By Brandon Banks
The battle for customer attention is fierce. Vertical software companies are continuously innovating to deliver value and improve the customer experience. As a part of this, the ability to integrate payments into their service offerings provides an opportunity to significantly enhance their value proposition.
However, with so many companies adopting some form of an integrated solution for payment processing, providing your customers with the ability to accept credit card payments isn’t enough to get your company to stand out. The real magic lies in the onboarding process and how your company guides and supports your customers from sign-up to the first successful payment.
The goal? Achieve “invisible” onboarding. The phrase itself captures the essence of what you should strive for — an onboarding process so fluid and intuitive that it’s hardly noticed.
The Impact of Invisible Onboarding in Payments
The experience a customer encounters when first engaging with a software platform sets the tone for their entire journey. When a customer is exploring a new software, they are already in a receptive state.
They are learning about the software’s features, understanding its workflows, and envisioning how it can serve their needs. If they are organically introduced to an integrated payment solution, the mental leap to sign-up is significantly minimized.
The whole idea behind invisible onboarding is to minimize any hurdles or frustrations that customers might encounter when they start using a new payment system. If the onboarding process for an integrated payment system is clunky and confusing, it can lead to unhappy customers and even make them abandon the service.
It’s crucial to prioritize a seamless and user-friendly onboarding experience that guides customers smoothly through the initial steps, ensuring they feel supported and confident in using the integrated payment system.
Elements of Invisible Onboarding
What does invisible onboarding look like in practice?
To integrate payment systems invisibly, it’s imperative to understand the customer’s journey. Every touchpoint, every click, every pause is an insight into their experience. By mapping this out meticulously, vertical software companies can identify the optimal points to introduce payment solutions.
Moreover, integrating user feedback can help fine-tune the onboarding process. The best insights come from those using the platform. The following are some key elements that contribute to a successful customer experiences.
1) Embedded Digital Application
Instead of redirecting users to an external site or portal, an embedded digital application is placed strategically within the software dashboard. With an intuitively designed interface and a clear sign-up button, users can quickly understand and engage without feeling disrupted in their journey.
2) Simple Transparent Pricing
Hidden fees and complex pricing structures can deter users and expose the seams in your process. Invisible onboarding champions clear, transparent pricing. Presenting pricing in a straightforward manner, ensures users know exactly what they’re signing up to pay for, promoting trust and encouraging more sales.
3) Rapid Underwriting
Time is of the essence. In an invisible onboarding process, underwriting isn’t a week-long or time consuming ordeal but a streamlined process. Using sophisticated algorithms and real-time data processing will accelerate the underwriting process, eliminating long waiting times and unnecessary paperwork.
4) Lightning Quick Approval and Set-Up
Once the user decides to sign up, the last thing they want is a long wait. Invisible onboarding ensures that the approval process is swift. After approval, the set-up process is almost immediate, further enhancing the seamless, invisible experience.
5) Instant Payment Processing Activation
For integrated payments, the ultimate goal is to ensure users can begin transactions as soon as they’re onboarded. With invisible onboarding, payment processing is activated near-instantly, allowing businesses to start their financial operations without a hitch.
6) Natural Integration with Core Features
Perhaps the most defining aspect of invisible onboarding is its organic presentation. Instead of being positioned as an additional or optional feature, payment processing is integrated seamlessly into the core feature sign-up process. It should be presented in such a manner that users believe it’s an indispensable component of the software package they’re acquiring. Users no longer view payments as an ‘add-on’, but as a fundamental, essential component of the software.
The Benefits of Invisible Onboarding
Invisible onboarding is not just beneficial to the user. It brings several benefits to businesses that adopt this approach, including the following.
Enhanced Conversion
The fewer the barriers, the higher the conversion. By design, an invisible onboarding experience minimizes barriers. No additional sign-ups. No jumping between platforms. Just a smooth transition into processing payments.
Increased Revenue
Every conversion is potential revenue. By making the payments feature an organic part of the onboarding experience, software companies not only increase the chances of their integrated payment system being adopted, but also pave the way for additional revenue streams.
Customer Retention
A smooth onboarding experience is a testament to the efficiency of the platform. It sends a message of simplicity, creating a positive first impression that can lead to long-term loyalty.
Value Addition
By embedding payments seamlessly, software companies inherently increase their enterprise value. The integration is seen as an added feature, enhancing the platform’s overall utility.
Ease of Marketing and Sales
When the value is clear and the onboarding is seamless, the need for aggressive marketing diminishes. In many ways, the platform and integrated payment gateway sell themselves.
Preservation of Revenue
By sidestepping extensive price negotiations that arise from visible add-ons, companies can maintain the profitability of their offerings.
Choosing the Right Payment Partner: The Linchpin for Invisible Onboarding
Even the most dedicated software companies can’t achieve invisible onboarding on their own. The path to creating this seamless experience requires a close partnership with a payment processor who not only shares this philosophy but also has the tools to make it happen.
The ideal partner will have the following attributes.
Technological Infrastructure
Invisible onboarding is an orchestration of various technological elements working in harmony. From API integrations to real-time data exchange, the right payment partner brings forth a sophisticated technological infrastructure that seamlessly merges with the software’s existing framework. This synergy is vital for realizing the dream of invisible onboarding.
Consultative Approach
The payment landscape is ever-evolving, with new trends, challenges, and opportunities cropping up regularly. A payment partner that adopts a consultative approach can guide software companies through these ebbs and flows, ensuring their onboarding strategy and payment processes remain contemporary, PCI compliant, and customer-centric.
Sales and Marketing Acumen
Beyond the technicalities of payment integration, there’s the challenge of effectively marketing this invisible process. You’re essentially marketing something that’s designed to be unnoticed.
This is where an integrated payment solutions partner with prowess in sales and marketing strategies becomes indispensable. They can craft compelling narratives, position the payment solution effectively, and drive conversion and profitability with a deep understanding of the market.
Best Practices and Continuous Learning
An experienced payment partner brings a repository of best practices, insights, and learnings, ensuring software companies don’t have to navigate the maze of invisible onboarding from scratch. This wisdom is invaluable in designing an onboarding experience that’s optimized for success.
The Future is Invisible
In the realm of integrated payments, invisibility is the new visibility. By embedding payments so naturally that customers feel it’s a default part of the software, companies can harness the true potential of their platforms. It’s an art, a strategy, and the way forward.
At Nexio, we recognize the pivotal role that relationships play in achieving success. Our team of experts is here to guide you in making strategic decisions and implementing changes at the most opportune time for your company. We assist you in creating a flexible growth path that minimizes operational burdens, costs and risks. Don’t miss out on the chance to unleash the full potential of your integrated payments.