The POS Software Blog

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

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Small business retail management advice: how to recover from a ransomware attack

September 11, 2016

2 Min read

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The fastest way for a small business to recover from a ransomware or crypto lock attack is to have immediate access to full backup of data and software from immediately prior to the installation of the malware that led to the attack.

A smart cloud based backup service is the very best protection. It is also the most cost effective.

While many small business retailers prefer the cheaper alternative of manually backing up each day, invariably these backups are either not done every day or they can be faulty.

Some business owners use free cloud backup services but as is the case with anything in life, you get what you pay for.

The Tower Systems smart cloud backup service costs $2 a day and can be stopped at any time. It is fast, continuous, local and off site in a secure server farm.

How Does Tower Backup Work?
The software performs an incremental backup every fifteen minutes. An incremental backup is a backup of files that have changed or are new since the last backup.

These incremental backups are catalogued on your NAS device. They are then collated to create your full system backup. This process allows access to backups from a particular point of time – even at the file level. Because backups are stored on the NAS device you have immediate access in-store as well as being sent to the Tower Systems Data Storage Centre in the cloud where a secure additional offsite copy of your data is kept.

How Does This Differ From My Daily Backup?
Retailer Backup ONLY backs up your Retailer Data leaving your other business data, accounting data, important documents and emails at risk. Tower Backup backs up your entire main PC, meaning all your business data is safe and secure. A copy of your business backup is also securely sent via the Internet to our secure data storage centre, giving you a safe off-site copy for protection.

Once Tower Backup is implemented you will no longer need to perform your daily backup. You or your staff will no longer need to wait for the daily backup to complete. The saving could be in excess of $150 per month if your backup is taking 15 minutes or more to complete.

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Tower Systems invites users to suggest training topics

September 10, 2016

1 Min read

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As we prepare for the next semester of our free online training workshops we are inviting our customers to suggest topics they would like covered. Each time we do this we discover topics of interest – usually in the business operational space where software interfaces with business management.

We are proud to be resourced sufficiently and to have sufficient interest in our weekly online training workshops for us to continue with these.

It is hard work running the sessions, handling the follow up, providing the infrastructure and doing this week in week out. The work is worth it as it provides a valuable point of difference for us.

Years on, our free online training is resource from the company. We love the customer interaction every week.

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Work and play at Xerocon South in Brisbane for our POS software

September 9, 2016

1 Min read

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As Friday afternoon heads to a close, it has been another busy day for us at Xerocon South, the trade show and conference for Xero cloud based accounting users in the Asia Pacific region.

Another thing to love about the Xerocon experience is the places for relaxation on the trade show floor.

There is something special and fun about talking business while playing on a swing or a seesaw.

The play spaces remind people that good software helps you save time that you can use for more fun times. That is what our POS software does and out integration with Xero does.

This continues to be a terrific trade show. We are loving connecting with accountants and bookkeepers.

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Tower Systems POS software featured in XU magazine for Xero users

September 9, 2016

1 Min read

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We are thrilled with the covering of Tower Systems and our POS software across several pages of XU magazine, the magazine sought after by Xero accounting software users.

The latest issue of XU magazine, released at the Xerocon conference in Brisbane this week, is packed with practical business advice and support for small business owners, accountants and bookkeepers. It is a must read for anyone using Xero or connected with the Xero community.

We appreciate the opportunity to be part of this respected publication.

Using our POS software, small business retailers are able to save rostered hours in their businesses, be smarter in selling and marketing and be more informed in business decisions. These benefits are enhanced through the Xero link.

The latest article in XU magazine explains the benefits and presents Tower Systems as the professional software company it is.

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What being at Xerocon South means for our POS software co

September 9, 2016

1 Min read

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Being at Xerocon South is proving to be a wonderful experience. Spending all day talking with accountants and bookkeepers who help small business retailers run more successful businesses.

The discussions are detailed about small business challenges and opportunities, specific to specific niche retail channels that we serve such as toy shops, jewllers, garden centres and pet stores.

Talking business, talking Xero and talking smart cloud based software – we are loving it, loving the detail, loving the learning and loving the optimism.

This is an exciting and motivating event, especially for those of us serving the small business retail space.

What this event mean for us is ne connections, with accountants and bookkeepers – people like us who serve small businesses to help them run more successful businesses. This shared goal brings is close together.

