Who is More Important?

Last week, I had lunch at a restaurant and the server handed me a Toast Point of Sale System (POS) to pay for the meal. Later that evening, I had dinner at a bar/restaurant and the bartender handed me a Clover POS to pay for the meal.

For lunch, the Toast POS asked me if I wanted a receipt sent to an email address that it already had for me. I loved that feature and commented to the server. She agreed and said her customers loved the feature also.

The Clover POS did not ask me if I wanted a receipt sent to an email address. I told the bartender that I really loved the Toast POS because of the email feature. He said, “Yes, but the backend reports on the Clover system are terrific.”

Big disclaimer…

I do not know much about Toast or Clover. I assume they are similar products with decent market penetration. Maybe Clover does handle emails like I want. Maybe Toast has excellent backend reports.

With that said, I continue…

That got me thinking that a POS has at least two users, the restaurant management and me, the ultimate client. At first, I thought that the POS should be focused on my experience. Then I thought, the experience of the restaurant management is just as important. Do great backend reports count more than a great customer experience? Does a great customer experiences count more than great backend reports? How do POS companies answer these questions and allocate resources? How does a restaurant make this decision on what POS to buy?

These types of questions are why I love mentoring CEOs. There are no right or wrong answers. The science of business can take you so far, but as some point, it is the art of business where great discussion take place. Food for thought. Pun intended.

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