Halo Customer Success Stories!

Success Story 1

Can gravy pay for Halo?

Debbie Knobelsdorf owns Westside Fish and Chips, a small family run business in Huntsville Ontario. Prior to adopting Halo, Debbie used a cash register and encountered areas where she was losing money and opportunity. Here’s how Halo helped her take charge of her restaurant operations.

Business Problem

The first problem Debbie encountered was that servers were not charging properly (if at all) for side orders or add-on items, resulting in lost money to the business. “One of my main reasons for choosing Halo was to stop servers from failing to charge for items like gravy($0.79), sides ($4) or entire meals ($10 or more),” comments Debbie.

“With my cash register, I used to check the chits of every single server and RARELY did I have a perfect day. Some days it could be up to $30 a day we lost. Also, servers with messy writing often caused kitchen errors resulting in wasted food.”  

Secondly, since Debbie had previously been using a cash register to complete transactions, she was unable to generate reports on employee activity or sales. This meant that business decisions were not made on historical data, and employee hourly tracking was on the honor system.

Debbie wanted a system that was easy to use without costing a fortune. Luckily, she stumbled upon the Halo booth at the Hostex Tradeshow a year ago.

Business Solution

Every food item not charged to the customer adds up very quickly. If Debbie loses $30 a day only three times a week, that’s $360 lost a month, and over $4,000 lost a year. Consider the loss to Debbie’s sales if her employees make more errors. “By using the Halo system, if employees don't ring in an item, customers simply don't get items. This allows for all menu items to be charged the appropriate amount,” says Debbie. Furthermore, by creating forced modifiers with particular meals, this also ensures that where needed, add-ons and extras get charged accordingly.

The reporting on Halo’s Enterprise Manager lets Debbie run detailed reports about her staff and sales activity. “Last year, I had the Ministry of Labor requesting the work history on a particular employee. With the help of Halo support, I was able to go back one year and pull daily reports about the hours the employee worked.” Furthermore, the sales activity reports allow Debbie to see what her top sellers are and how well other menu items are selling. Based on this accurate data, strategic decisions can be made to the menu.

Business Results

“I've always wanted a ‘touch screen’ POS and have envied the big guys [large restaurant chains] for a long time. I thought I would not be able to afford the all the functionalities of a touch screen system, but I was proven wrong with Halo,” says Debbie.

By adopting Halo secure web-based POS, Debbie has significantly reduced lost sales from items not being charged. Simply by ensuring gravy and sides dishes are charged to the customer, Debbie was able to pay for her Halo system! Since Debbie no longer has to manually check all the daily chits, she saves time which allows her to focus her energy on the core business of running a restaurant.

Success Story 2

Specialized Products Require Special Inventory Management!

Jarek Krysinski & Sean-Patrick Spriggs (a dynamic Vancouver business-patnership) own Tonina's Deli & Catering Co - an authentic Italian-run delicatessen, importer, caterer, and grocery store.

With a unique product mix, Tonina's attracts a loyal and exclusive customer base yearning for specialty items that can't be found in main stream grocery stores such as organic freshly sliced cold-cuts, excellent prosciutto, and over 60 other natural meats, and over 65 imported and local gourmet cheeses. The specialized products – and of course the friendly, courteous, and professional service from the staff - keep Tonina’s customers coming back. Formerly run with a cash register, the management knew there was more potential in the business with the right POS tools.  

Business Problem

Items in stock are critical! Having copious numbers of such items is inevitable in the grocery store business. Jarek explains that, "Our customers come into the deli because we stock items that the grocery stores don't carry." "It is critical that the person behind the counter taking the order knows that the item is currently in stock. With our cash register, it was a manual process to check which items were getting low on inventory. We needed a better tool to quickly get this information."

Business Solution

The management uses the Item Count feature on the Halo terminal to record the on hand quantity for items. "My staff loves this!" Sean-Patrick says. "They always know how many of an item we have on hand, and can't accidentally ring in an item that is out of stock. I can quickly look at the Count List on the terminal to see which items are getting low, and make sure that we never run out. If a customer comes into the deli for a specific item, I can't afford to lose that sale because I don't have the item."

Business Results

Sales are going up! "Setting the counts on the terminal is easy. This is such a simple feature to use, and so easy for the staff to see the in-stock quantities. We look at the Count List regularly, and make sure we are not about to lose a sale because we are running out of an item. Keeping items in stock is such a basic component of running a business – with Halo we now have an easy tool to use to help us maintain success."

Success Story 3

Halo saves hours managing weekly specials menu

Lenny and Gina Wells are the proprietors of Table 24 – a fine dining dinner restaurant in Salmon Arm, BC. Table 24 features a ‘3 Course Dinner’ which Lenny changes weekly. Here is how they use Halo to increase sales, and stay in touch with their customers’ tastes.

Business Problem

The Wells wanted to track the performance of the weekly changing menu courses so that they could determine which items were the most popular. Since menu items constantly changed, it was important to have the layout on the POS system easy for the servers use.

Business Solution

“I use Halo to find out if what we are doing with our menu is working for our customers. Of course I like getting sales increases! But what is really important to me is that my customers have a great dining experience,” explains Lenny. “We offer a ‘3 Course Dinner’ menu, and I change the items every week. Sometimes, I even change them mid-week! I can use the Halo Enterprise Manager reports to find out in a heartbeat if an item is selling well – and change it right away if it isn’t."

“By keeping these special items in their own Family Group, it is simple to track and see which items sell well. I also like to sequence the buttons on the terminal to match the special menu making it easier for my servers. Using the Order Field on the Touch Screen Editor, it is simple to re-order the buttons and change colours.

Business Results

“I easily save hours a week by using Halo. It was a nightmare to manage these functions on other POS systems I have used. During peak dinner hours, I am on the floor. If I have to make a change, I need to do it quickly. It literally takes me 2 minutes to change an item and button on the Halo system, and it shows up on the terminal right away without requiring a reboot of the system or terminals."

"We have a pretty loyal customer base. We send a newsletter to our customers which include a ‘Dessert On Us’ voucher. Using the Sales and Operations Report on Halo Enterprise Manager, I can track how many vouchers are redeemed. I use this to track what percentage of vouchers are redeemed, and how much the promotion cost me."

For Lenny and Gina, "Halo saves us time, helps manage our menu, and most importantly keeps us in touch with our customers’ tastes."

Success Story 4

Halo helps to double sales per customer

Irene Dutchak owns the Kernels Popcorn franchise in Kitchener, Ontario. She almost doubled her average sale per customer last month by using information from Halo’s Enterprise Manager! Here’s how she did it -

Business Problem

Irene was unable to track her employees' sales on a cash register, so she did not know how much and what products they were selling to each customer. Irene wanted to encourage them to push certain promos and reward them for their performance but there was no way to track results which only led to unmotivated staff and less than stellar promo results.

Business Solution

“I created a simple incentive program for my staff, to encourage them to sell more to each customer using our ‘Daily ½ Price’ discount on certain items that we offer,” explains Irene.

Business Results "Selling more daily ½ price specials translates directly into extra sales! In fact, my average sale per customer almost doubled during the incentive program. My staff were excited to win cash prizes after the program, and I was thrilled with the increased sales – even without increasing our overall traffic. Next month I am adding a new item to my menu. I can’t wait to see how many my staff will sell!” If you have a Halo Success Story that you would like to share with the rest of the Halo Community, please email info@myhalo.com.