The POS Software Blog
News from Tower Systems about locally made POS software for specialty local retailers.
If your retail business is near a polling booth, have fun today with more people being out and about.
If your retail business has been affected by slow sales in the run up to the election, not long to go now.
There is no doubt that election campaigns challenge some retail channels. This is why multi-layered multi-faceted marketing is key so you are not relying on one or two freeways of deliver traffic to your shop.
It has been a busy run up to the end of the 2015/16 financial year today. While the customer service side of the business has had the usual mix of calls for advice on being ready with necessary numbers as at the close of business today, our sales team, too, has been busy welcoming new customers to the Tower Systems community, new customers keen to start the new year with us.
Tomorrow, July 1, 2016, we start a new year.
Happy New Year everyone!
Here is our short-form end of financial year advice for small business retailers:
Yes, it is that simple. No longer does June 30 have to be crazy or stressful.
Here at Tower Systems we have been helping our POS software retail customers for months through free live online training workshops, regional user meetings, training videos and on on one support and advice, to be ready and to eliminate the need for a stressful June 30.
Tower Systems is taking its POS software for specialty retailers on the road, showing off its software capabilities to retailers in places usually not visited by POS software companies. In a series of events being hosted in regional locations, we are offering small business retailers excellent opportunities to see our smart POS software first hand, talk with software experts and, most important, talk with retail experts on how to get the best for a small and independent retail business from smart POS software.
This is Tower Systems showing off a valuable point of difference, bringing experts closer to local and small businesses, so people can see us face to face.
This is what small business retailers love about Tower Systems – that we are personal, in contact with our customers using real names and providing personal service from people they can speak with direct.
All our contact is real, personal and valuable.
These regional sessions will give business owners who are not our customers today an opportunity to connect with us and check us out for themselves.
We are sharing details direct to retailers in each regional area we will be visiting. We are not being too public with details here for competitive reasons.
The latest update of our POS software for small business retailers in a number of specialty retail channels has been released. This update, like all software updates, has gone through a comprehensive testing process internally and externally to ensure it is up to the standards our customers have come to expect from it.
The update releases a new integration, enhancements to another integration as well as software changes.
As with all of our software updates, our customers can choose if they wish to install the update and if so, when. This is the ultimate in user control.
Advice about the update was sent by email along with straightforward and peer-reviewed instructions for loading the update.
Our development team is advanced on the next update – we are excited about what is yet to come for our customers in 2016.
There is no additional charge for software updates.
It is a public holiday, for the Queen’s birthday even though it is not her birthday, today in all bar two states of Australia. While our main help desk is closed, we have an interstate office open and all calls to any of our numbers go through to there. Plus, our after hours support network is up and running.
Here at Tower Systems we understand small business retail and that we need to provide access to support when you need it. In addition to our 24/7 support, on saturdays we also provide access to office-based help desk support. Our Saturday team has access to more resources with which to help our customers. They provide a level of service beyond what retailers can be from a mobile service.
Take this morning, our Saturday team is already in the office and helming customers. Each call is a peace of mind opportunity for our customers, reminding them of the value of the personal and accessible service we provide.
For us and our customers this is a Tower AdvantageTM.
There is no regulation when it comes to web development, no certainty that you are engaging a professional with the skills necessary to get the job done. Too often we hear stories of retailers paying for a website that does not work or is not easily updated or that is not being found in online searches.
Our advice if you are considering website development is:
If a website development proposal sounds too good to be true, it is most likely too good to be true and you should pass.
The magazine sales results in the Q1 2016 Newsagency Sales Benchmark Study published by Tower Systems ten days ago have been shown to be accurate Landin-line with the audit results subsequently released.
Our benchmark project has been running for many years and the results are used y small business newsagents and newsagent suppliers.
Similar benchmark principles are used by retailers in other retail channels in which Tower Systems serves as our POS software facilitates benchmark same store performance comparison.
Through our training and support services we help retailers to engage in the most important analysis they can undertake, comparing their performance on a same store basis on a year on year scale. We supplement this with the ability for like for like retailers to easily compare business performance, to assess how they are trading compared to similar businesses. This is at the heart of our channel level retail sales performance benchmark studies.
in addition to channel specific indicators, the benchmark study looks at KPIs that are useful and of interest to any retailer. For example take a look at this from the newsagency sales benchmark study published almost two weeks ago:
Too many newsagents are drifting, waiting for something to happen rather than forcing change in their businesses.
Every retailer wants to know about traffic, revenue, basket depth, basket value and loyalty. We make it easy to report on these as well as other KPIs such as stock turn, return on investment, return on floor space and return on shelf space.
Rather than the shrill puerile comments elsewhere on the Microsoft forced Windows 10 update, the Tower Systems customer service team is providing calm help and assistance to any who seek it. Our POS software is good to go.
We are thrilled to have been successful in expanding our help desk team with another hire for a new position. This is the second in a few months. We will share details with our customers in our weekly email once training is completed and the new team ember is taking calls.
