Novera Payment Solutions

Sys2K’s Infinity complete dealer management software now offers U.S. customers integrated PCI compliant payment processing through a new integration with Novera Payment Solutions, LLC.

Sys2K™, a leading provider of Windows®‐based dealer management software that features real‐time integration across all dealership departments, is pleased to announce a partnership with Novera Payment Solutions, LLC. The Novera integration allows US customers to securely process credit card payments directly through the Sys2K. Infinity software suite.

As part of this partnership, Novera provides its integrated payment processing solution to Sys2K customers utilizing a cost‐effective, transparent monthly fee structure; all additional fees normally associated with payment processing integration such as gateway fees, interface setup, and maintenance fees have been absorbed into one bundled package.

“The partnership between Novera and Sys2K is exactly the type of relationship we look for with Integrated Software Vendors or (ISV’s)… The collaborative effort between Sys2K and Novera has produced a great offering for Sys2K clients, and we are extremely pleased to be partnered with them,” said John Wisniewski, Director of Business Development for Novera Payment Solutions, LLC.

“With Novera, we are excited to offer our clients a straightforward, secure and robust integrated credit card processing solution that will save them time and money,” said Carl Sconnely, President of Sys2K.

About Novera

Novera specializes in partnerships with Integrated Software Vendors or (ISV’s) for payment acceptance.

These partnership programs include the initial design plan, including optimization for maximum adoption of uses and the ongoing management of the program. Novera is one of the largest registered Member Service Providers (MSP’s) for WorldPay and delivers flexibility in accepting credit card payments, debit card payments, and virtual terminal solutions through PCI‐compliant payment processing plans.

About Sys2K

Sys2K™ (Systems 2000, Inc.) is a premier provider of Powersports, Bus, Marine, Automotive, and Class 8/Heavy Duty, and RV dealership software. Sys2K’s Infinity software is a fully integrated, indows®‐based DMS that features modules including CRM, F&I, Parts and Service, Payroll, Accounting, Rental, Advanced Reporting, Premium Websites, Cloud Hosting, and Mobile Apps. Founded in 1984, Sys2K prides itself in developing the highest‐quality software solutions for the dealership environment. For more information, visit http://www.sys2k.com.

For more information, visit: www.noverapaymentsolutions.com/sys2k

Sys2K has teamed up with Novera Payment Solutions, LLC (Novera). Novera is a partner for integrated credit card payment processing services and debit card payment processing to Sys2K clients. Novera was selected to help guide you through the complicated world of credit & debit card acceptance. Novera delivers a unique combination of value, integrity and price transparency to Sys2K clients that is unparalleled throughout the payment processing industry.

Who is Novera Payment Solutions?

Novera Payment Solutions is well known as a leader in the credit card payments industry and is committed to helping auto dealerships and other businesses improve their bottom line by providing significant savings on credit card processing fees through our innovative and transparent pricing models.

Contact Novera to learn more about how we work with small businesses, auto dealers and auto dealer associations to provide the most fair and transparent pricing structure available on the market today for credit card processing.

It's no secret that B2B (business to business) marketing and B2C (business to consumer) marketing has changed significantly in the past five years. One of the primary reasons for this is the growth of social media.  Successful businesses are becoming resources for their customers, regularly creating valuable content of interest and sharing it freely across the social sphere.

If your auto dealership (or any business for that matter) has yet to dive in to social media, it's time to get on the bandwagon. You're already behind, so there's no time to waste! One of the big mistakes made by companies, however, is jumping in without a plan.

Here are six tips to prepare your auto dealership for social media marketing so you do it right from the start.

1. Set clear goals for the social media efforts of your auto dealership.
   Like anything else, without goals you cannot measure whether anything has been acheived. Good goals are measurable and have a timeframe associated with them.
   
   
2. Ensure that you have enough personel resources dedicated to the effort.
   If you don't have the personel in house, then consider hiring an agency to assist you. The key to an effective social media presence is great content, consistency, engagement, and monitoring. This does not happen by logging in to Facebook just once per week and making a sales post.
   
   
3. Commit to building great content and giving it away.
   This is the age of the customer. Customers have access to more information, reviews, testimonials, and studies than ever before. If you want to position yourself as the expert in your field and have your auto dealership dominate in your area, you need to make helpful information available to your client-base freely and regularly, across multiple channels.
   