We are the only vertical market POS software company here, enabling is top delve deep into our specialisation with accountants to help them be more specialist with their clients.

We took the photo early this morning before the doors opened at 8am. We love the green look.

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Day 1 for Tower Systems POS software at Xerocon in Brisbane

September 9, 2016

1 Min read

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We are thrilled to be participating in Xerocon in Brisbane this week. As a parter of Xero, we are among a small group of approved connected POS software companies here at the conference.

Yesterday we met with plenty of accountants, bookkeepers and integrators who stopped by our stand. It was the busiest day at a trade show for us this year.

We are showing off our POS software that offers a SAAS model, cloud based through to desktop models for specialist retailers in a range of small business channels including newsagents, jewellers, got shops, bike shops, produce stores, toy shops, garden centres, pet shops and more.

The first day of xerocon yesterday was terrific. We are excited for what today will bring.

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Meet the Tower Systems sales team

September 8, 2016

1 Min read

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Here is a video we have just shot in-house introducing the Tower Systems sales team. Each has worked through the ranks of the company from the help desk to installations to sales. They all have retail experiences in their blood and appreciate the importance of small businesses in Australia.

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Helping small business retailers understand the importance of accurate business data

September 7, 2016

3 Min read

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Tower Systems has been running an intensive engagement program for small business retailers keen to clean up their business data. This service is part of our POS software help desk service yet it goes beyond the traditional help desk work.

The service is focused on how the software us used. But not your usual how. This is about decisions that are made in a business that can affect the quality of the data cultivated by the software. Like any tool, software can be used poorly.

The engagement from Tower Systems guides better use of the software with an outcome of better data. Here is one of the communication items we have shared with customers to help drive a better outcome:

This advice has been written for use in businesses where the business data has been found to be useless, faulty and / or of little value.

There is no doubt: poor business data = poor business decisions.

If you ever hope to sell your retail business, accurate business data is vital, it will determine the price you achieve for your business.

Don’t be one of those business owners who only cares about accurate business data when you decide to sell as that could be too late.

Here is all you need to do to ensure you have accurate business data.

Ensure you have a good department and category structure. This helps ensure the reports are useful. By good we suggest no more than fifteen departments and no more than fifteen categories within each department.
Arrive all stock into your POS software. The best way to do this is to receive and import into your software electronic invoices from suppliers. This is done in Invoice Arrivals.

The slower way is to manually enter invoices into your software item by item. This is done in Invoice Arrivals.

If you created an order using the software and this order subsequently arrives, you can receive the order – to save time.

Scan all stock you sell at the point of sale. Resist excuses like items are too small or too big or it takes too long or it is impractical. All these excuses can be countered.
Scan all stock you return to suppliers. Use the Returns facility.
Scan all stock you write off. Use the Write-off Stock facility.

Very simple, right?

Accurate business data is up to you. Not your software company, not your suppliers.

Accurate business data is 100% up to you.

Once you have accurate data, track business performance. Use the accurate data to see trends in your business, to guide better quality business decisions.

It is easy to create accurate business data. The operational and financial benefits are extraordinary.

How Tower Systems can help. We have articles in our knowledge base on everything discussed here. We also have training videos that show you what to do. We host weekly online training workshops, accessible from anywhere, where you can ask questions on any topic. Plus, supported customers have access to free one on one training.

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Helping newsagents navigate change for a brighter future

September 6, 2016

1 Min read

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In his downtime from Tower Systems, CEO Mark Fletcher writes the Australian Newsagency Blog to encourage newsagents to embrace change and transform their businesses into retail relevant to today and beyond. Heroes a new video where mark explains some of what the book is about.

This work also helps inform Tower on retail trends as all retail businesses are transforming as a result of many factors agitating for change.

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Meet the people behind small business POS software co. Tower Systems

September 5, 2016

1 Min read

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We are proud to introduce to some of our small business POS software team in this in-house produced video.

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Small business retail advice: what’s next after Father’s Day?

September 4, 2016

1 Min read

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With Father’s Day being an important retail season in many small business retailers, we ask this timely and important question: What comes after Father’s Day?

This is a question small business retailers should ask along with: What do you have planned for the business from today until Christmas really kicks in? Do you have a plan?

We think retailers need a plan. You should have had a plan a couple of months ago when planning for coming out of a major season for this period before the next major season starts.

