Asking for customer feedback is one of the most effective ways to connect with your clientele and build your business. Not only does soliciting the opinions of your consumers help with data-driven decisions and customer satisfaction, but it can also alter the future and eventual success of your company.
SmartTrade App, an award-winning payment processing and team management app, has experienced the importance of working with and for your customers to arrive at success.
Based in the UK, SmartTrade App originally started as a lead generation app for plumbers. However, the company soon realised that job leads for these merchants weren’t the end goal. Kent Vorland, CEO of SmartTrade App, explained to Global Shakers that working with plumbers directly uncovered more pressing pain points, such as cash collection and getting paid by their customers.
For many small business professionals, the cost of accepting debit and credit card payments can sometimes be prohibitive both financially and logistically. High transaction fees and bulky card scanners can be inconvenient for many solopreneurs, especially those who offer lower-cost services and products.
As a result, the core project focused on “creating a point-of-sale easy-to-use and flexible enough for everyone to be able to use in their SME,” Vorland explained.
Using just a smartphone, SmartTrade App offers the ability to scan a debit or credit card on the spot, take a payment over the phone, send a payment link to an email address or use the “Pay by Bank” app to collect payment. The app also offers the opportunity for users to receive their funds in two days.
“We launched the app feeling that there must be a better way for small businesses to trade,” SmartTrade App co-founder Keld van Schreven told Professional Heating and Plumbing Installer in 2016. “Most card payment providers are aimed at big companies with multiple sites, where transactions fees are easily absorbed. For small businesses literally every penny counts, and we can help to make sure that they really do.”
As the app only needs a 3G connection, entrepreneurs and independent contractors can use the platform anywhere.
“We only need one bar of 3G to process payments at trade shows where connection is difficult,” said SmartTrade customer Peter Meacock of The Bath Gin Company.
SmartTrade App also offers options for users to track invoices and receipts completely paper-free and manage their teams, setting different levels of permission.
Throughout the evolution of the company, SmartTrade has always made sure to check in with their customers.
“We conduct regular customer satisfaction surveys at SmartTrade and we’re thrilled to find that 89 percent of our users have found the app a useful tool for managing cashflow, while a further 83 percent said that it was much easier for them to collect payments using the SmartTrade App than with other providers, or simply handling cash,” van Schreven said.
In 2016, the app won the Mobile Payments Solution of the Year at the UK Payments Awards in London.
“Small business owners have been waiting years for a smart mobile payments app like SmartTrade App to become available,” said Mark McMurtrie, judge at the UK Payment Awards. “This innovative, easy-to-use app securely scans a customer’s card details, avoiding the need to carry around a card reader. Remote traders will now be able to accept a customer payment as soon as the work has been completed, thereby improving their cash flow.”
The SmartTrade App team offers advice to SMEs, including some of the tips that have helped the company to progress towards success.
“Gaining a loyal following is rarely achieved simply because of a great product,” wrote team member Diana in a blog post. “Instead, knowing how to interact with the customers you desire makes the difference between a great offering and a great business.”
