The POS Software Blog
News from Tower Systems about locally made POS software for specialty local retailers.
Ten days ago a new IT professional joined our help desk. Following comprehensive training, Travis has started taking calls under guidance with a mentor from our team. We take care with new help desk team members and slowly add to the types of calls they can handle. The training process is comprehensive and structured.
One of the most important activities for service business is listening our customers. This is what we have been doing this weekend at the Melbourne Gift Fair. We have caught up with plenty of users of our POS software. We have been actively listening to feedback on what they love about us and our software and what we can improve.
It is important for any business to put itself in front of customers for this type of interaction. Hiding from them is not good customer service and will multi,lately see more of them flee from you. We do this regularly at trade shows – sixteen this year. We appreciate the opportunity.
The last thing small business retailers want is POS software that changes without warning. They need to control when their software changes and the extent of the change they introduce in their business.
This is what retailers tells us and why here at Tower Systems our customers have control over when updates are loaded and which updates are loaded.
It is a point of difference for us in some niche retail channels, a point of difference driving sales.
Retailers using the Tower Systems POS software have access to 626 knowledge base articles. This is an extraordinary resource for small business retailers.
Each peer-reviewer knowledge base article is a step by step guide to how to use part of the sPOS software. Combined, the articles are a how to make your business more valuable as a result of using the software.
Accesses through an easy to sue search facility or searched using plain English searching, the knowledge base is a valuable resource for Tower customers.
Each week we refine content in articles and work on new articles to be added. We also remove articles that are no longer relevant.
The knowledge base resource is better than a user manual. It serves the 3,000+ Tower Systems customers well and acts as a valuable reference resource our customers can tap into at any time.
This is another example of the Tower AdvantageTM.
Ww are experiencing a massive day of calls to the help desk today with retailers doing stock takes and other EOFY tasks. We have everyone taking calls and helping in every way humanly possible. It’s days like today that test any software company dealing with small business retailers.
In another show of customer respect and service, Tower Systems confirms that it does not record help desk calls. We refuse to be part of the process of recording calls and keeping these for future reference.
While those recording them say they do for training and coaching purposes, we think they hold them as a reference against customers in the event of a dispute. We don;t want to be part of that culture.
We make notes about advice and provide feedback and advice to customers in writing by email if warranted as a result of a call. We also share links to appropriate knowledge base articles to help retailers as a follow up to a call.
We don’t like our calls being recorded when we make them so we think why do it to our customers. Customers agree.
A retailer who shifted to our POS software commended last week to us on our comprehensive video training library and the technology platform we developed for providing access to this training library.
I love it! I love that I can watch a video over at home. I love that I can get my staff to watch videos of the parts of the software they use.
The Tower Systems video training library is a unique and valuable resource, enabling retailers using the software to be able to access training as they want, as they get further into the software.
The investment by Tower Systems in creating the training resources reaps dividends for the company as it enables us to demonstrate a valuable point of difference.
The Tower Systems sales team provide access for business owners considering the use of our software – to show first hand the value of our training facilities.
This advice seems simple, obvious – yet it is advice that must good POS software companies repeat daily. Here at Tower Systems we take this seriously we offer advice on how to use the software well, how to run a better business with the support of the software
Going beyond what is traditional in POS software support, Tower Systems helps its customers get more. Here are some of the ways retailers can use their POS software well:
This list is just a start on how to use your POS software well. Too many retailers use their software as a glorified cash register and we don’t like that. There are plenty more ways retailers can use their POS software to run more efficient and valuable businesses.
The employee theft advice Tower Systems provides its users goes beyond our smart POS software and well into the area of small business management. Offered as part of our comprehensive Knowledge Base, our advice is based on years of work with business owners, police in various jurisdictions and prosecutors to bring people to account for theft in retail businesses in which they work.
This type of advice covering business management goes beyond what is typical for a POS software company. It demonstrates a level of commitment from Tower Systems that is unique, a commitment of which we are proud.
The best feedback we have received is from those following this advice who have successfully detected earlier than otherwise might have been the case theft by an employee, detection that enabled them to gather the necessary evidence to act.
Every day here at Tower Systems we are involved with our customers beyond what is traditional for a POS software company. While we are happy to help with POS software queries, we are equally happy to help with business management advice beyond the software. As our motto say, We’re here to help.
And how can I use that information in the business?
This is a question that can stump someone working on the help desk as a POS software company as it goes beyond the what and how and delves into the why. The answer to this question is a chink of gold that can be mined using smart POS software.
This is a questions the Tower Systems help desk team members can answer because the understand the why: why the software matters, why the data harvested is valuable, why a business owner wanting to grow the business will want to use the data.
This information is vital in small business as it is information that unlocks the real value of POS software for these small independent business users.
We can help small business owners understand data on reports as they relate to their specific businesses. Context is everything as they say and we know POS software cannot be one size fits all. A datapoint could be used by three different businesses in different ways depending on other metrics and KPIs. This is where our help desk team is smart and engaged.
Beyond the shat and how, our POS software help desk team loves to delve into the why.
