Offering credit terms to qualified customers is a great way to boost sales in a bumbling economy. However, a complicated or insecure credit application process could frustrate would-be applicants and derail your entire credit plan. Don’t let technical impediments detract from your goodwill gesture of offering credit to good customers.
Try these ideas for improving your customer credit application process….
Dedicated Credit Services Representative
If you’re running a brick and mortar store, there are other ways you need to consider to make the credit application process easier for all your customers.
Don’t force customers who are standing in line to wait while someone at the checkout register fills out their credit application.
If you want to capture more credit applications at the checkout, have a separate, dedicated credit services representative at another nearby register. That way, everyone in that line knows that the wait will be a little longer while each person applies up for your store card.
Those who already have a store card, or who choose not to apply, can be waited on as usual by your regular store clerk.
As the article, “Is it time to simplify your customer credit application process?” asks the answer in short, yes.
Secured Application Process
In these days of identity theft and data hacking, consumers are more alert than ever to the dangers of having their sensitive personal information stolen online.
Don’t make your applicants guess as to whether the information they’re inputting is secure.
Assure your customers at every step of the way by being transparent about the way their information will be transmitted, stored, and accessed by trusted members of your company. Back up your claims by ensuring that their data really is secure.
Don’t rely on internal IT techs to manage highly sensitive credit data. Invest in a third party management services provider to handle all your applicants’ data.
Optimize Your Forms
Online forms are the norm for credit applications.
Customers have come to expect the ability to apply online for store credit, credit limit increases, or altered payment terms. Your online forms shouldn’t be clunky.
They should be easily recognizable as compared to similar online credit forms. They should be easily navigated, and the needed information should be obvious. Lastly, they should also work.
It’s surprising how many online forms have bugs or glitches that lose customers’ data, forcing them to re-enter information that they’ve already entered twice before. Always test your online forms internally before publishing them for the world to see.
Look into third-party credit application service providers, who provide everything you need to offer your applicants secure, straightforward, and easy to understand forms that work.
You can make your customer credit application process better than anything the competition has.
One or more of these plans will likely work for your business.
About the Author: Kate Supino writes extensively about marketing and best business practices.
