First of all, at the conceptual level, we emphasize that we should not focus on products, but on customers' needs.
At present, most catering software suppliers in the market still unconsciously focus on their own products and sell their products to catering companies, regardless of whether their products are suitable for the catering company. We believe that the catering formats include Chinese dinner, western dinner, Chinese fast food, western fast food, leisure teahouse, coffee bar, take-out and group chain. Different catering formats have great differences in catering business processes, and the functions required by natural catering management software are greatly different. Also, if catering companies are at different stages of development, the requirements for catering management software will show great differences, even though the catering format is the same. For example, some restaurants are still in the initial stage of development, and the requirements for catering management software only stay in the automatic processing of business flows, such as computer cashier, automatic printing and delivery to the kitchen, etc. Some companies have asked for the control of kitchen warehouse and cost, so they put forward corresponding requirements for back-office warehouse and cost management; There are also some companies that need to analyze business data and customer consumption data to adjust and construct the restaurant's business direction and policy. Therefore, when catering companies choose their own software system, they need to make a basic judgment on whether the product is suitable for their own needs, rather than relying on software providers to sell themselves. Therefore, professional catering information consulting companies or catering information experts are often needed to provide scientific, objective and fair consulting guidance.
Secondly, look at the product quality (functional and technical level)
Catering software is a tool for catering business. When investigating the product quality, we need to pay attention to three points. First, the product is not the best, only the most suitable; Secondly, we must combine the characteristics of catering companies, grasp the main contradictions, and don't expect catering software to solve all the problems in management; Thirdly, safety, reliability and stability are more important than the richness of product functions, because according to our actual statistical results, most catering companies only use 31%-41% of the functions of catering software for a mature software in the market, and the data security of the product itself and the stability of the system determine the most important factors for users to evaluate the system.
From a technical point of view, the most advanced technology will not necessarily bring the best products, but what technology is adopted can explain to some extent what era the products are, why the design ideas serve customers, and so on. For example, on the operating system, catering software is based on DOS, WINDOWS, LINUX, etc. Among them, DOS-based catering software is an older system. At present, most catering software on the market is based on WINDOWS operating system, and some catering software adopts LINUX operating system considering copyright issues. For another example, the system databases include ACCESS, SYBASE, MYSQL, SQLSERVER, etc. For the catering system, which database is used is related to the scale of the restaurant. Smaller restaurants can use a relatively simple database such as ACCESS, so that the use and maintenance can be relatively simple, while large restaurants should use a database such as SQLSERVER, which can ensure the data security and system stability, but at the same time, the industry requires a special system administrator to maintain it. Also, there are usually three ways to input data, one is based on a common computer, the other is based on a touch screen, and the third is using a wireless ordering system, and the wireless technology includes infrared technology and wireless network technology. From the current development trend, more and more catering systems use touch screens, and wireless technology is gradually maturing.
another important technical issue is whether the software is based on an open platform or a self-contained closed platform. Openness means that the software is well compatible and can support all kinds of general hardware devices. In this way, users can freely choose their own devices, such as printers, wireless PDA, various card readers, etc. In case of hardware equipment failure, users can purchase them in the market at any time; The closed system is a special equipment provided by a system provider, which is not compatible with general equipment. Therefore, once users use such a system, there is no choice but to do it through this company. At present, some catering management systems in the market use special equipment in some links, such as special printers, special wireless ordering equipment, special information reading and writing cards, etc., so that system vendors can improve their profits through this part of equipment. We believe that the truly promising software does not rely on these cleverness to win, but depends on the continuous improvement of the software itself and the intimate service to win the market and win customers.
Third, service awareness and service ability
Software is service. If the service providers who provide catering management software don't have a good sense of service, or don't have a good service ability, then even the best products can't play their due role. The service includes three aspects: first, pre-sales consultation, including understanding the real needs of users and recommending products; Secondly, the implementation of sales and training services are very important. The quality of network cabling directly affects the security and stability of system data, and the quality of training directly affects the efficiency of system operation. Training should be divided into different posts, unified drills, strengthened communication and interaction among different departments and positions, and assessed one by one. Only after passing the assessment can posts be allowed. Usually, the training positions should include: ordering staff, lobby manager, cashier, kitchen supervisor, warehouse manager and financial personnel. Finally, it is after-sales service, which includes store escort, on-site support, telephone support, computer remote service, etc. A good set of software should be supplemented by a complete after-sales service plan to meet customers' needs, including establishing customer maintenance service files and formulating maintenance service levels.
the simple and easy way to examine the service consciousness and ability of a system service provider is to see whether it has established a relatively complete service process and service standard. If a software provider has not even established the minimum service process and service standards, it is hard to believe that it can meet the service needs of users in time in its future services.
Fourth, business concentration VS company size
Although there are quite a few catering software systems in the market, the proportion of catering companies using software is still not high from the overall level of the industry. At present, catering software is still in the stage of market introduction, and the number of companies specializing in catering management software is not large, and the scale is not large. As a professional development and operation of catering software, there are almost no companies with nationwide popularity and reputation; There are also some larger companies whose main products may not be catering management software, but only a department or a team is responsible for the development and sales of catering software. For such companies, although their scale and strength seem to be relatively large, they are likely to give up this business once they encounter operational difficulties. This is a common phenomenon in our industry. Therefore, we believe that the degree of business concentration is more important than the size of the company. Because the law of the development of things is that only concentration will make you an expert; Only concentration can have strength!
Fifth, the quantity and quality of effective customers
When choosing software, catering companies already know the existing customers who need to know about the software, or they are called success stories. Some software companies often do what they like, and make a long list of successful customers. There is no address, no phone number and no contact information. Even if there are more such customer lists, it is meaningless. The effective customer list we are talking about here not only refers to the customers who use the software, but more importantly, who will complete the implementation and service. You often encounter some well-known software in the market, and there are thousands of users in the world, but there may not be many users in a certain market. Therefore, in this case, I hope users will polish their glasses, because maybe you just meet a novice who is providing services for you. In the field of application software, the specific implementation service ability and experience are very important, which will often become a key factor for the successful implementation of a software. For example, if a catering management system can be successfully implemented in a store, it may not necessarily achieve the same effect in b store, because different implementation service capabilities will bring completely different implementation effects; The same thing will happen to some small companies that are constantly splitting from some relatively large companies, which is more common. Because it has just split up, despite the brand-new products, the new products have no formal users, so one is to adopt the free strategy, and the other is to adopt the strategy of * * * enjoying users. The customers of the original company will also be listed in the company's user list in Huang Zhi. Therefore, to examine effective users, we should not only look at quantity, but also look at quality; Not only should you listen to the introduction, but you should also go to the scene if you have the conditions. Only in this way can we definitely see the truth.
Finally, choose partners VS choose products
At present, many catering companies, especially large catering companies located in central cities, have excellent choices in choosing catering management systems. At the beginning of business, a large number of catering software companies often come to sell software, which makes some catering companies responsible for selecting products feel too good about themselves and have too many choices. Moreover, after several introductions, the original laymen have become so-called insiders. At this time, In fact, it is at this time that it is most likely to fall into misunderstanding. Why? Because the product's rich functions are not necessarily what you need, and the price can't be used as a standard for choosing software. We must emphasize that when choosing software, catering enterprises must have a clear distinction between other product suppliers of catering enterprises. Software is not only a product, but also a service, which is a mixture of products and services. Therefore, choosing software is not so much a product as a long-term partner. This requires catering companies to examine the service capabilities, service specifications, service standards and service manuals of software system suppliers besides products, and even the corporate culture, business philosophy and core values of the company behind the service, because it is these factors that determine whether the company can become its long-term, stable and reliable partner.