Calling a help desk, any help desk can be confronting and challenging for anyone. It can be even more so for small business retailers who may not be experienced computer users. To help our 3,500+ small business retail customers using our POS software to get the most from our help desk, we developed and published this practical advice. We shared this with them as part of our regular weekly customer service communication:
Calling any help desk can be intimidating. To help ensure you get the best possible experience, here is our advice on how to prepare for and make a call to our POS software help desk. This advice should work for jus about any help desk.
We are it here to show what we now understand to be another example of the Tower Systems difference, the Tower AdvantageTM.
Here is our POS software help desk advice:
BEFORE THE CALL
Know for certain what your query is about. Know the error message, what you were doing before it and whether anything different was done this time compared to last time you did this and it worked.
Being clear in describing a problem or stating a question is the most important step in getting the response you want.
Check to ensure you don’t have the answer already or cannot access the answer through the knowledge base.
MAKING THE CALL
Be ready with your business name (and account number if appropriate.
Explain the problem or ask your question.
Stay on point, be calm and focus on your query.
Follow the advice provided. Do not type ahead or act without the full advice. This can see you make mistakes without the full picture.
If you are not sure about what you have been told ask for the advice to be repeated.
If written advice, an advice sheet or a knowledge base article, is offered, take that as it will provide step by step advice that is peer-reviewed rather than one person’s opinion on what to do.
If we cannot answer the call right away, please tell our receptionist who answers the call how urgent it is – we will get back to you according to the urgency you allocate.
CALL ETIQUETTE.
Please don’t serve customers, stay focused on the call.
Don’t swear.
Listen.
Take notes.
ESCALATE.
If, for any reason, you are unhappy with the call, escalate the matter out of the help desk. Tower Systems has an escalation process to serve your needs. This is detailed in our weekly email.
We are thrilled to again be first with a major supplier to many of our customers, delivering to them excellent time savings, enabling them to compete more effectively. This is important as retailers that share a retail channel are competitors with each other – any advantage has to be exploited.
Today’s announcement is the result of hard work by plenty in our team.
We have enhanced our video training facilities and resources in advance of the next steps we will take in developing additional video resources for our small business POS software customers and other parts of our business.
Using our purpose created in-house studio, professional camera and sound equipment and, Dean, our in-house producer / director we are all set for some exciting developments in the video space this year and beyond. This is a new chapter for us in creating additional video content.
We already has more than two hundred videos in our easily accessed online library for customer use. This is an extraordinary and differentiating resource for our customers.
The training videos are embedded in our knowledge base and other online platforms accessible to our customers.
It also shows prospective customers the Tower difference at a practical an easily accessible level.
Our video library is something we enjoy showing to sales prospects we it gives them something to compare with from any possible competitor.
Thank you for taking my call on a Saturday. I know it was not urgent but you have relieved my stress.
This email from a Tower systems POS software customer this morning is a thrill. They were stressed about information in a report and wanted to understand the context. We provided this and put their mind at rest. Indeed, the discussion has helped them see a new opportunity for their business.
We love feedback like this.
Tower Systems offers help, advice and assistance beyond traditional POS software support and has done for many years.
Our small business retail management advice is fresh and developed from our own hands-on retail experiences and from suggestions from our helpful customers. Each article of advice is jargon-free and accompanied by how-to steps and practice advice any retailer in any situation can read and use.
Here are topics we have published advice for our customers on in recent months.
This is a small sample of the advice from us and available to our POS software customers through our searchable and accessible from anywhere Knowledge Base.
Here is the latest round of free POS software training Tower Systems is proud to offer its customers.
Each one of these sessions is free to access, live and genuinely interactive.
We publish the list here as proof of us living up to our word of offering free on-going training.
Our customers can book any time online through our live training portal – another self-serve facility offered by Tower Systems to its customers.
For a full list of free live POS software training, check out our website. From there you can book, see the topics, see the detail of what will be covered and add the event to your online calendar. Smart software training bookings, another Tower AdvantageTM.
All Tower Systems are closed today out of respect for ANZAC day. We are back on deck tomorrow at 7am AEST. In the meantime, all our after hours and management escalation numbers are live.
We were asked recently to explain our mission in a way small business retailers not familiar with technology will understand.
Tower Systems is an Australian POS software company that develops, sells and supports software for selected specialty marketplaces.
We only serve independent retail businesses.
Our mission is to help retailers run more successful businesses. Our definition of success is a business that is making money, where the owners and employees enjoy what they do and where suppliers enjoy transacting.
Good software can play an important role in nurturing business success as it sits at the heart of the business: transacting sales, managing stock, tracking customer activity and shining a light on business opportunities.
What makes us different is how we engage. We go beyond what is traditional software company.
This is what we stand for.
You are an independent Jeweller.
In the same way that you need the right tools to craft the clearest diamond, the warmest gold and the sharpest ruby, so you need the right tools to grow your business. You need software that will help you make the most profitable, appropriate business decisions for your circumstances without violating your privacy. Your software should not make these decisions for you: it should help you make them yourself.
