Q&A: Lee Jones, Director of Sales – Northern Europe at Ingenico, a Worldline brand
What is your role and what do you do brilliantly?
I am the Director of sales – QSR, Grocery retail and selected accounts for Northern Europe at Ingenico, a Worldline brand. I excel at bringing people together and through my drive and determination, ensure that we do our utmost to deliver and keep the promises we make.
What does your company do? / What is your USP?
Ingenico, a Worldline brand, is unique in that we can directly provide all (or selected) elements of the payments process as one single accountable partner. That includes supplying the latest secure payment terminals, acquiring transactions, processing in-store, online and in-app payments, or providing maintenance and support of our solutions.
Our merchants mitigate the risk and complexity of having to rely on multiple third-party suppliers at every step of the process. This ensures the avoidance of clunky systems which can lead to errors and payment failures, and, in turn, a poor shopper experience.
What’s special about the platform and your approach?
Our credentials stand out. Not only are we the number one provider of secure payment terminals globally, but we lead the way when it comes to providing the services enterprise level merchants expect and demand.
How does a product/service implementation actually look, and how do you measure success?
Success can only be measured by the results seen. For an implementation of any payment system, there are always lessons to be learnt, but ensuring budgets are not exceeded and timelines are maintained is key. Thereafter, how our services perform in line with clear service level agreements provides a strong indication of our day to day performance.
Furthermore, hearing from our customers on what they want us to continue and/or stop doing, and getting feedback on the areas we can improve is very important. This allows us to improve for the benefit of all as we can never be complacent and must continue to evolve as a partner and solution provider.
Never has this been more important than now, at a time when consumer behaviours are changing in line with the technology, they are becoming more adept at using, and are therefore integrating into their everyday lives. Take, for example, the use of mWallets – shoppers are increasingly using their mobile phones to pay for goods and services, and a merchant must be able to accommodate this. If they don’t, they risk providing a poor customer experience, which could lead to abandoned baskets and, ultimately, a loss in revenue.
How are retailers using your systems to gain competitive advantage and what does best practice look like?
Our solutions offer merchants a myriad of benefits. Our reliable systems ensure increased sales conversions and consumer satisfaction. The data insights available with our solutions enable businesses to gain valuable consumer feedback to improve their operations. We offer full data and regulation management, meaning retailers and their consumers can rest assured in the security of our systems. Our unified omnichannel system allows for a better customer experience as businesses can track every consumer purchase and refund directly.
Retailers rely on Ingenico to deliver a consistent and reliable payment experience, regardless of whether they use only parts of our solution and service suite. We are proud of the trust our customers place in us every day and we never take this for granted.
With a team that has delivered some of the most complex payment system projects for some of the largest merchants, we have learnt a lot. We bring our proven experience and way of working to all engagements and this helps provide comfort and reassurance that with Ingenico solutions are delivered on time and to budget.
What advantage does it add?
Put simply, we reassure our customers by ensuring their revenues and protecting their brand. Any money saved by selecting a low-cost option can quickly become a money pit, as merchants risk operating with a poor service, which can impact the service received by the customer. Furthermore, by providing our merchants with actionable insight and the ability to share and utilise card data across all sales channels, costs can be reduced, customer loyalty enhanced, sales maximised and the customer experience optimised.
What challenges and opportunities do you see in UK retail for 2020 / What challenges are retailers facing in 2020 and beyond?
Helping to ensure staff and customers feel confident and safe so that they feel comfortable returning to the high street and physical stores following the Covid-19 pandemic is the short term challenge most organisations will face.
To help remedy that, we have provided responsible guidance to merchants when it comes to how to safely handle and clean our devices. It’s never been more critical to be able to provide the ability to take payment at the point most convenient for the store operators and the customer, as this reduces the risk to the customer and store staff, and we are providing that service.
How will you address these challenges and turn them into successes?
To me being successful means making sure our customers can serve their customers with confidence, without disruption, and all while keeping everyone as safe as possible. Helping retailers adapt to a new way of serving customers and taking successful payments anytime is something we are investing a lot of time on. Importantly, this should be done quickly, securely, and with minimal contact. If we can help achieve these objectives, we deem our work a success! Our mPOS solutions will be fundamental to this, providing a quick and easy way for merchants to take advantage of the digital revolution and accept payments via their mobile device wherever they are, safely and securely, and with minimal contact.
What is on the horizon for you as a company?
There are many new markets and sectors we intend to grow our presence in. There is a huge opportunity for us to add even more value both to existing customers, but also in new sectors, markets and countries. I am genuinely excited to see what we can achieve in the next three to five years as a team.
What is your favourite part of your job.
Every day presents new exciting challenges, and this combined with being able to see how we make a difference to the lives of our customers and shoppers everywhere continues to delight and inspire me. I am proud of what the Ingenico teams have achieved over the last few years and the part I have played in the success of our company, as well as that of our customers.
What in your team do you work closely with and why?
I work closely with planning and numbers. Looking ahead is essential; while things are more complicated than they were pre-Covid-19, having a plan is key if we are to achieve our goals and ambition. I have a vision of where I want to be, and how I want the team and individuals within it to grow and evolve. But, in order to get there, we must remain focused and engaged with our customers and their customers too.
What do you love most about working for Ingenico
The thing I love most about working with Ingenico is the opportunity to make a difference. I have been with Ingenico this time around for more than a decade, but still there remains a clear opportunity to affect and grow the new world of commerce. Seeing and helping people develop is something I take great pleasure in and I am lucky to have such a strong team around me. I think we are only scratching the surface of how we can help merchants – despite the company being 40 years old!
Find out how Ingenico can help your retail operation here.