Knowing what’s next is vital in retail where the everyday on which you rely is not as strong as it was years ago.

Now more than ever shop floor engagement and out of store marketing are vital to attract new shoppers and we cannot rely on major seasons only to do this for if we do we become like old-style gift shops and they are closing fast.

So: What comes after Father’s Day?

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Small business retail management advice: adjust the seat for a more comfortable drive

September 4, 2016

1 Min read

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Using POS software is like driving a car. You have many options you can select and tweak to personalise the experience.

When you get in a car for the first time you make all the necessary adjustments to personalise the experience for you, to ensure your experience is safe and appropriate to your needs.

Do the same with your software. Never use it out of the box. Take time to ensure the settings are what you want, that they are appropriate to your needs.

Every so often, check the settings, ensure they continue to serve your needs.

Over time, new settings can give you greater personalisation. Embrace these and enjoy more flexibility in how the software serves you and your business.

Tower Systems offers a settings review service where our help desk will work with small business retailers to review settings and ensure the personalisation in the settings is appropriate for what you explain as your needs.

Even the smallest change can enhance your experience with POS software. Try it.

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POS software helps make Father’s Day great for retailers

September 3, 2016

1 Min read

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Tower Systems is thrilled to be helping retailers around Australia leverage the Father’;s Day opportunity with outpost mode enabling easy selling by retailers away from their usual retail location.

The photo shows one large outpost where our software plays a key role helping the newsagency / gift shop leverage the most from the opportunity.

Using outpost mode, retailers using our smart POS software are able to transact away from the business yet maintain total control over inventory, customers and all other key business data.

In addition to providing excellent outpost facilities in its POS software, Tower Systems backs this up with personal outpost assistance, user training and even new casual employee training so they know how to use the software with certainty.

The total outpost package from Tower Systems helps small business specialty retailers to leverage the most from the outpost opportunity.

Father’s Day is an excellent example of the value of outpost for retailers. The data we cultivate helps retailers to plan for more successful outposts.

This is another example of the Tower Advantage^TM for our small business retail customers.

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Helping small business retailers engage in targeted marketing

September 2, 2016

1 Min read

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Next week we are hosting a free workshop on targeted marketing for retailers using our specialty retail POS software. This free training is part of our weekly free live training workshop program, training that people can access from anywhere.

Click here for more details on this training and to book.

We are proud to maintain our commitment to training, first established years ago. It is hard work deliver on the marketing pitch. Here at Tower systems we deliver. Plus, we are transparent about it with sessions listed publicly and numbers showing too – so you know it is real.

Small business retailers want certainty from their POS software company. We are committed to providing certainty of access to terrific software backed by accessible and friendly support.

If you are in specialty retail and want to engage in targeted marketing, this free workshop could be ideal for you.

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Expanding the POS software help desk

September 2, 2016

1 Min read

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We are thrilled to have signed a new team member to join our national help desk. James will be on board in a few weeks to commence intensive training prior to taking calls solo.

This new role will help us serve our growing customer base and ensure service levels are good.

James comes to us with good retail experience. It helps to walk in the shoes of the customer.

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Shopify POS software interface live and helping small business retailers online

September 2, 2016

2 Min read

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The direct and deep interface between the Tower Systems POS software and Shopify is working brilliantly, transacting saves, managing freight, managing replenishment and providing certainty for a retail store with an online website powered by Shopify.

Thanks to meetings with Shopify experts at the Shoptalk conference two months ago in Las vegas, Tower Systems has delivered an elegant integration that enables physical store retailers to engage online using Shopify quickly and easily.

Our own Shopify experience has helped us deliver a better outcome for our customers as we speak from our own real world experience. This is a key Tower Systems difference as we are users of our POS software too. Not too many POS software companies can say that.

Our Shopify integration is another professional integration from our development team, leveraging our experience in retail and tech to create a valuable whole of business solution through which a retailer can discover new shoppers and leverage above average revenue for their type of business.

Beyond the tech itself we are able to guide and assist retailers to understand opportunities, to use the full power of the internet to help people discover the business who might otherwise not have known it existed.

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Xero ranked #1 in cloud accounting solutions

September 1, 2016

2 Min read

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Xero goes from strength to strength with excellent recognition by Merchant Maverick.

Reviewer Katherine Miller agrees that Xero truly is beautiful accounting software.

