POS systems are improving year over year, becoming more intuitive and efficient. Modern restaurants aren’t using the same POS software or hardware that they were ten years ago or even five years ago; they’re using state-of-the-art systems that provide innovation, convenience, and integration with the latest restaurant technologies – and for a good reason.
Your employees are consumers, too, so they’re familiar with high-speed internet, mobile devices, mobile apps, and social media – they don’t want to use a restaurant POS system from the late 1990s that doesn’t support any of today’s technologies. And they especially don’t want to use a system that makes their job difficult.
How do you know if your system makes tasks difficult?
Consider the following questions: Is your training process longer than it needs to be? Does it take your employees more than a minute to complete simple transactions? Do your employees often ask you for help while using your POS system? Have you sought IT support more than once in the past year? Are lines slow-moving?
If you answered “yes” or “sometimes” to any of these questions, then take that as a sign that your restaurant POS system isn’t as efficient as it should be – and it’s time to make a change.
Here are a few common causes of your employees’ “hatred” for your restaurant POS system:
1. Slow
One reason your employees are likely to become frustrated with your POS system is slow speed, usually stemming from outdated hardware or software. Slow transactions slow down your overall service and reflect poorly on your restaurant and your staff.
How do you know if your system is slow? It should never take more than a few seconds for a receipt to print or a debit card to process. When the transaction takes longer than it needs to and the customer grows impatient, customers can easily become frustrated that they are unable to be productive.
2. Counterintuitive
Like slow-moving POS, counterintuitive touchscreen interfaces reflect poorly on your employees and could compromise their relationships with customers. They should be able to easily enter items without error messages, resistance, lag, or freezing – each of these setbacks is a waste of time that will make employees anxious and customers impatient. Not to mention, entering items incorrectly could lead to costly mistakes.
How do you know if your system is counterintuitive? It should never take more than a minute for employees to enter items (unless it is a ridiculously large order) and they should not have to call for help often. Your state-of-the-art restaurant POS system should be as easy to use as your touchscreen smartphone. If your employees have complained about not being able to find buttons or having trouble entering promotion codes or modifiers, then that isn’t a good sign.
3. Unreliable
The biggest reason your employees hate using your system is unreliability, especially when it comes to debit card processing. In fact, as a restaurant operator, you should hate it, too – an unreliable system that has trouble processing cards could do serious damage to your restaurant’s reputation and customer satisfaction.
How do you know if your system is unreliable? If cards are often declined, must be swiped several times, or must be manually entered to process correctly, then your system is not a reliable resource for your employees or your customers. As payment technology continues to advance, both groups expect these problems to be few and far between. Your customers should never have to worry whether or not their purchase went through, they were charged incorrectly or their personal information is secure.
Fixing these issues can help you get to the root of bigger problems: if employees have an easier time using your system, they will be able to provide quicker, better service that lends to improved customer satisfaction.