Podium

Podium doesn’t boast a robust set of features. However, the app wasn’t created to provide one in the first place. Being an innovative payment processing tool, Podium’s main focus lies in increasing the engagement rate with your audience and boosting customer retention. The software allows small business owners to talk and even negotiate with consumers directly, and as soon as a consensus is reached, request payment, all through the app. That being said, there are a number of handy features that the tool provides. Here are the most prominent ones.

Direct payments

When initiating a conversation via the Podium app, businesses have the ability to sell their products and services directly through the app. All you need to do is send the payment link to the consumers and they will be redirected to the payment portal. This feature helps close deals while they are still hot and eliminates any time waste to collect payments. Moreover, the refunds, when required, can be done directly through the app, as well.

Customizable Invoices

With Podium, you can quickly create invoices with your company name and logo, and forward them to consumers. You can also specify payment methods for different customers or purchases like only allowing e-checks, disallowing credit card payments, etc. Furthermore, the invoices neatly display all the items that consumers are going to buy for their convenience. While these invoices don’t have as many customization options as other invoicing solutions on the market, Podium primarily focuses on getting things done quickly and doesn’t care too much about the looks.

Payment Data and Analytics

Podium payments dashboard allows businesses to quickly spot who has already made a payment, find overdue invoices, and follow-up on the spot. This data can easily be exported to accounting software to automatically get sorted for reports and tax payments.

Anti-fraud Protection and Security

Being a payment solutions provider, Podium utilizes a world-class fraud protection model that helps prevent taking payments from stolen cards. All valid payments are secured via PCI-compliant software.

Podium payments users may consider to integrate the tool with some of the other software provided by the brand, which all focus on improving the customers’ user experience and emphasize retention. We recommend Reviews, Feedback, and Inbox add-ons.

The Reviews add-on allows consumers to leave online reviews describing their experience with your brand, directly through the messaging app. The Feedback add-on helps gather feedback from your customers to quickly identify and eliminate any weak links and improve your strengths. The Inbox app centralizes all customer communications through a single dashboard, regardless of channel. This helps respond to customers faster and close more deals.

Podium can be easily integrated with accounting tools, payment gateways, and CRMs. The brand doesn’t specify a list of available integrations but they do mention that all data can be exported to other tools using integration-friendly formats.

Podium is extremely easy to use. It requires absolutely zero coding or technical skills, and there is no learning curve. The neat UI makes using the tool a breeze, even if you have no prior experience with any payment or invoicing software.