“With clean, generally intuitive interfaces, Xero is an excellent solution for many small businesses’ accounting needs, offering a wealth of features while providing more simplicity and automatic invoicing options than most locally installed programs,” Katherine says.

With more than 1,400 features and updates shipped in the last 12 months, Xero leads the pack when it comes to innovation. Katherine says these updates, which are generally developed by user request, put Xero at the forefront.

“Xero was an early entrant in the rapidly growing field of cloud-based accounting, and the company’s developers work hard to stay ahead of the curve with product updates every 3-6 weeks,” Katherine says.

Here at Tower Systems we love Xero not only because of the smart integration with our POS software but also because of the product itself. We are users so we have first-hand knowledge of the software and its capabilities. It is terrific in its roles and valuable to a business as its needs evolve.

Our Xero interface and small business POS software will be on show at Xerocon in the next ten days in Brisbane. We are excited for the opportunity to show how our partnership with Xero can help small business retailers save time, save money, cut mistakes and nurture better business decisions.

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Loyalty fatigue forces POS software points-based loyalty programs to change

August 31, 2016

2 Min read

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Shoppers are tired of points-based loyalty programs where the value of points is challenging to understand and where rewards are difficult to access.

Take the retail group where shoppers have to sign up for the program and spend $500 in-store to accuse 500 points that are then converted to a limited life voucher sent to the customer.

This type of program does not make sense when you look at the hopes the customer has to jump through.

Compare it to a competitor offer where a shopper can have a $$ award on their receipt from the first purchase. No sign up. No delay in accessing benefits.

The Tower Systems POS software handles both the scenarios outlined above. Our preference as retail experts is for the latter. We say this based on years of working with independent small business retailers. While the points approach is where loyalty started, it shifted a few years ago and now more retailers prefer the $$ benefit on retail-ts because their customers react so well to it.

The example above where the customer has multiple steps to reach. These steps act as barriers. Shoppers can forget about the goal as they work through the barriers.

Don’t believe us, ask shoppers. Present the two scenarios. Ask which they prefer. We have done this. 5:1 they prefer the $$ off showing on the receipt without sign up. They love it in fact.

The feedback we have from customers is the Tower Systems POS software loyalty offerings are best-practice for retailers and for shoppers, they genuinely add value of retail businesses, costing a fraction of the gross profit achieved from incremental business driven by the program.

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POS software user meetings in New Zealand

August 30, 2016

1 Min read

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Today we are hosting a user meeting for users of our POS software in Wellington New Zealand. yesterday we were in Auckland.

These face to face sessions are important for us and for our customers as we learn from each other and our businesses benefit as a result.

We are grateful to our customers for their support.

The live and local user meetings are in addition to other POS software user touch points:

Weekly live training and discussion workshops.
Trade show meetings.
Free one on one training.
Help desk support.
Knowledge base.
130+ training videos.

All of this is with real people. Live. Where retailers know the names of people they are dealing with.

We are enjoying our time in NZ this week.

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Small business retailers benefit from using tags in smart POS software

August 29, 2016

1 Min read

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More and more of the small business retailers using our POS software are using the tags facilities in the software for more efficient management of inventory data managed by the software.

Tags in the Tower Systems Retailer software provide an easy way to manage stock. In the powerful stock manager facility you can select all items with a tag and then:

Change price.
Change description.
Change department.
Change category,.
Change supplier.
Add to an an order.
Stock take.

Tags are a terrific tool in your software for managing stock. We encourage you to use them. We can help.

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How our Toy Shop Software helps independent toy retailers

August 29, 2016

3 Min read

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We know competition is tough for independent toy retailers. You know your customer service is better yet you can’t match the national retailers when it comes to marketing.

Our toy shop software offers touch-points through which you can pitch your difference and loyalty tools that enable you to offer appreciated value.

OUR SOFTWARE IS MADE FOR YOU.

Toy shops have unique needs. Your business is personal. You need a software company committed to serving you and committed to helping you more efficiently transact with your suppliers.

From the sales counter to the back room, Our Toy Shop Software is fit for purpose. It is not everyday POS software. No, this is Toy Shop Software.

WE MAKE IT EASY TO GET UP AND RUNNING.

We come to your business, install the software and train you and your staff, face to face, jargon free. We give you a personal support contact as you settle in.

WE REMEMBER YOU.

After the installation is done you can call us for help and a real person answers, with their name. Our help desk is in our Hawthorn office. You are welcome to visit at any time.

