The POS Software Blog

The POS Software Blog

News from Tower Systems about locally made POS software for specialty local retailers.

CategoryCustomer Service

Local POS software support important for small business retailers

June 19, 2018
1 Min read
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I am amazed that I can call and speak to someone in Australia, someone who understands me and my type of business. You have no idea how relieved I feel.

This is a note from a customer who switched to our small business POS software from a cloud based POS program that was not supported in Australia. Their business is in Australia. It is a business in one of the specialty retail channels we serve.

I am surprised at the specialist facilities in the software. They fit what I need well. I should have gone with you guys first.

We love customer feedback and that our specialty software is loved by specialty retailers in the retail channels in which we serve.

  1. Our software is specialist for a range of different retail channels.
  2. Our support is locally based.
  3. Our phones are answered by humans.
  4. Our help is accessible 24/7.
  5. Our assistance goes beyond our software.

We are grateful to the 3,500+ retailers we serve.

What a great way to celebrate Friday, celebrating our customers.

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Data security advice for small business retailers using POS software

June 18, 2018
2 Min read
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2018 is not even half over and already it has seen considerable attacks on computers and on websites. Each attack reinforces the need for all businesses, including small businesses, to have appropriate security and backup measured in place to protect business data.

Appropriate backup means:

  1. Backup every day, without fail, without having too spend time for we know that time backups can take can make backups be ignored or forgotten.
  2. On-site backup.
  3. Plus, off-site backup.
  4. Easy access for recovery.
  5. Protection in a facility away from the business not only of all data but all software to facilitate swift recovery.
  6. Managed costs.
  7. Secure access to backed up data.
  8. maintaining backup services at the cutting edge.
  9. Appropriate security for backed up data.

Our advice is that you use a cloud backup service, like the Tower Backup service we offer. It works in the background, backing up without you having to do a backup. If your business is attacked, getting back to a clean and safe place is easy. Any reputable backup service should be able to offer similar to you.

Please do not put this off. Get protection for your business and your business data. You don’t want to be the person who does this after you have been attacked.

At the very least, backup every day, onto a USB stick for that day. While this is an old-school approach, it is better than nothing at all.

But let’s be clear, cloud backup is our recommendation. Our service provides you with a local backup and an offsite backup, in the cloud. This gives you two backups, excellent protection. We monitor the backups to ensure they are working. If we find an issue, we proactively call you. This is rare from a cloud backup service provider.

Here at Tower Systems we take data security seriously. We provide best-pracie advice. Our customers are welcome to use our service or another, our recommendation, however, is that they do something – to be protected.

Too often small business retailers think about data security after they have been affected. Hence this advice here and in our weekly emails and elsewhere in our touch points with customers.

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The support card makes POS software support easy

June 2, 2018
1 Min read
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FOR OUR CUSTOMERS. In case you have misplaced it, here is the most recent support card mailed to all Tower Systems customers. If you use our POS software, and we hope you do, please let your staff know about this. You can call our office Monday through Saturday.

This support card makes our POS software help desk support accessible. It has our office numbers and NZ toll free n umber. Plus our after hours numbers. It is all about making customer service accessible and certain.

After-hours numbers are for urgent after-hours issues such as a system being down. If you would like us to post you a support card to put on the wall next to your phone, please email us and we will gladly do this. Email support@towersystems.com.au.

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What makes for the best POS software for small business retail?

May 21, 2018
2 Min read
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It is not our place to say our software is the best POS software for small business retailers. We could not know, just as any other POS software company could not know if their software is the best.

In fact, not one could know if a POS software package is the best unless they have tried all others. And, no one has.

Our role is to create the best software we can, for each of the specialty retail marketplaces we serve.

Thanks to serving 3,500 small businesses we have a big community on which to draw to be able to do what we do. their insights guide us as we continue to evolve our software. What our software offers in terms of functionality and experience is a testament to our user community.

But it is not just about the POS software. It is about the support and the business management assistance provided by retail experts in the POS software company as being able to leverage the software for valuable outcomes is a key here.

It is about relationships too, working with suppliers and other patties to integrate with the retail businesses, seamlessly, through the software, for speed, accuracy and genuine business value. In fact, a good supplier relationship can add real bottom line benefits to small business retailers. Leveraging this through technology is efficient and valuable.

