Questions people ask before buying a POS

Last blog I tackled just a few of the questions that people ask once they have our SP-1 POS system.  Since I have been out doing trade shows over the last few months, I've tried to pay attention to what questions we are asked by people looking to buy a POS as well.

Outside of the obvious ones about ease of use, price and functionality, there are some questions that we get fairly commonly.

• Gift Cards:  Are they free?  Do they work as reward cards?  Yes.  Our gift card services are free and included in the software.  The cards work as a gift, prepaid, discount and reward card.  This is one of the best ways to gather marketing information as well.   I covered some of this in an earlier blog.
• Quickbooks:  Is there an interface?  How do I get the information out and to my accountant or bookkeeper?  Our Quickbooks interface exports the information out where it can be transferred via email or flash drive (usb device).  We do it this way because the majority of our customers have Quickbooks installed in a location other than their store.  
• Training?  This is a great question we are asked all the time at shows!  Yes we provide training.  We typically offer a full year of software support and training with every system we sell.  Our Customer Service Technicians can train remotely with GotoMeeting and Logmein Rescue tools.  That eliminates the need for a costly on-site visit.  If on-site is really required, we can supply that as well.
• Can I use remote printers or monitors?  More importantly can I control where the items go?  To us this is a simple thing and one we may sometimes neglect when talking about SP-1.  We do have the ability to use multiple printers or remote monitors.  These can be used for food or beverage service.  The great thing about SP-1 is that we can determine where the items go - sandwich to the sandwich printer, grill to the grill printer, coffee to a barista printers etc. 
• Does the system support multiple tax rates?  I'm not sure why this comes up often but we do it.  We support five tax rates per menu group as well as non-taxable sales.
• Can I add my own pictures?   We do have a way to show you how to add your own pictures to  SP-1. This is a pretty cool way to personalize your SP-1 system with logo'd items
• Is customer tracking available?  Completely - we can create customer profiles, track 10 phone numbers and email addresses, four physical addresses and more.  This also allows you to tie in marketing to your customers. 

There you go, a little over a half dozen popular questions!  

Contact us at:
SelbySoft
Mike Spence
800-454-4434
Sales@SelbySoft.com
http://www.selbysoft.com/
8326 Woodland Ave. E
Puyallup Wa 98371

Two Trade Show Follow Up

In the last couple of weeks, I have attended two trade shows.  These were my last two until October and they are aways an eye opener.

Trade shows are a fun part of my life in a lot of ways as they remind me just how many people are committed to these industries.  It's always a great recharge for me as well because people get a chance to see our passion for our customers and the products that we sell.

To us, one of the really interesting things that come up is the questions people ask.  There are really two sets of questions. . . Ones that people ask before they buy a POS and ones that they ask after they already have SP-1. 

So, now that we are back in the office let's cover some of the questions that we were asked by people that have already bought SP-1:

Do you have to have all those reports on the Business Summary every day?

No - you can default the sub-reports that are run with the business summary.  Simply check them in Reports | Reports Setup 1

How do I easily see the credit card tips at the end of the shift or day?

SP-1 can automatically calculate how much cash is removed from the drawer because of Credit Card Tips - Check Reports | Reports Setup 2 | Convert CC Tip to Cash

Am I set for California Overtime calculations?

Yes, there is a specific switch for the overtime calculations in California.  That can be found in Reports | Reports Setup 2 | California Overtime Calculation.

Does SP-1 support retail?  

Yes - we have the capability to support barcode scanners and printers for barcoding in SP-1

Does SP-1 support inventory control?

Yes!  We have a full inventory control system!  Cost of good sold analysis, food and beverage portion control and variances are all tracked.

Can I have a non-taxable customer?

Create either a customer for each incident or a generic "non-tax" customer and then make sure the taxable button is not checked.  These sales are reported separately on the business summary.

Next time I'll cover some of the questions that we are asked before people make a purchase!
Contact us at:
SelbySoft
Mike Spence
800-454-4434
Sales@SelbySoft.com
http://www.selbysoft.com/
8326 Woodland Ave. E
Puyallup Wa 98371

Thoughts on Tracking Sales

I have attended one trade show and am on my way to the next this week.

During these shows I normally give a presentation on how to use technology to track and increase sales.
It always amazes me how excited people get when they figure out how to use these tools to help enhance the service and training in the store as well as ultimately the full experience the customer receives.

What happens next is curious. A certain percentage of people forget the reasons that they originally were excited about the tools and stop really using them. I typically will talk about a number of methods to accomplish this:

Forced modifiers to help your employees introduce new options, increase order accuracy and even up sell.

Introducing remote monitors and printers to help aid with cutting down on theft, increase order accuracy, and finally just make things easier for your crew.

Tracking and implementing discounts and coupons and then using the online tools like twitter, facebook, and foursquare to promote your store.

Tracking menu categories and seeing what changes need to be made. Really looking at if you need to eliminate drinks etc.

Inventory control and cogs tracking.

Theft controls like audit, gross sales by employee, discounts by employees.

The above are just some of the highlights of my topics. All of these are relatively easy to accomplish with our POS.   So if you have not looked at these items in a while, take some time to revisit what you are doing.

Contact us at:
SelbySoft, inc.
Mike Spence
800-454-4434
Sales@SelbySoft.com
http://www.selbysoft.com/
8326 Woodland Ave. E
Puyallup Wa 98371