Point Of Sale Products

As a business owner your goal of selling to your customer can be enhanced by the point of sale products that you use. The point of sale is the area in which your customer comes to in order to pay for his or her items. Whether this is on the web at an ecommerce website or if it is in a retail location, the final look at what you have to offer is quite important to the customer. Point of sale products are, in fact, likely to help you to sell whatever it is that you need to if they are used correctly as marketing medium. Here are some options that you may want to consider.

Point of sale often means the cash register, the cash drawer and the receipt printer. If you are one of the many that use these aspects, making them marketing materials can help you. For example, the placement of products that you would like to get rid of near the register allows customers who haven’t spent all that they planned to to have the opportunity to spend a little more. This is quite effective when the point of sale merchandise is “marked down” or “clearance” as they know they are getting a great price on the products.

To make this effective, you should use point of sale merchandisers such as toppers for the register or attractive dispensers. Regardless of what the price is for the merchandise, just because it is there, they will look at and consider it.

Other options that you have include using your marketing dollars to present return coupons for your visitors. For example, on the back of their cash receipt is a coupon for their next visit. This will help to encourage their return in a short time period.

Whether you use point of sale merchandise, marketing materials, or even electronic options, taking advantage of the dollar at the point of sale terminal is an excellent opportunity many businesses miss.

for more information please see http://www.point-of-sale-help.co.uk

Point Of Sale Systems: How to Choose a Dealer to Buy From

Given that a point of sale (POS) system is critical to your business, choosing a dealer to buy from is a very important decision. In some ways, the dealer is a more critical factor than the actual hardware and software.

So how do you zero in on the right dealer? Here are some of the things you should look at.

* The dealer’s experience should play a big part in your decision. If you run a fine dining restaurant with up-market clientele, your business needs are vastly different from someone else’s who runs a self-service cafeteria. A bookstore has different needs than a dry cleaning outlet.

Make it a point to investigate what experience the dealer has in your specific industry. And for how long they have been dealing with your industry.

* If the dealer does have experience in your industry, ask for references from within the industry, or in closely related operations.

Ask these references questions about all aspects of their POS system experience. What is it they would have done differently in choosing and utilizing their equipment? What is it they don’t like about the dealership / choice of system?

Also find out if they know any other users who are served by this dealer. You may find that people not directly referred by the dealer tend to be more forthcoming about the pros and cons of the equipment and the dealer.

* A POS system quickly becomes indispensable to your operations. Any downtime is usually a very serious affair and may affect your business in many ways. That’s why support is a critical factor.

Determine what level of support you will need. Will you need 24 hour on-site support? How long can you afford to run without a live POS system?

Sit down with the prospective dealer and get a detailed understanding of the support they offer. Perhaps they initially provide phone support. If that doesn’t solve the problem, they may send support personnel over. And if the problem can’t be rectified immediately, find out if they will be able to give equipment on loan till your system becomes functional again.

Ask to see a copy of the service contract and scrutinize it carefully.

* Request the dealer to give you a demo of the equipment they are proposing to install for you. The demo could be done at your site or theirs. Go along with some of the actual end users in your organization.

A hands-on trial is an excellent way to gauge what you are getting into, both in terms of the equipment itself as well as how the dealer utilizes it.

* Get a sense of the dealer’s installation procedures. Do they have a one-size-fits-all approach? That could be risky with something as critical and complex as a POS system.

The best dealers will make a detailed study of your infrastructure, inspect your power lines and in general, get an excellent grip on your needs and on your present situation before recommending a system.

The initial days after installation are critical, to ensure that the system functions as intended. Will the dealer’s personnel be looking in often for the first two weeks to a month to ensure that everything is working fine and to answer the questions that will inevitably arise?

The above tips should help you determine which POS system dealer is the best fit for your business needs. Preparing well at the pre-purchase stage can save you endless frustration later on.

Mark Henry is a systems consultant and has written on POS equipments, tips for choosing the right point of sale system, how point of sale equipment needs to fit in with the business environment and other related topics.

Can Point of Sales Systems Really Enhance My Customer's Visit?

You may assume that your guest's experience at your restaurant may be enhanced by a point of sale system. Maybe you had not even though of it. However, the fact is that a good point of sale system can benefit the experience of your guests.