Our specialty software for jewellers is here to help you.
We’ve crafted our software in-house, line by line of code. Just like your jewellery pieces, our software is more than the sum of its parts. It is feature-rich and fast. It is endorsed by hundreds of jewellers across Australia. But what makes it special is the dedication surrounding it: the passion of the team behind it, the culture of Tower Systems.
We are small. We have been a vertical-market, specialty retail software developer for thirty-four years and we are proud of it. Being small means being real. We answer the phone when you call. We sell you software directly. We give you our honest opinion. Our software is steeped in this culture: personal service meeting the needs of independent jewellers like yours.
You know about jewellery. You don’t need a large software company looking through your business data without your permission. What you need is to be empowered. You need a company on the level with you, an Australian business immersed in the challenges of running an independent business. Tower Systems is that company.
We empower you through our software to sell more and sell better. We empower you to create cutting edge business intelligence reports from your data, when you want to. We provide features and functions to help you to perform valuations, manufacture goods, perform stocktakes, sales, catalogues, promotions, customer marketing, to link with a webstore, accounting or payment platform, to customise receipts, send anniversary reminders and more.
If our software could perform better for you, we’ve built a community where you can share your ideas and be part of the development process yourself. Straight up, openness. This has led to the development of an industry-leading loyalty facility and business analytics reports based on benchmarks most jewellers do not consider or have access to.
We do not hire sales people. Our state based account managers are ex-training & support staff. They are experts. Experts who have worked their way up through the ranks of Tower Systems. They fielded customer phone calls in the support room. They installed computer systems in jewellery stores across the country. They earned their detailed knowledge of the jewellery industry in the field, with hard work and experience. They are the only people who can sell you our software, because product knowledge beats sales technique any day.
When a customer buys a watch from you, they initiate a relationship with you. When you buy our specialty POS software, you join our family. We look after you with real support. Every morning our support team – across offices in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane – is ready for your phone calls and emails. When you call, they pick up the phone.
Tower Systems does not employ robots. We hire real people with diverse experiences. We don’t hire smart-arses: we save our jobs for communicators. Customer support is crucial to empowering your business. You need to know you can rely on your computer system – and if the power goes out or a staff member does something unexpected, you need to be certain we’re here for you. You need to be sure that the company who developed your POS software has your needs at heart.
We do. And we’re here to help.
Retailers using our POS software can book for any other twenty face to face user meetings in the current series by using our online facility. There, we show all addresses and times and parking details. We demonstrate ease of doing business, transparency and certainty – all important things to small business retailers. With all bookings, loading to your calendar is fast and easy.
Take our Gold Coast meeting Tuesday next week. We have twenty-four businesses booked to participate. Here are the publicly accessible details:
Join us to learn how you can drive more value from the Tower Systems POS software. We will share business management, strategic planning and operational insights that will be sure to help you make more money in your business as a result.
These sessions are 100% free. Tower System provides the room, catering and access to senior management from our company.
The sessions provide an excellent business owner networking opportunity as well as an opportunity to speak with us. Indeed, a key reason for running these sessions is to get your feedback.
At the sessions we will launch a brand new cloud based product that leverages the data retailers collect in every transaction through our Retailer POS software.
Anyone can announce user meetings. It is another thing entirely to list the actual dress details and go through with it.
We think you can assess a software company by its frequency of user meetings, transparency of details and ease of booking.
The same is true for our weekly free online workshops. Our customers can book online anytime they choose.
We hope all our customers using our small business POS software had a good Easter break whether they were open or closed all through.
Our help desk is minutes away from reopening after four days off. While our after hours team were up and running all through Easter, there is nothing like the office based service that has access to even more resources with which to help retailers.
Our full suite of services is available this week including support, access to software updates, free training and other business management help beyond our POS software itself.
While our main offices will be closed over the Easter break, our after hours and emergency numbers will be accessible to our customers to ensure support for any time-sensitive issues encountered through the period.
We take the provision of support through extended public holiday periods seriously and have ensured all of our customers have contact details for after hours coverage. We have mailed and emailed details.
To all our customers – we hope you have good trading the Easter days you are open. We are here if you need us.
Through the Easter break we will publish our customer weekly comms as usual and maintain easy access to our knowledge base and other online resources.
Retailers using our small business POS software are voting on changes to the software. We launched this initiative, Software Ideas, years ago and remain as committed today as we were at launch. We appreciate the active engagement of our customers in suggesting enhancements and those in voting for enhancements.
Software Idease is unique, transparent and engaging for our customers. Every idea is responded to in a transparent way. We are thrilled to be able to do this for our customers and are grateful for the opportunity for this dialogue. The result is better, user driven, software.
This engagement focuses our attention.
It is hard work to create and manage a public facing portal for customer change suggestion. That we are still doing this years on and that it is appreciated by so many of our customers is a delight.
This is another example of Tower Systems living up to its promises. We appreciate the point of difference we are able to demonstrate.
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