Healthy Payment Solutions Drive Customer Satisfaction at Auto Dealerships

The COVID-19 health crisis has forced auto dealerships to examine and implement best practices that provide for safe and healthy interactions between staff and customers. According to a survey from Visa, nearly 80% of consumers worldwide have changed how they pay in order to reduce contact, and they are rewarding businesses that take COVID-19 safety measures seriously. Service Managers and General Managers are benefiting from payment practices like touch-free service that support social distancing and improve the customer experience at their dealership.

Healthy Payments, Happy Customers

The coronavirus pandemic has fueled an exponential growth in both in-person and remote payment methods that promote healthy interactions. Service managers should take notice: nearly half of the respondents in Visa’s study stated they would not patronize a business that only offers payment methods that require contact with a cashier or a shared device. 

A Touchless Checkout for In-Person Payments

Customers are interested in fast, germ-free ways to pay, and as a result, many dealerships are streamlining checkout processes. Here are three best practices for safe in-person contactless payments:

• Eliminate passing cards: Customer-facing devices like PayJunction’s ZeroTouch Terminal support social distancing and eliminate the passing of cards between staff and customers.
• Eliminate keypad touches: Contactless payments allow customers to quickly pay with the wave of a card, smartphone or wearable device.
• Eliminate receipts: The card brands no longer require signatures and receipts for most in-person payments. Disabling signatures and receipts speeds up the checkout process and keeps germs off paper and pens.

A recent survey of PayJunction customers concluded that business owners are pleased with solutions that eliminate touchpoints and create a healthy, contactless checkout. Most plan to continue with contactless payment features even after the current pandemic recedes.

When customers heard ‘no signature necessary’ you could immediately see the relief on their faces.

Socially Distant Remote Payments

The COVID-19 crisis has disrupted the traditional dealership service model that featured comfortable waiting rooms with snacks, beverages and televisions. Customers now favor friendly social distance business practices like calling in parts orders and curbside drop-off or pickup. As a result, Service and Parts Managers need easy methods to obtain payments remotely, while making sure that they don’t increase PCI scope or compromise the PCI compliance validation process.

Here are three payment practices that allow customers to securely pay when away from the dealership:

Secure phone entry: Manually keying transactions on a Smart Terminal is much more secure than using a computer keyboard. The devices feature advanced security technology that encrypts the data before routing it for approval. 

Remote invoice payment request: Creating and sending a request for remote payment of an invoice via email is efficient, especially when an inspection reveals that additional parts and labor are necessary. The customer simply opens the email, taps on the “pay now” button and enters card details into a secure form.

Card-on-file processing: Securely capturing and storing customer payment information makes it easy to collect one-time, installment or recurring payments. This is especially helpful for dealerships that have repeat consumer and wholesale customers or offer maintenance plans.

Healthy Payments, Happy Team

In addition to a fast, convenient and healthy payment experience for customers, Service and Parts employees benefit from productivity features and faster end-of-day procedures. Since everything in PayJunction is digital, customer work orders and invoices are paired with payment details and securely stored in the cloud, eliminating paper-based processes.

Dealerships that have traditionally used paper-based practices in the back office are realizing the benefits of more efficient cloud-based software solutions to improve the customer experience and streamline operations.

PayJunction has helped improve operations for the dealership. I can’t imagine it being any easier.