Avoiding Common Mistakes When Implementing Recurring Payments

Recurring payments are becoming extremely popular due to their benefits to businesses and consumers. Per an estimate, recurring payments have risen around five times more than retail sales. Both service and traditional businesses have used recurring payments by introducing subscription-based models as part of their consumer offerings. However, in the current scenario, most enterprises using the recurring payments model are from the service sector.

As the external business environment depends on various factors, survival for small and medium-sized businesses could be difficult. Periods of low demand, uncertainty, and gloomy economic conditions could affect long-term planning for such businesses. In such a scenario, to accept recurring payments online provides a sense of security to businesses by ensuring constant cash flows. Due to this, it is easier for enterprises to provide real value to customers.

However, despite the advantages, implementing recurring payments presents numerous challenges. Different strategies should address such issues so that an enterprise can fully reap the benefits of a subscription-based model based on recurring payments. Similarly, understanding the intricacies of a subscription box business journey can help businesses fine-tune their subscription models and delight their customers. By focusing on niche markets and offering high-quality, curated products, businesses can set themselves apart from competitors in the subscription space.

Understanding the Common Mistakes

From a theoretical perspective, implementing recurring payments could be a pivotal step in the overall financial planning of an enterprise. At the same time, there are a few mistakes that the decision-makers often commit, so it is quite difficult to unlock the full potential of this process. Here are the most common mistakes committed while implementing recurring payments:

Mistake#1: Lack of Clear Payment Terms

One of the things that can adversely affect the relationship between a business and a customer could be unclear payment terms. Any ambiguity in payment terms and conditions can easily result in unnecessary confrontations and disputes between the parties. A business decision-maker should ensure that nothing is left on 'general understanding' as payment terms always need clarity.

Let's take a hypothetical example: a network streaming service provides a monthly subscription for $9.99 per user. However, the payment terms nowhere mention that users can only use the services on one specific device and cannot stream on two different devices simultaneously. The streaming service automatically charges the user's credit card when any other device is signed in, even with the same ID. In such situations, a confrontation and dispute between the two parties is inevitable. The business must clarify everything related to the payment terms and conditions.

Tips to Create Transparent Payment Terms and Conditions

It would be incorrect to blame a service provider for making such errors knowingly. Inadvertent ambiguity in payment terms and conditions is common, especially for businesses working on a subscription model and dealing with recurring payments. Here are a few tips that you can take care of to make the payment terms and conditions more transparent:

It is important to be explicit about the payment terms. The business should mention the frequency and amount of recurring payments. Further, it is important to clarify the various factors that can cause disputes between the parties at a later stage, such as additional fees, setup fees, or late payment penalties.
It is critical to define the meaning of a billing cycle. A business must provide a schedule for the billing cycle so that the customer can plan personal finances effectively.
It is important to mention accepted and unaccepted payment methods. Further, all the details about cashback, reward points, etc., should be duly communicated to the customer.
It is vital to explain and present cancellation policies clearly, and such policies should be easily accessible to customers. Customers should always know how to initiate cancellations and any applicable refund policies.
A customer may have numerous queries and clarifications despite providing all the necessary information. Hence, contact information should be provided, and customer support should be impeccable.

Mistake#2: Insufficient Customer Communication

Continuing from the previous point, we mentioned how a customer might have numerous queries or need different clarifications about payment terms, recurring payments, and other related topics. Contact information might not be enough, as customer support should be quick and efficient. It is critical to keep the customers informed throughout the payment process. By this, it is possible to attain reduced customer churn levels and improve overall user experience.

Insufficient customer communication has numerous other impacts besides increasing customer complaints, confrontations, and disputes. For instance, it can result in customers being caught off guard by unexpected charges, leading to frustration and distrust. A lack of communication can also result in missed payments, declined transactions, and subsequent account suspensions or cancellations.

