I do not yet accept credit cards for payment. I am unaware of any lost work due to this decision, but I have no way to be certain.
Do those of you accepting credit cards feel it has helped you increase sales?
We're communicating via text, I could talk verbally for about 10 minutes sharing experiences. But since this forum has no voice feature, I'll share a few experiences.
1. About 3 years ago there was a lady that paid a contractor a deposit to build her a patio. The day after she signed the contract and gave him a deposit......he filed for bankruptcy and went out of business. She was out her deposit. An unmarried, retired school teacher.
She called me and wanted us to build her patio. Naturally she was VERY apprehensive about giving us a deposit, as she just lost thousands. This lady even had friends of her's come to the meeting with me to witness the meeting as well as make sure I am trustworthy. There was no way she was going to give me a deposit.
So I said to her "ok, we accept credit cards, hoe bout you put the deposit on a credit card. this way if we do not show up, the credit card company will credit your charge back to you and they'll come after us". (see I know this because we have a client that's an attorney for a large credit card company). She she looked at her friends and they shook their head yes, and Visa began our relationship.
2. We installed a patio for the U.S. Navy at a navy base in the DC area. At the time we did the work - the Navy paid their bills via MasterCard.
3. We have a client that has a home based business, he designs ships for the U.S. Government. If he can't pay for services with his Amex - you can forget doing business with him. How many people will turn down income from someone that's designing battleships???
4. About 6 years ago I had a snow removal client that owed over $7000.00 in June for snow work that was done in January. I called him and he said they could not pay as because they didn't have the funds. I said "do you have any credit cards you could use?" He replied "do you take American Express?" I replied "yep". So we agreed to break the balance into 2 payments, 30 days apart. I got my money. Problem solved.
5. Not all the work we do is *dream work*. Meaning sometimes we do jobs that MUST BE done. Such as drainage, or repairing work done by others. When such scenerios arise - some folks dont have the cash available, thus they must pay us with credit card.
6. I had heard on the news about a year ago that within 3-5 years paper checks will be a thing of the past. Debit cards are taking over.
7. You won't know if you are missing out on work. People look for credit card logos. If you advertising has the logos - they'll call you. If they're determined to pay with plastic and you don't have a logo in you ad - they'll move on to the next ad that does. This I know for a fact. because I have been told multiple times, we called you because you accept credit cards.
8. They are great for when you do a job while people are out of town. They're gone, but you can still get your draws.
9. Had some people that were forced by the county to replace a retaining wall. They had no choice, as the county had taken them to court! Thanks to Mastercard - they got their wall replaced.
10. I could share more stories, but the MD / Duke game is coming on in an hour and a half :weightlifter:
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