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Charles A. Settles
Process, Product, Promotions & People @ lyfecycle
Charles A. Settles is the Director of Operations & Marketing at lyfecycle PAYMENTS, where he has been in this role for approximately 609 days. His professional background includes significant expertise in operations and marketing within the payments industry. Settles is recognized for his strong communication skills and deep knowledge base, which he utilizes to enhance operational efficiency and marketing strategies at lyfecycle PAYMENTS.12
His LinkedIn profile highlights his commitment to creating effective solutions and his ability to engage with various stakeholders in the financial services sector. Prior to his current position, Settles has held roles that contributed to his extensive experience in the payments landscape.12
Highlights
About a week ago I noticed an uptick in engagement with our site, particularly on our lyfecycle HEALTH page.
We haven't pushed a lot of marketing content out for that brand, as we prefer to work through a network of referral partners who keep our pipeline full -- yes it pains me as a longtime marketer that our prospect-facing content is lacking, but other things are more important at this stage in our growth.
I didn't think too much of it, but then our CTO Jim Rising mentioned that #HSA card acceptance and IIAS certification were being added to our product roadmap at the behest of a new, large client local to our area.
Then I started seeing the headlines about how another large local company that works in #healthcare #payments had been #hacked, and it all started to make sense.
I certainly don't want to tempt fate or celebrate others' misfortune, but if your practice is looking for alternative payment providers that know #ehrintegration and can connect to your #practicemanagementsoftware or other systems, we would love the chance to earn your business.
So I've been talking to a few office / practice managers and #attorneys about #paymentsolutions lately and I have discovered a few things.
One, almost all of them are being fleeced by fees from the large processors.
Two, they are smart people and understand they are overpaying.
Three, they do not understand WHY they are overpaying.
The short version? #legaleducation teaches their clients / defendants are innocent until proven guilty. The #paymentsindustry is quite the opposite, especially when it comes to a #highriskmerchantaccount.
Is it fair #legalservices are considered guilty until proven innocent by the card networks?
No, but as Bethany Kristovich says in the linked article, today "there's a greater willingness for clients to turn against their lawyers." While the article focuses on the growth in size and frequency of #legalmalpractice claims, it is important to remember #chargebacks are on the rise as well, and smaller firms are the ones most likely to suffer, because they probably don't have time to properly defend the claim because they are too busy defending their clients, and a lot of them don't bother getting a signature from the client confirming the payment's legitimacy, which means if their client initiates a chargeback, they're going to win.
To make things worse, a lot of those small firms are manually keying card payments, which automatically costs more; the more information you capture from a transaction, the less risky it looks to the card networks, so fees and rates are structured in a way to encourage merchants to capture a minimum of card number, expiration, CVV, and the zipcode / address of the cardholder.
A single chargeback hurts any business, but especially one considered high risk by the card brands. If that chargeback is 1% or more of your monthly payment volume, you're penalized even more. Get a few of those in a year, and it's likely your #paymentprocessing partner will start charging larger penalties or drop you entirely.
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Mesh works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Mesh offers several powerful features including:
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Mesh offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Mesh's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Mesh has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Mesh is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Mesh beneficial.
Mesh offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Mesh offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Mesh's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Mesh offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Mesh focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Mesh also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
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