Category: POS Features

Feb
01
2011
February 1st, 2011 by ssadmin
Why Update?

I am asked this on a fairly frequent basis.  With all the computers and software that we use on a regular basis, it seems like there is always something that has changed or needs updating.


It’s enough to make you think that you spend half your time updating!


The answer (speaking of POS software)?
Do you have to update?  No.  
Should you update?  Yes, Yes and Yes.

If it were only that simple. . . 

Why?  Why do we create updates and why do we ask you to install them? 

First and foremost it is done to enhance your software.  No industry or product can remain the same over the years and still be pertinent.   Let’s face it, are you still operating your store exactly the same way you were in 1990 or even 2000?   That’s before Facebook, Twitter, Blogging, Social Media, Free Marketing online, and a ton of other things. 



Over the years we have learned that our customers needs and the industry itself changes – we try to change with it.   These changes to our software help you remain current and provide you with tools to help compete.
Examples of this are:
Revamp of the gift card system – Easier to use, redeem up to 5 gift cards, etc.
Birthday notifications – alert the staff that the birthday has come up. 
Hands Free marketing – automatic email marketing on a monthly basis. 
MobileDash – receive sales numbers directly in email or on a smartphone. 
Increased social media marketing – neat stuff coming soon!
FAST order system – take orders the way customers say it. 
Enhanced reporting – custom exporting to manipulate data. 




Security is another reason to update.  Every year SelbySoft works behind the scenes to enhance the security of our software and to help keep you secure.
Examples of this are:
SelbySoft Transfer program for secure backups – remote backups automatically. 
Enhanced employee log ins – secure passwords. 
Fingerprint id systems – secure logins.
Theft and Employee Audits – controls to alert you to theft. 




What about the legal ramifications?  We all know that tax’s, overtime regulations and PCI / PA-DSS all change over time.  Don’t be caught with a system that is not calculating your numbers correctly because the law or regulation changed!
Examples of this are:
PCI changes – Credit Card industry standards.
Overtime changes – changes to overtime laws in places like California.
Tax changes – multiple states now have updated taxing situation. 


So there you have it. . . A couple of reasons that updating makes sense.  For those of you not maintaining updates on your system, call us – we would love to tempt you with all the new features we have since your last update! 


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

Posted in POS Features, Uncategorized Tagged with: ,

Dec
26
2010
December 26th, 2010 by ssadmin
Are you using the sales reminder window?

SP-1 has a suggestive selling screen built right in!  This is setup in System Setup and will appear at the end of every order.

A simple way to help increase sales!

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

Posted in Order Entry, POS Features Tagged with: ,

Dec
14
2010
December 14th, 2010 by ssadmin
How to cut costs?

In today’s world we are seeing costs on items continue to rise. Our coffee and specialty beverage customers have been hit with costs of coffee increasing  to it’s highest levels in 13 years. 
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2010-09-08-coffee-prices_N.htm?csp=obinsite
Our pizza and restaurant customers don’t have it any better as we have seen cheese prices up as much as 25% over the last year (http://www.pizzamarketplace.com/article/177010/Commodities-Cheese-up-25-percent-this-year) 
So, what does this have to do with POS?  A LOT.  When costs skyrocket, mistakes and control become even more important.
Take the first step by implementing controls over mistakes of pricing and product.  A Zero Training POS system allows you to make sure your employees are doing their best to get correct prices out to your customers.  This eliminates the shortages that occur when employees are quoting wrong prices.  Even a few cents off can make the differences when costs are involved!  
Tracking your inventory?  If not, then you are probably not tracking your waste either.  Even just tracking waste on a couple of your key items will help you save money and help you cut your costs. 
 Implementing a full inventory control system takes it a step further by showing you your cost of goods sold (COGS) on the fly.  Portion control can be managed by having precise portions printed in the kitchen.  This allows your employees to stop the overages of food that cause a waste and inventory issue. 
So give it a shot – call us and ask how we can help you at least trim your costs and get better control over your location.

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

Posted in Order Entry, POS Features, theft, Uncategorized Tagged with: , ,

Dec
09
2010
December 9th, 2010 by ssadmin
Do you have retail?

