owners get paid faster.

Debt Avoidance

Is it essential to offer debt to get the business?

By providing many payment options, you can avoid debt. You have many options, like credit cards, PayPal, and Afterpay. 

Yes, they cost money, but bill collection is also expensive. 

So transferring the responsibility for collection to someone else is a great way to improve customer satisfaction. It will also make doing business with you easier.  By accepting various forms of payment, you can also attract a broader range of customers. This includes those who may need access to non-traditional payment methods.

Check to see that your customers aren't confused by your company's name:

Warning from the bank

Most people almost always review their debit and credit card statements. We've all heard about fraudulent transactions. So customers inquire about transactions with the bank if a merchant's name on their statement looks strange. Then the bank often cancels all these transactions and the affected card, resulting in an unnecessary argument. You might lose time and money as a result.

Check to see that your credit card's merchant name matches your company.

Choose your creditors.

Another crucial step is to choose only those to whom you provide debt. When you take on new customers, you should be cautious. 

Set appropriate credit limits

Immediately on making a new customer, set up a credit limit. People should be given small credit limits and increase them over time.

If the debt exceeds a certain amount, management must decide. Our POS software will only allow purchases on the account to that credit limit. The account is then maxed. Then to trade, the customer must pay some of the debt, or you must make a management decision to increase the credit limit.

Select customer maintenance from the main menu in your system and then call a customer by clicking Other Details. ( See the green arrow below)

Setting up customer credit limits

 

I want to go over two options with you. 

You can set a credit limit for a certain amount of time. Majors have a big problem because they have money but take a long time to pay it back. In this case, you should give them a big credit limit, but be careful if they go over the limit.

The next choice is whether the operator should be notified so you can be notified or whether the account should be stopped if it exceeds the credit limit. The most cost-effective and efficient time to collect the debt is when the customer is in front of you and wants some goods.

Additionally, I recommend reviewing your credit limits annually.

Regularly check on outstanding debts.

You can only do something if you know what's going on.

At least once per month, look over any outstanding debts to ensure everything is on track. Try and spot any potential issues early. Many use it once a week.

The client trial balance is one of the system's most important reports for many small businesses.

Registry Report>Client Trial Balance is where you'll find this report.

trial balance

It shows the outstanding balance for each of your customers.

Looking at the image above, you'll like how you can select any date and see the values for that date to show you I put in a date years ago. This function is useful. This can be useful in talking to the debtor.

You can select the date range for the breakup, which is another excellent feature. The majority of people prefer weeks for individuals yet use months for businesses. 

If you examine this image, you will notice that almost everything occurred within 90 days. It will be a red flag if it is actual data, not from four years ago.

Issue statements regularly

Your statements ought to be issued regularly. Your criteria used can be automatically set up.

Using the email option here can help you save both time and money. Details here 

Communicate your payment terms clearly 

To help ensure you are paid on time, clearly communicate your payment terms. Be open and honest about when payment is due and how much. Make it easy to pay by including all necessary information about all accepted payment methods on the statement.

Expressions like "the end of the month" are not as good as a specific date. If your terms are "end of the month" and the debt is in January, the end of the month is January 31, 2023. If the debt drags into February, it matures on February 28, 2023.

Consider settlement discounts

Consider giving customers or clients who pay on time incentives like discounts or loyalty programs. They might be more likely to prioritise repaying your company's debts.

Send regular payment requests.

A business asking for money that is owed is acceptable. Customers who still need to pay must be contacted—then given the information they need to pay and told when their payments are due. 

This can be done automatically by our POS software. 

You need to call if it gets worse.

Talking with the customer to find out why there is a payment issue is the best way to resolve the problem. Professionalism and politeness are essential. Avoid using obscene language or threatening customers with legal action. Instead, be friendly and professional when talking to customers and remind them how important it is to your business if they pay on time. Be understanding and respectful, and your chances of getting paid will increase.

I print an invoice on the back of the invoice and make a running journal on the back of the invoice. I write the date, time, who I spoke to and a description of what was said for each communication.  I do not recommend writing it on a computer note electronically.

Do you still need to get paid?

Well, this customer eventually becomes a delinquent debtor.

It's essential to remember that sometimes it's better to take something than nothing and drop them as a customer. Give them to someone else to handle. 

The debtor cannot pay.

You are now in trouble. It makes no difference what you do if they cannot pay. Only if they have it will you get your debt. 

Consider negotiating a partial payment.

Debor won't pay.

Would you like to pursue it?

If the answer is "YES," then keep track of all attempts at payment and communication with customers or clients. As if you were going down this path, you need the proper paperwork. If it goes to a judge, everything needs to be documented.

It will be up to you to prove that you are entitled to these funds.

It's perilous. Don't think your case is a sure thing. It is impossible to predict how a case will progress. Law is so complicated. It is often erratic in execution; you do not know what they will say - consumers have rights too, and judges have their thoughts.

It would be best if you had a debt collector. They cost a lot.

You will also need a lot of time. The debt collector will contact the other party to clarify the situation, after which they will contact you to explain the situation. Preparation is required for the case; it takes time.

Then, bringing a case to court can take a long time. Besides, if the case is scheduled for today, but the court runs out of time today, you may be informed that they will reschedule it. You've lost a day; the court does not care. 

