Is Point of Sale software really used in front of clients?
With the millions of pounds that have been spent developing a variety of Point of Sale (POS) solutions, there will be many of those who signed off the business cases and cheques that will be expecting the answer to this question to be yes! It is an interesting paradox that the pressure on designers of paper factfinds was to keep them short, yet with the design of electronic POS solutions [factfinds] and tools, there often appears to be more and more functionality/capability and complexity added without the same pressure for limitation.
Technology can ‘simplify’ what is complex, but there are occasions when something is added simply because it can! Invariably, there are competing interests and pressures in the design of such solutions and these need to be carefully managed. Should you have a ‘sales tool’ or a ‘compliance/risk management’ driven solution? Inevitably, the answer will depend on who you ask!
One company made a conscious effort to exclude ‘sales tools’ because for each sales aid, they felt that the adviser would feel obliged to use it and so need more time to complete the factfinding process. I spoke to one adviser (Wealth Manager) whose factfind was a lined A4 pad of disparate notes! While another company has tried to differentiate itself with a range of sales modelling tools that have cost a great deal of time and money to develop, as well as delay the launch timescale and associated speed to benefit. One company found that advisers were NOT using the POS with clients because it was too cumbersome and complex resulting in them losing ‘eye contact’ with the client. There answer was to consider using ‘digipens’ (an electronic pen that reads handwriting on a piece of specially designed paper), though realised PC Tablets may be a better compromise.
Some distributors simply want a ‘package’ that does 80% out of the box… suppliers will often say that their product is exactly that. However, the reality is often a mismatch of expectation or interpretation!
The danger is for people to seek tactical or ‘knee jerk’ reactions to solve some of the challenges that are evolving or that have been caused by poor planning at the early stages. What is the user community like, what do they want and how do they really work? If they can’t or don’t engage in using the solution, the investment return will be significantly undermined.
There are pros and cons to many approaches and solutions and it isn’t all doom and gloom. The answer is to make sure that you have a clear business model and process that you understand (not just think that you do). This should be well defined and described so that any POS that you design, build, buy, or customise can be properly mapped against this model so that gaps are identified and assessed for change and implications (to the software, the business model, or both). Look for flexible interaction capabilities enabling data to be obtained in different ways by different people. ‘Less may be more’ and every second counts when looking at the speed to benefit.
Written by Mark Thelwell - Visit Website