It's New Year's Eve-such a nice sentiment is attached below

We have very good friends in Ohio who sent a New Year's e-card. The sentiment was so nice I had to repeat it for you:

The people you love
The places you're a part of
The memories you hold onto
And those unforgettable moments when you close your eyes and breathe in life with a smile
A new year is a reminder to celebrate all the things that are good in your world.

To all our readers: a happy, healthy, prosperous new year.

Back with more good news from a nonprofit

I have been remiss in posting to the blog for the past couple of weeks.

Too busy installing new services at new customers, a nice problem I guess.

Here's an email I received yesterday from one of those new clients, a nonprofit:

Marc, you exceeded my expectations. We are very happy so far…….Thank you for everything, and I’ll be sure to pass along your name…. All the very best for a happy holiday season, L

That makes me feel good.

You can feel that way too, just ask us!

Flattery will get you everywhere

Funny how things happen in pairs.


First, at the Thanksgiving table, several of us got into a discussion how bad customer service has become. We all agreed that our businesses would die if we gave the same lousy customer service to our clients that we receive as consumers.


Then, I received this accolade from Fred Klein, guru of Gotham City Networking, a nationwide social-business networking organization that he founded 10+ years ago and runs as a labor of love. His Thanksgiving posting on the Gotham blog was arranged as an acrostic, and I was mentioned in the "H" line (quoting Fred below):
...
As I have said many times, we are a social-business networking group which is more akin to a tribe than anything else. It is fun for me and I hope it is the same for you. We pledge to keep innovating,invigorating, pushing the envelope, waving the wand and one last note--feel free to make a suggestion (and you will own it).

Happy Thanksgiving to all of the Tribe from A to Z:
...

H-Marc Halpert for being our service obsessed credit card maven.


Thanks, Fred, for recognizing what we do differently than the rest, in front of over 500 other Gothamites, for the unique service quality we give to you as our client. AND thanks and for the opportunities Gotham has given me as a member of such a great organization.


Folks, just ask me about Gotham! Got an hour or so? As we say in Gotham, what goes around, comes around. Today, the thank-yous are flying.

We have been featured in FastCompany's blog today

We were very pleased to receive a phone call from Ruth Sherman, a nationally-known training coach for speakers, whose expertise is in personal and business communications.

She heard we mail hand-written Thanksgiving thank-you's to clients.

Here's what resulted. http://blog.fastcompany.com/experts/ on Nov 15th. Thanks, Ruth!

It's just another way we are different than the competition....

Have a great holiday. Thanks for reading this blog.

November cash flow kickoff to the end of the year

This is it-Thanskgiving is around the corner then Christmas and year end.

IF you have been procrastinating about making a change in operating procedures which would improve your cash flow, consider this a kick to get started now.

You want to improve your business or nonprofit and we have the techniques and tools to do so.

Ask us for help.

White Paper on the new law in CT

Here is a link to the white paper we have just completed analyzing the effect of the new law in Connecticut on businesses and organizations doing business here:

http://marchalpert.googlepages.com/WhitePaperoct07.pdf

In a nutshell, the law states that if your organization or company is the source of a breach of personal data of any customer, you can be held financial liable to correct the banking loss of that person and his/her banks. Connecticut is the second state in the nation to enact such a law.

Please pass this to anyone who can benefit from it. They need to know the ways to remedy their exposure. Let us know if you have any questions.

A sense of place

It's amazing how you come across new concepts, and this is one concept that I have always thought about, but never heard articulated: "a sense of place."

While at a lecture by a local historian/author, she mentioned that she shared a "sense of place" with the town she wrote of. These new ideas are useful inspirations for postings for my blog, so here goes another one:

I share the "sense of place" in electronic payments with a lot of people and institutions, some honorable, some not, often many have not fully explained something to a client. Thus, the overall need for this blog: education.

I sense the "bad guys" ruin it for the "good guys." But not only in my industry.

It happened to a potential client whose business type, while legal and honorable, was rejected by my processor and many others I referred them to as well, suffering guilt by association with the less-than-honorable competitors who make certain miraculous health claims.

