Businesses urged not to lag; move to online

by Marlon Madden

Operators of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) are being encouraged to get on board with digital payment systems or risk being left behind.

This advice has come from Gail Welch, Business Development Officer at Payce Digital (Formerly Cave Shepherd Card Services), who stressed that customers were increasingly becoming reliant on conducting their business digitally.

She urged businesses to give customers different payment options in order to maximise their opportunities and stay ahead of the competition.

“The world is changing and therefore our mindset cannot lag behind, we must be very much in sync with where they world is. Build many channels to give the type of experience that the customer is now demanding,” said Welch.

“Often times we say cash is king, and that used to be so. In some people’s world and in some people’s mind it probably might still be king, but there is a growing section of our country, and by extension the world, who is moving away from cash and saying ‘I want to do business with you, I want to engage you and I want to do that and pay digitally, I want to pay online.

Have you provided the mechanism for me to interact with you and your business in my world, the world I chose to live in, the digital world?” she said.

Welch was addressing a recent Small Business Association (SBA) webinar on the topic It is not business as usual – Helping MSMEs Reposition Through Payments and Digital Integration.

She said while it was still necessary for some businesses to operate from a physical location, it was important for those firms to provide their customers with different payment options.

“They are expecting businesses to give them the choice – how they want to interact, how they want to engage. They are demanding convenience and they are demanding connectivity. So the customer must always be top of mind,” she stressed.

“As we continue to reposition in this new world how are we on-boarding those customers, how are we reaching them, how are we keeping them connected to us, where are they? It is important then that as we start to reposition ourselves as small businesses that we do so understanding that a lot has changed and there is need to reevaluate what we have been doing and reposition for the opportunities ahead,” said Welch.

She added that opening up multiple channels for customers to interact with the business was one way of retaining those customers and getting new ones.

The business executive also urged firms to pay close attention to cyber security as they build out their digital payment systems and other technological platforms to support their businesses.

“I want to say to you very forcefully that as we are thinking digital we must think security. Both go hand-in-hand. We are thinking about the customers,” she added.
Cautioning MSME operators to see customers as “more than just another quick sale”, Welch pointed out that people like to feel that they matter and since they had the spending power they could easily go where they get the best service. “They need to see as more than just another quick sale.

We are moving into an era where we want to engage with customers and customers want to engage with us, but we cannot be tone deaf to what they are experiencing and saying,” said Welch.

She also encouraged MSME operators to form strategic partnerships to help drive business and better serve their customers.

During the webinar, Welch also pointed to the need for firms to pay close attention to collecting and analysing data to help grow their operations and provide improvements where necessary.
marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb