Search results

Here’s a quick primer – definitions and links for more info: http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/facebook-advertising-for-dummies-cheat-sheet.html

brad randall: Setting up 2 lists may reduce the number of customers who receive your “non-deal” messages, but you should also see better response rates and fewer opt-outs and complaints. With Mailchimp (and other email services) you can segment a list based on questions you ask on the sign-up...

Snowman, One of my colleagues wrote an article a while back explaining credit card processing fees and rate calculations. I dug up a copy – choose March 2010 from the dropdown list to see the article: http://www.speedlinesolutions.com/library/newsletter_archive.aspx

Be sure to review the new federal gift card rules in effect as of Aug 22 as well: http://www.federalreserve.gov/consumerinfo/wyntk_giftcards.htm

Brad, Like Paul’s system, SpeedLine supports processing of online order payments at the POS. The concern you mentioned is with PCI-DSS requirement 1.3, which prohibits “direct public access between the Internet and any system component in the cardholder data environment.†On our PCI...

That’s cheap. Good deal if it holds up. You can also buy washable skins for your existing keyboards and mice for $10 and up. We get ours from Dell, but there are lots of suppliers online.

I posted a link to this on our customer forum this morning, and thought it might interest you too: http://www.runningrestaurants.com/articles/restaurant-review-on-google Google tends to rank online reviews high, but I’d never seen a study before on which sites have the most influence.

It’s true, there are lots of ways to donate. The fire department came through my neighborhood last night with a big, plastic collection bucket. Lit up the whole cul-de-sac with all the flashing lights. But if you are looking to host some kind of fundraiser in your restaurant, the NRA and...

Hi, Willi. If you get affiliate emails from Pizza Marketplace, you may have seen the article we sent out Monday on package deals (you can ignore the demo form and just download the article if you’re interested). It’s a short read, but makes a few points you may want to think about...

Hi Indie, One of our online ordering providers shared some summary data with me for our restaurant clients who use their service integrated with SpeedLine POS. In a month (Oct-09), those restaurants ranged from a low of 5 web orders to a high of 684. The average was 88 orders; the median was...

Hi Patrick, For some more ideas…our October newsletter includes menu design tips, and a link to a video interview with menu engineer Greg Rapp. The interview’s a couple of years old, but very good. To take a look, go here, and select the Oct 2009 issue from the dropdown menu. Jennifer@SpeedLine

Hi. I’ve heard about some challenges Pizza Hut users have had with QuikOrder’s custom interface to SpeedLine. A number of web ordering companies send online orders to SpeedLine – typically through the SpeedLine OrderLink Gateway interface. The QuikOrder integration for Pizza Hut is...

It depends. I know operators who wouldn’t operate without inventory software. And I know others who’ve wasted their money on it. The successful ones: a) Have accurate recipes defined for their menu items & portion controls in place. b) Have a solid physical inventory process in place (at...

Hi Mike, POS Hotline offers support and service for RapidFire systems: http://www.poshotline.com/

I just got off the phone with a customer (a restaurant operator in NY) who’s working on his lazy customer marketing program. Here’s what we came up with: Sort your 60+ day lazy customers by Total Sales $ or Total # of Orders. Pull out your best customers — the real regulars who’ve suddenly...

A few to look at: Murgent Loyal Rewards Fishbowl Many online ordering companies offer email marketing services as well.

Before you decide on your offers, decide what your goal is for each group of customers. For instance, it’s not that uncommon for a regular customer to let 30 days go by between orders. So for your 30-day lapsed customers, you may want to go with an offer like a meal deal that drives a larger...

Piper, Keep in mind that email services calculate open rates based on downloads of a hidden image in the html email. That means that an “open” gets recorded only if the reader opens the html version of your email with images turned on. If a reader views your email without downloading images –...

Whatever service you choose, make sure they offer social media tools so you can share content easily to Facebook and Twitter. The university demographic you’re after lives on Facebook and MySpace. I would assume iContact and Constant Contact would have that capability, but if not – check out...

http://www.psprint.com/ I’ve been very happy with their quality and service. The same order Piper described is currently $120.44 shipped. Their mailing rates are good too.