I enjoyed lunch with a friend at a popular Jeffreys Bay restaurant the other day.
We detected what was at first an undercurrent of frustration in our waitress.
This gradually built up and bubbled over, culminating in her dropping an F bomb.
Now, I'm in no way complaining about her language. In fact, I sympathise with waiters, since they have to deal with many types each day; some good, some bad, some rude and some downright vulgar.
But what was behind the despair that drove her to use language not usually reserved for clients? (Not in front of them, in any case.)
It was an upgrade to their POS!
She complained that the "new" POS didn't make any sense and that she had to keep running to the kitchen to upload new things (whatever that meant).
I didn't dig deeper into the issue—I was there for lunch, not business—but a point of sale is supposed to be a solution, not a problem.
A POS should bring relief to an industry the workers of which bear immense pressure.
Yet, in this case the POS wasn't just not doing an OK job, it was clearly the cause of aggravation, adding to the waitress' stress.
Although I felt sorry for the waitress and could handle the delay of our dish and patiently wait for our bill, that would not be the case for many patrons.
There are plenty of patrons who would gladly condemn the restaurant for the waitress' "unprofessional" behaviour. (Facebook is rife with these sorts of grievances.)
But who's at fault here?
Some would say the waitress needs to deal with her issues and do her job with a smile.
But had the restaurant owner invested in a proper POS, the waitress (and no doubt the rest of the restaurant's staff) wouldn't need to slog through a day trying to balance kindness with their POS' constant attempts to ruin their day.
It's like a ballerina striving to move faultlessly through Swan Lake while onlookers belt her with eggs and tomatoes.
A good POS, like TallOrder, removes frustration and helps the restaurant run smoothly. In other words, it's an asset to your restaurant.
A good POS ensures waiters (and other staff) can get on with their job, and won't get stuck trying to figure out the POS, which is not the point of a POS.
A good point of sale quietly, yet tangibly does its job so well that your bottom line can't help but notice it (and smile).
If you're not using a good POS yet, take stock of the damage your current point of sale system is really causing. Be honest about how your subpar POS is affecting your business negatively, from your staff, to your patrons, to your own pocket.
Then make the switch to TallOrder. You probably won't regret it. Your staff definitely won't. Neither will your patrons.