What their competitors don't tell you is the number of people who buy and then return the items as useless. That makes credit card processors nervous, so the entire industry was placed on the "unacceptable merchant list."

Not that these guys are unacceptable as merchants, in fact they have a great concept and can truly help a lot of people-it's just the place they share with others is murky. They know they have these challenges, as do I in the industry I am in.

That's another reason to have this blog: to provide a level of service and explanation the other guys aren't, even though they can live with their consciences.

I welcome your comments on this topic. Help share my sense of space with your notes and opinions.

Blog Action Day-Environmental Theme

Tomorrow, October 15th, is Blog Action Day, where blogs can comment on the environmental aspects of what they do.

Simply put, don't mail payments to people or have them mail payments to you! Save the gas, paper, and reduce carbon emissions associated with business as usual for the past 100 years:

1. don't create or mail paper invoices-email them with a link on the email to your website to accept online payment


2. don't create paper checks: pay electronically by creating an ACH (e-check) and crediting the payee-saves postage, time, effort, gas and waste


3. don't make your clients or customers expect that they have to mail you a check-accept payments electronically via e-check or credit card-and you can do that over the phone, e-fax (saves paper over regular fax), by email, or online


4. ask your bank and credit card processor to convert you to electronic statements-you get them faster and without wasting the paper for an envelope or a stamp

That's only 4 ways. There are so many more which we can explore creatively and effectively. Ask us. Challenge us. We will find a way to make payments more environmentally-friendly.

Response to our posting yesterday on the change of the law in Connecticut

Here's a response we just received to our posting on the new law in Connecticut (see posting dated 08Oct07):

Hi Marc,
thanks for the update on the new bill. I printed it off and will review to make sure we are covered. I believe we are doing most of the suggestions already. Your blog is great.
SC

That's EXACTLY the type of response that makes us feel this blog is worthwhile-helping one client at a time...

Please tell others about this law. It affects all of us in one way or another and other states are adding the law to their books.

If anyone has a question about best practices, please contact us for a no-obligation phone consultation.

The law in Connecticut has changed

Public service announcement to my Connecticut clients:
Connecticut Substitute Bill 1089 was enacted as of 01Oct07. It places the onus on each merchant, organization, or company to:

• disclose any breach of personal financial data originating from your location to the authorities without unreasonable delay
• that party shall be liable to a bank whose customers’ personal financial data was compromised, for any costs, to protect their financial interests, including :
  –Cancelling credit or debit cards or accounts,
  –Closing any account or blocking any transactions,
  –Opening or reopening any accounts,
  –Refunding any account,
  –Any assistance to customers.

(highlighting added for emphasis)

HOW DO YOU KEEP THIS FROM HAPPENING TO YOU?

By adopting the credit card payment industry's PCI DSS compliance(Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard), you can make strides towards protecting yourself from this liability:

1. Install and maintain a firewall configuration on any computer to protect cardholder data-these are easy to get and free.

2. Do not use vendor-supplied defaults for system passwords and other security passwords-change them and make them as difficult as possible to guess or steal.

3. Protect stored cardholder data: lock up any receipts or paperwork that contains full credit card numbers and names, addresses, etc. When no longer needed, shred it!


4. Encrypt transmission of cardholder data across open, public networks-do not email this data under any circumstances.


5. Use and regularly update anti-virus software-this is obvious.


6. Develop and maintain secure systems and applications-document the security methods and stick to them.


7.Restrict access to cardholder data by business need-to-know: do not trust employees, in-house volunteers or temp workers with access to this information!


8.Assign a unique ID to each person with computer access-each employee should get an ID and password so you can track the access to this data if you had to.


9.Restrict physical access to cardholder data-lock it up or shred it


10.Track and monitor all access to network resources and cardholder data-again, be careful and question anything that looks suspicious. If you had a breach of security, the sooner you act on it, the better!


11.Regularly test security systems and processes-this helps protect you. Set a schedule to do this NOW so you do not forget.


12.Maintain a policy that addresses information security-write it down, have your employees read and agree to it.