   
4. Identify what social channels your customers are using and how they are using them.
   There are only so many hours in the day. Ideally, you would be publishing across all the major social channels, but if your time is limited then you need to find out where your customers are hanging out and make those channels your priority. Are they on Facebook? Twitter? Google+?  Are they using Pinterest?  Find out the answer and make sure your auto dealership has an active presence there.
   
   
5. Clean up your website.
   One of the by-products of effective social media campaigns is increased traffic to your website. What does your website do for your auto dealership today? Does it have effective calls to action and lead capturing capabilities? If not, take the time to fix this. When you are driving new traffic to your site, you want to make sure you have the ability to capture information and get the prospective customer to do what you want them to while they are there!
   
   
6. Measure your results regularly.
   Remember tip number one? If you've set measurable goals, make sure you actually stop after the time period you specified and review what you've done and the results that you've achieved. Review what did and did not work. Tweak your process, set a new goal, and repeat!

Just like anything else in business, if you start with a plan, your chances of success are amplified!  With these simple steps, your auto dealership (and again, ANY business) will be off and running building great social media presence.

Who is Novera Payment Solutions?

Novera Payment Solutions is well known as a leader in the credit card payments industry and is committed to helping auto dealerships and other businesses improve their bottom line by providing significant savings on credit card processing fees through our innovative flat fee pricing model.

Contact Novera to learn more about how we work with small businesses, auto dealers and auto dealer associations to provide the most fair and transparent pricing structure available on the market today for credit card processing.

If you are new to social media marketing for your business, you may be wondering about hashtags, how to use them and when to use them.  A hashtag (also known as the pound sign in the US) is used to make a word searchable on Twitter (and on Instagram & Pinterest). In recent months, Facebook and Google+ have also integrated hashtags.  On these social channels, hashtags give you a way to categorize your posts based on topics that people may be interested in following.

Hashtags are used to help your posts get found online, but before you jump in and start using them, there are 5 things you should know to make the most effective use of them.

Start by thinking about the types of hashtags your customers would follow.  Don't be too general; you want your customers to engage in what you have to say.  When marketing your business online, think about the detailed words and phrases that those in your target market use. Be creative and think outside your brand message. Consider trending topics, as well. It's okay to participate in a conversation online outside of your sales message. Consider this, your potential custumers watch the news, primetime TV, have families, and need a variety of services. The use of a variety of hashtags in your marketing messages can get you in front of these consumers using topics you may have never considered.

Below are a few examples to give you an idea of where to start with hashtags:

• Name an event. #Olympics2014 is a popular hashtag right now ... how might you integrate this into your marketing message?
• Build on a trend. If you run a Jeep dealership, #lovemyjeep might be a great hashtag for a post ... especially if you can get others (your customers) to start using it!
• Use a location. #Atlanta localizes your message if you are an Atlanta based business.
• Use something from pop culture, such as a popular TV Show. #AmericanIdol, might be a great hashtag if you operate a Ford auto dealership. Because Ford is a major sponsor of America Idol, getting online and tweeting locally about #AmericanIdol may get their younger demographic into your dealership.
• Give a summary of your day. #lovemyjob, might be a good one to push a message about a client success.
• Use SEO Strategies. #BrooklynHondaDealer, focuses keywords around your business if you operate an auto dealership in Brooklyn that sells Hondas.

 You get the idea!

By creating your own unique hashtag, you can drive conversations about your business.  If you are having a sale, you could promote it with a hashtag incorporating your business name,  #SaveBigatNovera is an example.  Encourage your followers and friends to use the hashtag as well.  Creating hashtags for an event also works well to get attendees and prospects interested in the event.  You want to make sure your new hashtag is distinctive. Try to incorporate your business name or at least the initials if the name is too long. 

If you are creating a new hashtag to use for marketing, make sure it isn’t already being used by someone else.  The hashtag may already be in use by a company or group that you don’t want associated with yours.  Some words have double meanings, so be careful when choosing a hashtag to represent your brand and company. 

Using already popular hashtags is also great way to get your business noticed, as well.  See which hashtags are trending and try to incorporate them into your posts. Find businesses like yours and see what’s working for them. 

A few resources for researching hashtags include:

• Twitter Search : https://twitter.com/search-home
• Hash at It : http://www.hashatit.com
• Hashtags.org : http://www.hashtags.org
• What the Trend : http://whatthetrend.com/

Since twitter already limits you to 140 characters, it is important to keep your hashtags short.  If you want others to re-tweet your message, you need to get your point across by being clear and concise in that short amount of space.  The most successful hashtags are typically the ones that are easiest to remember. 