Tips for Effective Customer Communication

As the discussion around effective communication started in the previous part, it is now the time to elaborate on it further. Here are a few tips that every business, particularly the ones having recurring payment processes, should introduce to have a well-managed and effective customer communication process:

There must be preemptive notifications to the customers, such as well in advance, for upcoming payments. This could be done through email, SMS, or in-app notifications so that they know the different impending charges.
Billing statements should be clear and detailed to ensure that customers understand the charges, penalties, fees, etc. Any ambiguity in the bill can result in unnecessary increased communication on the customer's part.
Personalized communication must be based on the behaviors and the customer's messaging source.
The customer can seek assistance and support from different communication channels. The business must have accessible communication channels such as phone, email, chat, or self-service portals.
There should be plenty of educational resources, such as tutorials, guides, and troubleshooting tips, that may help customers navigate the payment processes with confidence.

Mistake#3: Failure to Secure Sensitive Data

It is important to remember that a customer not only puts their trust in the service/product marketed by a company but also provides it with sensitive payment information for initiating recurring payments. In such a situation, a business must be as serious about the security of such information as the quality of goods and services supplied. As external threats have become more sophisticated than ever, a robust security system must be implemented that not only safeguards customer data but also protects the reputation and integrity of the business.

Any breaches can affect the overall relationship between the customer and the enterprise. Such instances can result in bad marketing for the company. There can be massive financial losses caused to customers due to identity theft or other factors. In addition, regulatory bodies can account for such factors and take actions such as fines under data protection laws like GDPR or CCPA.

You might also be interested in knowing how to recover data quickly in case of a breach or attack. Please refer to our knowledge center for more.

Tips to Secure Sensitive Customer Data

Even though the security of personal and financial information is a specialized job of IT professionals, there are a few tips mentioned here that can be taken into account by enterprises having recurring payment systems:

Data should be properly encrypted in transit and at rest to prevent unauthorized access. An enterprise can introduce encryption algorithms and secure key management practices to safeguard customer information.
The enterprise can introduce tokenization techniques to replace sensitive data with non-sensitive placeholders. This reduces the overall risk of exposure, even at the time of a real breach.
The enterprise should focus on developing a secure network infrastructure. Further, it is critical to ensure that the software is regularly updated to ensure proper compliance and protection.
There should be strict access controls and least privilege principles to limit the exposure of sensitive data to authorized personnel only.
Further, regular security audits and penetration testing must be emphasized to determine whether the existing systems are good enough to tackle the external threats posed.

Mistake#4: Ignoring Customers' Feedback and Complaints

One of the biggest issues before businesses is that customer feedback and complaints are often considered negative input for the enterprise. This is a rather wrong assumption, as any feedback or complaint from the customer signifies that they wish to stay and want the quality of services to improve. By actively soliciting and attentively listening to customer input, businesses can gain invaluable perspectives on pain points, preferences, and areas for improvement.

Any business that decides not to take care of the customer feedback inadvertently works for its own doom. It results in an increase in pain points and eventually alienates the organization from a competitive market.

Tips for Collecting and Acting on Customer Feedback

Here are a few points that can be taken into consideration for improving and acting on customer feedback:

Multiple feedback channels should be offered to customers, such as surveys, feedback forms, in-app prompts, and social media platforms. The process of feedback should be easy and accessible for all customers.
The employees should be trained to listen to customer feedback and complaints actively.
There should be a feedback integration mechanism within the recurring payment system development process.
The enterprise should work on developing a transparent communication system with the customers.
The focus should be on continuous improvement, which can be achieved by soliciting feedback at regular intervals and iterating on the payment system based on customer insights.

Summing up

It is critical for an enterprise to use recurring payments to learn from common mistakes. By prioritizing transparency in payment terms, fostering effective customer communication, fortifying data security measures, and embracing customer feedback, the enterprise can best use recurring payment processes. As the external environment keeps changing, the monitoring system must be in place. The objective must be to increase trust between the two parties.