We take it further than this. We are retailers too, owning and operating several physicals and a bunch of consumer-facing websites. We do this for the experience, k so we can play and experiment, and provide our customers with a deeper and more valuable experience.

We think these things, the user community, years on business, marketplace specialisation, supplier integration, and being retailers ourselves provide a complete and valuable experience. Were think it is a valuable suite of experiences like this that make then Tower Systems POS software relationship valuable for our customers.

We love what we do here at Tower systems. We love our software and the service of small business retailers. we only sell to small businesses, this keeps us focussed and in the moment with these most important of businesses in any economy.

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Major software update released for small business retailers

May 16, 2018
1 Min read
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Tower Systems is thrilled to announce the commercial release of a major software update that is packed with valuable software enhancements, some of which will help small business retailers to find new opportunities.

Every one of our customers can choose when they install the update. They can do this with the full and complete knowledge of what is in the update. No surprises. No unexpected changes. They are 100% in control. We think this is important.

Fyll documentation of what is in the update has been released along with training and management advice. All accessible 24/7, so our customers go into this with will and focus.

This is how we do business: transparency, clear communication, with our customers in control.

It is a Tower Systems difference.

Included in the information pack on the update is videos we have shot in house explaining some of the new facilities, how they work and the commercial leverage they offer.

While our customers engage with the latest update, we are well into working on the next release. Good software constantly evolves.

We are grateful to our customers for their engagement and feedback.

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Free small business retailer POS software training for May

May 2, 2018
2 Min read
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We are thrilled to have a terrific suite of free (live) online training sessions in May for small business retailers using our POS software.

Each session is free to any of our customers. Each includes plenty of time for questions, on the topic covered or other topics.

Here are the May sessions:

  1. 02 May. How to compete with big retailers.
  2. 09 May. How to handle non EDI invoices to keep stock accurate.
  3. 16 May. Events: Take a look at this new facility, learn how to use it to bring shoppers back into your business.
  4. 23 May.  Stocktaking for EOFY.
  5. 30 May. Getting ready for EOFY.

Customers can book through our training portal.

We run  online training sessions each week across a wide range of subjects. These are an excellent way for you and your staff to learn in detail about specific areas of the software.

We also offer free one on one training sessions that are business specific and private between us and the business. There is no limit to how many training sessions any customer engages with.

To participate in an online group meeting all you need access to is a computer with a broadband internet connection and a phone to receive a call so you can hear the audio. Each session runs for approximately 45-60 minutes depending on questions.

The face to face meetings are yearly in capital cities and regional centres across Australia. These are in addition to our weekly online live sessions. We also attend more than twelve industry trade shows offering face-to-face meeting opportunities with users.

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POS software help desk support on Saturdays

April 21, 2018
1 Min read
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In addition to excellent after hours coverage by mobile phone, Tower Systems today, and for many years past, offers office based help desk support. This is based in our Hawthorn office, in Melbourne.

The Saturday support is full service, practical and engaged.

We are proud to continue to offer this service in support of our 3,500+ small business customers.

We’re open for business.

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Easter break

March 30, 2018
1 Min read
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While our offices are closed for Easter, our after hours support crew are on standby for urgent issues. In the meantime, Happy Easter all…

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Another POS software integration to help small business retailers

March 29, 2018
1 Min read
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We are thrilled to have just passed acceptance testing for another major integration between our POS software and a very significant service provider in Australia.

This is a new integration for us and them. We are in a small pool of first to market POS software companies.

More will be announced after easter when their corporate marketing campaign kicks into gear.

We are thrilled to be innovating for our small business retail customers in a part of their business that is ripe for enhancement.

#WatchThisSpace

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How our POS software company helps small business retailers compete

March 27, 2018
2 Min read
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Owning and running a small or independent retail business can be lonely and challenging. Especially in this marketplace where big businesses have extraordinary tech tools they can deploy to make it look like their services are more human and personal than they really are.

Here at Tower Systems we help small and independent retailers in a range of specialty retail niches compete thanks to services beyond our POS software.

  1. We help or customers better understand the direction of their businesses through data analysis.
  2. We provide free small business marketing resources.
  3. We provide free social media content they can use to restate the value of small business locally and economically.
  4. We listen, often on topics far removed from our software.
  5. We provide free training, long after the software is first installed.
  6. We reduce operational friction between suppliers and retailers through engagement with suppliers on behalf of our retail customers.
  7. We provide access to a wide range of shopper loyalty options.
  8. We provide access to a successful basket-building strategy for businesses that see shoppers once or infrequently.
  9. We provide business context for software actions. Too often software company people say do this or that without explaining the business context.
  10. We walk in small business retail shoes. We own and run independent small business shops to provide personal experience that we then leverage for the benefit of our customers.