So often the salesperson tries to focus your attention on the benefits of their product with regard to your interests. But what about your customer's interest? Shouldn't you also be concerned about how installing a point of sale system is going to affect them?

Depending on the type of restaurant or bar you have certain benefits will be more readily apparent than others. On top of that, the method by which a guest's experience is enhanced may also change. But overall you can expect some or all of the following:

Remote Printing or Displaying Or Orders

There are varying degrees of this benefit depending upon your application. In Table Service you have the ability to have the order entered by the server and immediately printed on various printers in the kitchen. With some systems you can have up to 6 remote printers. This reduces steps to the kitchen and eliminates the requirement for the server to even go to the kitchen to deliver the ticket.

In a Quick Service environment you can also use printers to deliver orders to the kitchen but an even better solution is a kitchen video system. The orders get to the kitchen even faster as an item is sent to the monitor as soon as the next item is entered. With printers, the order does not start printing until the order is finalized. With a kitchen video system items can be set to go when the next item is entered, thus speeding up the process of order delivery even more.

Bars can enjoy increased speed of service through the use of remote printers. With some systems we can even use the printer next to the terminal to save on the cost of an additional printer. Drink orders can be printed on this printer and the drinks can be prepared and waiting on the server when they walk up.

For your customers, faster service means happier customers

Reduced Errors In The Kitchen

Printing or displaying the orders for the kitchen is also more accurate than hand written tickets. No longer will you have hastily scribbled notes to the kitchen that are hard to read, time consuming and the birthplace of guessing and eventual errors.

In multi-lingual situations you will be pleasantly surprised how quickly your kitchen staff will learn to read the tickets that come out of the printer.

You will also see how organized the tickets are and how special orders and modified items stand out with either 2-color printing on the tickets or multiple colored items on the displays.

For your customers, reduced errors means happier customers.

Quality of Service

In a Table Service setting, since the server is not required to walk to the kitchen to hand deliver the ticket they are able to use this time to prepare soft beverages and deliver them to the table quicker.

For Quick Service operations once the cashier is through with one order they may start another. The orders are separated and a specific number is assigned to each. This number helps track the entire order and keep items together for presentation to the customer.

In bars with a kitchen it would be ridiculous for a bartender to leave the bar to take an order to the kitchen. This would reduce customer service. Well, so is not serving food to your bar customers. By printing orders on a remote printer you are better able to serve your bar customers.

For your customers, better service means happier customers.

On-Line Credit Authorization

Some point of sale systems are able to process credit card transactions via a high-speed Internet connection. This reduces authorization down to as little as 1 - 2 seconds from up to 30 seconds for a dial-up connection.

On a standard credit card machine provided by most credit card processors each approval can take up to 30 seconds. Each swipe takes time. Each server waiting in line adds up the total time it takes to process a credit card for a customer. If you have 3 servers waiting on the same credit card terminal the 1st server waits 30 seconds, the 2nd server waits 60 seconds and the poor 3rd server waits 90 seconds to get their approval. Add the time it takes the server to walk back to the table and the poor customer has almost had another birthday!

For your customers, faster service means happier customers.

Processing Credit Cards At Multiple Terminals

Take the previous scenario and add multiple terminals. In our industry we recommend 3 servers per point of sale terminal. Therefore, if you have 3 server terminals you could have as many as 9 servers on the floor at one time. If they all try to access the same credit card terminal from the processor the wait could be intolerable for your guests.

Almost every restaurant point of sale system allows for credit card transactions to be swiped at each terminal. With most processing software you can swipe at every terminal at the same time and there is no additional waiting. If you are processing through a high-speed connection each terminal in the network can expect an approval in less than 2 seconds.

For your customers, faster service means happier customers.

Professional Appearance

DirecTouch Restaurant Point of Sale will produce a professional and neat guest check, ticket or receipt for the customer. Items will be detailed with pricing. Modifiers can also be printed to show preparation instructions. The taxes will be shown and broken out by type. The total will be displayed in bold lettering so that there is no confusion.

You will also be able to show the date of the visit, the server, cashier or bartender that served them as well as any marketing information you wish in the header and footer of the receipt.

This will assuradly be better than the receipt we get at our local Mexican restaurant which is simply a calculator tape with no description of the items we were served.

For your customers, a trusting customer is a happier customer.

