The point-of-sale solution you use in your practice should give you the tools you need to grow and run your business. In short, your point-of-sale system is what let's you ring up sales and accept payments from patients. The features you need to look for from a point-of-sale solution in your practice is probably going to be different than the needs of the boutique next door, or the restaurant across the street.
In your eyecare practice a few important buying factors are probably going to be initial and ongoing costs, security, PCI compliance, and general usability of the system.
An Overview on Point-of-sale for Your Optometry Practice
To start, let's quickly review what a point-of-sale system entails
for your practice. First you have the
hardware, which is the device that actually accepts payments and will be used to swipe or insert patient credit cards. Other than just accepting payments, the hardware should be able to do things like print receipts, store cash, and scan bar codes if needed.
The second piece of the point-of-sale system is the software. The software is going to help you find items in your catalog and ring up sales. You might also look for features that include sales reporting, customer engagement software, and inventory management. Some systems might also allow you to download and use apps with the system that can help you with a variety of other business needs - we'll take a look at that more in a bit.
The final piece of the puzzle is taking payments. This is how the system takes care of routing money to your bank account from each sale.
Benefits of a Point-of-sale System in Your Practice
While your business may be using a standard credit card processor, there are additional benefits your business can gain from using a more robust point-of-sale solution. Let's look at a few additional benefits you can get from a point-of-sale:
- Sales data tracked and recorded
- Alerts when running low on inventory
- Multilocation management
- Electronic signature capturing
- Email and text receipts
In addition to the features that come with the system, you may also be able to choose from a variety of apps that can help you with additional business needs. Some may be free while others could charge a small monthly fee. Additional apps that could help your practice include:
- Employee time clock
- Check acceptance
- Receipt paper ordering
- Label printing
- Additional analytic tools
- Reward program tracking
Does your practice use a point-of-sale system? Let us know about it in the comments. And, for more tips on boosting efficiency in your sales process download our eBook, 4 Weeks to Bigger Profits in Your Optical Dispensary.