Excessive hashtags send the message of desperate marketing and can be a way to lose followers quickly.  Use only 1-3 hashtags per tweet for the best results.  Too many hashtags can be distracting from your message, as well. 

Now that you know a little bit more about hashtags, search for a few topics that are relevant to your business.  This can give you a starting point for your first attempt at using hashtags.  The proper use of hash tags in your posts across the social media channels can help drive conversation about your brand and your industry, as well as grow your followers and fans.

About Novera Payment Solutions

Novera Payment Solutions is a leader in the credit card payments industry. We are committed to helping businesses improve their bottom line by providing significant savings on credit card processing fees through our innovative flat fee merchant account pricing model.

Contact Novera to learn more about how we work with businesses  to provide the most fair and transparent pricing structure available on the market today!

In previous posts, we've discussed the fact that there are few things more frustrating to auto dealerships than losing precious recurring service business to the aftermarket. Fortunately, several strategies are available to help auto dealers to build service retention programs and to profit from them. Our recent post, "Keep Service Business at Your Autodealership", discussed using pre-paid maintenance plans, and well as service rewards and customer loyalty programs. Just as with pre-paid maintenance plans, customer loyalty card programs keep car owners coming back to your dealership through the life of the vehicle, allowing you to cultivate long term relationships with your customers and ultimately create repeat purchasers and referrers.

You can also use social media as a very powerful tool to draw service business back to your dealership!

There are many reasons you should be using Twitter to help market your auto dealership and build your brand, but did you know that Twitter also has a free SMS (text messaging) service? The best part is your customers do not have to have Twitter accounts. They can simply subscribe to receive your Twitter updates via text message, which are then received directly on their smart phones. What a great way to alert customers of service specials, remind them seasonal of service checkups, as well as promote other specials throughout the dealership.

Here's how it works:

1. Create a Twitter account for your dealership. Once you have setup your account, you will have a Twitter handle.  For example, @NJCarDealer.
2. Market your text alert service with signage at the dealership, in your ads, and in your other promotional materials.
3. Your customers use their smart phones and send a text message to shortcode 40404 that reads FOLLOW NJCarDealer (replace NJCarDealer with your actual handle). Notice there is no mention of Twitter here ... your customer does not have to have a Twitter account. This service is called Fast Follow.
4. Once your customer subscribes by sending this text message, they will receive anything you post to your Twitter account as an actual live text message on their smart phone. 

Why is this so powerful?

Besides the fact that Twitter makes this available to you free of charge, consider some of these stats from Anchor Mobile and LogMyCalls:

1. 98% of text messages are read vs. 29% of Tweets vs. 12% of Facebook posts vs. 20% of emails.
2. 90% of text messages are read within three minutes of receipt.
3. SMS coupons are 10x more likely to be redeemed than mail or newspaper coupons
4. 70% of all people in the U.S. said they would like to receive offers on their mobile phones.
5. The average person looks at their phone 150 times each day.

You already know that ngoing interaction with satisfied customers through the life of the vehicle builds relationships and customer loyalty. Considering giving Twitter a try!

About Novera Payment Solutions

Learn more about Loyalty Cards and Service Rewards Programs for your dealership:

• Get started with Novera's Loyalty & Service Rewards Program for Auto Dealers and increase your customer service visits

• Use the Loyalty & Service Rewards Program to bring customers back to repurchase

• See dramatic savings on your credit card processing fees with Novera's flat fee, transparent processing rates for auto dealers

Google and Your Business

Business owners are often excited when they “Google” their business name and see their website at the top of the search results. 

FACT: You should be dominating Google for your business name!

Unless your website has no content directly referecing your business name or your website address, you SHOULD be the number one result in Google when someone is searching for your business name.  Not only should you be the number one listing, you should DOMINATE the entire first page of results.

These results should include:

• Your website home page
• Secondary pages of your website
• Company press releases
• Business social media pages
• Your company page on LinkedIn
• Reviews

If this is not happening, it's probably time for you to beef up your social media presence, review the on-site optimization of your website, and start asking your customers for reviews online.

The real question is, what if people are NOT searching for your business name, but for your service or product instead? Where does your business rank?

Ensure your website optimized for the primary search terms related to your business.

Search is local.

