It’s not a secret that more people started buying online. And, with the outbreak of the pandemic, as many of us have stuck in our homes, oftentimes, this is the only way for us to purchase essential products.
However, even if the pandemic ends, the number of online shoppers is not expected to drop. In the U.S. alone, this number will reportedly reach 230.5 million next year:
This rapid growth shows a steady demand for online shopping options for every industry, not just e-commerce.
Legal firms and private lawyers, who always relied more on invoicing, will now have to invest into the online payment process just to stay afloat, especially now, when a lot of people can’t leave their houses, and many areas remain in lockdown.
However, with the rising demand for online payments, there’s also a pressing question of the security of such payments and what you can do to speed them up.
So, let’s take a look at a few useful tips on how you can incorporate safe and fast online payment options on your legal website.
Simplify the Forms for Invoicing
The first level at which your clients can get stuck is filling out the invoicing form before completing the payment. Such invoices often contain a lot of confusing information and are formulated in legalese, making it hard for a client to understand it without additional help.
However, you can’t skip this step because invoices are still important for financial reports. So, make sure that the standard invoicing form is simple enough for your clients to understand.
Avoid difficult language and too many footnotes. Instead, you can put a question mark next to every section of the invoice, under which your clients can read more information on how to fill it out.
Add a Variety of Payment Methods
For the convenience of your clients, you can add different payment methods to your legal website. These payment methods can include:
- a credit card
- virtual bank transfer
- electronic check
- third-party payment services (such as PayPal)
Adding a variety of payment methods makes the payment process faster, as the client can choose the way that is most convenient for them. However, when including new payment methods, you also need to take care of the security of your website – switch from HTTP to HTTPS, include cloud backup and two-step authentication that would protect sensitive information shared by your clients.
Allow Pre-Scheduled Payments
If you decide to include an option of online payment on your legal site, you need to remember that online payment services might block the payment if the sum of money is too large.
That’s why it is important to include the option of scheduled payments and allow your clients to pay in installments.
Pre-scheduled payments are also a good solution for those clients who can’t pay the full amount right away. For instance, if you are defending a client who owns a private tutoring practice and helps people learn Italian and other foreign languages, it’s likely they won’t be able to pay for your services in full at once.
With pre-scheduled payments, they can break down the entire sum of money into more digestible parts. And, such transactions won’t look suspicious and won’t be flagged by the bank or online payment services.
One more thing: for the convenience of your clients, you can also agree on automating the scheduled payments. They won’t have to visit your website every time the payment day comes, as they will be billed automatically according to the schedule.
Standardize the Payment Process to Make It Faster
With all these points in mind, it is also important to mention that once you figure out which payment methods you want to add to your legal side, you also need to document the online payment process to make sure that both your employees and your clients are informed about it.
The lack of proper documentation will result in delays, unpaid invoices, and write-offs that will only slow down the online payment process.
Apart from standardizing online payments, make sure that your website is protected, and your clients can safely share their payment information with you.
