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I am happy to announce the addition of ServiceMonster Pay to the SM Marketplace.
Though this new payment option has additional benefits to both our clients and ServiceMonster directly, I first and foremost want to be clear that our existing payment providers like Stripe, and gateway providers like Authorize will continue to be available. We will always be committed to offering our clients choices, that’s just how we do business.
The relationship between software companies and payment processing is rarely discussed, but I have always pushed a culture of transparency at ServiceMonster. That is why I am using this post to share not only the details of our new payment option for ServiceMonster, but also why our competitors have been offering their own payment options for years.
All CRM companies that offer their own payment processors get a kickback from charges processed with their internal system; in our case this system is SM Pay. So, let’s talk about why this is so popular among CRMs, and why I think this is a good move for ServiceMonster. Our competitors get up to $12,000 for every $1,000,000 they process through their system. This adds up fast when you consider how many invoices get processed through CRMs every year. At ServiceMonster, our platform processes $500,000,000 in cleaning invoices each year, so if only a small number of ServiceMonster users choose SM Pay it could mean a big upside for our company.
You might be wondering, where does that upside come from? Let me explain; If you’re not using SM Pay and instead opt to use PayPal, Square, or Authorize, all fees you pay to process a transaction go directly to the merchant you’ve chosen. In short, the percentage you pay with every transaction goes straight to the bank.
With SM Pay, things are different. Because we are now direct partners with a merchant, we can control our rates by cutting out another bank or payment processor. Operating SM Pay has its own complexities and expenses- for example we are responsible for chargebacks, reconciliation, PCI compliance, and fraud. These are all expenses we need to factor into the rates offered through SM Pay, but ServiceMonster makes its money on subscriptions, not ancillary payment charges, so we can keep our payment fees as low as possible.
At launch, our fees will be set up to give you the best rate we can offer. The rates we charge are based on how many payments we process, and as the number of people using SM Pay increases so too will our power to get better rates.
As SM Pay grows, we have three options:
1. Use the extra cash from SM Pay to continue to improve ServiceMonster with more development resources, more hardware, and more benefits to you.
2. Reduce the credit card charge rates.
3. Pocket the cash.
I have no interest in pursuing option 3. ServiceMonster is doing well, and we don’t need to pocket the extra cash, so we will be implementing a combination of options 1 and 2. Our plan is to use any kickbacks we get to reinvest in our product, to improve the experience for you in your scheduling software, and to offer even lower rates in SM Pay.
From a fellow business owner, the most important character trait I look for around cash, is trust. We take great pride in the relationships we have established with you over these last 20 years. This is one reason it has taken us so long to offer a direct payment solution. Not only do we want to maintain the trust we have earned, but we needed to have some idea that the partner we worked with would help us maintain that level of confidence- and I’m proud to say I have full confidence in ServiceMonster Pay. It is safe to say the wait has paid off.
So yes, ServiceMonster is now offering a direct payment solution. While the kickbacks we may get are a win for us and our product, that isn’t the only reason I’m excited about ServiceMonster Pay. The team here has been working hard to meet one of my biggest objectives; with SM Pay you will be able process checks in ServiceMonster. This feature is one of the biggest reasons we developed SM Pay, and it is unique to our product. Check processing in SM Pay is another great example of how we are always working hard to make your business easy to operate, and hopefully more fun to operate too.
Get the most current rates and features here, and you can sign-up for ServiceMonster Pay in the SM Marketplace.
Accepting cashless payments is quickly becoming a standard of doing business. In this post we will help you understand and apply digital payment technology in your business.
Cashless payments allow you to take credit and debit cards either in person using an app, or online with a webpage. If you have a credit card, or even a debit card, you’re already familiar with cashless payments! As customers, we can all appreciate the huge convenience offered by this technology, but in this blog post we will be exploring why and how to integrate digital payment technology into your business.
Digital payments have been steadily growing in popularity since the advent of digital banking in the 1990s, but they have become particularly ubiquitous in recent years. In 2021, cashless payments are forecasted to account for 6.6 trillion dollars in transaction value, a 40% increase from only two years prior. The rapid growth of digital payments is just one indicator of consumers heightened expectations around transactional ease and efficiency. Digital payments are convenient, and for customers and businesses alike they can be easier than the traditional invoice-to-check pipeline that many service businesses may be using.
To understand the value cashless payments can offer your business, let’s explore a hypothetical. You get a call to do a pressure washing job. Using Google maps you can quickly call up the location on street view to provide an estimate, or if it is a returning customer, you can use your site notes and past estimates in ServiceMonster as reference for a new estimate. You estimate and schedule the job remotely and show up at the location to complete the job. With your paperwork completed digitally in advance ahead of arrival, you can get to work immediately without waiting to speak to the client on-site. This helps you maximize your uptime and cuts down on delays too your workday.
To finish the job, instead of printing an invoice and trying to track down the client to sign it, you can run the same process digitally after you have left the job site. ServiceMonster supports digital signing for both estimates and invoices, and through our payment partners you can accept a variety of digital payment methods. An added bonus here is that all of the necessary documentation is saved automatically for you, meaning you don’t have to scan the signed invoice after it is completed. The invoice will even mark as paid once it clears through your payment provider.
Cashless payments coupled with the power of ServiceMonster make it possible to conduct business without any face-to-face contact. In the times of social distancing, it is easy to see how this can help keep you and your employees safe, but even without social distancing in effect, the benefits of being able to do business completely remote are plentiful. Being able to manage processes that are critical to operations on-line helps streamline your business, and lets you focus on getting and finishing more jobs. Digital invoices also signal professionalism, and further establish the trustworthiness of your brand. For busy corporate clients, the ease of a cashless payment process is a great time saver.
Digital payments also make it very easy to follow up with clients and tackle non-payment. Instead of mailing multiple invoices and waiting for a check to be sent back, cashless payments give you the convenience of being able to see as soon as a payment is made. For clients, the ability to pay with a credit card means you can be paid on time, even if they have their own cashflow issues. Accepting digital payments can help make late payments a thing of the past!
ServiceMonster has built-in support for two leading payment processors, Stripe and Authorize.net. Both payment processors offer pay as you go pricing based around a small transaction fee. They can easily be integrated into ServiceMonster from the marketplace, and there are help pages that offer detailed instructions for set up for both Stripe and Authorize.net. Choose the payment processor that works best for you, follow the help guide to set it up, and you’ll be ready to accept cashless payments right in ServiceMonster!
We recently updated ServiceMonster to version 6.3.2, and within that update is a new version of the Quick Add feature. In an effort to help out any of our users who have questions about the new Quick Add, our onboarding specialist, Adam, put together a "quick" video (see what we did there?) giving an overview.
You can check out the video below:
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