November 19, 2021
Hello to Finestra POS & Goodbye to Margin Plus
In 1967 when the Beetles released their hit song Hello, Goodbye, were they trying to communicate paradoxical salutations? Perhaps they were foreshadowing, that 50+ years later, pharmacies would be saying out with the old and in with the new, or simply put, Hello, Goodbye to their point-of-sale system?
Are you willing to take a moment and listen to the safe advice dispensed from the Beatles, one of the greatest rock bands ever? Are you prepared to make the sound business decision to say Hello to Finestra POS and Goodbye to Margin Plus while enhancing your bottom line with increased margins?
When we opened our store back in 2008, we had installed Margin Plus, and to be honest, after 13 years our Pharmacy was not willing to say goodbye to our legacy POS system. The concerns with switching were essentially twofold – change management & sunk costs. Our staff understood and liked Margin Plus and it worked well, so why would we subject ourselves to a system conversion when we did not have to? Secondly, we believed that any potential monetary savings did not equate to an equivalent reduction in mental anguish and hardship; however, that all changed on March 4, 2021.
On that fateful day, our Margin Plus server crashed, and we incorrectly assumed that it would be straightforward to move our backups onto a new computer and set up another server. Little did we know that, whether we were in the midst of a global pandemic or not, supply chain constraints severely limit access to replacement hardware. Surprisingly, we faced the dreaded possibility of a new Linux server taking over a month to source.
Fortunately, POSitec came to our rescue and had our pharmacy up and running with Finestra POS, including all new hardware within 48 hours. Being a Windows based system, the computers were straight forward to secure and the GUI interface and ’emergency’ training that POSitec provided had our staff comfortable enough to serve our customers in record time. The amazing team members at POSitec even gave up their weekend to ensure our successful transition to the new system, which included data migration from Margin Plus to Finestra POS.
In a very short period of time, our staff became comfortable utilizing Finestra POS due to the abundance of online training videos, the easy to use touch screens, the integrated debit/credit and extensive reporting features within the software. Furthermore, our monthly fees dropped by over 50%, which greatly enhanced the ROI of the new system and the more robust inventory management features resulted in reduced costs and enhanced sales.
So if you are still utilizing Margin Plus, don’t wait until you have a gun to your head to make the switch to Finestra POS. Instead, start planning to do it now and at the very minimum, have POSitec install a free, fully functioning version of Finestra POS on one of your computers, so that your staff can check out all of the many advantages themselves,
Lastly, don’t forget to put your headphones on, tune your Apple Music or Spotify to the infamous Beatle song mentioned earlier and of course, dance like nobody is watching.
Cheers,
Joe Jacob BSc(Pharm), ACPR, GDBA, MBA
Pharmacist Owner
Pharmasave Grandview Corners
South Surrey, BC