A POS System That Helps Your Business Grow
One of the golden rules of business is to never turn down money from paying customers which is why you need access to a POS system. When customers come to your business, they expect you to take their payment method of choice. Your FundingTree is here to help with our POS solutions, including the state-of-the-art Clover™ payment processor.
Having the right payment processor helps you grow your business, makes your life easier, and keeps customer information secure. The Clover™ system can handle several merchant services, allowing your customers to pay using the method they’re most comfortable with.
What is a POS System?
POS stands for point of sale. A POS system is a process that allows you to manage and track sales. It refers to both the hardware along with the software that it runs on. It’s more than a payment processor; it also helps you run your business.
The most basic types of POS systems are cash registers, but the technology has gone through an evolution over the years to include credit card terminals. These terminals allow customers to use their cards and other payment methods, such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, and PayPal.
A point of sales system today can run reports, manage inventory, and handle employee payroll. They give you a detailed look at your business by shift, day, week, month, and year. These systems give you the information that you need to run your business and make data-driven decisions.
The system you choose is an important decision. Information is power in business, and your POS system will provide you with the data you need to better manage inventory and payroll expenses.
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Which POS System is Right for You?
When choosing between POS systems, there are a few things you should consider. While many companies, especially new ones, will use price as their primary determining factor, that’s not always the best way to make this decision. Other factors that you should consider include:
What Type of Business Do You Have?
Certain types of businesses will need to accept different payment types. If your business is brick n’ mortar only, you may only need basic features, such as credit card and EMV chip processors. If you allow online orders as well, you’ll need to consider what types of payments you want to accept. Most businesses with online sales accept credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and PayPal. You may also want to accept ACH and electronic checks as well.
You might want to think about getting a mobile POS system that allows you to accept payments anywhere instead of only at a set location. These allow your sales representatives to go wherever your customers are.
You should also consider what types of reports a POS system allows you to run. Some POS solutions are industry-specific. Some might specialize in restaurants while others focus on retail. Systems that focus on certain industries like a restaurant, will have specialized reports such as food cost and table management software.
How Much Do You Make in Sales Each Month?
Think about the amount of money you make each month. While having a POS system is important, you should never get one that will cost so much that it will have a negative impact on your bottom line.
A good POS system can actually help you make better business decisions because it gives you more insight into your sales, labor, and inventory. Look at the features of the POS system before you decide to use it. Does it offer the data you need to improve your cash flow? Do you feel like the service is one that will pay for itself?
While you should factor in your budget, the right POS system will help you save time and money in the long run.
How Many Employees Do You Have?
If you’re a small operation, a simple POS system should suffice. If you have several employees that will come in contact with money, you’ll need a system that allows you to track sales more closely.
Each transaction presents your business with the opportunity for a loss. Employee theft or mistakes could cost your business, so you’ll need a way to keep track of transactions so that you can trace any losses you might incur. More employees also tend to mean a larger store, meaning you’ll have more points of sale. Each POS will need its own setup.
Other Considerations
There are considerations to think of when choosing between POS solutions. Once you answer the questions above, you may have your search narrowed down to a few options. How do you determine if the solution you have your eye on is right? There are some questions you can ask the system provider to ensure you’re making the right decision.
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Is the POS System Scalable?
As your business grows, your needs will change. You need a POS system that can grow with your business. Make sure the company you choose can adapt to your changing needs. You’ll need new setups, multi-location support, and a system that can adapt to any legislative changes in how internet transactions occur.
As technology changes, your chosen system should be able to adapt as well. Think about Bitcoin as an example. Eight years ago, no one accepted cryptocurrency as a form of payment, but now businesses across the world allow customers to pay with it. As these new forms of currency develop, you may want to consider accepting them as well. Can your provider handle this?
How Helpful is Customer Service?
It’s a given that no matter what POS system you choose, you’ll have to deal with downtime at some point. Anytime you rely on technology, something could go wrong.
When this happens, you’re going to rely on the system’s customer service and technical support to get you back up and running. You need to make sure that you can rely on these teams. You can get a feel for customer service by calling and asking questions about the product. Do they take the time to answer your questions or do they blow you off? Are they quick to respond to emails, and can you easily talk to someone on the phone?
