What you need to know before buying a point of sale.
What do you do? This is an important question to ask before buying a POS. Do you have to buy from a company that is specific to your industry? No. Should you? Probably. Buying from a company that understands your industry will usually get you far more return on investment. Chances are that company offers more than just the POS. They offer what other customers in your industry have done. What mistakes they have seen and what works. Remember, a full bar and a coffee shop have a lot in common but even more differences.
How do you do it? Having a great table service feature is fantastic if that is what you do. Having that in a drive thru or delivery/carry out pizza place? Not so much. You want to make sure that your POS can handle your order types. Having experience in your specific way of taking orders will help you be more efficient.
Easy. I can't stress this enough. If you can't quickly and easily understand your POS, don't bother buying it. Your staff is going to spend 80% of their day on the order screen. If they hate it, you are out of luck! Have your employees and managers take orders before finalizing anything.
Menu Design. Who does this? You will want a POS partner that handles the initial menu setup for you. Companies that require you to put that menu in are missing the point. Your first menu setup is the most important part of having a POS. If it is not done correctly, it's not going to be easy.
Customer Service. We know that every tech purchase depends on what happens when the system doesn't work. Does your POS partner have employees that are versed in your industry and actually know their product? A good indicator of this is your sales guy. If the sales rep knows their stuff, chances are support will as well.
-Mike