In these ways and plenty more we serve our customers in practical and valuable ways.

We believe in small business for the economic benefit of any country. This is why we only sell to small business customers, to help them to more effectively and successfully compete against big businesses.

Small business retail can compete through the engaged use of the smart tools in our POS software. This is where our deeper and more personal training and support plays a vital role in delivering to our customers not only knowledge but also vital encouragement and support to achieve this and plenty more.

Check us out, see for yourselves. Visit www.towersystems.com.au and ask us how we can help your type of retail business. We’d love to show you the Tower advantage.

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If you are not happy with your POS software you can switch

March 13, 2018
2 Min read
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Switching POS software is easy. If it is not easy then the POS software company you are with is probably offering poor software or poor service – backed by a strategy that makes switching hard as a mechanism of protecting their business.

If switching from your POS software is hard then you have even more reason to switch.

Good POS software companies with good service and good software make it easy to switch, as part of their commitment to being the best at what they do.

Here at Tower Systems we want you to stay with us because you like our software and enjoy the customer service experience. We do not want you to stay because we have a technical lock on you. That is false economy in your view.

Customer service in small business matters, especially in business to business situations, such as we are in offering and supporting specialty retail POS software as we do here at Tower Systems.

For us, the best pressure we can apply to ourselves to provide a good customer service experience is to make it easy for you to switch software. This puts you at the hear of what we do. It keeps us 100% customer focussed as we don’t want you to switch. This is why we continually improve our software and professionally manage the customer service resources – to provide you the best outcome possible, to deliver on the promises we make in ur sales process to you.

We have seen POS software companies that lock people in, make it hard to extract data. The customers hate it and it costs them plenty. In the end it hurts the POS software company because small business retailers talk to each other about their experiences and how they feel blackmailed into sticking with software they do not like.

Tower Systems is an Australian POS software company serving specialty retailers in a range of market channels. We only sell to independent retailers, delivering beautiful software backed by awesome customer service. We serve more than 3,500 small business retailers with software that is regularly and professionally updated.

We are grateful to our user community for their support and guidance.

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POS software help desk support starts with a conversation

March 12, 2018
1 Min read
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When a small business retailer calls our POS software help desk the call is answered by a human in our Hawthorn Victoria help desk. What following is a conversation, an unscripted conversation, in plain English.

All this matters.

We know people have computerised phone systems that want you to push this button or that button. It’s frustrating. We don’t like it and that is why we do not have it here.

We know Aussie small business retailers don’t like calling a local business only to be pushed to an offshore call centre. We don’t like it. We prefer to hire locally for customer service.

We know small business retailers can be frustrated when a help desk staffer pushes them through a script that is rigid – this is what happens when you call your ISP. 100% frustrating! We don’t like and that is why we do not do it here.

Support calls start with a conversation. You get to describe your query in your own words. We work with you to understand the query and the provide an answer, explanation or resolution.

Customer service matters. We try hard, every day.

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Free training for small business POS software customers

February 14, 2018
2 Min read
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Australian POS software company Tower Systems offers unlimited personal, one or one, training for small business retailers using its software.

Months after the system is installed, customers can contact the Tower team and request more training and it is scheduled. The training is tailored to the specific needs of each business. It can be structured or simply follow a Q&A approach. The customer is always in control.

By not limiting training, Tower Systems gives customers complete control over how well they know the software and through this the benefits they leverage from use of the software.

This personal one-on-one training is delivered by someone from within the company, someone Australian based, someone with excellent product knowledge. Yes, the company takes the provision of additional training seriously because we know the benefits for our customers and for us.

Access to training is something small business retailers should assess when they compare POS software companies. They should look at the training, engage with us and add an assessment of this to their assessment of the appropriateness of the software and the software company as partners for their business.

In addition to the free personal training provided by Tower Systems, the company also hosts weekly group training workshops as well as other training opportunities.

On top of the personal training and group training workshops, the company also provides access to written and video training materials. These can be accessed 24/7, online, through our customer service portal, a comprehensive suite of facilities that help small business retailers learn at their own pace and to the needs of their specific businesses.

