December 15 Deadline for Migrating to the Customer Portal

The deadline to migrate to the new Customer Portal is rapidly approaching. ClassJuggler will be retiring the old customer self-service center after December 15. Don't get caught by the deadline; act now. It's easy to migrate and takes very little of your time.

As of this newsletter, half of our clients using the old Customer Self-Service Center have already migrated to the new Customer Portal. But that leaves 50% that still have yet to migrate.

Here's how to learn more about the Customer Portal and migrating to the new version:

• To see the new Customer Portal in action, from a customer's perspective, check out this thorough tutorial video.
• Read the migration introductory article on your ClassJuggler Home Base screen.
• Review the Customer Portal Step-by-Step Migration Guide.
• Need a little extra help after reviewing the migration guide? Give us a call and we can answer your questions.

Stories from Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico

You've heard from us in both the September newsletter and October newsletter about hurricane relief for those affected by the three devastating hurricanes. But in this issue, we decided to make it a little more personal.

We want to share with you the heart wrenching story of one of our Puerto Rico clients Alicia Extreme Dance Academy of Canovanas — whose dance studio was hit hard by Hurricane Maria. Alicia took the time to send us some pictures (at our request) of her studio showing her dance floors warped and ruined from flooding and other significant damage to their studio. Our hearts go out to Alicia and all of her staff and family. We realize this is a terribly difficult time for them and want them to know that ClassJuggler cares!

In addition to our personal donations to the hurricane relief, ClassJuggler has also provided a 50% discount off all our services to affected clients to help them in their recovery.

While many of us not affected by the storms have moved on and the news media has found other topics to focus on, clients in these affected areas continue to struggle with making ends meet, as Alicia's story shows.

We encourage you to continue to donate by visiting the Red Cross donation website. Please contact us for more information on our relief efforts and how to participate.

Let's keep the momentum going on our donations!

Three Common Arguments Against Accepting Credit Cards

A look at the cost of not accepting credit card payments in your small business

There are three seemingly strong arguments I hear small business owners use, reasons that, at first blush, seem compelling, but that ultimately end up costing their businesses more money than if they had accepted credit card payments. Let's take a look at these.

Argument #1 - "The old-school way is working just fine, thanks."

This argument usually takes one form or another, such as:

• "I've been taking checks for classes for the last 20 years."
• "My parents always pay by cash or check, and I see no reason to change or pay the extra fees with merchant processing."

This is something I hear from time to time from prospective ClassJuggler clients. The truth is that the "old school" ways of bringing in money can be much more expensive.

A good question for that studio owner is, "Have you actually talked to your customers and asked them how much they enjoy writing you a check each month?"

The reality is that the overwhelming majority of parents would find it much more convenient to have their credit card billed automatically each month rather than write you a check. Seriously, who even carries a checkbook around with them anymore?

Argument #2 – "The fees and complexity are just too much."

Here is something I've heard more than one prospective ClassJuggler customer say: "Merchant processing is expensive and complicated; I just don't have time to figure this out."

While merchant processing and its associated fees can be confusing and complicated, when it is fully integrated into your studio management software, it becomes trivial to use.

As to costs, I encourage you to take a moment and answer the following questions, and see how this adds up:

1. How much time do you spend chasing down late payments?
2. How much time do you spend collecting cash or check payments each month, either at the front desk or by mail?
3. How much time do you spend organizing deposits and visiting your bank branch?
4. How much in time and cost is wasted on NSF bounced checks?
5. How much time do you spend monitoring your checking account to see when checks clear and are deposited so you can pay your bills?

The reality is that most business owners do not take into consideration their own efforts spent on these time-intensive tasks. They don't understand the real costs of their current payment process. And they often discount or ignore the inconvenience to their own customers.

After answering the questions above, add up the time. Typically, it adds up to at least 4 hours, usually much more. If you could save 4 to 8 hours monthly on payment collection, how much would that time be worth to you? That time could be turned into more classes taught, or time to better market your business, or time to plan that big open house event to promote your business.

Time really is money and saving 4, 8 or more hours monthly more than pays for the costs of accepting credit and debit cards.

--- Read the complete article on our blog ---