Did you know you earn can more from your Restaurant POS Equipment? - Part II
Saturday, December 26th, 2009For such a long time, most people thought of their POS system as a fancy cash register. With technology moving forward at such a quick pace, most innovations have become standard features within the Point of Sale industry. So here are a few more tips to help you increase your profit:
1. Scheduling Your Employees. Most restaurant POS packages includes the feature “staff scheduling”. You can expect to increase efficiency and dramatically reduce overall labor costs by controlling time-ins and time-outs, utilizing forecasting tools and control staffing levels. This feature allows accessing staff schedule with ease, as well as shifts and multiple job positions. You are also able to tie in any number of security functions to a job position. Some packages has a feature that allows you to post schedules to a website and even sends out a copy of the schedule to each staff. Keep your labor costs in check and increase employee performance by efficiently and effectively managing your time & attendance information.
2. Software Upgrade Assurance or SUA. SUA is a software maintenance program that provides a bit different kind of advantage when you purchase a POS system. You are able to help stretch your investment and prolong the life of your restaurant point of sale system. Those who purchase a POS system along with a SUA plan will always have the latest version of their POS software. Basically it’s an advantage because it keeps their POS system new. Every time you receive a software upgrade it is as though they just bought the most current and advanced POS system available in the market with the newest, most up to date features for your restaurant. The most current feature set ensures that you have the best possible ROI by allowing you to have full advantage of what its POS software features offer.
Another very important feature of SUA programs is that no software purchase is required if you upgrade or replace hardware. If you need to replace hardware there’s a drastically lesser cost for upgrading it.
The way these programs typically work is you pay a small fee per year for all these benefits. Most customers are satisfied receiving the huge benefits of this program that helps your business reap the full return on your POS investment.
3. Proper Tip Handling. Some of the POS software products has a builtin tip tracking feature in their time in attendance module. Once you set an staff as a tipped employee, the system will require tip declaration prior to clocking out. Any server of waiter who ring sales will have their total sales tracked. Tips collected through credit card sales are also tracked and shown on the server closeout report. Prior to clock out, the servers or waiters will be shown their total sales, collected charge tips collected and then asked to declare their cash tips. By this, you will be able to track and manage all declared tips, charge tips and hours of work for every tipped employee.
4. Customer Loyalty Programs! As the restaurant owner you would like your POS system to provide accurate information on your customer’s number of visits, frequency of visits, buying habits, entice repeat visits and purchases using reward programs. You are able to do all this while managing the programs and preventing “sweet hearting” by employees.
Some of the restaurant POS packages come standard with a frequent diner or customer loyalty package that eases things within your business. By expertly tracking down your guests and their buying habits, you can prevent retail loss. You establish a database of account numbers using your guests information.. This number can be their phone number or any number system you desire. In what ever strategy you use, the most popular and secure method is through magnetic cards with a logo of your business. These cards may act as a constant reminder of your restaurant by having your business logo in their wallet or purse. The software will secure the reward programs you set in place and preventing the server/waiter from giving away food. Rewards are given only when earned through purchases, frequent visits or for items on your menu that you wish to highlight. Establishing reward programs takes your employees out of the game and place you in total control of everything.
As you can see, there are so many ways to run your restaurant more efficiently by using restaurant technology. Back to basics next month..
Michael Cummings is VP of Customer Relations at POS-for-Restaurants.com. With over 20 years of restaurant experience, POS-for-Restaurants.com helps you use your technology to be more efficient and more profitable.
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