If so, we have options!  SP-1 has the ability to handle your retail, barcodes and weighing items if needed.  This goes beyond the simple candy bar sale.  We are talking full capabilities of selling retail items in your location.
It all starts with our SP-1 Inventory & Retail Management Solution.  With this, SP-1 allows you to enter retail items, bundle items together into build groups and really take control of how retail is handled in your location.
It starts with our Retail Master File!  We have the ability to track the category assigned, retail price, stock levels, and more. UPC codes can be assigned to the retail item for quick barcode capabilities. 
You can even print custom barcodes from here for you retail items that may not come with a UPC!
It’s our experience that often you may need to bundle one or more retail items together.  Gift baskets are a common thing in retail locations.  With our Build Groups you will be able to quickly add all the items to the build group.  Now whenever the gift basket is sold, all the retail items within it are removed from inventory as well! 
Don’t forget that in order to sell an item, you simply need to scan it in Order Entry.  If you have an item that is sold by weight, we can handle that with an integrated electronic scale.  Once you scan or enter the item, you will be able to have the amounts read automatically from the scale! 

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

Posted in Order Entry, POS Features, Reporting Tagged with: , , , ,

Dec
07
2010
December 7th, 2010 by ssadmin
Miscellaneous Charge
Do you ever run into into situations where you need to charge someone but don’t have a menu item programmed?
SP-1 has a Miscellaneous Charge button that allows you to handle this!  In Order Entry, select the Miscellaneous Charge button and the above screen pops up.

You can change the description on the fly so it reflects what was added as a charge.  Enter the amount and you are done.
As usual, there are many other options involved with this:
  •  In System Setup | Operations:3 you can default the description of the Miscellaneous Charge to something other than “Misc. Charge”.  You can even setup if tax should be added to this based on the order type (Delivery, Dine In, Carry Out, Pick Up). 
  • You can also decide if discounts will apply to Miscellaneous Charges.  This can be setup in Master Files | Discounts. 
  • Of course we report on all of this as well!  Miscellaneous charges are reported in detail in Reports | Daily Sales | Business Summary.   If you want to get more specific, you can run the Reports | Ticket History | Misc. Charge report (shown below).  

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

Posted in Employees, Order Entry, POS Features, Uncategorized Tagged with:

Nov
30
2010
November 30th, 2010 by ssadmin

Balance Till

We get a few calls from people wanting to understand the Balance Till better.  So, I thought I’d address some explanations for that report.  Please remember that there are a number of settings with the Balance Till so yours make look different.
Let’s start with the columns across the top!
Ticket:  This is the ticket number for the order.  Remember that a great thing about SP-1 is that we always match to a ticket number.  There is no way to “skip” a ticket number in SP-1!
Amount:  This will show the pre-tax amount for the ticket.  If the ticket was voided, then it is indicated here as well.
Tax:  Total tax for the ticket.
Total:  The total on the ticket after tax.
Cash Tender:  This field is the actual dollar amount that was tendered.  So if you have a $10 ticket and the customer hands the employee a $20 bill, this will show $20.  There are some other messages that can appear here as well:
  • On Hold:  This will show for any ticket that is not paid for yet.  The other time this shows up is if there is a credit card or gift card that is waiting for a tip.  
  • Paid Out: If you created a paid out and took money from the drawer it is reflected here. 
  • Original Deferred Order: If you have a future (or timed) order that has not gone through yet, it is mentioned here. 
Cash:  The cash transactions are here.  This column is sub-totaled and then any of the credit card and gift card tips are subtracted to show actual cash in drawer.  Paid outs are also subtracted from this total.
Check:  This shows any transactions paid by check.
Credit Card:  All credit card transactions are reported here.  This total includes the tip amount.  The Type column next to it shows the credit card type (Visa, MC etc).
Account:  This is the account charge or payment made on a ticket.
Gift Card:  All gift card transactions are reported here.  This includes the total tip amount as well.
Order Type:  This is what the order type was (Delivery, Dine In, Carry Out, Pickup).
WS:  If you have more than one POS terminal, then the workstation number is recorded here.
Emp:  The employee ID that took the order is recorded here.
Ropn:  This is the employee that re-opened a ticket and made changes to it.
At the bottom of the Balance Till are some other items –
On Hold Tickets:  This shows the total number of tickets On Hold and the total dollar amount.  Remember, On Hold means the ticket was either never cashed out or that a tip was never applied.
Original Deferred Orders:  This shows all the deferred orders that have not been made and collected yet.  The total number and dollar amount are reported here.  A deferred order is an order that has been set to be made for a specific date or time.
Credit Card Summary:  This shows you each credit card transaction so they can be matched against the credit card slip and totals.
Gift Card Summary:  This shows you the summary of each gift card transaction.
Coupon Summary:  A listing of each coupon used.  The time, ticket number and employee number are shown here as well.
Discount Summary:  A listing of each discount used.  The time, ticket number and employee number are shown here as well.
Because the Balance Till is so versatile, there are a number of configurations.  If you have questions regarding your specific setup just give us a call!



