One question that we hear from hotel clients during our onboarding call is: “How exactly does our POS integrate with yours?” Most people assume that everything will fall into place once they have managed their POS. It is easy to be misled by third-party web pages that promise a simple connection between online ordering vendors, POS systems, and third-party intermediary sites. In reality the situation can be more complex.
Let’s begin at the beginning. It’s possible that thousands of items are unused in your POS system if your hotel has not recently opened or is transitioning to a new POS. Imagine the Valentine’s Day Special from 1999, an ambitious cocktail experiment from 2012 or a Christmas Menu entered incorrectly last year by a student intern. Some POS systems restrict the amount of data they send when integrating, but many send outdated and irrelevant data.
Moreover, have you ever encountered an F&B department that claims to be quiet and not busy? No, of course not. The pace is so fast that the staff does not have time to enter items correctly into the POS. When time is short, corners are often cut. Johnnie Walker Black Label is abbreviated as “JW Black”, a Club Sandwich becomes “Club S.,” while Crispy Fried Calamari is abbreviated as “Calamari.”
These shorthand terms, while understood by staff in the kitchen and service, can cause confusion to guests. What are the chances that the staff will take the time to create appealing descriptions for every menu item, if they don’t spend enough time on item names? The answer to this question is “not very often.” What is the result? This results in incomplete names and lack of descriptions being synced straight to your mobile ordering system. This is hardly what we aim to achieve when it comes to the guest experience.
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Another common problem is spelling mistakes. Spelling mistakes are commonplace without spell checkers. The “Pizza Margarita”, and the “Aquapanna” are my personal favorites. Although they may not appear to be a major problem, these errors can bring down the professionalism of an establishment.
Let’s pretend we have miraculously avoided these pitfalls. After you have imported your products into the system, what next? You might see a “Coffee and Tea” button in the POS. Clicking on it will reveal a list with coffee flavors. This may simplify operations for the staff but it does not necessarily improve the guest experience. Instead of a list, guests want to see attractive options that include pictures. It doesn’t matter if something is organized logically to make it easier for the staff, if guests don’t like it.
SABA Hospitality is unique in this regard. We don’t simply develop technology. Instead, we design with the guests in mind. We have over 60 years experience in the hospitality industry. This includes 30 years of operational experience. We know what our guests want and where they are experiencing pain.
SABA Hospitality can provide the best advice to improve your guests’ experience. Let’s change the way the hospitality industry operates by ensuring technology benefits not only staff but the guests as well.
