Suggestion: RMS New Customer Issue

First of all a POS system is not a cash register, and will never be as simple to use as a cash register. Many things you need to do on a regular basis do not require a mouse, but it is next to impossible(if not impossible) to design it so a mouse is not needed at all. Even a touchscreen won't eliminate a mouse entirely, although all cashier functions can then be done without a mouse. Having said that, I totally agree with you that the new customer process should be streamlined. Besides the problem you mentioned, adding new customers after searching for them should be more automatic and the customer should be instantly selected after creation. I will definitly vote for your suggestion.

OH MY!! This irritates me to no end!!!

Can't find the customer? Click new, enter all the customer info, then you have to RE-SEARCH for them in order to have them selected on the invoice?

STUPID STUPID.

Of course if you don't find them, you could close the search window and select NEW CUSTOMER from the POS screen.

Neither is logical.

Mickie

Terrible Tom wrote:

Our V.I.P. Zone add-in operates like you describe and includes merge duplicate accounts, automatic reverse number lookup, USPS address correction, control over new entry form, quick search, and lots more. A mouse is not required but enables right-click options to shortcuts. Otherwise use hot keys such as Ctrl-W to list all customers with open Workorders, or F9 to display driving directions to customer address.

Download a 30 day trial:

Greg Digital Retail Solutions "Save a million keystrokes."

I will say that I tried VIP Zone and it is awesome. If I had a larger store, or chain of stores I would have definitly bought it. Craig

And now it costs even more because you had to buy new licenses with 2.0 to catch up with the number of computers you have.

# licenses/lanes=cost

Nothing against you greg, but---- Why can't the program just work normally without an add-in. Come on! Making a new customer is something you have to do EVERY DAY and almost every TRANSACTION.

Does MS *really* believe that the OVERWHELMING MAJORITY of a business' customer are repeat?

Mickie

"Greg [DRS]" wrote:

Agreed, however I wouldn't hold your breathe until RMS has address verification :-) I think it comes down to just having the basics built into the base RMS product to hold down the programming costs. My little store doesn't really need all the little extra things VIP Zone does and I wouldn't want to pay extra for RMS to have it. Not saying it wouldn't be nice to have it, I just wouldn't want to pay more to have it included. In my opinion that's one of the really good features of RMS. There are a lot of add-ons available to improve the base product if you want them. Let's face it, if they were included with RMS it would cost a lot more. So adding them on brings the overall cost of the software in line with what you would pay with all the extras included. Some of them I need, most I don't so I just pay for the ones I want. Craig

If you less than 10,000 customers, turn off Find and use Lookup. Searches will be faster and new customers will be selected by default.

Go to Manager, File, Configuration, options, Customer options. Make sure 'Always display Find' is not enabled. Also go to General options and make sure 'Don't remember list sorts' is not enabled. Now try a customer search in POS or Manager. This setup is faster and easier for most employees and Find is one click away if you need it.

The same holds true for items. If you have 10,000 SKUs or so, turn off Find under Item options and use Lookup instead. This is especially true if you create matrix, lot matrix, or assemblies. If you enable Find for item searches, you'll never see your matrix class entries or assemblies in list views.

Greg

While Microsoft will continue to improve the base RMS product, the same holds true for add-ins. For example our new release of V.I.P. Zone includes targeted mailing list extraction and automated address validation.

We have clients with less than five thousand customers who say V.I.P. Zone paid for itself in just a few months. Your ROI depends on several factors.

- How often do you add new customers?

- How often do you send out direct mail, statements, postcards, etc.?

- How fast can your cashiers type in valid addresses?

- How many bad or incomplete addresses have been collected?

There is a direct return on mailing costs (address validation mean zero returns). Plus an indirect return on labor savings at the cash counter (faster entry, get it right the first time, address corrections, auto-capitalization, form control, etc.).

If you trap customer information for direct mail purposes, V.I.P. Zone will benefit your store. You cashiers will also appreciate how much faster they can enter new accounts or correct existing entries.