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

Posted in POS Features, Reporting Tagged with: , ,

Nov
09
2010
November 9th, 2010 by ssadmin
MobileDash

Want to see your sales numbers on a regular basis?  

MobileDash is your answer!

SelbySoft has a new service that will allow you to receive an email once an hour with your total sales, labor, cogs etc.  Additionally, we will send the Menu Group breakdown to that same email.

This is one of the most effective ways to stay on top of what’s happening in your locations!

This service is only $60 per location or FREE for customers that have our Corporate Reporting Package.

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

Posted in POS Features, Reporting, Uncategorized Tagged with: ,

Oct
14
2010
October 14th, 2010 by ssadmin
New Birthday Notification!

Do you keep track of your customers birthdays?  One of our latest features is to notify you that a customer has had a birthday!

We start by setting up the notification in System Setup | Operations: 2

The Days Prior and Days After fields are setup to allow you to provide notification before and after the actual birth date that you have on file for the customer.

Once you have the switch setup, we need to make sure we have a birth date for the customer.  This is entered into the customer file.

When you use the customer at Order Entry and start a ticket you will see the following on their birthday!

Below is an example of the message if the birthday has passed but is still within the notification!

Don’t forget that we can also provide you with the list of customers and their birth dates if you would like to do traditional mailings as well!

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

Posted in Marketing, Order Entry, POS Features, Uncategorized Tagged with: ,

Oct
12
2010
October 12th, 2010 by ssadmin
Comments In SP-1

Are you using the pre-programmed comment feature in SP-1?  For those of you that are not aware, you can setup a total of 13 pre-programmed (canned) comments in SP-1.
This feature is setup in System Setup | Ticket Comments. 
These can be used for those situations where you need to communicate with the kitchen or Barista but don’t want to make a dedicated POS button for it.  You also have the ability to setup if you want those comments to print to the dedicated printer.  

Combining these pre-programmed comments with the Manual Input comment can make sure that you cover any situation that can come up.

If you do have a situation that requires a comment and you need to charge a customer (an extra cup for example), then combine this with the Misc. Charge Button.  That will allow you to add a dollar amount to the ticket to insure you are covered.

Finally, what good are comments if they can’t be tracked?  SP-1 has the ability to provide complete reporting on even the comments that have been used.  This lets you determine if a comment is so popular that making a modifier button would make more sense.

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

Posted in Order Entry, POS Features, Uncategorized Tagged with:

Sep
15
2010
September 15th, 2010 by ssadmin
Are you preparing for the holidays? 

The holidays are coming! I know it might seem early to think about Thanksgiving, Christmas and the new year when it is not even Halloween yet but relatively speaking they are fast approaching!

So what does that have to do with anything? When you are thinking about your POS system, quite a bit.  This is the best time to start really looking at what happened last year around these holidays.  A lot of store owners that have not made a switch to POS base their expectations on memory – not always the greatest idea. 

Now is the time to start evaluating your menu to prep for the labor and menu changes that will be coming up.  Looking at the data SP-1 can give you will help you make educated and sound decisions to prepare for the coming holidays.

Start by using your Business Summary report to evaluate what menu items worked last year for the same time frame. We suggest the you pay close attention to the menu group and  the specialty portion of the Business Summary. Look at how well your past menu items, and especially your holiday specific items, did last year and adjust accordingly.  This will help you in labor planning, marketing of items and portion control.

Afterall, one of the reasons that you bought a pos was to help keep track of your sales right?

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

Posted in Gift Cards, POS Features, Uncategorized Tagged with: ,

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