While these steps will not completely protect you (nothing will), heightened awareness of the need to maintain security of personal financial data and documenting the precautions you have taken will avert the serious financial penalties you might otherwise face.


If you have any questions, please let us know.

Time flies...

It's October 1st.

At dinner on Saturday night a friend was lamenting the end of the 3rd quarter and meeting his sales quota. I had lost track of time-I forgot it was the end of the 3rd quarter.

Then I remembered: In August during a summer evening in New York City, we were amazed the convenience stores had started to show their Halloween displays. That candy will certainly be stale at the end of October!

In October we start seeing Christmas and Hanukkah displays.

Soon it will be Thanksgiving.

What does that tell you? The year end is fast approaching.

If cash flow has been a primary focus for this year and you haven't gotten around to improving it, start now. No time like the present.

Ask us how.

National Customer Service Week

The Congress, by Senate Joint Resolution 166, has designated the week of first week of October, as "National Customer Service Week."

I disagree-I think every day of every week should be customer service-oriented.

A client just emailed me with a problem. Knowing the right people to help, I referred him to the vendor (since this was an ID and password issue, it was not something I am allowed to fix, but I knew who could help).

In minutes, the problem was fixed and I received this email from my client:

Marc,
Thanks for the fast return. I was not expecting it so fast. It is all set and up. SUPER!
Thanks again

Paul

Customer service-It's just what we do. Every day.

Out of tragedy, sometimes good things can result

Everyone remembers where they were that fateful day 6 years ago-how the horror of the September 11th terrorist attacks affected each of us personally: our emotions, our fears, our nascent feeling of patriotism, and the effect it had on our business and the economy as a whole.

It took a while, but as a direct result of the planes not flying for nearly a week, Congress enacted the Check 21 regulations allowing banks to submit electronic images of business and personal checks, rather than the archaic method of shipping the paper checks themselves as air cargo from bank to bank for final clearing.

This is a benefit for you in that it speeds your cash flow and reduces the work involved in presenting a deposit. Now check images from your desk can be batched and cleared electronically. It is not perfect for everyone, but for those with limited staff and higher volumes (anywhere above 100 checks a week), this is something worth looking into. We have it, just ask us how.

Wishing you a safe and introspective September 11th. Think of the many attributes of our society that are worth fighting for, in words, actions and good deeds, despite those who wish to dismantle our way of life.

I'll be there

No, I won't sing this in falsetto like Michael Jackson.


I will, however, be there to support you as we approach the renewal of your merchant account contract ahead of its expiration. The idea is to keep you running with the best processor at all times.


But, price and quality go hand in hand.


Just because someone comes in and offers you a better price doesn't mean better service or support. Show me the better price and I will analyze it, describe what is being offered, and if it appropriate for your business or organization, I will meet it or beat it at the time of the contract renewal.

If I have done anything right during our relationship, I hope I have added integrity, high level of service and continuity to your processing, from contract renewal onward...

Please call us first

I read with great amazement in the New York Times last week that Netflix was being complimented for improving its customer service. How? By adding humans in its Washington state call center rather than outsourcing to another company or to another country.

I was amazed because, as a service provider, Netflix decided adding a more human touch was important and Booz Allen Hamilton, a consulting firm, confirmed this suspicion: people hate customer service that seems not to be connected to them or to the service.

Here's a quote from a Booz Allen representative: "There’s so much more competition, this is something they’ve done to get closer to the customer, because without that, there’s really no connection a customer has to Netflix.”
(New York Times, Business section, August 16, 2007 "At Netflix, Victory for Voices Over Keystrokes " by Katie Hafner)

As my kids would say, DUH! How much did Netflix spend to come to that conclusion?
How many times have we all spent hours waiting on a queue to speak to a human only to find that the human had no idea what we needed or we wanted in order to solve the problem?

We have a vested interest in your being satisfied. Our clients get us as the first level in solving a problem. If we cannot figure it out, we will find the right person at the right level at the vendor(s) that can, often without taking any more of your time, saving you the headache, and later we confirm the solution has been finalized. This is one thing that separates us from our competition. Call us first, please.