Yes, it’s important that you come up on page one of Google for your business name, but you should also be working toward ranking well for the primary search terms for your service or product.  Let’s say you are in the auto dealership in St. Louis.  A possible Google search by someone looking for your business type may be “auto dealership in st. louis”.  Notice that we used “St. louis” in the search term.  People search locally. While Google can still target your location by your internet service provider, a general query for “auto dealership” may display various national results if the user is not signed in to Google.

For best organic search results, localize the on-page optimization of your website.

By localizing, you have a much greater chance of ranking near the top of page one on Google for your target consumer. This can ultimately lead to higher conversion rate through your site.

What are some tools to help you look at what people are searching for?

There is a great keyword research tool to help you examine what keywords people are using  when they search Google for your business type.  Go to www.googlekeywordtool.com and click on the Google Keyword Tool link.  Use this tool to see how many people monthly are searching for a particular term. Talk with your webmaster about optimizing your website around these terms, as well as targeting locally.

Google is where your customers will find you online.

Google is by far the most utilized search engine in the world.  By making smart and informed choices on how to properly optimize your business website, you have a better chance of obtaining page one results.  If you throw in a great content and social media strategy on top of it, you'll not only dominate the page one results for your business name, you'll also have a great chance of ranking on page one for your primary, local keyword search phrases.

About Novera Payment Solutions

Novera Payment Solutions is well known as a leader in the credit card payments industry and is committed to helping auto dealerships and other businesses improve their bottom line by providing significant savings on credit card processing fees through our innovative flat fee pricing model.

Novera Payment Solutions Advantange

• Novera Payment Solutions's consultative approach allows us to thoroughly educate our clients, equipping them to better understand this complicated industry.

• We take the mystery out of the credit card processing business.

• We work with all types of businesses across the country, and one our specialties is auto dealership credit card processing.

Contact Novera to learn more about how we work with small businesses, auto dealers and auto dealer associations to provide the most fair and transparent pricing structure available on the market today for credit card processing.

Advances in technology have turned simple mobile phones and tablet devices into powerful computing tools. Today, comsumers are using their phones and tablets for everything from getting directions, finding the cheapest gas, sharing photos and videos in real time, reading reviews, and paying for purchases. 

If your business has not yet entered the realm of accepting mobile payments, here are five reasons why you should start accepting mobile payments now.

1. The proliferation of mobile phone across the globe will drive mobile commerce. According to Cisco, by 2015 788 million people will be using smart-phone only browsers.
   
   
2. The growth in mobile payments by 2015 is expected to explode.
   According to Juniper Research, $670 billion worth of global mobile transactions is expected. Yankee Group projects that number at $1 trillion.
   
   
3. More adults than ever own tablet computers.
   According to the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project, more than 30% of US adults own a tablet-based computer, such as the Apple iPad, Samsung Galaxy Tab, or other model.
   
   
4. Market indicators show nothing but growth in the future of tablet-based eCommerce.
   comScore estimates that tablet-driven ecommerce sales account for approximately 12 per cent of eCommerce this year. Additionally, eMarketer estimates that tablet-based eCommerce could surpass $24 billion in the U.S. by the end of 2013 and surpass $50 billion 2016.
   
   
5. Tablet Owners are Grown Gen-Xers & Gen-Yers, Affluent, and Educated.
   Again, according to Pew Research, “...almost half (49 per cent) of adults ages 35-44 now own a tablet computer, significantly more than any other age group.” College educated adults topped the largest percentage of tablet owners, and households with incomes of $75,000+ own at least one tablet device in their household.

Clearly, the time to get started with mobile payments is now.

Novera Payment Solutions is leading the way in helping businesses get setup to accept mobile credit card payments. As a leader in the credit card payments industry, Novera is committed to  businesses improve the bottom line by providing significant savings on mobile credit card processing fees through our innovative flat fee pricing model.

The Novera Advantange

• Novera’s consultative approach allows us to thoroughly educate our clients, equipping them to better understand this complicated industry.

• We take the mystery out of the credit card processing business.

• We work with all types of businesses across the country.

• One of our specialities is mobile payment solutions.
  

Contact Novera to learn more about how we work with businesses to provide the most fair and transparent pricing structure available on the market today for credit card processing.

According to a study by Cone Communications, 80% of consumers say they have changed their mind about a purchase based solely on negative information they found online. It's no surprise that having negative reviews about your business online can significantly impact your bottom line.

So, what should you do if you find a negative online review about your auto dealership?

