Challenge
For over 100 years, Dale Carnegie’s ideas have shaped the training industry. What started in the US in 1912 has exploded to empower industry leaders in 86 countries and 32 languages. Dale Carnegie evolved from one man’s belief in the power of self-improvement to a worldwide organization offering courses in practical knowledge, communication skills, and leadership practices. The professional development training company supports individuals’ growth through its in-person and virtual classrooms in over 80 countries, and its global network of trainers work one-on-one and in large groups to drive long-term business results for individuals and organizations.
Dale Carnegie sought out a global payment provider that offered more flexibility, payment options, and affordability to its 200 franchisees around the world. Its previous payment processor only allowed for card transactions in the US, forcing any franchisee outside of the US to invoice their customers. It also lacked the tools to extract meaningful and actionable transaction data to better support its franchisee and trainee needs.
This inflexibility created a barrier for business growth both nationally and internationally. Without meaningful data available, troubleshooting for existing clients became a growing challenge, and gaining new ones abroad proved difficult without a simple way to offer multiple currencies.
Solution
Global payment processing is complicated, so Dale Carnegie turned to Stripe, which offers the range of flexible payment solutions a network of global partners needs to thrive, including Afterpay and the ability to apply tax at checkout for different countries.
“[Flexible payments] really opened up a lot of opportunities for us globally,” says Christine Buscarino, global CMO and COO at Dale Carnegie. “It’s important that we not only have those capabilities, but can also report on the successes of them and share across the network so everyone benefits from those learnings.” These benefits included greater flexibility, affordable pricing, and ease of integration on a global scale.
To help with integration for its 200 franchisees, Dale Carnegie relied heavily on partner PeakActivity to guide its transition and roll out Stripe globally. PeakActivity’s audit at the start of the process helped Dale Carnegie understand what technology solutions would be most suitable to hit long-term objectives. With such a complex set of requirements, it was no small task—but PeakActivity was up to the challenge.
“Dale Carnegie has a very technically complex website and support requirements across a wide global set of their own customers, so picking a solution with flexibility, a robust set of APIs, and the ability to accommodate different requirements by location was really important,” says Karen Everett, PeakActivity’s Ecommerce Expert. “As an [industry] leader, we supported Dale Carnegie selecting Stripe, because we knew we had the resources and experience to do the integration.”
The resulting onboarding was seamless. Not only was it fast, but the included comprehensive dashboards and insights also gave Dale Carnegie a clear picture of the process every step of the way.
Results
With Stripe, Dale Carnegie is now offering card processing in 24 countries and 16 currencies across 123 of its 200 offices. “We’ve increased our paid conversion rate by 5% with Stripe,” says Buscarino. “But I think the big win, over and above the revenue side, is performance and payment reliability.”
Dale Carnegie has reported no widespread processing issues since the relationship began. The integration with Stripe has even improved overall payment monitoring, ensuring that transactions are flowing, franchisees are paid, and clients have a seat in class.
One of Dale Carnegie’s biggest strategic initiatives is ensuring that it offers a solution that meets the needs of today’s customers. “Stripe has been a nice fit from a user experience and flexibility perspective,” says Buscarino. “Not only being able to offer it globally, but the flexible options that are built into the Dashboard allow franchisees to make the decision on how payment is collected.”
In addition, the option to offer future services such as buy now, pay later (BNPL) has helped with increasing brand awareness and reaching a broader audience who were either unaware of Dale Carnegie previously or didn’t think they could afford it without flexible payment options.
As Dale Carnegie looks to the future, it will make the most of the benefits that Stripe’s recurring billing capabilities offer. Currently, the subscription business has a clear B2B focus, where customers pay up front for limited access—but with Stripe, clients can pay as they go, opening the door for direct-to-consumer business.
We’ve increased our paid conversion rate by 5% with Stripe, but I think the big win, over and above the revenue side, is performance and payment reliability.
About PeakActivity
Strategically positioned with expertise in experience design, headless and composable architecture, and AI-powered solutions, PeakActivity provides the leadership, resources, and services required to accelerate growth in a digital-first marketplace.
With a global presence and a strong track record of success, PeakActivity is the proven partner to elevate ecommerce outcomes.
Dale Carnegie has a very technically complex website and support requirements across a wide global set of their own customers, so picking a solution with flexibility, a robust set of APIs, and the ability to accommodate different requirements by location was really important.