Customer Reward or Customer Loyalty Programs

With Frequent Diner Modules you are able to reward repeat customers through either discounts on meals, free food or reduced prices on specific items.

These rewards are earned either on a points system or on dollars spent. The rewards are good off of their next visit.

Use these programs to directly market to your customers about specials, new items or even an invitation to come in for a free/discounted meal for their anniversary or birthday.

For your customer, a rewarded customer is a happier customer.

Split Checks

There are many times when the customer will not tell the server that they want split checks until the ticket is presented. Having an easy method of splitting these checks is essential to customer satisfaction. If the task is difficult then the attitudes of the servers will show through to the customer. Then the task itself will take a long time, really impacting the customer's experience.

Some,not all point of sale systems have extremely fast and easy method of splitting checks at any time the ticket is open. In a few simple touches, extra tickets can be added to the table and items moved to the proper seats. When done, the system will immediately print new tickets for each guest.

If the server rang the original order in separate seats then it is even quicker and easier to split the order.

For your customers, faster service means happier customers.

Split Items

Sharing appetizers should be encouraged by your servers even if the guests want to split the costs amongst themselves. This will create additional sales for the restaurant in enhance the guest's experience.

Some,not all point of sale systems can easily split the cost of an item and divides the cost amongst the guests that shared the item. If not all the guests shared the item, then only the guests who want to share the cost will.

For your customers, accurate pricing means happier customers.

Pricing Accuracy

Hand written tickets create errors. Using a calculator to compute tickets creates errors. For years, cash register salespeople have been taught that doing a guest check audit is one of the best ways to sell a cash register of point of sale system. Humans make errors. Point of sale systems don't.

What about multiple prices for the same item? Do you run a happy hour in your bar? How about early bird pricing in the restaurant? How do you know that the servers and bartenders are charging the correct price? Your point of sale system will set the price by the time of day for you. Your early birds will get their discount pricing.

The National Restaurant Association backs this up with surveys and documented evidence that says that the average loss due to human error on hand written tickets and calculator tape is 2% of sales. Do the math for your business with our Return on Investment spreadsheet. I'll bet the loses are huge if you are using hand written checks or calculators to compute guest checks.

For your customers, accurate pricing means happier customers.

86 Item Feature

Almost all restaurants run some kind of daily special or have items with a limited shelf life. Table Service applications sometimes have lunch or dinner specials that are added just for that day. Deli operations sometimes have a limited number of breads available by style. The 86 Item feature will count down these types of items until you are sold out.

Prior to running out of an item the terminal will display a numeric display on the button letting the server, cashier or bartender exactly how many of that item are left. When the item is sold out it will then display a symbol on the item button and prevent the item from being rung.

Customers who want a daily special that is out will be given the opportunity immediately to order something else rather than ordering the item and then being disappointed that it is not available.

For your customers, a satisfied customer is a happier customer.

Faster service, better service, customer rewards, accurate orders, fewer mistakes and satisfied customers are all benefits enjoyed by your customers simply by you investing in a point of sale system.

The fact remains that the investment is yours to make. The financial benefits are yours to enjoy from the return on your investment. But you are going to have the share the satisfaction with your customers and guests.

Jerry D. Wilson has over 25 years of restaurant point of sale experience consulting and helping businesses automate their processes, control their businesses and increase their profits. You may find out more about restaurant systems and how they can help your business by visiting DirecTouch Point of Sale. directouchpos.com

How To Make Your Cash Register Ring All Day

A woman walks into a sweet-smelling shop, the product display is exquisite, the perfumes and oils and soaps bright and enticing.

She is approached by a young man. His face is bright, enthusiastic, well-scrubbed. His hair is clean and fragrant, his nails trimmed, his suit pressed, and his shoes polished. Then he opens his mouth and uses words with the sophistication of a back-alley brawler.

The magic is lost. After a few flustered words, a few patent excuses, the woman leaves.

The cash register remains untouched, and the proceeds for the day the same. Hour after hour this tragedy continues.

What tragedy befell this merchant?

Meanwhile, she, still in need of cosmetics and toiletries visits another store in the mall. There the pace is hectic, the display mauled over, and the salesman, despite careful grooming in the morning, now appears disheveled by too much work.

She approaches with hesitation, and her impatience and resistance, too, are stronger.

Seeing her approach, the salesman speaks.

She smiles for the first time that day, the pinched look on her face disappears, the pursed lines around the mouth soften.

