Meritage has Maitre'D P.O.S.
Funny how people with a deep background in the hospitality business seem to wind up dealing in "Point Of Sale" (P.O.S.) systems.
Well, not really funny at all considering these are the same people who've come to the realization through on-the-ground experience that a business operating without a P.O.S. has one hand tied behind its back.
Jason Lehman with Meritage Technologies out of Billings ran a restaurant and ale house for years before migrating to the P.O.S. and hospitality business technology field. He is the eastern Montana, Wyoming, western North Dakota and western South Dakota vendor of the popular Maitre 'D line of P.O.S. hardware and software.
While he'll make the P.O.S. case convincingly and all day, he also advocates the exponential benefits of tying your P.O.S. to a security system in turn coupled with a pour control system to truly maximize the cost control potential within a business. Even better, he says, is interfacing with a credit card system and business accounting package. But pour controls and security systems and the rest are a topic for another day.
How big, and how fast, an owner will realize a return on a P.O.S. investment "depends on how bad the situation is," Lehman says. He says any tavern that operates with an even occasionally absent owner and without tight controls is a candidate for employee abuse. Over-pours, give-aways, buy-backs – even bona fide sales that are later voided – can quickly lead to substantial margin shrinkage, not to mention inventory "loss" when product walks out the back door.
P.O.S. systems can help stem all these problems, Lehman says, especially when in conjunction with using security and pour systems. He says he has one client in a small eastern Montana town who says he saved the cost of his system in just 60 days, even while Lehman suggests that result is exceptional.
"The industry average is 80 percent of employees will take profit and product," Lehman says. "We need to create transparency and accountability; we need to see the numbers, verify the pours and ring-ups – and spot discrepancies – in real time." These systems allow owners to monitor business activity and their tills remotely from anywhere in the world at any time.
"The tavern business is different," he says. "Can you imagine a customer walking into McDonalds and expecting a free Big Mac when he has purchased three or four? or asking for a free extra pattie with his burger? That's how tavern patrons can be, and too often staff will oblige them with a double pour or a free drink.
He says one central Montana client saw tickets jump 10-15 percent immediately.
One simple $150 module can save considerable sums on labor expense, Lehman says, and that is a fingerprint verification device for clock-in and -out that puts an end to "buddies punching in and out for each other. A P.O.S. is the quickest return on investment an owner will see," he said, "but the fingerprint module will pay for itself in a couple of weeks."
The Maitre 'D system is also designed to be integrated with QuickBooks so business data entry is done automatically.
An inventory control module is available, too. With precise inventory control and depletion accounting, inventory loss can be prevented and traced. Inventory carrying costs can be reduced. Automated, accurate and efficient product ordering is another benefit.
The most basic system Lehman's Meritage offers is a Maitre 'D priced a little over $4,000, Lehman says. It is intended for the small-volume shop and would come with one terminal. Of course that can be built out for expansions, adding other terminals and interfaces with other systems.
Systems can be leased, too and Meritage can even arrange that. Lease-to-own plans can be structured as well. "And we deal in used and refurbished equipment too, so can save clients money in that regard as well," he adds. Hardware carries a three to five year warranty.
Installation, training and support are included in the purchase, as is hardware and software licenses. "It's all part of the package," Lehman says, adding his personnel will typically spend three to five days on site. Service is same- or next-day. "We kill ourselves on the service side," he says.
He said the systems have been around long enough now where he's starting to see a replacement cycle developing, where systems installed five to 10 years ago are slow, clumsy and obsolete. The modern systems are far more advanced and user friendly, he says, so operators currently running P.O.S. should consider upgrading.
"Most bar owners don't want to be a 'computer guy'," Lehman acknowledges. "They just need a system that's easy and works. "I believe in it; I know it works."
But to fully accrue all the advantages of modern business technology, Lehman urges once again integration of P.O.S., security and pour systems, then offers an illustration: "I have a client in Livingston who had an employee report a slip and fall at a rear entrance on the way in to work. There was an alleged injury, talk of lawsuits and work comp claims.
"Well, the owners had a security camera out back and it revealed the employee actually got down on the ground, rolled around in the snow, then came in a lied about falling.
"Not only did they get rid of a dishonest and dangerous employee, but they potentially saved a ton of money, too."
In summary, Lehman says these systems are designed to increase revenue, cut costs and reduce losses. That sounds like a very simple formula for success in tough times.