Conclusion

Some important takeaways from this post are as follows:

> Using alternative payment methods

> Clearly stating your payment terms and deadlines

> Sending regular requests for payment

> Being selective about the customers you work with

> Offering your customers options

> Being willing to negotiate

Add new comment

Restricted HTML

  • Allowed HTML tags: <a href hreflang> <em> <strong> <cite> <blockquote cite> <code> <ul type> <ol start type> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd> <h2 id> <h3 id> <h4 id> <h5 id> <h6 id>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • Web page addresses and email addresses turn into links automatically.
CAPTCHA This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions. Image CAPTCHA
Enter the characters shown in the image.

How to set credit limits for your customers

POS SOFTWARE

Setting credit limits for your customers

In my experience, the biggest issue in business is cash flow. Bad cash flow and your business is dead. It is the most significant cause of companies collapsing.

The primary tool used here by businesses is credit limits. This sets the largest amount that they are willing to risk in a person.

As times change credit limits need to be revised often. Well, times have changed. It is a good idea to review your credit limits now to see if they are appropriate in the current conditions.

Our POS system gives you extensive controls on how to control these credit limits.

Go to the main menu> customer > customer maintenance. Now call up a customer, click Other Details. (see green arrow below)

 

You can see trading terms and a question of what to do if a credit limit will be exceeded. If it was exceeded, you could select to either stop the account or warn you. Now you will have to decide what amount you will give for that customer. There is, of course, no precise method of determining this. A simple policy that works well in retail in my experience 

Do a review of what you are prepared for your total exposure to be.  You may need to redo your figures.  If say you can afford $50,000 and you have 100 active accounts, that is $500. That gives you a benchmark.  

2) Determine what they usually buy off you on credit in a period. Now, look at what payment period they need so if they buy $10 to $20 a week and pay on 60 Days for them to trade with you requires at least $150. Since your benchmark is $500, you may want to go up a bit on that figure.

3) Consider your gut feeling are they as a credit risk good, average or low. 

3) Consider whether they are low and high-profit customers. A buyer that purchases low margins items means you are putting up more money than someone who buys high margin items. 

4) Now go through and look at their trading history. 

Here is a tip to make the process go much faster!

Once you come up with a figure for one person, write it down and compare the accounts to that person. Now use that figure, and go up or down.

If you want more here is a formal discussion, on how to do credit limits

What does present a problem is letting your client know what their credit limit. Many people will hold off paying if until their credit limit is reached. Others get upset, "you cannot trust me with $200?", "you have trusted me with $5000, and I have been coming for years a loyal customer now when I need it, you are not letting me take this ?" As a rule, I suggest you say its the computer, not me that set it and let us look at it together now. 

What you are trying to do is establish appropriate credit limits that reduce your risk while maximizing your income.

Add new comment

Restricted HTML

  • Allowed HTML tags: <a href hreflang> <em> <strong> <cite> <blockquote cite> <code> <ul type> <ol start type> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd> <h2 id> <h3 id> <h4 id> <h5 id> <h6 id>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • Web page addresses and email addresses turn into links automatically.
CAPTCHA This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions. Image CAPTCHA
Enter the characters shown in the image.

ARE LONG QUEUES A PROBLEM? OPEN NEW REGISTERS CHEAPLY

 

Cash Registers point of sale

MANY CUSTOMERS WILL NOT WAIT.

 

What they do is they walk out and abandon their purchases.

Here is a cheap and effective way to make more tills. With our system, you can have several tills on one computer. So all you need is another till on your existing system. It is also great as you make one person responsible for one till so making it better for reconciliation.

Add new comment

Restricted HTML

  • Allowed HTML tags: <a href hreflang> <em> <strong> <cite> <blockquote cite> <code> <ul type> <ol start type> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd> <h2 id> <h3 id> <h4 id> <h5 id> <h6 id>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • Web page addresses and email addresses turn into links automatically.
CAPTCHA This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions. Image CAPTCHA
Enter the characters shown in the image.

PERSONALISED OFFERS

VIP program

 

Some people to buy your products need a kick; some come anyway. A straight 10% discount offer as such is often killing your margins.

If you get an exciting product, this has proven to be a successful method. What you need is your retail email mailing list and point of sale system like ours that can handle VIP marketing.

Firstly send everyone out an email with an offer for the goods. Hey, we just have now this XYZ product.

Those that did buy send them shortly afterwards an offer to buy a second one at say 5% off. See how you go, if they liked one then they may want another.

Awhile later those that did not respond at all, send them an email with a 10% off 

If you are still stuck with stock after a while, well you have nothing to lose by offering 20% off to all.

See if you can do something similar in your business.

The idea being Instead of giving a straight discount, going through the previous purchase histories of your customers and then personalise your offers.

It will help you maximise your margins

Add new comment

Restricted HTML

  • Allowed HTML tags: <a href hreflang> <em> <strong> <cite> <blockquote cite> <code> <ul type> <ol start type> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd> <h2 id> <h3 id> <h4 id> <h5 id> <h6 id>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • Web page addresses and email addresses turn into links automatically.
CAPTCHA This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions. Image CAPTCHA
Enter the characters shown in the image.