Training is important. We think too many POS software companies promote but do not deliver. Here at Tower we deliver because we are retailers too, owning shops where our software is used. This experience in retail helps us provide better service more attuned to users rather than the POS software company.

So, look at our POS software training, check it out, use it as a point of reference when considering the POS software for your business. We’re here to help. Were take our motto seriously, every day.

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Twenty new knowledge base articles help POS software users

February 6, 2018
1 Min read
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Tower Systems continues to add knowledge base articles to the 700+ articles in our live 24/7 access knowledge base that helps our users get more from our POS software.

Here are the most recent topics covered in new articles we have published for our customers:

  1. BOGO – Buy One Get One Free
  2. Day of Week Report
  3. Daily Takings Report
  4. Weekly Takings Report
  5. Monthly Takings Report
  6. Detailed Takings Report
  7. Enabling POS Tracking
  8. POS Tracking Report
  9. Weekly Magazine Decay Report
  10. Sales By Customer
  11. Supplier Listing Report
  12. Sales Target Report
  13. Layby Report
  14. Department Listing Report
  15. Category Performance Report
  16. Detailed Performance Report
  17. Customer Listing Report
  18. Pack Units Report
  19. Sales Profitability Report
  20. Discount Types Report

We are grateful to our customers for feedback on articles they like and articles we can improve.

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Free POS software Xero link training for small business retailers

February 2, 2018
1 Min read
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Next week, Tower Systems offers a free training workshop for small business retailers on the POS software Xero link and show it can save time, cut mistakes and help guide better quality business decisions.

This free training workshop is the latest in the weekly series from Tower Systems. We offer live and interactive training for small business retailers to help them get more from their tech investment.

We have delivered this free training for years as a service to our customers and to potential customers. It is all part of the service here at Tower Systems.

As our motto says: we’re here to help.

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Hiring for the POS software help desk

January 30, 2018
1 Min read
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We have been advertising externally for new people for our Melbourne-based small business POS software help desk. Interviews are now under way as we have a terrific pool of skilled candidates.

Our candidate selection process is structured and multi-layered, to ensure we find not only a tech skilled candidate but someone who communicates appropriately with small business retailers.

Like all new hires, candidates selected this round will undergo considerable training and beta testing, yes, beta testing, prior to live access with customers. That is when we will introduce them to our customers – through our weekly customer service email.

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Small business retail advice: steps to successful stock management

January 20, 2018
2 Min read
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Retailers using our POS software have access to a deep and wonderful suite of advice on how to use the software to the best advantage of the business and those who rely one it. Here is an example of business management advice we provide. This one is on SIMPLE STEPS FOR SUCCESSFUL STOCK MANAGEMENT IN RETAIL

Small and independent retail businesses too often lose stock through inadequate processes.  This simple, practical and free to implement advice seeks to reduce the opportunity for stock to be lost and mistakes to be made.

  1. Always receive stock into a consistent location in the business set aside for the purpose.
  2. Check boxes as they arrive. Only sign for receipt if the box count is accurate and the boxes are not damaged.
  3. Only move stock from the receipt / arrival location once the contents have been checked and counted, entered into your computer system and are trackable with a barcode you add or that is already on the product.
  4. Scan everything you sell
  5. Scan everything you return to a supplier as damaged or returned for some other reason.
  6. Scan out everything you write off or throw away.
  7. Do spot stock checks (a mini stock take) regularly to determine if there has been shop floor theft. Use the right gear to make this efficient and accurate.
  8. Order using your computer system as this will soon highlight employee or other theft.
  9. Stock should only ever be in the business in one of four locations:
    1. Goods inwards.
    2. Goods outwards: returning to a supplier, going to charity or going to trash.
    3. On the shelves in-store.
    4. On the shelves in the storeroom or warehouse.

The most important advice in this list is having locations set aside for goods inwards and goods outwards and strict processes in place for handling goods into and out from these locations. Get this right and you will find inventory more under control.

Tower Systems is committed to helping small business retailers to get more from their POS software experience than is usual. We leverage our own retail experiences to help our customers way beyond what is usual.

All Tower customers have access to this advice and more.