I get by helping my friends a little

Perhaps the Beatles said it better, but sometimes I help people and they let me know I made a difference.

The other day I ran into a friend who is starting her own company. She was waiting for the verdict from a soon-to-be client, she hoped, who was deliberating over her price and proposal for a piece of business. She was a bit scared she was going to be pushed into a corner, the client knowing she had just started out on her own, and the negotiation was going to go against her. He may have figured she's hungry for the business and he had the upper hand.

She asked my advice. I told her stick to your guns and your price and tell him "you get what you pay for." Quality costs money. Schlock costs a whole lot less. She did just that.

She won the business at her price (she was smart to add a small sweetener to the deal for the same price, which cost her very little and won her the business). You get the point.

The moral? Never buy services from the cheapest guy in town. Some corner is being cut and you will regret it. I will never be the cheapest but I will strive to be the best. You will never regret paying for my services. If you do, I want to know about it before any regret starts. It takes communication on both sides. I will quote you a price that will make you happy and earn the position of an effective provider.

Finally, and best of all, I am truly glad I was able to help her.

It's easier now being "green"

Poor Kermit the Frog. He thought it wasn't easy being green. Now we all strive to be "greener" by saving gasoline or adjusting our thermostats to run less air conditioning, especially at peak demand times.

Have you thought how to make your business or nonprofit greener by using new payment technologies?

Here are a few observations:
1) stop mailing invoices. It takes gasoline and electricity to process the mail and it takes days (sometimes a week) for delivery; use electronic invoice presentation with a link to your web page to accept the payment far faster.

2) start accepting credit card and/or checks by phone, by fax or on your website; easy to implement in your office and makes your staff far more efficient. No more running to the bank (eats gas) by 2pm to make a deposit.

3) if you must process checks, do so electronically by feeding them through a specialized check reader and converting them to a data file. Then let your computer send them to a processor for clearing. It's called Remote Deposit Capture. No more adding machine tapes, deposit slips or trips to the bank, saving electricity and gas as well.

That's just three ideas. Let me know if we can help you think and act more green.

Lucy! You got some 'splainin' to do!

I just visited with new prospects, a husband and wife who run a business. Each is very intelligent and articulate. Unfortunately when I asked to see their credit card month end statement. they were amazed when I told them how high their rates for nonqualified transactions were.

Why is this?

I believe the card industry as a whole does a poor job of providing a statement that is legible and understandable even to intelligent people. Statements should be, and in some isolated cases, are easy to read, not computer-generated data reports. After all, they ARE invoices that are paid by you automatically so you should be able to quickly understand what is being charged and why.

I am fortunate to be able to represent one such processor who has spent a lot of time making the statement understandable and clean.

If you need someone to translate your statement from jibberish to English, let me know. Just fax it to me at 203.549.0406 and I will walk you through it.

A little education can be helpful. That's what this blog is all about.

Often Wrong, Seldom in Doubt

Each credit card or e-check transaction depends on all systems being at "go" all the time. The fact is, errors and glitches sometimes happen.

When they do, merchants suddenly are aware of the mechanics they think are at work in a transaction. It can go on for a few days unless we are notified of a potential problem. Or in a few cases, they get mad at the messenger. Then we are the ultimate bad guys.

It takes a dedicated customer service team to monitor all systems, even if the systems are fully not under our control. The fact is, once the card transaction is released to the "system" many parties are involved that we are not in charge of. We coordinate with banks, data centers, "front ends", "back ends," gateways, shopping carts, web developers of varying expertise, the Federal Reserve Bank (yes, they have problems from time to time too) and so many others.

So if something goes wrong, as the first level of customer service, we take the heat. That's OK, that's what we do.

We also provide the solution. We know who to ask for assistance. We get it done. So if one transaction goes wrong in any way, it is remembered by the merchant for a long time. But it was fixed, according to the rules and regulations.

Once resolved, there is no doubt, at least in our mind, that we have provided the best level of support and customer care. We check back to be sure.