Eloquent words flow from his lips, words of courtesy, interest, and charm.

He shows her one product after another, describing the benefits and the magnetism of each in turn.

Soon she is moving swiftly, from one choice piece of soap to another bottle of exquisite scents. She piles up her arms then asks him to assist her to carry more. Together they carry the boxes to the counter. The cash register rings yet again, the drawer is almost overflowing with ill-pressed bills, and the salesman barely has enough time to close it and catch his breath when she has been replaced by yet another eager customer.

Why the good fortune of this merchant?

Business. It is simple. It is the words you use.

Business. It is complex. It is the words you use.

Words create reactions, people buy or refrain from buying because of them.

A product is manufactured. A service is created. A structure is built around them. A strategy is designed to deliver them to the public with the most appeal. Yet without words, no perception is created.

The beautiful product image is not interpreted. The stirring value of it’s content is not appreciated. The elaborate service model is not permitted full execution.

Without words, it is only so much dust. Another product that sits on the shelf, another enterprise that is unvisited, another service that is not sought.

But add words, the right words, and it is as if the dust is now fairy dust. Everything now has a certain magic, a mysterious appeal, an allure that cannot be denied. Even yesterday’s outdated product is perceived with a nostalgic touch and considered a vintage find. The eager hand of the customer reaches for it. Money is exchanged. The cash register rings. The merchant is happy, his face uplifted in a smile, a vision of prosperity glazing his eyes.

What do words do?

They lift up perception.

A product is just another product. Until words are added to it. Then it takes on luster and power and comes into a life of its own.

Heed your words, your spoken words, your written words.

It’s not enough to throw a pitch, to make a broad appeal for interest, to say any foolish thing that comes to mind in a clumsy grope for rapport.

Something else is necessary, the right words; and behind the words, a service philosophy, a genuine desire to be of help.

Business is about words. The right words. The expressive words. The words that lure, dazzle, entangle.

Each person is in a world of their own, a trance of mixed variety, and your product is just another product, until you add the right words to it; then it flies off the shelf, and behind your customer is another, waiting eagerly in line to satisfy the perception that the words she overheard you speak aroused in her.

Business is simple if you use the right words. It’s complex if you use the wrong ones.

Train your sales people with the right words and magic happens.

The rest of the story, the quality, the display, the structure around which the business is molded pale in comparison to the words used to describe the merchandise.

Business is about words.

Whatever the business, regardless of the magnificence of its shape, size, and reach; regardless of its originality, brilliance, and design; deny it the power of words, and like a magnificent ocean liner striking a reef, it will sink like a rock.

Saleem Rana would love to share his inspiring ideas with you. Hunting everywhere for a life worth living? Discover the life of your dreams. His book Never Ever Give Up tells you how. It is offered at no cost as a way to help YOU succeed. http://www.theempoweredsoul.com/enter.html

Saleem Rana. Please feel free to pass this article on to your friends, or use it in your ezine or newsletter. It's a shareware article.

Hosted Point of Sale Applications

With Software as a Service becoming the motto of many of today?s large software companies it becomes obvious the power Internet Applications hold. Instead of selling a license to install software and risk a bad install software manufacturer?s can charge for access to the software online through a web browser. This provides so many benefits that I don?t think I can list them all.

*Hosted software is instantly updated to all users
*Has an install so easy you can just click a shortcut and you?re running
*Can provide guaranteed off-site data back up that was once only the luxury of super rich mega companies.

Those are just the icing on the cake. You can run a Hosted application on almost any platform. Suddenly Linux systems don?t require a specialized software install, just a web browser. The technical support required for a non-Microsoft operating system drops considerably. You also get the added advantage of easy access on handheld devices and mobile phones.

The easiest fastest way to create any tool for multiple platforms and not worry about technical support costs is to look for those companies making the leap to the next level of technology. Software companies that make Internet Based and Web Based applications are going to experience an explosion as the world moves to this advantage.

Many of the largest companies have already stated their support and intensions in this area. When looking for a software company to provide a point of sale system I look at how well it integrates into this model. Can the software be hosted on a single server and manage 100 locations? How easy is it to install on different platforms? Can I keep it backed up and updated quickly and easily? Will it lower my bottom line and increase my profits? Evaluate the arguments and you?ll see the advantages Hosted Applications can offer any size business.

