Guest Blog: 5 Ways Your POS Will Empower Your Staff

This week we feature an article by Heather Hamilton who shares why investing in a point of sale (POS) system can empower your staff and improve the employee experience. – Shep Hyken

Investing in a point of sale (POS) system is a game changer for your retail business. From stock management to sales reports, customer loyalty, and much more, a POS system streamlines your efficiency in ways that pen and paper just can’t.

Something you should think about when shopping for a POS is how it’ll impact your staff’s performance. When your staff feels in control of the system they’re using, not only will they feel happier, but they’ll be more productive as a result.

Here are some of the ways the right POS can empower your staff.

1. It helps them personalize their service

Your staff can deliver a more personalized experience when they have more information about who they’re serving. 60% of consumers will pay more for a better experience, so it literally pays off. Look for these POS features that can help at the register:

• Purchase history: Have you received new stock that a returning customer has bought before? Your staff can let them know about new arrivals they’re interested in
• Customer groups: These help your staff identify your frequent buyers, VIPs, employee family members, etc., so they can provide that extra special service.
• Customer notes: Even if your staff is in a hurry, they can easily make a personal connection with a quick glance at the notes added to a customer profile from a previous purchase. Things like proper name pronunciation (e.g. it’s E-LEE-NAH, not ELLE-N-AH), their pet’s name, favorite colors, you name it.

2. It helps them manage stock

Whether it’s doing inventory counts or simply looking up an item on behalf of a customer, your POS system should have strong inventory management capabilities. Not only do you want your staff to feel in control of what they’re doing, but you want features that make typically unpopular tasks much easier to perform.

• Mobile app: Your staff never needs to abandon a customer by disappearing to the back room to look for an item — they can search for inventory on a mobile device with just a few taps. It also makes inventory counts pretty painless when you can walk around your store with a tablet, versus running back and forth to your desktop computer.
• Work orders: Work orders should be easy to find and clearly identified in your system. If a customer comes in to pay for an item that’s in your shop for a repair or other service, you don’t want them to wait forever while your staff scrambles through endless paperwork to find what they came in for. Similarly, your staff should always know which items in the system are available to sell and which ones are reserved for other customers.

3. It makes checkout faster

During busy periods like the holiday season, your staff is under a lot of pressure to process sales fast. Customers hate waiting in line, but, with flexible payment options, there’s no need for your staff to panic.

• Mobile payments: Once again the mobile app comes in handy! A tablet makes for a great line buster during busy periods. Ring up a customer from anywhere in your shop.
• Integrated payments: We can’t say enough about the benefits of using a POS with integrated payments. Non-integrated payments mean your team needs to punch in the amounts manually, which makes each transaction a little slower and makes room for lots of errors and lost revenue. It also takes longer to close out for the day. All this to say, use integrated payments for a faster sales process and end-of-day close.

4. It helps with performance reviews

Employee recognition is really important, but it’s tough to accurately evaluate your employees without any numbers to support your feedback. Reports in your POS help you see who your top performers are so you can recognize their hard work and reward them accordingly. Likewise, it’s also easier for you to identify who on your team needs more training or encouragement. When you’ve got numbers to share during your performance reviews, it’s not only easier for you to give feedback, it gives your team actionable goals when it comes to improvement.

5. It’s easy for them to use

Whether it’s managers, full-time staff, or seasonal employees, you want software that’s intuitive and doesn’t take long to learn the basics. You also want a company that offers 24-7 tech support for those times when you run into a snag. Tech rage is a real thing, so do your staff a solid and invest in technology that won’t make them want to tear their hair out.

When it comes to choosing the right point of sale, think about the daily grind. Talk to your staff to get their perspective, or, better yet, take advantage of a free trial so they can test it out themselves.

Heather Hamilton writes content for Lightspeed POS to help retailers stay competitive and improve the way they run their business. Outside of work, she can usually be found wandering around Montreal neighborhood in search of food.

For more articles from Shep Hyken and his guest contributors, go to customerserviceblog.com.

Read Shep’s latest Forbes article: Keep Your Employees And You’ll Keep Your Customers