Point of sale (POS) systems actually reach far beyond where goods and services are provided to club and resort members. An integrated POS system can reach way back into accounting and member services, or out to a Web site or third-parties via the Internet. POS data is no longer isolated from other business information. POS hardware is also on the move. Wireless technology allows the POS system to be anywhere it is needed, whether that is the pro shop, the 9th hole, beside the pool or in the banquet hall.
POS integration and mobility are combining to improve member service and management efficiencies today. Getting to that point, however, can take some time. Managers who are looking to update their club’s POS system need to first do their homework and get members and co-workers onboard.
"Here at Oakmont, before January 2006 we were in desperate need of new POS," says Thomas B. Wallace III, general manager of the Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Penn. "The club was running an antiquated system that couldn’t keep up to the demands of what we as a club needed. It was difficult for the accounting department not having the POS and accounting system integrated. The system was poor at tracking, processing and integration. It was incapable of budgeting, importing or exporting reports and entering or monitoring member profiles. It was a constant struggle to produce results demanded in this day and age."
Research Required
It was obvious Oakmont Country Club needed to upgrade. The club includes an 18-hole championship golf course, which will host the U.S. Open in June, a golf practice and teaching center, tennis courts, a pool, a shooting range, two guest houses and a public golf course. It serves 400 active golfing members and 400 national and social members. Oakmont needed a POS that would enhance its members’ experiences wherever they were, whether in one of the clubhouse’s dining areas, in the pool, or at home using the club’s Web site.
Oakmont’s research on POS systems began with senior management developing a systems management list of requirements and desired capabilities. The list grew to include functionality needs, reporting priorities and hardware requirements. A sub-committee was formed that involved members who work in the technology industry, senior management, the executive chef, the chief financial officer and service team members. The sub-committee refined the requirements into a form that could be used to evaluate competitive bids.
"Our intent was to first figure out exactly what everyone needed from this system so when we sat down with the individual companies we could satisfy everyone’s needs," Wallace says. "In the end, we narrowed our selection to three viable alternatives … vendors who could satisfy our needs on a POS/accounting system uniquely in their own ways."
Frank Fragale, owner and general manager of River Bend Country Club in New Bern, N.C., had a similar experience. Fragale, who had purchased POS systems for two other golf courses in the past, knew he had to do his homework to modernize his club in 2003. Fragale wanted a POS system to help River Bend do a better job serving its 315 member families, and the public who use the 18-hole golf course at the semi-private club.
"I took a year to do research," Fragale says. "I was already familiar with some POS systems, but I needed something with features I hadn’t needed before. I needed more services in more places than I had at my previous courses."
Fragale began by visiting technology vendor booths at the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando. He spoke to vendors, tried out POS systems and returned with some potentials. He whittled that list down by speaking with other club owners via the National Golf Course Owners Association. Next he involved employees to make a matrix of the club’s needs.
For Fragale and Wallace, the final decision came down to four questions: What system would best take care of the club’s needs in the timeliest manner? What system would provide the strongest support system to help accomplish the conversion? What feedback was received from other clubs running the same systems? What would it cost as a whole, including upgrades to software and equipment?
Oakmont Country Club’s sub-committee convinced the board that the investment in a new POS would be justified. It pointed out how a new system would enable better data mining that would allow the club to examine new information that could be used to improve the member experience. It formed a plan outlining how the POS would be used to better serve members, increase member satisfaction and improve relationships with members.
"In all from planning, necessary due diligence, staff evaluations and eventual system implementation, it took us a little over 14 months from the beginning of the process to going live," Wallace says. "We could have accomplished it in less time, but waiting until Oakmont went into its shutdown period in January and February to make the switch made the most sense."
Reaping the Benefits
Though Oakmont and River Bend use POS systems from two different vendors, each is able to customize its member service. The system can store and display member information, such as spouse’s name, birthdays, anniversaries, member type and status, favorite food and drink, dining room preferences, food allergies and more. The added information has enabled both clubs to speed service to its members.
"The system has also quickened the order process for a la carte dining," Wallace says. "For each menu item that requires a modifier (salad dressing type or a cooking temperature, for example), a modifier screen will prompt the server with choices. These modifier screens eliminate the staff from typing in side orders."
"When we built the member file, we used the fields for things like spouse’s name, show size and shirt size," Fragale says. "You can get a really fine level of detail. It takes time to input and maintain the data, but the benefit is worth it. In the pro shop, for example, we can remind someone about their upcoming anniversary or let them know new golf shoes in their size just came in. It makes you look like a genius."
A danger to taking orders directly into a POS system is that, if the user interface is not well-designed, it could take longer to input an order than writing it out, thereby reducing service levels. That has not been an issue at Oakmont or River Bend.
Fragale says his 30 employees, old and young, caught onto the system quickly. With two days of use, employees were faster on the POS system was faster than they had been on the registers. River Bend placed a printer in the kitchen of the restaurant so wait staff never have to leave the dining area, and chefs don’t have to decipher handwriting.
"The system has an overall ease to which it enables our employees to navigate rather quickly," Wallace says. "It allows them to easily delete items, add a quantity to an item, split checks, transfer a check to another member’s account, pick up a check, add comments to either the kitchen or the accounting department and close checks."
An itemized list of exactly what a member purchased can be accessed by the club or online by the member.
But reporting isn’t confined to food and beverage purchases. The integrated POS allows Oakmont’s CFO and accounting staff to produce more timely and accurate reports. The club’s financial position can be evaluated with a few keystrokes.
"Our closing process and analysis is now mere days rather than several weeks, and it has more detail," Wallace says. "For our annual outside audit, their questions and queries and requests for prior detail can be answered in minutes directly from the system rather than searching for hardcopy reports as we did in the past. In addition, we are able to develop more refined cash forecasts and long-range plan options, enabling the board to examine financial alternatives with a much greater level of confidence."
Fragale says his managers use the reporting features of the POS system in different ways. The golf course superintendent can get a report showing him when the slowest days and times are, which he uses to schedule aerating. The restaurant manager can see what specials and liquors are most popular. The pro shop manager uses the POS to better manage inventory. The payroll department likes the POS system because it also replaced River Bend’s time clock.
"The more data you provide to the system, the better the reports are," Fragale says. "The better the reports, the better the management."
