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Accept Business Credit Cards: Empower Your Business and Your Clients
Businesses today are increasingly making use of business credit cards to transact, both as vendors and as buyers. This trend in spite, there are still a number of vendors who do not accept business credit cards from their business clientele. The truth of the matter is that if such a vendor wishes to achieve higher trading volumes and increase its client base, accepting business credit cards changes from being an optional, to a must.
Accounts receivable is not only a nasty trap, but also creates a vicious cycle. Vendors that do not accept business credit cards, often agree to extending credit to their clients in order to retain their custom. Although this may be a necessary business practice, it does place unnecessary strain on the business finances: Unnecessary, because by accepting business credit cards, you can retain your clients and mitigate your cash flow risk at the same time.
The benefits of accepting business credit cards are numerous and include:
Boost Your Sales: When your clients are in a position to purchase what they want immediately, most of them will. When they make that immediate purchase, your sales are boosted. A simple browse – either in your store or on your web site – may turn into a profitable visit if you enable your clients to make payments with their business credit cards.
Bolster Your Cash Flow: Many merchants who do not have sufficient cash flow with which to support growth, may be victims of high accounts receivables. One of the quickest ways to free your business from this trap is to start accepting business credit cards. Stop billing your clients and start billing their banks instead! When you accept business credit cards, the revenue from the sale will reach your bottom line much sooner than accounts receivables would.
Put Smiles on Your Clients Faces: Clients obtained their business credit cards for a variety of good business reasons and will want to use these. Dont allow your clients to find alternative suppliers purely because your business is not able to process business credit card transactions. When business clients are searching for a supplier, and they want to pay by means of their business credit cards, they will search until they find a supplier who does. Accepting business credit cards places you in the running for their business and that is a good place to be!
Put Smiles on Your Financial staffs Faces: Your accounting department will be very happy when you decide to accept business credit cards as payment for purchases. They will be freed from the hassles of paperwork and the headaches of collecting all your accounts receivables on time. If one compares the collection of outstanding accounts from many of different clients to collecting from the relatively few merchant services that issue business credit cards, the latter is a walk in the park.
Accepting business credit cards may be necessary to enhance and grow the business relationship you enjoy with your clients. It affords your clients the opportunity to make use of their preferred method of payment and liberates you from the accounts receivable trap at the same time.
How to apply for commercial loan funding
Clients seeking commercial finance loans need to remember that first impressions count and their initial standard of presentation and communication will indicate to a potential investor whether they have a serious proposal or are just “tyre kickers”, according to Ms Helen Bassett of commercialfundstogo.com
“Too often clients just visit a website, give it a quick glance over then fire off an email to the investment group asking broad questions, or requesting a loan without providing full details,” Ms Bassett said.
“Quite frankly, this is not good enough, particularly when the client is seeking upwards of $50 million for a commercial property project.
“Clients need to keep in mind that potential private investors are already successful business people they understand the commercial market and they have very sound investment judgment.”
Ms Bassett said clients should initially read the web details carefully, download any lending guidelines and read them carefully, then prepare the required information and forward it as requested.
The first step in making a commercial funding request usually requires the client to complete a project profile online and attach an executive summary. There will then be specific submission instructions, which vary according to the type of loan.
She said the main reason for this structured approach was to minimize the decision making process.
Once the initial information is received, it is assessed and matched with a specific private investor, then discussions are held with the client. The next step is to arrange a face-to-face with the investor so the client can present their proposal.
A decision is often made within a few days after this meeting, thus a client can expect to obtain finance in anything from 20 to 90 days of the initial approach, depending on the type of project and finance.
By having the requested information readily available, the client is not only helping to speed up the application process, but is demonstrating to the investor they are serious professionals who are truly committed to their project.
The real benefit of private commercial programs is that they are more flexible than conventional banks and personal or business credit are not primary factors.
It means deals which make sense get done without red tape, last minute hold outs and lender hoops to jump through. Typically, there are no property restrictions and conforming transactions are also highly competitive as investors are eager to fund solid deals.