YOU CAN KEEP LEARNING.

You can watch any of our 130+ training videos at any time. Plus, you can access our knowledge bade from anywhere – this is like a live and searchable manual.

THE SOFTWARE KEEPS EVOLVING.

Thanks to advice from our customers our software continues to evolve, meeting changing needs, keeping our customers up to date.

WE HAVE YOUR BACK.

If you are confronted by employee theft, customer theft or falling business performance, we are there for you. We have experience with police prosecutors, helping to convict employees who have stolen. We have helped turn around businesses confronted by trading challenges.

Tower Systems is not your usual POS software company. The best evidence of that is that I am writing to you. I am the founder of the company. My contact details are on this letter. I personally stand behind what we sell.

HOW THE SOFTWARE CAN HELP.

Using our Toy Shop Software you can easily handle:

Customer special orders.
Gift Cards.
Hampers.
Lay-Bys.
Catalogues.
Presale of hot licence items – get revenue before
Shopper loyalty – points.
Shopper loyalty – $$$ off the next purchase based on rules you set.
Importing electronic invoices and stock files from suppliers.
Reordering based on accurate data – reducing the cost of dead stock.
BOGO: handling Buy One get One Free offers.
MultiBuy – like a coffee card, free product over time.
Xero accounting interface – cut your bookkeeping time and costs.
Magento and Shopify website interfaces – connect to your website.
EFTPOS integration – save on a phone line costs and cut mistakes.
Easy and accurate stock taking.
Professional receipts with your logo.
Serial number tracking.
Age checking for items with a minimum age requirement.
Upsell prompts for staff.

There are many ways you can use this software to help you personalise the shopping experience, ways that make comparing your business to mass market toy retailers difficult.

We help you shine a light on your point of difference.

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Sunday retail management advice: how to sell your retail business when no one is interested

August 28, 2016

2 Min read

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Small and independent retail businesses can be a challenge to sell even in a strong economy. This is because they are often not understood and not presented well for sale.

One way to make a business more appealing is to be more open about it being for sale.

Put a sign in the window. Yes, this will tell your employees, customers and suppliers that you want to sell up and move on. Own that decision, embrace it. Stop worrying what people will think. Explain your good reason for putting the business on the market and then run the business with more energy and focus than ever before. Your actions will demonstrate that people need not worry.

The sign in the window works on a couple of levels.

First, small businesses are more likely to appeal to people who live locally, people who may not be in the market to buy a business until they see your sign. I know of one small business that had not sold in over a year and then sold in a week following a sign being put in the window. It could be that an employee is interested in buying the business.

Second, the sign is your reminder that the business has to be sale ready every day. Shoppers walking through your door are coming to an open house to see the business for sale. That’s how you should approach it – working your heart out presenting the business perfectly and appealingly every day.

Businesses can take time to sell. Sometimes it takes the right people seeing the ad at the right time for you to find a buyer. The stars aligning aside, the most important barrier to selling any business is that it does not look or feel appealing, manageable and or capable of delivering the level of return a prospective purchaser would want. This is why you have to work hard and relentlessly to make your business look valuable, appealing and enjoyable.

Too often small business retailers think that the economy, retail channel issues or other external factors are slowing or halting the sale of the business. Even if this is the case, reject these thoughts, bring it back to you and your actions. If you want to sell your business then run it as if you want to sell it – every day.

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Business intelligence software for small business retailers

August 27, 2016

1 Min read

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Why we have run a week of videos on this blog

August 26, 2016

1 Min read

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We have published a video a day this week on this blog to showcase our approach to developing user training as well as marketing materials in-house here at Tower Systems.

The videos showcase how we share information to help our small business POS software users to learn more about our software in a more appealing way that plain reading and a more repeatable way than only one on one training.

Videos are used by us a part of a comprehensive arsenal of training and user support materials. We do not rely on one single medium. But videos are highlighted here as they are a real Tower Advantage^TM. They are a reason to expect a better experience through us.

Customers tell us they love the videos. here is one comment from this week.

I love your training videos and that I can ensure my team receive consistent advice on how to use the software. Thank you!

With close to 150 videos available to our customers, we have terrific resources from which our customers and their employees can benefit.

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How our POS software co. goes beyond POS software in helping small business retailers to find new customers

August 26, 2016

1 Min read

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