Franchise Payment Terminal Integrating Customer Satisfaction Surveys
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional credit-card payment systems and survey methods in the franchise industry are limited in their ability to efficiently manage customer satisfaction and franchise operations, as they lack objectivity, reliability, and high participation rates, leading to suboptimal business strategies and service quality.
Innovation Solution
A method utilizing a credit-card payment system that integrates customer satisfaction surveys through a sign pad, where customer feedback is collected, analyzed, and used to enhance franchise management, offering incentives and penalties based on survey participation and results, thereby improving service quality and business strategy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional survey methods are used, then survey implementation is simple, but objectivity and reliability of survey data are poor
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the survey function with the existing credit card payment terminal and sign pad system. The survey is integrated into the payment process, using the same hardware infrastructure (terminal, sign pad, communication module) to collect customer feedback. This merging approach improves reliability by ensuring survey data comes from actual paying customers while avoiding the need for separate complex survey deployment systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The credit card payment terminal is given multiple functions: it not only processes payments but also collects survey data, stores customer information, and communicates survey results. The sign pad serves dual purposes as both a signature collection device and a survey response interface. This multi-functionality reduces overall system complexity while improving survey reliability through consistent data collection from the same customer interaction point.
2Productivity
If surveys are conducted without incentives, then system operation is simple, but participation rate is low
Solution Approach 1:
The system automatically collects survey responses during the payment process and provides immediate feedback to both the customer and the franchise. Customers receive confirmation that their feedback was recorded, and the system generates summary reports showing how feedback is being used. This feedback mechanism increases participation rate by making customers feel their input matters while keeping the system operationally simple through automated processing.
Solution Approach 2:
The survey invitation and incentive information are presented to customers at the point of payment, before the transaction is completed. The system pre-configures the survey questions and incentive structures in advance, so when a customer makes a payment, the survey is automatically initiated with relevant incentive information already in place. This preliminary preparation increases participation without requiring complex real-time decision-making or additional system complexity.
3Loss of information
If surveys are conducted offline, then data collection is simple, but data analysis and real-time feedback are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual offline data collection and analysis with an automated electronic system. The sign pad and communication module automatically transmit survey responses to a central server, which processes the data and generates real-time feedback reports. This substitution of mechanical/manual processes with electronic automation eliminates information loss delays while keeping the overall system complexity manageable through standardized data processing protocols.
4Adaptability or versatility
If conventional payment systems are used, then payment processing is simple, but customer satisfaction management capability is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The credit card payment terminal is enhanced to serve multiple purposes: processing payments, collecting customer demographics, administering satisfaction surveys, storing transaction history, and generating management reports. By making the payment system universal and multi-functional, the patent expands customer satisfaction management capability without requiring entirely separate systems, thus managing complexity through functional integration rather than adding separate complex subsystems.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of managing franchises using a credit-card payment system is provided. The method includes (a) inputting a goods selection or service use statement of a customer at a franchise to a franchise client to calculate an estimated payment amount, inputting member information of the customer to the franchise client, and transmitting the member information to a customer information server of a head office to request member authentication; (b) receiving, by the customer information server, a member authentication request signal for the customer, comparing the member authentication request signal with previously stored member information of the customer to perform authentication processing, and transmitting the result of authentication processing to the franchise client; (c) inputting credit-card payment information for the estimated payment amount to the franchise client, requesting a card company for payment approval, and receiving approval information; (d) outputting selection items for a satisfaction survey for service provided by the franchise through a sign pad connected to the franchise client; (e) when customer response data for the survey selection items is received from the sign pad, analyzing and statistically processing customer satisfaction evaluation information for the franchise according to the selection items, and storing the resultant customer satisfaction evaluation information in a database of the customer information server; and (f) switching the sign pad to a screen for obtaining a digital signature.