Page 20 - GS180401

Views

cost, both materially and in terms of
The very point of sale our time and mental capacity, than
the digital default," he wrote.

Sax, a journalist and frequent con-
Old tech – stout, tough, resurgent tributor to Bloomberg Businessweek,
cites the comeback of vinyl records,

By Dale S. Laszig paper notebooks and board games
as examples of a robust and growing
DSL Direct LLC post-digital economy. He predicts in-
dividuals who find innovative uses
married a part-time farmer. For years, he would throw hay to the cows for analog technology will stand out
before heading to work at a nearby manufacturing plant. As the plant's and succeed. "For all the press around
controller, he led a companywide migration to digital accounting meth- the success of Silicon Valley, the vast
I ods. At home, he drove a Massey Ferguson tractor and New Holland majority of our economy is still over-
315 hay baler across our fields. He stayed true to the old machines just as whelmingly analog, and these busi-
many merchants have remained faithful to their old countertop terminals. nesses more broadly benefit our soci-
Convincing them to upgrade is no easy job; ask any merchant level salesperson ety than those of more concentrated
(MLS) who has tried. digital capital," he noted.
Good things take time
There are reasons for this. Analog technology can be a refreshing alternative
to the digital world. You can't hold a virtual terminal in your hand. It would You can learn a lot by watching how
only take a power failure or loss of connectivity to make it disappear. David people interact with machines. Not
Sax, author of Revenge of Analog: Real Things and Why They Matter, finds people everyone takes the time to read the
from all walks of life are drawn to physical devices. "For increasing numbers of user manual or even a quick refer-
people around the world, in nearly every place where digital life has acquired a ence guide. A POS tablet may contain
real and lasting presence, analog is now a conscious choice, requiring a greater a complete ecosystem, but that's no
guarantee a merchant will under-
stand it or use it. Features and ben-
efits are interesting to merchants
only if we demonstrate how they can
improve margins, attract customers
or create new sources of incremental
revenue.

The best solutions incorporate analog
and digital elements into a cohesive
blend. Taking the time to build and
explain them is well worth the effort.
Cash discount programs are a great
example. It might seem counterintui-
tive for a credit card processing sys-
tem to reward customers who pay
with cash or debit cards. But they are
helping merchants recoup their pro-
cessing costs, and credit card custom-
ers don't mind paying a small fee to
earn points and miles.

Not every physical or virtual touch
point needs to drive a sale. If it creates
an emotional connection between
buyer and seller, it will add long-term
value to a customer relationship.

Dale S. Laszig, Senior Staff Writer at The Green
Sheet and Managing Director at DSL Direct
LLC, is a payments industry journalist and con-
tent provider. She can be reached at dale@dsl-
directllc.com and on Twitter at @DSLdirect.
20