Merchant Training

Merchant training is the #1 issue we run into with Community Cards. With so much turnover at restaurants and retailers, business owners need to be sure their staff is aware of the program, trained, and ready to accept your eGift Cards. The holidays are coming up, so now is a good time to send out a refresher. Below are our Best Practices for merchant training. 

• Email all your participating businesses - Run a "Location Report" in the "Manage Locations" tab in your portal and export to csv. That will give you a spreadsheet with all the merchant emails so you can send a mass message with training materials. Tell them how many cards have been sold and what the current outstanding balance is, so they know there is real revenue out there for them. You can get this from your Gifts Sold report in the Reports tab on the left navigation.
• Make sure you include the 5 training materials– The attached "How To Redeem" document can be sent as is or can be customized with your gift card name and image. Ideally, businesses print this document (you can print it and hand-deliver it if you have time) along with the attached "Reasons Gift Cards Get Declined" document and put them up somewhere where all their employees can see. Include this merchant training video, this "Merchant Activation Video" and the "Merchant Kit" in your email as well. Send this email every few months to remind merchants to train new staff. 
• Yiftee's Support Line- In your email, make sure you let businesses know they can email [e-mail] with questions and they'll receive an immediate response.
• Reach out to new businesses- As new businesses sign up, make sure you send them all five training materials.
• Follow Up- Repeat this process every few months to remind businesses to train new staff members. 
• QR Code at checkout- Having a printed QR Code at checkout that takes businesses to the "Check Gift Card Balance"page will help staff quickly check gift card balances when redeeming gifts and will prevent gift cards from getting overcharged and declined. 
• Other resources- We have lots of materials available with information and tips for onboarding and training merchants. Check out this video on "Onboarding And Assistting Local Merchants"  and our Best Practices on the same subject.