The development costs for a Hosted Application are also significantly less. Instead of worrying about difficult installs for multiple operating systems (even Windows Apps have to be tested on Win98 and up) you can focus on writing towards the most currently accepted standards as determined by the W3C. Having only one standard to worry about removes the concern that different operating systems will require different installs and files. As long as you use a browser that follows the W3C guidelines, and the big ones do, then you?ve reduced development and testing time. This creates a better application that isn?t bloated with all the junk needed to make it run on a million different systems.

There may be some concern in using a Point of Sale system through the Internet, but SSL encryption and other security techniques are quite sound. Stealing information has been around long before technology and thieves will always pick away at the profits. The question is whether the risk is higher in using a Software tool that can be so easily accessed by not only your employees but by financial assassins that we all know are there. Security is an always will be a concern, but if your company is connected to the Internet in any way then any information on those networks is at just as much of a risk if not more of a risk than the information stored in a hosted application.

If your network is connected to the Internet then you?re already taking the same risks as someone using an Internet Hosted Application. Even systems on a closed WAN have their security risks. The benefits of using an Internet Hosted Point of Sale System far outweigh the risks. In business every dollar counts and when it comes to technology picking the right path can make a huge difference in your profits.

Please consider this article for publication in your newsletter or on your website. Permission is granted to reprint for free with author box and byline intact. Please send me a copy of your publication if you choose to include my article. TITLE: AUTHOR: Ed Duval URL: www.AndTechComputers.com

MAILTO: support@andtech2020.com

Author Box - ? Ed Duval (2006) Ed Duval is contract writer and software developer for www.AndTechComputers.com and Creator of the HotPotato Restaurant Point of Sale Software System. With over a decade of experience in software development he shares his unique insight on today's point of sale software systems.

Your Business May Benefit From A Point of Sale System

Probably the most energetic and enterprising individuals live in the United States. So many Americans nowadays invest their savings with the hope that they will start a lucrative small business. They do it with hope and passion, powerfully attracted by the world of small business. Statistics show that in 2004 in the USA there were 24.7 million small businesses. What is more important is that for the last ten years, small businesses have supplied around 60-80 percent of the new jobs in the country. Before you decide to start a retail business, rent a space, or buy inventory, you should develop a business plan.

For this purpose, you may have to spend some time researching on the advantages of a point of sale system.

You will find out that on the market there are different versions of a point of sale system. However, probably the most approachable and easy point of sale system is the one that Microsoft offers. This point of sale system is based on the Windows framework. That is what makes this point of sale system approachable as most of us have grown up using Windows.

POS system is the abbreviation, which is usually used to refer to a retail point of sale system. A point of sale system helps small business, as well as large businesses, to rationalize their daily activities. A point of sale system can make even a large project easier to realize. A point of sale system will allow you to manage large databases in order to make your business more profitable. Some years ago, retailers used 10-digit registers, plug-in calculators, and carbon copy credit card receipts. This time is gone. Now, it is the age of point of sale system.

The contemporary point of sale system makes no difference with the regular personal computer. Point of sale system has every function that a desktop computer has and more. With a point of sale system, a businessperson will be able to ring up transactions, make payments, and manage inventory and print reports. Sales can be sorted and showed by day, by product, by cashier and by the hour. You can easily print labels for shelves, and price tags for products. Databases can be sorted like clients databases, department databases, item databases, and supplier databases. Even purchases can be tracked.

The point of sale system can be networked so that everyone will be able to share ideas, send messages and so on. In addition, if you wish receipts, labels and calendars can be designed. When you need them, summary sales reports, detailed sales reports and regional sales reports can be printed. Contemporary retail business is almost impossible without a retail point of sale system. It is hard for me even to imagine what business was when point of sale system does not exist.

Any operation nowadays will be very difficult to perform without a point of sale system. A point of sale system will save you all the paper work you are obliged to do. No matter if you are managing one store, ten stores, or one hundred you cannot miss to take a point of sale system.

Morgan Hamilton offers expert advice and great tips regarding all aspects concerning sales. Get more information by visiting Point of Sale System

 

POS (Point of Sale ) Cash Register Systems- They May Be The Best Investment You'll Ever Make

The Slope Report read, ?excellent conditions?. It was cold but sunny and the slopes were full of skiers and snowboarders. The powder? Perfect. I could see out the window a group of skiers were headed toward the lodge bar. Inside the bar they waited patiently as the bartender keyed in their seating numbers, drinks and bar tab. It took over four minutes for them to get their drinks; the same amount of time it took for them to decide on dinner at another pub.