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Why hardware quality matters in small business retail

January 19, 2018
2 Min read
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We visited a small retail business recently to switch them to our software and found their hardware, which they had purchased less than a year earlier, to be inadequate to the task. In fact, based on what we saw, we suspected that the hardware they purchased as new was actually secondhand. It was that old and under spec.

While we are a software company first and foremost, were also sell hardware to those that want it. The hardware we sell is retail business grade Hewlett Packard hardware. By retail grade wee mean quality, robust hardware designed for retail business use. This is not hardware you can buy from a shop. It is not cheap. But it lasts and it is backed by a three year on site warranty.

With hardware, like POS software, you get what you pay for.

Spend a bit more today on quality hardware and you will get a better return that you would on buying cheap hardware today.

The Tower Systems relationship with HP is solid, professional. We selected them because of the quality of their gear and because of the backup they provide in the rare instance of their being a failure. We have fo8und them to be true to their word. This is important to small business retailers.

We had a situation last year where a retail business in the outback of Australia experienced a hardware failure. The HP tech made two flights and drove for several hours to provide the on-site warranty coverage promised by the company. There was no hesitation. The support promised was delivered, making the small business owner a lover of HP for life.

But back to the story we started this post with. The small business retailer was ripped off by their previous POS hardware supplier in our view. They paid too much for hardware of dubious quality. This left the business with further costs and only the option of legal action against the company that duped them. They chose to not take action. Instead, they prefer the store of poor quality hardware to spread, so others do not make the same mistake.

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Personal contact is what makes Tower Systems the best small business POS software company

January 18, 2018
3 Min read
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Our motto here at Tower systems is we’re here to help. We live this each day through being accessible to our customers – by phone, email, in person, through Facebook, through Twitter, through our website and more.

We make it easy for any of our 3,500+ customers to contact us.

Small business retailers like that we are accessible. We like it too because we know the opportunity for learning that comes from personal service with small business retailers.

Every week we email our customers with tips and advice. That email includes our contact details, right through the company touch points.

CONTACT DETAILS.

FREE ONE ON ONE TRAINING.
Email bookings@towersystems.com.au with your request.

CUSTOMER SERVICE ESCALATION PROCESS.
If you any reason you are unhappy with customer service:

  1. Email support@towersystems.com.au with a subject of: Escalation.
  2. Please provide as complete a description of the issues as possible.
  3. If you have multiple points, please number each.
  4. If your concern relates to a specific employee, please include their name.

We handle escalations in a structured way. On receiving an e mail it goes to point 1. If you are unhappy with that, please escalate to the next point in line.

  1. CUSTOMER SERVICE MANAGER: csm@towersystems.com.au.
  2. CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER: Gavin Williams. 03 9524 8000. Email gavinw@towersystems.com.au.
  3. MANAGING DIRECTOR: Mark Fletcher. 0418 321 338. Email: mark@towersystems.com.au.

WHAT SOFTWARE SUPPORT COVERS.
Our Tower AdvantageTM software support coverage includes:

  1. Help desk support in the use of our software.
  2. After hours support for urgent problems relating to our software.
  3. Free one on one training in our software each year.
  4. Software updates.
  5. Access to our online knowledge base – with more than 600 articles.
  6. Access to our online training video library – with more than 130 videos.
  7. Access to our live weekly online training workshops.
  8. Access to checked by Tower supplier stock files.

SUPPORT CALL PRIORITY.
You can advise the priority of your support call:

  • P1. System down. The most urgent call we can get.
  • P2. Urgent. We will deal with the call ahead of all others except P1.
  • P3. Pressing question But system not down. Return call goal 2-3 hours.
  • P4. Non urgent question. Goal of returning a call in 4 – 5 hours.
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Small business retailers love human contact on the help desk

January 5, 2018
1 Min read
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We hate riding a business and having to navigate a phone system making selections on the touch pad or through voice commands. We much prefer to speak to a human, a locally based human who understands our business. This is why we offer local human-based help desk services to small business retailers using our POS software.

Our help desk is based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is 100% human. No answer bots. No computer based menus to navigate. Our help desk team members are not required to follow a script. We have conversations with customers for it is out of conversations that understanding of an issue at hand comes.

In 2018 while big businesses are looking to cut labour costs by automating customer service call centres, we live in another world, a customer focussed world where we believe good customer service begins with human interaction.

Our commitment to personal, human, customer service has been on show this week with plenty ty of engagement with small businesses retailers looking to make 2018 a winner year!

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