For technical support, you should always look online for customer reviews to see other people’s experiences. Are people happy with the response time of the support team?
Can I Test Drive the POS System?
Find out if you can take the POS system for a test drive. This will allow you to see the features firsthand and make sure that the program works for your business. Make sure you run your own tests to ensure that it will work for your business.
You should also see what reports the system can run for you and how easy it is for your employees to pick up on the system. Does the system come with a guide that helps new users learn it? The system should be able to handle your needs without being overly complicated. This will also help answer any compatibility issues you may have, and you can find out how easy it is to set up.
If you think the system is too complicated for your employees, find out if you can alter the settings to meet your needs. Scalability is always a concern, but so is the ability to alter your program to meet your needs now.
Should I Buy or Lease?
One of the biggest decisions businesses make when choosing between POS solutions is whether to buy it or lease it.
On one hand, buying the system represents a greater cost up-front, but the benefit is that you own the system. You’ll have the benefit of skipping a high monthly payment, and once you own the terminals, you could switch to other types of POS systems (given that it’s compatible with your terminals) in the future. On the other hand, a lot of businesses can’t afford the initial investment.
When you lease your system, you skip over the initial investment, but you will have to make monthly payments. Over the lifetime of your relationship with the POS provider, you could end up spending more money than if you bought it outright.
There are also tax benefits to leasing your equipment, as you can claim the cost each year. You’ll also get automatic updates to your software over the years. Many businesses still don’t accept EMV chip technology because the cost of upgrading is too high. You won’t have to worry as much about new technology updates when you lease.
Before you lease, you should make sure that the provider you choose offers free upgrades to meet new technological needs, as some providers have yet to upgrade their system, leaving businesses unprepared.
How Can Your FundingTree Help You Find a Clover™ POS System?
We offer point-of-sale solutions that provide your customers with the flexibility to pay for your services however they choose. Our electronic card payment terminals offer the services you need to run your business and track your sales.
Our Clover™ POS system is a modern, secure, and state-of-the-art system that accepts all major credit cards: Visa®, MasterCard®, American Express®, and Discover®.
We also offer solutions for businesses that wish to accept Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, and other alternative payment solutions. Our technology can allow your customers to pay with electronic checks and ACH account transfers as well.
You can use the Clover™ POS system to set up a gift card/rewards program in order to accept payments that way as well. Gift cards are a great way to grow your business. Existing customers can buy gift cards and give them to new clients, allowing them to discover your business. You can also use gift cards as a form of marketing. Give out gift cards to new customers at trade shows or anywhere else new clients might be. This gives them a reason to try out your business.
Retain Customers by Using a Clover™ POS System
A rewards program encourages existing customers to buy more. You can give customers a certain percentage or dollar amount off once they meet a certain threshold, encouraging repeat business.
With the popularity of “chips” in debit cards, your POS system needs to be EMV compliant. The chips in debit cards help protect against fraudulent charges but require specialized technology to process. Our POS solutions allow you to accept this payment type and protect customer data.
Of course, which features you need depends on several factors. Since one of the most important decisions a business can make is which POS system they choose, let’s look at some things to consider when you’re making this decision.
Funding to Help Your Business Grow
There are multiple ways that Your FundingTree can help you. One is through the Clover™ POS system, one of the most respected systems in business. Clover™ offers you solutions tailored to small businesses that will help you grow.
Multi-layered protection helps protect your customers and your business. The processor comes with EMV and signature technology and requires a fingerprint for your employees to sign in. The software comes with 4GB of RAM so that you can run several apps at once while still processing transactions fast.
Clover™ is also compatible with several peripherals and gives you two printer options, one for an optional customer-facing display and another for contact-free payment acceptance.
We can also help you either buy or lease a POS system by helping you find the financing you need. All you have to do is fill out a quick 90-second online application, and one of our POS solutions specialists will get in touch with you right away.
Whether You Want to Use One of the Top POS Systems in the World or You Want to Discover Financial Options Which Will Help Grow Your Business, Get in Touch with Us and Call 704-904-0774 Today!