Robert,
I am writing to thank you for resolving one of our most difficult and longest
running challenges: our trade program.
We opened in 1992 as a small mom-and-pop used bookstore. Our main source of
income, as you would expect, is used books but also videos, DVDs, etc. We
typically price our merchandise at one half of the original manufacturer’s
list price. Our inventory is obtained by buying directly from our customers,
closeout stores, wholesalers, etc., but the biggest bulk of inventory is
obtained directly from our customers in the form of trade.
In 1992, we used a rolodex and 3×5 cards to track customers’ names and trade
amounts. As our business grew, we quickly realized that this was not going to be
as efficient as we had hoped. We moved to a DOS-based system, which worked for a
while but could not keep up with modern hardware and software.
By the late 1990s we had over 10,000 trade accounts. When we opened a second
location in 2005, the trade could not be accessed by either store in real time,
which led to delays, inefficiency, and frustrated customers. A third store in
2008 made it obvious that we needed a better solution.
We explored custom programming and existing software packages but were faced
with costs beyond our reach. Our credit card company suggested using gift cards
to track the trade, but they charged a fee for each swipe and warned that if we
ever switched providers we would lose access to that data.
This is when I discovered your system — and oh, what a relief it is.
Your system incurs a very small cost and is easy and efficient to use. We ordered
10,000 trade/gift cards with barcodes and have issued over a thousand to new and
existing customers. The employees have no trouble using the program and, because I
can set the default to keep them from editing settings and accounts without
management approval, they can't mess things up.
Our customers love the new cards and the system; they no longer have to wait for
one store to call another. The cards we ordered are bright red, and each customer
receives one full-size card and two key-chain cards. They can even give the extras
to family members to share access to their trade.
One of the biggest unexpected benefits has been marketing. The cards
give the business a very professional image, and every customer has one in their
wallet or on their key chain. Every time they look at their keys or open their
wallet, there we are, reminding them they have trade at one of our stores.
With the reporting tools in your program, I can track the amount of trade issued
and redeemed at each location on a daily or monthly basis. This also helps me
monitor and prevent employee theft by reconciling trade against the cash register
end-of-day reports.
Last but not least, I love the backup utility program you provided. I can download
all of my data to my desktop and maintain a local copy. Although you clearly have
the backup situation well in hand, it gives me great comfort knowing I also have
my own copy.
Again, thank you.
If any of your customers would like to call me personally, I would be glad to give
you a raving review.
