Most of us have rung a business for help and ended up stuck in a phone menu. Press one, press three, wait. When you finally reach someone, they do not know the product and can only read from a script.
That is frustrating on a quiet day. When your shop is busy and something is not working, it is far worse.
Retail is unique. Every shop has its own way of doing things, its own suppliers and its own regulars. Retail is also human, and so much of it gets done through conversation, between staff, with suppliers and with customers at the counter.
We approach Tower Systems POS software support the same way.
There are no scripts and no hoops to jump through before you get an answer relevant to your query. You speak with someone who knows the software and can work through the problem with you.
A conversation lets the support person understand what you are trying to achieve, beyond the button you pressed. Often the real question sits behind the first one. A retailer might call about a report when what they really need is to understand why margin has dropped in one department. Good support picks that up.
Conversations help with learning, too. Many retailers use only part of what their software can do, and a helpful support call can turn up a feature that saves time every week. That rarely happens when someone is reading from a script.
Support matters most at the moments you least expect. A new staff member gets stuck on a refund on a Saturday morning, or a stock count will not reconcile. At times like these, talking with someone who understands both the software and retail can get you back to serving customers sooner.
When you are choosing POS software, give support the same attention you give the feature list. Find out how you reach support and who picks up the phone. Ask whether that person will know the software well, and whether you can talk a problem through or will be pushed through a process. The answers say a lot about how a supplier sees its customers.
Small retailers deserve support that respects their time and their knowledge of their own business. For us, that means picking up the phone and having a proper conversation.
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To reach us, call 1300 662 957 (AU) or 0800 444 367 (NZ), or email sales@towersystems.com.au.
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