The Road Warriors

Hutchinson feels these forms are under-promoted by distributors and thus, underutilized by the restaurateurs. “A POS order form takes the order in the proper sequence, eliminates errors in computer data entry and, most importantly, it provides a means to serve the customer in an orderly fashion that a scratch pad doesn’t do,” Hutchinson said. In the battle for clientele, data entry errors resulting in incorrect orders or slow service can severely hurt the business.

Setting the Mood

For the independent restaurateur, the physical menu is one of the most important selling points. It is a critical and potentially costly element for all restaurants. The menu is also an important tool in creating the ambiance as well as company branding. But, in the age of home printing and design, few restaurants will even consider having menus printed by an outside company. Suppliers and distributors of printed products know there is no turning back from this movement. They have embraced it and adapted to it. Here, Hutchinson stresses the overall menu system.

Guest Checks Direct produces lines of pre-printed four-color menu papers to be used with customers’ own laser printers, essentially making the printing an in-house print job. “With a laser printer, the black copy is printed onto a four-color pre-printed sheet, making it a very attractive presentation,” Hutchinson said.

Combining menu covers, cases, holders, stands, even layout software with the papers, provides customers with a fully customizable system to produce their own menus without the high overhead of custom printing. Such a system saves restaurant owners thousands of dollars in overhead, which, as Hutchinson explained, is one of the greatest threats to the independent restaurant owner. “[Overhead] kills their margins and makes them non-competitive against the chains. They are diligently trying to reduce their overhead.”

From a distributor’s point of view, systems are a logical selling point. Hutchinson explained, “The professional distributor is system-minded and is used to selling systems in a commercial environment. Now, the restaurant is no different.” The beauty of this system-oriented approach to menus is that a restaurateur can change the prices, and make additions or subtractions with very little trouble and cost—a more professional alternate to menus covered in white-out or stickers to hide items or adjust pricing.