We are thrilled with the feedback from our customers about the ever expanding Knowledge Base accessible framer POS software support website.
Packed with proprietary information, this Knowledge Base is a wonderful resource as we can share with customers in response to queries where documentation supporting an over the phone answer helps.
What is especially good is the feedback from customers that helps us enhance the Knowledge Base experience further.
This is another benefit of the proprietary and exclusive Tower AdvantageTM program.
Tower Systems offices are closed today for the Queens’d Birthday public holiday in the majority of states. All our after hours numbers are up and running.
EFTPOS processing mistakes at the retail sales counter can cost small business retailers dearly. POS software company Tower Systems helps retailers cut mistakes thanks to its integrated EFTPOS solutions.
Connecting directly with broadband EFTPOS bank Tyro as well as other banks, retailers using the Tower software are able to easily and quickly process credit card / EFTPOS payments without additional keystrokes.
Eliminating keystrokes is key to cutting mistakes. Eliminating the use of a separate EFTPOS device is key to eliminating mistakes. This saves time and money but most important it cuts mistakes.
In addition to cutting expensive mistakes, the integration delivered by Tower Systems streamlines customer flow at the counter and this improves the overall customer experience. It’s a win for the customer and a win for the retail business.
We keen addicting additional free live training sessions for our POS software customers and they keep filling up. So, guess what, we are adding more.
These sessions are more about leveraging the software in the business than how to do this or that. They contain considerable retail business management and operational advice.
We are thrilled with the support from ur customers and grateful to be in a position to offer this training by our skilled training team.
This is POS software customer service at its best. This is the Tower AdvantageTM
Finding stock is easy for those using the Tower Systems POS software. While we have comprehensive training, sometimes it is brief top level training that front line employees need. Here is a new brief video created specifically for the front line. It’s fast and easy to learn and is back by far more training in video, text and line one on one form.
Check out another brief video for retailers using our POS software:
Here at Tower Systems we think you need the certainty of easy access to our people from support to accounts to management. This is why we publish a contact list with our weekly customer service email. This contact list includes names and direct contact details for senior management.
The first step to good customer service for any software company is to provide names of real people in authority with whom you can speak directly. Too often we see POS software companies hide behind a nameless number or email address.
Our website also provides names, contact points and photos.
Here’s a brief video we shot for our POS software customers explaining how to setup a panic button in our software:
This video is one of more than 130 from structured training through to front line brief employee training.
We’re here to help.
This is our motto here at Tower Systems. It is at the core of what we do. The motto goes beyond our POS software.
we wil help small business retailers as far as we are able. Customer or not. Software related or not. This is what helping is about in our view. If we can help we will.
Our assistance has involved lease assistance, dispute resolution, help dealing with another software company, theft management help as well as business planning advice.
The most important help we can offer is a listening ear.
If you are a small business retailer and you feel you have nowhere to go for help or to talk, contact Tower Systems – we will do our best to help.
This is our retail advice today – don’t bottle your challenges up. reach out for help. there are plenty out there willing to listen and help.
Here’s another employee training video from our POS software company explaining the handling of a refund request from a shopper. This short video is part of a comprehensive package of FREE training for our customers in this and other areas of the software.
Tower Systems is thrilled with the use small business retailers are making of the free small business marketing resources we have made available in our website.
These free resources are another practical way Tower Systems helps small business retailers beyond our terrific POS software.
Our development and free access to these resources demonstrates are acre for and commitment to the small business retail channels in which we serve. It is easy for a business to say they support their customers in a variety of ways. This investment by us is us being true to our words – walking the walk if you will.
We have happy for these and other free downloads we place on the site to be used widely.
Note we have not included our branding as we don;t want to get in the way of the businesses using the materials.
We have been asked to help several retailers in recent weeks who discovered their POS software had been changed by their supplier without reference to them. The changes occurred overnight without forewarning. They introduced changes unexpected by the businesses, changes they need to adjust so they worked how the business would want.
One of the retailers commented to us they felt helpless with this change by their POS software company to a core management tool in their business without discussion or permission.
Tower Systems does not do this – we do not unilaterally make software changes in client locations without permission nor without full disclosure in advance so our customers can decide whether the changes would be useful to the businesses.
We think small business retailers should control the software they run. By this we mean – they should control when they update the software, always. This is a fundamental of good customer service in our view.
A loyalty program is only as good as the over the counter pitch through which you seek to engage shoppers. Check out this brief video we created to train retail employees on what has to be the easiest to use over the counter shopper loyalty offer.
Tower Systems leads with professional employee training videos which help retail employees leverage more value for the business from our software.
Today, as is usual, the office based POS software help desk of Tower Systems is up and running and providing live assistance to retailers using our POS software.
This office based service is in addition to our after hours service and our senior management escalation service.
Saturday POS software support is loved by retailers. It demonstrates an understanding of the different work cycle of retail versus office based businesses. being office based means it can achieve more than a mobile service and this enhances the customer experience.
This is another Tower AdvantageTM .
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