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newsletternewsletter 308
Cash Register Express & Restaurant Pro Express 12.0
(Security Camera/DVR Integration) (Part 3) Labor Scheduler Cash Register Express & Restaurant Pro Express 12.0 (Part 3) Labor Scheduler Cash Register Express (CRE) and Restaurant Pro Express (RPE) Version 12.0 were released on February 16, 2009. The new versions include over two dozen new and useful features! A few of the main highlights are enhanced credit card security, a new labor scheduler, an interface with security camera and DVR systems, ID scanning, and an internet-based web portal for chains. Among the new CRE/RPE features is a new labor scheduler described below. For a complete list of NEW features found in Version 12.0, go to: http://download2.pcamerica.com/versioninfo12.pdf
SmartBrief (A Great Restaurant Resource) If you own or manage a restaurant, you should subscribe to SmartBrief published by the National Restaurant Association. It’s a free daily newsletter that comes directly to your inbox. Each issue contains innovations, ideas, and current news related directly towards owners and managers. To subscribe, go to: http://www.smartbrief.com/nra/ You can also visit the National Restaurant Association website at: Recent articles include: · Opportunities available for restaurants to adopt (smart restaurant owners emphasize the “value” aspect of their image · Keeping the Golden Arches on track for growth (how McDonald’s keeps growing) · Yum! Brands saves 30% on energy costs · A good pub is hard to find (a good pub is a place devoted to good conversation with drink as the lubricant) · Top 10 tips for restaurateurs Subscribe! It’s free and very informative. If you don’t want to subscribe, you can view the articles directly at: http://www.smartbrief.com/news/nra/latestNews.jsp Too Many Emails? (Computer Tip) I get about 300 emails per day, but only about 20 appear in my Inbox. There’s a pretty easy way to sort your emails into folders. If you are using Outlook Express, right click on your Inbox and create a new folder for each group of emails you want to sort. For example, you may create a folder for your pcAmerica emails. You may create another folder for Dell emails. You may create another folder for your National Restaurant Association emails. When you receive an email from the National Restaurant Association (for example), click on Message followed by Create Rules from Message. From this point on, all your emails from the National Restaurant Association will automatically appear in your National Restaurant Association folder (instead of your inbox). This will allow you to take care of the messages in your Inbox and read your other emails at your leisure. Your can automatically sort your emails using Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express or Windows Mail. Most other email systems have similar methods for sorting emails. It is usually not a good idea to click on the bottom of an email and asked to be removed. If you are given the option to be removed from an email list of a reputable company like PC Magazine, CNN or Macy’s, your email address will be removed from the list. However, if you are receiving emails from a less well-known company, it is likely that by requesting removal from the list, you will actually start getting even more emails. If you know the company, your email removal request will be honored. If you are getting emails from unknown sources, don’t asked to be removed. Better yet, using sorting techniques as above, you can sort almost all of your emails automatically into folders. I have one folder devoted to SPAM. In this folder, all emails containing the subject VGARA, V-AGRA, FREE IPOD, and other nonsense emails automatically get sorted into my SPAM folder. Likewise, if you want to receive emails from JohnJones@yahoo.com, you can set up a folder just for these emails. If you call it 1JohnJones, it will appear on the top of your list of folders. When an email comes in from John Jones, you will see it instantly. All new emails that come in use a BOLD font until you read it. All folders using the BOLD font also contain unread emails. For more help in creating message rules, go to:
http://www.webdevelopersnotes.com/tips/internet/ or go here: http://www.simplygraphix.com/OE-rules.pdf You can also search for creating message rules in Google (or your favorite search engine). How To Do Better (Retail Sales) Here’s a test for retail store owners and managers. Write down the names of three competitors that are doing real well. If you can’t think of three, quit your job or close your store. Now that you have picked three competitors, you should actually go into those competitors and observe. What do they do better? Write down three things that your competition does better than you. Now, when you return to your store, make these three items your passion for the next 30 days. COPY the best ideas of your competitors. Is it better personnel, a cleaner store, better merchandise? Just focus on three ideas for 30 days and watch your sales increase. Every Customer A Sale (Doug Fleener) “If we do what is necessary, all the odds are in our favor” — Henry Kissinger For some reason, many retail associates have a negative view of selling. They equate "selling" with being pushy and obnoxious. Naturally, being pushy and obnoxious is not going to work. Selling means, as it says in the definition, to "convince" or "persuade." The best associates do that by smiling, by taking a genuine interest in their customers, by being passionate about the products they sell, and by believing that the most satisfied customers are those that make a purchase. Do you teach your retail staff to interact with your customers or do you leave it up to luck? Do you train your retail staff to understand your products and your customers? Your best customers are those who enter your retail store or restaurant. Once you have a customer, it is up to your “selling staff” to maximize your customer’s experience. Read this entire article by going to:
http://www.dougfleener.com/2009TWREPDF/
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A
new labor scheduler has been added to CRE & RPE, making it
simple to schedule employees for work. The new simple interface
makes it easier to schedule, and also offers a quick snapshot of how
many employees are working, as well as what job roles they are
working that day. Schedules can be printed for employees, as well
as copied from previous weeks so they don’t have to be recreated
from scratch. A new Labor Cost Percentage Report has been
added to help business owners make more informed decisions regarding
how much labor to schedule, helping reduce costs.
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