Bowlo Sports and Leisure Yamba is much more than just a Bowling Club. It offers 3 1/2 immaculate greens, entertainment, bars, eateries and activities for every member of the family.
We spoke with CEO Phil Boughton about customer expectations, what staff like most about the SENPOS system, and how management uses ‘Fetch Venue Marketing’ to entice missing members back to the Club.
What do your customers expect when they come to your venue?
Our customers expect seamless transactions without excuses. They expect to pay using cash, card or account without the need to call a supervisor. They want a staff member who is interested in them, not standing over a till face, with their thumb in their mouth and a confused look on their face.
Why is a point of sale system integral to your business?
It is important that our POS communicates among our various business units then ultimately provides customisable and timely reports to help us manage our business on a day-to-day basis. However, more importantly we need easy access to critical data about our customers and their behaviours for marketing and strategy formulation. Without good POS you can “Open the doors and close the doors” but it’s difficult to identify trends that assist in business planning.
What features do your staff like most about using SENPOS?
They love the scanners so they are not constantly trying to find packaged product on the till face. This has a further benefit in that the till face is not as cluttered. They love the seamless connection with our EFTPOS provider Tyro. Our BWB staff love the cocktail recipe maker for some of the less popular cocktails. Our stock control team love the wireless PDAs with scanners that auto populate stock counts. Our admin and motel managers love the scheduled reporting making sure the sales reports and account purchases are sitting in the email box first thing in the morning.
What features of the SENPOS system do you use the most for patron engagement?
We use a lot of the promotion and marketing features provided by SENPOS including the business management system ‘Fetch Venue Marketing’.
– Examples include targeting missing members with special offers to entice them back to the Club with reportable ROIs.
– Promo entry tickets printed directly from the till for give-aways. Tickets provided based on spend or PLU.
– Loyalty bonuses when you purchase a quantity of a certain product, such as the coffee loyalty card administered by the till and the members card.
We recently introduced raffle tickets that are purchased from an individual till system. This month we will be rolling out the ability to purchase raffle tickets at every point of sale.
How do you find the Support you receive for SENPOS?
My managers enjoy a rapid response from the service and support team when issues arise. I have personally experienced good follow up on problems to ensure permanent solutions have been obtained. We particularly like the sharing of information about how other Clubs operate their POS. This sometimes leads to positive changes in procedure or the introduction of a new service or promotion for members. I always believe there is no point in re-inventing the wheel if someone has already done it for you.