I want you to know that I am aware of the longer wait times on the phones when you call for Tech Support. Today, we are upgrading our phone system (our old system was busting at the seams trying to handle the call volume). We are also actively interviewing for new Tech Support folks and a second administrative assistant. We brought in some part time help, an intern, and have a full time Tech Support guy returning following college graduation in a couple of weeks. Our offices are under construction adding more cubicles and desk space. We also hired an additional programmer and are working on setting up a European division with its own support team. If you find yourself frustrated trying to get some help, send me an email and I will do my best to get you some answers.

I just finished reading Desperately Seeking MEMBERS by Harvey S. McLintock. It's a short book and I read it straight through last night in about 2 hours. While it reads a bit like an infomercial for Legendary Marketing, I could not put it down. It is taking all of my self control here not to write out real names to the characters in this book. From Michelle, the marketing director, to Dr. Richard Cranium, I swear I personally know each of these characters by their real names. Read this book, I am sure you know them too. I also am going to tell you how this book ends, so close your eyes if you don't want to know. After the final chapter and Epilog, comes the Indispensable Club Resource Guide; and the last sentence in the book is an unsolicited reference for Club Prophet Systems' software! Thanks Harvey!

Today's Lesson - Food & Beverage Forced Modifier. Many of you are using CPS software to manage your Snack Bar. In our next version (out now in limited release), we are introducing a full F&B package for fine dining, snack bar, quick order and even pizza options. But before we go there, I want to show you how you can use "modifiers" today to send tickets back to the chef in the Kitchen for food orders.

For this lesson, I am going to set up a Hamburger Platter (Burger with Fries or Onion Rings), and show you how to force modifier questions for the wait staff and print a ticket to the kitchen printer for the cook when the Burger Platter is ordered.

Before we start with the products and sales, this requires a "remote" printer in the kitchen (you can purchase a remote printer from CPS). Once installed on your network, you need to tell the CSP software about that Remote Printer. From Options, Reference Tables, Sale Categories - double click or select and Edit the Food-Snack Bar category. Here you set the Remote Printer to the kitchen printer on your LAN. Note: Thermal printers tend NOT to work in the high heat of a kitchen -- impact printers are usually recommended.

Now for the product setup and sales. First thing we need to do is set up in Inventory the Items that we are selling. Click the New Product button and fill out the Product Data. Notice below that the Item Type is F&B. This is required for modifiers in the Sale Screen. Set up an Item Code and Description and click the Save button.

In the Product Setup screen for your Burger Platter, click on the Modifier tab and click Add Modifier.

Questions (Modifiers) will be presented to the wait staff in the order you enter them here, so let's start with asking how to prepare the Burger. The Modifier Text is the prompt to the wait staff. So I am going to ask Temperature? I am going to set the Modifier Type to a list of Multiple Choice options and Force the waiter to select one. Click Next to continue.

Now I am going to set up each Choice starting with Rare. From the Choice Type drop-down box, select Text and make sure Active is checked. Click the Add More Choice button.

Work your way through Medium Rare, Medium, Medium Well, Well Done and then click the Finish button. The result will look like this:

Click on Add Modifier and let's set up the toppings for the burger. Note a couple things this time - the Modifier Type is set to Check List (because you may want several toppings) and Force an Answer is NOT checked (because you may have one of the Atkins Diet freaks).

Remember that the order in which you enter these is the order they will show up. So I am going to start with Cheese - American. My Choice Type is Text and a special feature here is Charge Item Code. This will physically add a new product to the order and charge for it. In this case, I am going to charge more if they want to make it a Cheese Burger Platter.

Again, work your way through your toppings and set up Item Codes as needed. Here is my finished list.

I am going to add one more Modifier for a Side Order of Fries (Chips for guys "over the pond") or Onion Rings.
My finished setup looks like the following, notice there is a Preview button - try it to see the result of your setup work.

Now let's see how it all comes together on the Sales screen. I set up a Snack Bar menu with a Burger Platter picture on one of my Quick Sale buttons.

I am going to select Medium Well on the first pop-up asking for Temperature.

Next, you will see the Toppings prompt where I am going to select Cheese - American, Lettuce, Tomato and Mayo, then click Next. The Next is required here since you can select multiple items.

Finally, I am going to select Fries for my Sides.

Notice in my Sales receipt area below, that the extra add on charge for Cheese is listed. In the Kitchen, the remote printer has printed all of the items I selected for my Forced Modifiers so that the cook can prepare the Burger as ordered.

Of course, you can do a Save Tab here instead of Finalize Sale to keep the ticket open. The Burger Platter will print to the Kitchen when you Save the Tab and does not re-print if you Get the Tab and save it again. This is a great option for those that do not have fine dining (table layout, reserved seating, etc.) at the facility. For those that do have fine dining, Version 3 is right around the corner and will support those features.

Next week, Tom and I will be in Paris for a 21-course installation. Pretty safe bet there will be no newsletter next week but I'm sure I will have some stories of France for you the week after next.

Enjoy!