Whether you have an established alarm system monitoring business or are at the exciting set-up stage, finance will never be far from your thoughts.
To guarantee initial success and secure later growth, getting and keeping those financials in order is essential.
How you collect payments for these will have a significant effect on several key business goals: cashflow, growth and maintaining your competitive edge.
Here we explore how Direct Debit can help achieve all three of these crucial objectives. A simple, reliable way to collect regular payments from your customers and deliver business-boosting benefits for all.
Exceed Expectations with Direct Debit
Increasingly, consumers are demanding simple, efficient payment methods. Digging out a dusty cheque book isn’t an option anymore. Even picking up the phone to make a debit or credit card payment is losing its allure for some.
From a one-click payment on Amazon to slick, quick banking apps, their expectations are high. Your business can meet and exceed these by introducing Direct Debit.
What is Direct Debit?
A Direct Debit is an instruction from a customer to their bank that authorises you to collect money from their account. After giving advance notice, you can make changes to the payment amount, frequency or date to suit your business needs.
As almost 90% of UK adults have at least one Direct Debit you’re probably familiar with them in your personal finances.
But you can also capitalise on the scheme’s security and convenience for your alarm monitoring business.
Instead of gathering monthly fees via a disparate range of methods – cards, cheques, even cash (remember that?) – you can switch your entire database to Direct Debit, streamlining and integrating with multiple systems.
Direct Debit to Soothe Financial Headaches
Introduce Direct Debit and you’ll soon be enjoying the positive effects. You’ll quickly learn how it eases the pressure posed by three ubiquitous business challenges:
1. Cashflow
The bugbear of many a business, unpaid invoices cause cashflow uncertainty that ripples through every part of an enterprise.
Hours spent chasing late payments chip away at staff morale while your bottom line teeters precariously.
Direct Debit gives you the power to say goodbye to unpredictable income.
Monthly alarm system monitoring payments will accurately arrive in your account on the correct day, giving you peace of mind that clients are up-to-date and your cashflow is healthy.
On the rare occasions that a payment fails, you’re quickly notified via daily email updates. Armed with detailed information, you’ll be able to swiftly and professionally resolve issues, minimising any cashflow disruption.
With your clients signed up to pay you on a regular basis with a predictable amount, the unreliability of other payment methods will soon become a thing of the past.
The cash just keeps flowing, replacing uncertainty with reassurance.
2. Growth
With this secure cashflow in place, planning for growth in the business security systems industry becomes instantly easier.
Direct Debit reports, fully integrated with your digital accounting systems, will give you a clear overview of the current and future state of play.
Accurate forecasting will inform important decision-making, providing security and instilling confidence to pursue your next big expansion move.
3. Competitive edge
In the competitive business security systems market, attracting and retaining regular clients is central to any level of success.
Direct Debit is a straightforward way to grow this invaluable customer loyalty. It offers them unrivalled convenience and security: a hassle-free payment alternative that will cast your business in the very best light.
Once your customers have completed a Direct Debit mandate, their admin work is done. They don’t need to call or log on to continually give their card details. They don’t need to give your fees a second thought. They’ll just trust you to take the right amount from their account at the right time.
By making their lives easier, they’ll see you as a helpful, forward-thinking company who are a pleasure to do business with.
You’ll be free to communicate with them about more customer-friendly topics than potentially awkward money matters. The time freed up to focus on client relationships will also add extra value to the services you already offer.
How to Access Direct Debit
Traditionally, Direct Debit was only an option for big businesses with big turnover.
Those days are gone thanks to Direct Debit bureaux such as FastPay. They’ll manage the whole process for you from start to finish, freeing up precious time, money and resources.
As with all key business decisions, it’s vital to get the best fit and the best price.
FastPay can tick all the boxes:
1. Expert Credentials
FastPay was incorporated in 2008 and have worked with hundreds of diverse clients ranging from Premier League football clubs to national newspapers.