We want to rekindle that confidence again in our merchants' minds. We are responsible for your cash flow. We take that very seriously.

Now, being pragmatic, let's remember all the transactions that went right too.

Demystifying Plastic Payments

Plastic Cards: credit cards, debit cards, ATM cards, EBT (aka food stamp) cards, gift cards, loyalty cards and others.


Is your business already accepting plastic cards? If not, have you been tempted to accept cards but was told it's too confusing and expensive?

Mastering cards (no pun intended) is easy when you know the basics. The program needs to be tailored to your specific needs. Believe me, if landlords in NYC are accepting cards for rent payments and fast food stores are accepting cards for a $3 sandwich, there's a program out there that you can fit into! The card payments industry is amazingly resourceful when it comes to accommodating a business's need to accept plastic. Not a surprise.

The major card brands advertise like crazy to entice a consumer to use one card brand vs. another. Merchants accept them all, typically, so differentiation isn't the issue to the merchant. It's price. No surprise.

Today it is not uncommon for me to see a merchant have a MasterCard transaction priced differently than Visa. Close to each other but nonetheless differently. American Express has its own pricing model, and Discover prices based on the previous month's average ticket. Confused? Again, no surprise.

Basically, the pricing model is something along these lines: for a single credit card transaction, the merchant is charged

1. a certain percentage of the face amount of the transaction
2. plus a few cents per transaction.
3. There are other fees such as statements, monthly minimums, batch fees, address verification, additional fees for certain types of cards, etc. and it's not the time to get into these right now. We will.

The merchant receives the cash proceeds from the card sale in about 2 or 3 business days from the date the authorized transactions are batched together and transmitted electronically to the processor. The fees are either deducted upfront and the proceeds paid net of fees to the merchant, or accumulated and charged at the end of the month. Confusing? It can be.

The good news is that like many new things, eventually we all get used to the rhythm and timing of how credit cards work even if you have never accepted cards in your business before.

Next time, swiped vs nonswiped. "Swiped" is not a police term for larceny. Some might disagree..I'll tell you why in another blog posting soon.

Pertinent Negatives

You don't feel well and some of the symptoms could at the worst case be serious. You decide this is worth going to the doctor.

After a series of questions and other examinations, she or he tells you what you do NOT have first, to ease your mind. Whew!

What the doctor tells you next is what you have is not serious and can be treated.

The expert tells you what you do NOT have: the "pertinent negatives." You just need adjustment of some sort.

Using this analogy, is your business cash cycle running slow and you do not know what to do?

Chances are your situation is not lethal and with a little treatment, the cash flow can be treated. Velocity of cash is essential: a factor of size and speed.

Ask an expert who has at least a few options to help you, not just "one size fits all," because a real professional knows that no two cases are alike and each needs the right type and amount of TLC to nurse the cash flow back to health.

Ask for help-there's nothing wrong with getting the help of a pro. Many times, the diagnosis is not serious and can result in improved cash flow.

Welcome to the Blog

Welcome.
I have wanted to create a blog for a long time and kept putting it off. Why? It seemed too difficult. I was worried about the technology and the investment of time it would take.

But like many things we encounter, someone else (Blogger) made it easy to undertand and down came the obstacles I had (foolishly) placed in my own way.

The same is true of getting paid by your clients, using the smartest technology available:

• you know there is a better way,
• you need someone to help you plan how to do it,
• you realize there are ways to eliminate the technology obstacles,
• you want to be sure you understand it in simple English, and
• that "someone" can help you implement, as a part of YOUR team.

That "someone" is Your Best Interest LLC, and we've been doing just that for the past 6 years.

So over the next weeks and months, as questions are posed to me that may help you understand the "black magic" that many people think is the case in credit/debit cards and electronic check payments, I will try to make sense of this topic and in doing so, help you understand part of the core of what makes your business or organization successful.

Come along for the ride. I am not sure where we are going, but it will be fun for both of us to twist and turn as we embark on a trip together. Of course, I would always welcome your comments and suggestions. just email them to me at ybillc@optonline.net.