A restaurant is judged on two things: the quality of its food, and the quality of its service. And while we can’t do anything about the food coming out of your kitchen, we can certainly help improve your level of service. How? By improving your credit card processors.

You see, your credit card processor or point-of-sale (POS) system is the backbone of your service. Every single transaction goes through your POS, so if it’s slow your whole operation is slow. To make sure your POS system is operating at peak efficiency, here are seven signs that you need to change your restaurant credit card processors right now!

You Staff Doesn’t Like It

It may sound obvious, but one of the best signs that it’s time to replace your POS is that your staff tells you so. They’re the ones interacting with it on a daily basis; they know it better than anyone. If your staff says it’s time for your POS to go, listen to them!

You may be worried that replacing your POS is pricey, or that it could slow down service while your restaurant makes the transition. We’re here to tell you not to worry about either of those! A good, modern POS should have little to no installation cost, and it should be simple enough that your staff can get up and running with it in no time. Speaking of which...

It’s Complicated

If your current POS has a steep learning curve, or if it’s all too common for employees to make mistakes while using it, it’s time for a change. A good POS should be simple, even when it comes to unusual actions like entering a free dessert for someone’s birthday. In today’s tech-driven world, there’s simply no need for a restaurant POS system to be complicated. It should be as simple and easy to use as your favorite app.

An easy, intuitive interface will make every transaction faster, improving your overall speed of service. It’ll also make it easier to get new staff up to speed, which lets you keep operating at peak efficiency even when you’re training someone new.

It Accepts Limited Payment Types

If you run a cash-only operation, cool. You do you. Otherwise, your POS system should be ready for as many payment types as possible. That includes swiping old-school credit cards, reading the chips on newer ones, and being ready for next-gen contactless payments from phones, watches, and whatever they think of next. Otherwise, you face the prospect of frustrated customers and even lost sales. 

And we shouldn’t need to say it, but if your current POS system is costing you sales then it definitely shouldn’t be your POS system much longer.

It’s Slow

This is a big one—a slow POS means slow service, period. And as any restaurant professional knows, slow service leads to unsatisfied customers. If your POS is laggy, prone to freezing up, or takes a long time to process certain payment types, it’s high time to put it out to pasture and bring in a more capable replacement.

It’s Expensive

How much does your POS system cost on an annual basis? Do you have to regularly pay for updates or new hardware? What about support and maintenance? Add up all of these factors and do a little comparative shopping—it used to be that POS systems required a bit of a financial investment, but that’s simply no longer the case. There are plenty of modern POS options that deliver a high-quality service with minimal costs.

It’s Dumb

We don’t mean that it’s frustrating, or irritating, or that it flat-out doesn’t work… though those are all good reasons to get a new POS. We mean that it’s dumb as in it’s not “smart software.” If your POS doesn’t automatically track stats and provide data you can use to better your restaurant operations, it’s definitely time to upgrade! Smart POS systems can help you create loyalty programs, targeted ad campaigns, custom coupons, and more—which all translate into more sales.

Modern POS systems should also integrate with your standard everyday tech, like your phone or home computer. This will let you do office work from the comfort of your own home, on your own schedule. And that’s smart.

It Isn’t Ready to Scale

We’re gonna go out on a limb here and guess that you have plans, or at the very least dreams, to grow your restaurant. Maybe that means more customers, and maybe that means more locations. Either way, your POS system should be ready to grow with you. That means it should be ready to handle more transactions, more physical input locations (whether that’s multiple stations in one location, or multiple locations), more staff, and… well, just more.

And the truth is, with so many competitors in the POS space nowadays, there’s really no reason to accept anything else. If your POS system isn’t ready to grow, then it’s time for you to find one that is.

Finding the Right POS for You

You already know that running a restaurant ain’t easy, so why make it any harder on yourself by sticking with an outdated POS? If your current point-of-sale system fails even one of the questions in this article, it’s time to start looking for a new one that does it all. If that’s the case, drop us a line here at Riverside and we’ll be happy to help you start your search!