Capturing the skiers during a weather-perfect season is simple. Capturing their food and beverage business isn?t always so easy. It requires not only need a customer-friendly environment, but also a user-friendly POS (point of sale) cash register system for efficiency. Today?s technology provides this?and more. POS cash register terminals that continuously synchronize with each other, endless report options, alcohol inventory controlled by bottle weights and computerized tap monitors, staff time and attendance, ski, school, and guest database management, and so much more are available. Let?s face it. It takes more than cooperative weather to run a ski resort.

So, when choosing a POS software system, be certain to explore all the options. Cost is always a factor, but unless the software gives you all the management tools you need and is fully supported, an initially less expensive system can end up costing you much more. There are as many point of sale cash register systems available as there are skis and choosing the right one can be confusing and time-consuming. Aside from meeting technological requirements, your POS system must remain easy to use, with speed and accuracy. Customers, Employees, Managers and Sales Staff are all affected by a point of sale system. So, imagine first what you would like the ideal computer cash register system to do for your resort; make a list of features you hope to find. Chances are you?ll find all of them on today?s market.

One software company that stands out above the rest is a Canadian-based company called Tesoro Technologies, Incorporated. Wired or wireless, Windows or Linux, networked or independent terminals, their Volant? POS System is up for any challenge. Since 1993, Volant? System developers have been designing equipment that is ?cash register tough and computer smart? to serve some of the biggest and best.

Snow Valley Ski Resort, located in Barrie, Ontario, wanted a POS system that could produce ID cards and time passes, manage a client database and ski school, as well as handling all their food and beverage and retail services. The geographical location had Director, Peter Haney, concerned at first. ? Like most ski resorts, we are very remote. We needed a satellite tower and wireless system. We also looked at a lot of providers and found that most of the companies didn?t offer the hospitality end we needed. Volant? is hospitality.?

Tesoro had to install a fail-safe, independently running system for the remote summit area that could also be integrated with the high volume operations below. Using both wired and wireless network topology, their system has operated without software failure despite the unstable power and network issues. Snow Valley Ski Resort also utilizes the database of guests and 5,800 pass holders to generate email broadcasts, which enhances their marketing plan. ?We?re real pleased with Volant?. It?s an entity that grows and evolves along with our business,? says Haney.

In fact, Volant? has revolutionized the wireless POS industry. Their creative approach to wireless mobile computing makes Volant? the perfect POS software choice for not only ski resorts, but for other venues as well, such as stadiums, trade shows, casinos, arenas, race tracks and outdoor sales areas where conventional POS cash register systems aren't practical nor feasible.

Tesoro Technologies, Inc. may be at the forefront of a new generation of guest management technology, but they?re still producing. Recent breakthroughs in point of sale development are allowing a full range of services and back office capabilities never before considered.

So, when you?re looking for a more efficient POS cash register system that can create ?excellent conditions? for your business, spend the extra time researching your options ? it may turn out to be the best investment you?ll ever make.

For more information on how Tesoro and Volante POS systems can help your business, contact them through their website http://www.volantesystems.com/ or email them at sales@volantesystems.com.

For Maximum Profit Growth: Advertise Beyond The Cash Register

Much of the advertising by small to mid-size businesses leaves the real money on the table. Here's how to extend your profit strategy beyond the initial sale.

Most of the retail advertising I see offers "bargain basement" discounts with painfully low profit value to the seller. Sure, there's the expectation that a buyer will make an additional purchase, but as someone very accurately said, "hope is not a strategy"! Using a more proactive conversion strategy will give you far more profitable results.

Formulating longer-range objectives in all of your ad campaigns will, ultimately, lower your overall marketing costs by increasing the profitability of each campaign.

You Know They're Coming, So 'Bake A Cake'
Attracting buyers isn't the same as acquiring a customer, and your marketing strategy has to take this distinction into account. A business that's not converting buyers into customers is just an endless series of promotions!

Why not have your salespeople ready with pre-planned up-sell and cross-sell strategies, as well as bundled offerings to go along with your initially advertised 'specials'? Granting authority to offer discretionary 'one-off' discounts to complete a bundle can add tremendous power to your sales force and turbo charge their effectiveness.