As a Bacs-approved bureau , they’re carefully vetted and also monitored by the banking industry to ensure the highest professional standards.
FastPay offers several extra layers of protection to enhance the security of their services. All payments received via their Managed Service are held in a client trust which is regularly audited. And all clients’ money is also held in a separate virtual account to prevent cross-contamination.
2. Professional Advice and Customer Service
From initial enquiry to ongoing technical support, FastPay’s in-house customer service team is experienced, friendly and happy to answer any question.
Experts can advise on a wide range of subjects including the best service for your business, how the reporting system works, what fees you’ll be paying and how to persuade your clients to sign up.
The team can also share insider insight into how similar schemes have been implemented for businesses just like yours.
3. Affordable Fees
FastPay guarantees a truly transparent pricing structure with detailed cost breakdowns listed on their website. There are no hidden costs, no monthly or yearly fees and a flexible pay as you go system is available.
With free lifetime email and phone advice, collection volume discounts and straightforward invoicing, they can also guide you through any bespoke cost for your alarm system monitoring business.
4. Fast Set-Up
FastPay can get you up and running within as little as 24 hours, meaning you can start collecting payments quickly and efficiently.
5. Digital Integration
Partner with FastPay and you’ll be able to integrate Direct Debit into your own software package, including Xero and Sage.
Full digital automation means you’ll receive daily reports giving a detailed overview of all Direct Debits received. The whole process will be streamlined and simplified.
6. Branded Documentation
FastPay’s service includes fully personalised documentation for all customer communications. This means that your brand will appear on mandates, bank statements and correspondence.
Enjoy Even More Benefits
Alongside improved customer loyalty and the secure cashflow your alarm monitoring business needs to grow, Direct Debit delivers further valuable benefits.
Security and Trust
With data protection and cyber-attacks ongoing hot topics, you can assure customers that Direct Debit offers unbeatable levels of security.
This is thanks to the Direct Debit Guarantee which protects clients with a comprehensive range of safeguards. You can put their mind at rest that Direct Debit is the most secure form of payment available, making the chances of fraud highly unlikely.
Software Integration
Your new Direct Debit set-up can be seamlessly integrated with your existing accounting software via APIs or applications such as Xero and Sage.
You can connect your online payment gateway to your accounting system and to your bureau’s, making the whole process hassle- and pain-free.
As transactions flow smoothly through the digital chain, you’ll enjoy increased payment efficiency, reduced admin time and a real-time cash overview.
Rich in functionality, embracing this technology opens a whole world of digital possibilities that will fuel business growth.
Free up Time and Money
Partnering with a bureau will have a significant impact on how your accounts team operates day-to-day.
Automation and integration will simplify time-consuming, complicated processes. Repetitive admin tasks will be eliminated thanks to digital reconciliation, reducing the chances of human error and boosting morale.
Equipped with clear, up-to-date information about the status of accounts, they’ll be motivated to deliver even higher levels of customer service.
And freed from daily headaches such as chasing late payments, they’ll not only be able to focus on building happy customer relationships, they’ll also have more time to focus on career progression and training.
Easy to Incentivise
Direct Debit’s flexibility means it’s easy to alter payments to suit both your business and your customers.
And because you’ll be saving money from fewer admin hours processing multiple payment methods, you can pass these savings on: a great way to lure new clients and keep existing ones happy.
You could offer to spread the cost of a business security system installation over six or 12 months. Or offer a 5% discount on the first year’s alarm monitoring fees for everyone who signs up to Direct Debit.
You could also spread the cost of historical debts by switching your client to Direct Debit and devising a flexible repayment plan.
By offering an incentive to sign up to regular Direct Debit payments, your customers will enjoy the core benefits of a faster, more efficient method of payment.
Switching to Direct Debit is the ultimate fast finance solution for your alarm system monitoring business and your customers.
Make the change and you’ll soon be reaping the rewards with FastPay’s direct debit collection.
