Executive Q&A: POS Must Leverage “Transactional Intelligence”

POS has evolved from being simply a device that enables merchants to process payments and log transactions to the nucleus of the operation. From your perspective, what does that mean?

Today, a profitable restaurant starts with guest relationships. For successful brands, the POS is at the heart of operations and marketing. It must enable a smooth operation by extending to mobile ordering, online ordering, waitlist and reservations, customer feedback, and a customer data platform with marketing automation. This ecosystem is the foundation for highly personalized, 100% automated guest retention marketing that will drive profitable growth. I call it Transactional Intelligence.

But all of this Transactional Intelligence means nothing if you don’t know how to use it to elevate the guest experience, simplify operations, and drive top-line revenue.

Specifically, a POS system must put the guests’ data in the hands of the front-line workers, giving them access to the customers’ experiences and feedback. For example,  when a VIP guest joins the waitlist, they are bumped up to the top of the list regardless of the 45-minute wait, because the restaurant knows they spend twice as much, tip twice as much, and are twice as profitable as an average guest. 

When is the absolute most critical time to change your POS system? 

I think most restaurant operators will agree that once your POS system is implemented, you do not want to ever have to change it out! It’s disruptive and complicated to do so, and that is amplified the more locations you have. 

But an outdated system is costing you business, preventing you from growing, and causing operational headaches instead of increasing efficiencies. Here are three questions to ask yourself to determine if now is the time to change your POS:

1. Are your sales down? And you don’t have a clear path to grow your customer base, increase the average check size, and create high-value repeat customers?

2. Are you continuously fielding bolt-on requests for new technology to make your current POS work?

3. Is your current POS frequently having technical issues, creating roadblocks such as: lost orders, crashes during Friday dinner rush, customers having to wait too long to pay the check, disruptions tracking stock levels, leading to over-ordering or running out of key ingredients, and data security protocols at risk of being compromised.

What are the most important things to consider when buying a new POS system? 

Leon Davoyan, CTO at Dave’s Hot Chicken, talks about the 4 Fs when considering any new technology, and it applies to POS systems. 

1. Does it Fix something? It would be safe to say that if you are considering a new POS, then something needs to be fixed. But make sure that you are very clear on what your current issues are and focus on POS systems that address the problems you need to solve.

2. Is it For Real or a Fad? That doesn’t mean you should only consider established companies. In many cases, legacy systems have not kept up with your evolving needs and are what brought you to the place of needing a change. But do your due diligence and get proof of its staying power. The new system provider should clearly understand your roadmap and provide a clear path for success for at least five years.

3. Is it a good Fit? There are a lot of good solutions out there. But not all will be a good fit for your stage of growth, size, short and long term roadmap, and current technologies that would have to integrate. 

4. Does it make Financial sense? Not only from a cost perspective, but more importantly, will it demonstrate a clear ROI?

 How can the right POS system support restaurants in managing labor challenges and optimizing staff performance?  

It will: Create and publish schedules online from anywhere and automatically notify employees of their upcoming schedules; allow you to schedule by each job category to ensure you properly staff the restaurant at any given time; keep track of your projected sales versus labor and compare to actual sales versus labor. 

At the end of the day, employees want to earn a decent wage, and the right POS enables the restaurant’s guest retention, which leads to an increase in top-line revenue, which makes the restaurant more profitable, which increases tips for staff. Everyone is happy!

Summary: The right POS system impacts every part of your restaurant operation from personalized marketing, to enhanced customer engagement, to front-of-house and kitchen efficiencies, to labor management. And all resulting in an elevated customer experience. 

And just think, it used to be just a place for a customer to make their payment.

Learn more at https://www.milagrocorp.com/