Social Media: B2B Marketing in a B2C World

Written By: Summer E. Poletti, Director of Client Relations

LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook are great tools for promoting brand awareness, increasing online presence, interacting with current and potential clients and marketing services, but it can be a challenge to market B2B services in a consumer environment. We conducted research for almost two years prior to launching Cachet's Social Media Marketing campaign. While there has been plenty of advice written on social media marketing for businesses, we found that once again, there was nothing written that was tailored even remotely to companies offering payroll and ACH processing services.

We have a unique industry with unique needs and we built a social media marketing campaign that is sensitive to those needs and the "small world" that is the financial services industry.

When starting or running your own social media marketing campaign, while not necessarily exclusive to the ACH or payroll industry, the following are a few keys things you should keep in mind for your B2B Social Media Marketing.

Follow your competitors. It may seem a little crazy, but don't you want to keep tabs on what they are doing? Maybe they will share new products or ideas that you need to know in order to remain competitive. They may Tweet tidbits that are not listed on their Web site.

• Are they offering new ancillary services?
• Do they process garnishment payments?
• Are they offering online payroll tax processing services?
• Are they processing corporate financing?

You may never know unless you follow their online conversations.

Watch how you interact with competitors. In reference to the above, you want to keep tabs on them, but do you want to help promote their business or increase their online presence? I didn't think so. Prior to starting your Social Media Marketing campaign, be sure you have a well defined plan as to how you will interact with competitors online. Please be sure to consider not only your direct competitors, but competitors of your alliance partners, vendors and clients.

Don't give too much information. You want to give your prospects and clients enough information about your products and services to keep them interested. However, please remember that (in reference to the above) your competitors are probably following you. Don't give away your secrets!

Keep it professional. This goes without saying for any business, but it is so much more important in the payroll industry. We are, after all, asking that people entrust us with very sensitive financial matters and data. We want people to know and believe that when we draft their account we will, in fact, calculate the employee payroll and taxes correctly, and remit Federal and State payroll taxes timely. No one will trust you if you tweet like a 15-year old. It can be a challenge on Twitter, with only 140 characters, but try to keep grammar at its best whenever possible. If your post is too long, consider writing a blog about it or posting it on Facebook or LinkedIn.

Try not to follow significantly more people than follow you. Facebook and Twitter remind me of high school and unfortunately no one is going to want to follow you or "Like" your page if you are unpopular online. People will wonder if you're tweeting at all, if you are giving good information or just posting shamelessly self-promotional items. Follow all the people you need in order to stay up-to-date on all the industry news, but try to have a balanced profile.

Don't be a Spammer. Everyone knows that every social media campaign is meant to increase online presence and drive more sales but payroll professionals are very busy and are not going to take time for your posts if all you do is tweet or post about your services. Bring added value to the table to keep your followers interested, Tweet on topics that will educate your clients, such as;

• New requirements for payroll tax forms
• New agency requirements that will affect employee payroll and taxes
• New laws that will affect payroll tax withholding and calculation
• New payroll or tax software updates
• Schedule updates for agency payroll tax deposits
• Other useful payroll and tax compliance updates

Show your clients and prospects that you are an expert in your industry and a great source of information protecting them from needless penalties and interest. They will choose you over your competitor who only tweets about how awesome he is or why you should buy his products and services.

5 Reasons to Offer Direct Deposit

Written by: Patricia DeKeyzer, Marketing Coordinator

As a payroll professional, you are on the front line of your company's ancillary services offering and play a key role in helping your organization and payroll clients understand the benefits of implementing ancillary services such as direct deposit. Below are five reasons to keep direct deposit in mind as one of your main ancillary service offerings.

Five Reasons to Offer Direct Deposit

1. Improved Payroll Performance. You are offering a valuable benefit and the entire payroll operation can be improved. Direct Deposit eliminates stop payments and adjustments of payroll and bank records. For companies servicing a large geographic area direct deposit ensures timely payroll delivery. Direct deopsit helps to streamline operations, your clients and their employees do not have to worry about lost or stolen paychecks.

2. Business Continuity / Disaster Recovery. We have seen on the news all the recent disasters across the United States and the world. A direct deposit program can ensure payment to your clients and their employees on time. Direct Deposit provides the employee access to their funds on time from anywhere.

3. Cost Savings for the Company. A direct deposit system can also be a cost saver for most companies. This amount will vary between companies and can be hard to measure. This will take initial research and modification could be required. Be sure to include all costs of planning, design and implementation. 

4. Float Loss. While some companies have been reluctant to move to direct deposit due to concerns related to lost float on payroll funds, those that have blazed the trail have experienced quite the opposite. Employers can save up to $1.25 per paycheck, offsetting any lost "float", according to NACHA studies. The U.S. government reports that it saves 41 cents with every direct deposit. 

