August 25th, 2015 by Mike Spence

I know what you are thinking – “Wait, didn’t I already pay for this POS system??”  Don’t worry! We are not asking for money!

Really, what we are asking you to do, is to challenge yourself and see if you have fallen in the habit of only using our SP-1 by SelbySoft system as a cash register.

If you think you are doing this, then give us a call!  Let our support department setup a customized training session with you and breath new life into your POS.

  • Are you using gift and loyalty cards as effectively as possible?
  • Do you run the reports to compare menu items?
  • Have you re-arranged your menu and modifiers based on usage?
  • Are you tracking discounts and coupons?
  • Have you looked at any audit tracking?

These are all things we can help you get back to doing.

 

Posted in Order Entry, POS Features Tagged with: ,

February 28th, 2012 by Mike Spence

It’s tough to keep up on the various features that SP-1 has.  One of our biggest challenges is to make sure that people know what we have available to them.  I thought I’d present ten of the top features of SP-1.

In no particular order:

1)  Zero Training interface. Pictures say it all.  We consistently hear from our current customers about how easy it is to take an order in SP-1.  The graphical touch screen interface makes training a new employee an easier affair than using a cash register or than using a text based system.

2)  On the fly ticket editing.    This abiltity to change any item while in the middle of an order .

3) Dashboard .  This gives you and your managers to quickly see where you are at from virtually anywhere in SP-1.  Seeing an on the fly labor, cost of goods sold and sales detail is vital.

4) Ecomms.  This allows you to email, internally, your employees and verify that they received the message.  Because an employee has to type a random four digit code to acknowledge the message.  This reports to you that the message has been read .

5)  Pricing options.  SP-1 handles many different pricing scenarios.  This allows you the flexibility to be sure that your employees are not having to manually adjust pricing.

6)  Free gift & loyalty systems.  It’s built right into SP-1 and no charge.  Gift cards, prepaid options, rewards and more.

7) Multi Store & Corporate options.  SP-1 has the ability to handle multiple store locations and provide owners the control they need.

8) Complete customer tracking.  We track birthdays, previous orders,  email addresses, catering addresses and more.

9) Discount & Coupon tracking.  Being able to see where your promotional discounts are and are not working is imperitive.

10) Menu mix tracking.  We can track your menu categories, sizes, specialties and modifiers.  With SP-1 you will be able to see exactly what is an is not happening with your sales.

There you go!  Ten reasons our customers use SP-1!

Posted in Order Entry, POS Features Tagged with:

October 27th, 2011 by Mike Spence

I thought it would be fun to list the top 5 things you may not know SP-1 is capable of!

1) Text Ordering. . . Yes it’s true. You can setup a text message ordering system to allow your customers to order through SP-1. $10/month and the orders go right from your customers cell phone to your SP-1 point of sale! By the way – it works with Facebook & Twitter as well. We call it Social Ordering.

2) Time Keeping. . . Included as part of our software and not an extra charge. This allows your employees to clock in & out, send custom messages to employees and track multiple wages per employee. You do use this to help track your Labor Percent right?

3) Gift & Loyalty cards. . . Ok, you know we do that. But it’s pretty cool that they work as gift, loyalty, prepaid and customer tracking cards!

4) Lazy Customer list. . . People sometimes stop coming to your store. Use this feature to send customized messages to people that no longer come to your store! Remember we track TEN email addresses per customer!

5)Forced Modifiers – this is the best way to help your staff communicate with and help educate your customers. Not to mention it’s a great way to  up sell  effectively.

Posted in POS Features, Uncategorized Tagged with:

October 18th, 2011 by Mike Spence

Recently I have read a number of articles about “new” POS products and features.   I love to hear what others in the industry are doing as it helps push us to make sure we are staying on top of the latest technology and features.

For us, our biggest challenge is how to let people know about all the things we sometimes take for granted.   Here are some of the top items that people are surprised we have already in the software:

Text Ordering – Yes – a customer can TEXT an order into your store and have it show up on the SP-1 POS.  We took that a step further and allow your customers to comment on Faceook or Twitter and place an order as well!  Seriously, this is one of the coolest new things you probably are not using yet!

Cloud based backups – Surprisingly we have been doing this since 2007!  SP-1 automatically backs up all of your data every night at 3am.   If you are on a support plan with us, then this is just one of the free perks.    If you are not for sure if your system is backed up, call us.

Remote access – We have multiple ways to handle this!  Our back office license allows you to connect to the POS from the office.  Or, you can use various FREE remote connection software to connect to the POS.  Finally we have three different corporate options that allow you to do everything from receive reporting at a central location to locking down the stores menu.    You don’t have to do everything from the store!

 

 

Posted in Order Entry, POS Features Tagged with:

September 13th, 2011 by Mike Spence

I saw this post online about how Burger King is introducing oatmeal  to their breakfast menu.  BK is trying to compete with McDonald’s in breakfast sales.  To me, the most interesting part of the article was the comment by an analyst that Burger King needs to revamp and remodel their stores.  At least BK is thinking about ways to compete and change their own status quo.

That comment reminded me of our own struggles with customer perceptions in the past.    A few years ago we realized that we had to “re-skin” our software every so often to keep it fresh and new to our customers.  We had gotten to the point where the software just didn’t “look fresh”.    It doesn’t matter if it was true or not, it’s a perception.

It made me think about the  way people use SP-1.  Honestly, when is the last time you really thought about all the reasons you bought a POS for your coffee shop or restaurant in the first place?

Think about doing a remodel on your perception of your POS!  Treat yourself like you are about to do some research and look for ways our POS can help you with your store.    It’s easy to get caught up in a rut and use SP-1 as a cash register but we can do so much more.

Look over the following and think about the last time you looked at these:

  • Customers who have not ordered in the last 30 days report.  You don’t have to do a mailing or email blast.  Just run the report, look them up and call them!  Tell them you know they have not been in for a while and offer a discount to get them in.  Want to set yourself apart from your competition?  This will do it!
  • Have you looked at an employee time keeping audit report?   No?  Are you sure your manager is not changing the clock in time for that cute girl / guy employee?  Really, your sure?
  • Look at a list of your specialty coffee drinks or food items for the last year and see which account for less than 3-5% of your total sales.  Get rid of them or promote them differently.
Try taking just a few minutes to look over our website and see if there are some features that you are not using.   If you see something, call us and our support guys just might be able to help you save time or money.
Mike

 

 

Posted in POS Features, Uncategorized Tagged with: ,

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: ,