It’s simple maths: a faster queue means more sales in a shorter period of time. And serving customers quickly is highly important when it comes to keeping your customer service at the highest standard possible. No one likes waiting for longer than necessary, and studies show that anything longer than 6 minutes may cause the average British consumer to abandon their purchase.
Here are some ways you can make sure you’re finalising sales as fast as possible, keeping that queue moving, your customers smiling and those sales flowing:
Get an intuitive point-of-sale system.
The first step is the most obvious: get set up with a POS system (also known as an EPOS system) that’s as fast and easy to use as possible. You and your staff should be able to quickly enter and complete transactions for even the most complicated orders (we’re looking at you, half-caf, no-foam lattes with skim milk). With the Square Point of Sale app, you can quickly set up items on your smartphone or tablet, along with pictures so you can find them at a glance. And it’s easy to add on modifiers (like low-fat milk or no foam, for example).
Accept credit cards and new forms of payment.
Paying by cash is slow. There’s the potential for a lot of wallet fumbling on the customer end, and all that on-the-fly math to figure out the exact change on yours. Accepting credit cards moves your queue a whole lot faster. The Square Reader lets you finalise credit card sales in seconds.
But if you want to move your queue as quickly as possible, set yourself up to accept new payments technologies like Apple Pay. Contactless payments (like Apple Pay) are by far the fastest way to make a sale. What’s more, Apple Pay transactions are much more secure than magnetic stripe card transactions.
Send digital receipts.
When you have a queue out the door, every second counts. And not only are paper receipts damaging to the environment, printing them can eat up time. Consider adopting a POS that has the ability to email customer receipts.
Train your staff.
You need to adequately train your staff before you put them behind the counter. Make sure they know exactly how to find and add items, take all forms of payment, send receipts and issue refunds. Throw them a complicated order and make sure they know how to finalise even the most complex sale. Carl and Annette of Mojo Coffee House have already used Square’s straightforward POS to revolutionise their payment system in a way that benefits both customers and staff: “Our employees love using Square’s point-of-sale system, and training is quick because it’s so simple and easy to use.”
Limit your assortment.
When it comes to the items you sell, sometimes having less is more. This is especially true if you’re a quick-service restaurant, as often people make purchasing decisions when they get up to the counter. Make the checkout experience as simple as possible for your customers by not overwhelming them with options. Experiment with what works for your business, but a general rule of thumb is that it’s always better to have a small, well thought-out menu of quality items than a wide selection of mediocre ones.