5. Increased Service to Employees. The payroll office serves as a liaison between employees and employers. This occasionally requires you, as a payroll professional, to oversee the interests of both parties. Therefore, in providing an additional benefit to the employee, as well as reducing operating costs, the payroll office has met its obligation. As the payroll professional in your company, you can promote direct deposit as an employee benefit. Employees no longer will need to use personal time to make a trip to the bank. In addition, funds are available on payday. Even when your employees are sick or on vacation, they can be secure in the knowledge that their money is deposited safely into their accounts. An employee is not always limited to just one bank account either, depending on the employer's payroll system, employees may be able to deposit funds into several accounts, including both savings and checking vehicles.

Source: 2011 APA Guide to Successful Electronic Payments

NACHA Changes

The National Automated Clearing House Association (NACHA) announced the following changes effective September 16, 2011 

Collection of return fees: This change establishes the authorization and identification requirements for ACH debits used to collect return fees for certain checks and ACH debits that have been returned for insufficient or uncollected funds. The new rule addresses when return fees can be assessed under NACHA Rules; authorization requirements; timing of assessing fees; number of fees that can be assessed and other aspects.

Recurring TEL transactions: This rule is being expanded to allow greater use of the TEL (Telephone Initiated-Entry) SEC (Standard Entry Class) code and provide additional payment options for originators and receivers. Prior to September 16, 2011 only a one-time ACH can be made with a phone authorization. This change will allow recurring payments to be collected via ACH, at a lower cost to the originator. Note: This rule change is for existing client relationships or consumer-initiated phone calls.

Enhancements to the ACH Applications

1. The scope of the TEL (Telephone Initiated-Entry) application will be expanded to permit its use for recurring consumer transactions.

2. Authorization and identification requirements for ACH debits used to collect return fees for certain checks and ACH debits that have been returned for insufficient or uncollected funds will be established.

3. The scope of the XCK Application (Destroyed Check Entry) will be expanded to permit its use for certain damaged checks that cannot be imaged or other check images that cannot be processed
. 
Potential Pain Points in the Rules
The scope of the annual rules compliance audit requirements were expanded to require Third-Party Senders to conduct audits to the extent that they perform any functions of an ODFI (Originating Depository Financial Institution) under the Rules.

1. Obsolete language concerning the transmission and availability of entries on days that are not banking days for both the transmitting and receiving ACH Operator and financial institution was removed.

2. Current industry practices regarding the timely return of a credit entry returned to an RDFI by its customer were codified.

3. Specific conditions under which an ODFI may dishonor a return entry and the specific conditions under which an RDFI may contest and/or correct such a dishonor were clarified.

4. Outdated language regarding warranties and liabilities of associations from the Rules was removed.

5. A provision from the rules compliance audit language related to return entries for which no corresponding rule exists was removed.

According to NACHA a rule amendment will address inconsistencies regarding the inclusion (or lack thereof) of revocation language in authorizations for single-entry transactions, and require such revocation language to be included for single entries that are scheduled in advance. Contact PTM's sister company, Cachet, for more information on how these changes affect your payroll service bureau. www.cachetbanq.com

5 Things Clients Love to Hear

Written By: Summer E. Poletti, Director of Client Relations
 

The financial services business is a competitive one. Clients have many options and if you can't offer them the best price and the best service, you may find them looking elsewhere or opting to do in-house ACH and payroll processing in an attempt to save money.

You may provide the best ACH outsourcing solutions, have a full host of ancillary services and save your clients time and money by eliminating their penalties and interest. But sometimes, being the best just isn't good enough, especially in today's competitive market.

Following, please find a short list of things we have found clients love to hear. Throw them into your client services bag of tricks and turn your clients into raving fans.

1. Great Idea – Everyone likes to feel as though they are making an impact and clients are no different. Listen to them, they may be able to help you improve systems, products, service, etc. If you implement a client’s idea, be sure to let them know, they will be thrilled.

2. We have taken steps to ensure ________ won’t happen again – No matter how loud they complain or how many choice words they may use, most clients just want the same things… a solution and some insurance they won’t be having this conversation with you next month. When presenting a solution, do not underestimate the importance of letting them know what you have or will be doing in order to ensure the problem will not occur in the future.

3. Options – In the chaos of the average business day, we all feel like we want to have a little control. Give your clients 2 or 3 options, especially when resolving a conflict. They will be more willing to accept your solution if it is the one they chose.

4. Your voice – In our modern era where everyone is trying to cram 16 hours of work into a 12-hour day, it can be all too tempting to just shoot off a quick email. Don’t forget that good customer service is all about relationship building; take a few minutes and pick up the phone.

5. Thank You – It goes without saying that the thing clients want to hear most of all is “thank you”. They know they pay your bills and just want you to recognize that every once in a while. In addition to thanking your happy clients when they refer business to you, don’t forget to thank a client who complains. At least the complaining client is giving you the opportunity to make a change and save his business, rather than the client who leaves silently.

As your chosen ACH processor, we'll try to adhere to these simple rules and make you feel special and appreciated every day.