I was standing in line to weigh in at a weight loss center recently, and things were going very slowly. They had just changed to a new Point of Sale Software System, and it was quite obvious that the employees were not at all familiar with the new system. Mistakes were being made, and it was causing a backup of paying customers!
How can this problem be avoided? The answer is obvious–don’t wait until the last minute to get your new system set up and your employees trained! It takes time to get this accomplished. Trying to rush into using a new system, without proper preliminaries, will cause a lot of headaches for you and much inconvenience for your customers.
In an article titled, "7 Common POS Mistakes," Justin Laing suggests the following things to do on a mock day of sales before you implement your new system.
- Put money in your cash drawer and do an opening count.
- Have someone pose as a customer and buy some items.
- Perform a refund or exchange on those items.
- Run a credit/debit card transaction in test mode.
- Create a customer record and attach it to a sale.
- Try doing a layaway or special order.
- Do a practice end of day closing count and shut down.
These are the basics that employees should know. By taking notes and having your vendor walk you through trouble spots prior to opening, common problems can be avoided.
At CCS Retail Systems, we have 27 years of experience in helping our customers with smooth transitions to their new POS Software. Email us or call us at (425) 672-4806 for more information about how we can help you!