I recently attended a conference to learn more about new technologies and how I can adapt them to my business. While I did learn some new things, I also became aware of some others. Many of the presenters were selling their information products and programs at the event. This typically does not bother me since I often look forward to learning more about things that I find interesting. The part that bothered me was how these sales were being taken.
Each speaker offered a product and after their presentation you were given an opportunity to purchase. At this point, you were given an order form to write your information on (some in triplicate), including your credit card and CCV number. The transaction would be completed at a later date. Now there were a few things about this system that bothered me.

1. I am not at all comfortable with writing my credit card information down for fear of identity theft.

2. All of these programs were fairly high priced, and as stated before, already available for purchase online. An efficient method would have been to process the transaction online with a discount code and send me an e-mail confirmation.
3. They could have rented a wireless credit card machine for the day and processed all orders immediately. They also could have accepted cash or checks to eliminate any possibility of credit card fraud.
4. Phone lines, electricity and wifi were all available in the room where the conference took place. Since I accept credit cards for my business, I am aware that all of these components would be necessary in order to process credit cards onsite.

While I was interested in a few of the programs, I had severe reservations about this system and its security. You see, they would have all of my information readily available to anyone who picked up any of this paperwork. All of these presenters seemed honest and trustworthy, but there were many people helping with the order taking. Yet since they frequently speak throughout the country, why would they not have merchant services that offer them the latest technologies to offer their customers a secure transaction?
As a business owner, you need to consider your audience first. If you offer a product for sale, how is it made available to the consumer? If you are intending to sell your products off-site, you should ensure the security of your customer’s information. Most merchant services offer portable systems that can be attached to a laptop computer and use wifi to process transactions. If your business is already an online business, you should have e-commerce software on your website, which also enables you to process transactions anywhere you have access to wifi. If you do need a telephone line, ensure that one is available and bring the proper cords/cables to make your “shopping cart” and merchant services available to your customer. By failing to consider their audience, these businesses lost potential customers. And as conference coordinator, what steps are you taking to ensure that your exhibitors/presenters are considering your audience? Is this how you want to run your business?