When an ad campaign is well thought out, your product offering gives a lot of clues about what the buyers who respond really want to accomplish. Instead of thinking about the products you're selling, consider what problem your buyers want to solve as a result of the purchase.

Show The Advantages Of Being A Customer
Do you sell to a return trip by offering a 'first time buyer's certificate' that is good for some special offering if redeemed in the next 15 or 30 days? What about a 'bring a friend coupon' that may get an additional buyer your campaign may have either missed or failed to convince.

Your sales staff should have a range of 'bounce-back' options since the same offer isn't going to be attractive to everyone.

Capture Their Personal Data
Do you enroll them in your automatic 'birthday discount shopping spree' program to capture their personal information? You'll need it in the future to involve your new buyer in your relationship marketing efforts. When you can begin to acurately correlate this data, you can begin to develop accurate individual customer profiles.

As time goes by you'll know the buying patterns and preferences that will let you deliver laser focused, offers that generate high volume, high profit responses.

The Takeaway
The deliberate planning of your conversion process will generate higher returns on your advertising investments and ensure a continuously widening customer base. You'll soon see a dramatic upsurge in revenue that you may have otherwise thought impossible!

Kamau Jackson is a Chicago marketing consultant who helps business owners leverage their existing assets to dramatically increase profits without increasing advertising costs. Get more info about online and offline small business marketing strategies at www.internetknowledgesolutions.com.

POS Software Guide

In this article you will find information regarding the pos software, how it works and how to buy the right one.

To have a better understanding of POS software, one must first get familiar with the concept of POS. POS stands for point-of-sale or point-of-service, which can mean anything from a retail shop, checkout counter, basically any location at which a transaction occurs. Considering all that, it's not hard to see why pos terminals can be found in restaurants, hotels, bars, shops, stores, malls. To be completely accurate, we can say that POS refers to the hardware and software which cashiers use for checkouts.

When we consider a POS system, it has to be divided into hardware and software. Since this article is focused on the software part of it, let's examine the history of pos software. Some of the early electronic cash registers had a special computer program loaded on them, providing additional functionalities, although quite limited according to our standards nowadays. Programmability made way for a lot of new concepts, as it allowed developers to be more creative and embed whatever features they can think of, includingreal time labor and food cost reports.

A protocol is a predefined set of rules which computers follow when engaged in communication with one another. POS terminals communicate with other devices (peripherals) using a given protocol, so we can say that the protocol is the language that computers speak. Every pos software comes with a support of a certain protocol, so that it can succesfully interact with peripheral devices, such as POS printer, a bar-code scanner, and a credit/debit card reader. Some of the popular POS communication command protocols are EPSON Esc/POS, ADM 787/788, DSP-800, CD 5220.

In an attempt to guarantee the compatibility between the different devices, pos software developers have to meet certain standards. Microsoft, NCR, Epson, and Fujitsu-ICL developed the first pos software standard, called OPOS. People know it as "OLE for POS", because it's based on Microsoft's COM technology, which makes OPOS language independent. The next industry standards was made by SUN, IBM and NCR, under the name JavaPOS. JavaPOS is programmed on JAVA, so it's platform independent.

The high-quality pos software can provide several benefits to your business. First of all, it will increase your profits. Second, it will lower the inventory costs. It will improve customer service. Automate repetitive tasks, maximizing efficiency by at least 20%.

If you just consider for a minute all the places where you can find pos terminals - all the stores in the country, then you will easily see that there is a huge competition in the pos software industry, there are a lot of products available on the market. Choosing the right one is never easy, but there several factors to consider before buying. First of all, take into account the turnover of your business, whether it's $1000 or $100,000, it all makes a difference. The second important factor is the industry in which your business operates, it could be a grocery store, or a sports store, car dealer shop, appliances. Bear in mind that they best way to find out if a given software is bug-free and stable, is to check with the retailers who are already using it.

The majority of POS software solutions are designed to operate on Windows. Linux and MAC machines are probably more reliable, but you will get a much more limited amount of choices in terms of software available for such UNIX based operating systems. When configured properly, Windows systems can work for months and even years without any intervention. POS software can support Windows 95, 2000, or XP, although some will only work on XP.

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