There 6 key steps you should considering taking when responsing, but before you attempt to respond be sure you've claimed your social media profiles. This enables you to respond to reviews directly as the owner of the business. "Claiming" your profiles varies by service, but generally it involves creating the account and verifying your ownership. Start with Google+, but also include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Yelp, and FourSquare, at a minimum. Be sure to check out our recent blog post featuring "7 Sites to Monitor to Protect Your Auto Dealership Online Reputation" for others.

Once you have an account that allows you to respond as the owner of the business, considering taking these 6 steps when responding to a negative review.

1. Thank them for taking the time to provide feedback. The person writing the review has done business with you and presumably has spent some money. You should also understand your reviewer is likely vocal and opinionated (otherwise they would not be writing the review). They are taking their time to let you (and their friends) know about the experience. Right or wrong on their end, it's important to acknowledge and thank them. Remember, this doesn't mean you necessarily agree with the feedback ... you are simply thanking them taking the time to provide it.
2. Acknowledge their frustration. We've all been there as a consumer. Acknowledging the customer's feelings (again, right or wrong) shows empathy and can help diffuse those feelings. It can be a simple statement like, "I am sure this made you incredibly frustrated."
3. Apologize, if the review is true. If in fact the negative review is warranted based on an actual experience at your business, a simple apology can go a long way. A sincere "I am truly sorry you had this experience at our dealership," let's the reviewer know you acknowledge the problem actually occurred and that it matters to you.
   
4. Address any adjustments you've made as a result of the feedback. For example, if someone writes a negative review because they waited too long in the service area, perhaps you've added another mechanic during peak hours, or added free WiFi or beverages to your waiting area to help pass the time. Or maybe you've implemented a stronger communcation process so customers are better informed of the time it will take for the service.
5. Offer to discuss the issue further. You've thanked them for the feedback, you've ackowledged their frustrations, you've apologized, and you've let them know that a change has been made as a result of the feedback. Now, if they have any questions or concerns let them know that you would personally like to assist them offline and provide a good way to contact you (or you can contact them if you have their information).
6. Close with your commitment to excellence. Close the response with your committment to excellent customer service and thank them again for providing information to help your business improve.

Always, always, always take the high road.

Remember, many times when someone writes a negative review, they are doing so because they are at their wits end and don't think they will get satisfaction any other way. They may also be angry when they are writing it. No matter how inappropriate the commentary or the language, as the business owner, you should take the high road of complete professionalism. This will prevent things from spiraling into further online commentary.

Many businesses get negative reviews, some warranted and others not. People do read them. They also read the responses from the business owners, when they are available. It is your response to that negative review that they will judge. Refrain from attacking the reviewer or being condescending to the reviewer, no matter how tempting it may be. If you work through the sevensteps above, you have a great opportunity to turn the negative into a positive for your auto dealership.

For tips on generating more positive online reviews, see "4 Tips to Get Your Customers to Write Great Reviews."

Who is Novera Payment Solutions?

Novera Payment Solutions is well known as a leader in the credit card payments industry and is committed to helping auto dealerships and other businesses improve their bottom line by providing significant savings on credit card processing fees through our innovative flat fee pricing model.

Contact Novera to learn more about how we work with small businesses, auto dealers and auto dealer associations to provide the most fair and transparent pricing structure available on the market today for credit card processing.

According to a Bazaarvoice survery, 76% of consumers regularly or occasionally use online reviews to determine which local business to use. The same study found that a desire to help others was the reason 90 percent of consumers write reviews. This is great news for your auto dealership (as well as other business owners).

The question is, how can you capitalize on this and generate more positive reviews for your business?

1. Build your social presence.
   In order to get positive online reviews, your auto dealership needs to have a presence in the social landscape. Setup your Google+ page, create a Yelp account, make sure you have business Facebook page, as well as a business LinkedIn page. These accounts are essential, at a minimum. Other platforms are also important in different industries (FourSquare, Trip Advisor, etc).
    
2. Promote your social presence.
   Make your customers aware of your social presence and encourage regular engagement with your brand. Interact with your customers online. The more enagement you have, the more likely you are to receive unsolicited positive reviews and feedback.
   
   To promote your social presence consider using:
    

• Email signature block
• Signage in your auto dealership and service area
• Social icons in any marketing collateral
• Social icons in any print ads and billboard ads
• Social icons and widgets on your website
• Social media addresses on the back of your business cards