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(continued from Customer Management)

Awards Programs

Awards Programs -- also called “Frequent Diner”, “Frequent Buyer” or “Customer Loyalty” Programs -- are special promotions offered by restaurants to incent customer spending.  Awards Programs offer a benefit such as a discount or a free menu item to customers who make purchases that meet specific criteria.  For instance, an award program might offer a free cup of coffee for every ten cups purchased or a coupon for “10% Off Your Next Purchase” when customers spend over a certain amount.  

The scope of an award program can be limited to specific type of transaction or revenue centers.   For instance, free drinks might be offered only on carry out orders or a special discount might be offered only delivery orders, etc.

Some Awards Programs are open to all customers.  Other awards programs have a more limited scope.  Awards might be offered only to “Senior Citizens” or to customers who proactively enroll in, say, a “Coffee Club” or a “Wine Lovers” group.  Either way, participating customers must have some sort of personal account where their transactions are posted for tracking purposes. 

The Restaurant Manager POS System may be enhanced with an optionalFrequent Diner Module for implementing and managing awards programs.  The implementation tips below help you plan awards programs that will have a positive impact on your bottom line.

Restaurant Manager’s Frequent Diner Module awards points to customers based on their buying behavior.  When point totals meet award criteria, the Frequent Diner Module will either issue an award coupon or automatically apply a discount or other award benefit to the customer’s next purchase.

The criteria customers must meet in order to earn an award are defined on the Award Program Setup Form.  For instance, before you configure a manual award program, you must usually configure an award coupon.  Configuration of awards programs also requires creating a Customer Account for every customer whose purchases you wish to track.  Additional configuration settings that impact award programs are found on the Station Configuration Form and the Menu Setup form. 

The Award Program Setup Form may be used to configure an unlimited number of award programs.  Each award program is built around four parameters:

• the customer behavior that triggers the award (# of visits, amount spent, etc
• the target market or customer type eligible for the award
• the type of transactions or Revenue Centers included in the promotion; and
• the Redemption Method determines when and how customers receive their award.  (NOTE:  Changing the redemption method also changes the format of the Awards Program Setup Form, itself.) 

Once award programs have been configured, the following POS operations may be used to operate the Frequent Diner Program:

• Post Transactions to Customer Accounts
• Check or Adjust Account Balances
• Redeem Awards
• Cancel Awards

The Award List on the Awards Program Setup Form displays all award programs created to date.  Any award program on this list may be enabled or disabled at the user’s discretion.  Award programs may also be configured to expire automatically.

Restaurant Manager includes a number of reports designed specifically for tracking Frequent Diner programs.

If you wish to limit access to award program setup forms or add password prompts to award-related POS operations, see the section on Award Program Security.

Award/Loyalty Station Configuration Options

The following are Station configuration options that you may wish to consider when setting up your award program. The Customer Loyalty options are specific to the award program. The Phone # and Address defaults along with the Misc options are specific to data entry. Special considerations should be given to the use of the default setting if you are using the customer database in other areas of the system (i.e. delivery).

Customer Loyalty Options

• Enable Customer Loyalty Module- Check this option to enable customer loyalty (e.g., frequent diner / awards program). Note: this is an optional module of Restaurant Manager. Make sure you've purchased this optional module if you wish to use this feature.
• Display alert when award is available- If this option is enabled, the POS module will alert you when a customer is eligible for an award. The alert is displayed after assigning a customer to an order. Note, for awards that include the current order in the award tally, the system does NOT display an alert if the customer crosses an award threshold during the course of an order. In order to redeem an award that is achieved on the current order, you must use the Award Redeem option from the order entry screen.
• On new customers, prompt for customer type- Customer type can be used to classify your customers (e.g., boy scouts, senior citizens, cigar club, etc.). You can define award programs that only apply to certain customer types.
• Customer loyalty description- Enter descriptive text to describe your customer loyalty program (e.g., frequent diner, awards program, customer loyalty). This text appears on guest checks and on touch buttons on the POS screen for anything related to customer loyalty.
• Print awards on reprints- Check this option to print awards when re-printing a check. This option should be used with caution as it allows printing an award multiple times if your employees have adequate security level to re-print checks.
• Allow giving award items form disabled groups- This option controls whether the system will give an award item from a disabled menu group. If this option is not checked, when an award is achieved and is configured to give a menu item from a disabled group, a message is displayed on screen that the item is not available.

Phone defaults

• Format- Restaurant Manager provides two standard formats for storing customers - either 10-digit home numbers (plus 4 digit extension), or social security number. Choose one of these formats, or choose "Custom Format" to create your own.
• Custom Format- If you are using a custom format for storing customers, enter the format here. Enter a "9" to indicate a numeric digit. You can use any combination of 9's and dashes. Note, this option is useful in foreign countries with phone formats that are different from the US and Canada, or for applications where customers are stored using an identifier other than their phone number or SSN.
• Minimum number of digits- This option only applies when using custom format. It defines the minimum number of digits required for a valid customer ID. Include dashes (-) in the count. So for example, if you phone format is "99-99-9999", then you should enter 10 as the minimum # of digits (8 digits plus 2 dashes)
• Alphanumeric customer ID’s- Use this option to allow alphabetic characters (e.g. "abcd...") in customer ID's. For example, if you wish to store your customers by name rather than phone number. Note: this option overrides the "Format" settings above.

Misc Options

• On-Screen Keyboard- Allows complete touch screen operation for entering customer information (i.e., keyboard not required). An alphanumeric keyboard is displayed on screen to enter customer information and access the street database
• Add/edit customers from POS- This option determines whether new customers can be added, or existing customer information can be modified from Point of Sale. If this option is checked, you must have a standard PC keyboard connected the POS station in order to edit customer information.
• Automatic last order recalll0 Use this option if you want the ability to view/recall a customer's past orders. You can control the past orders displayed with the option below.
• Maximum number of orders to show- This option controls the number of orders to be listed when selecting a previous customer order to recall. Valid option values range from 0 to 99 where 0

Address Phone Defaults

• Default Area Code- Enter the default area code for new customers. If most (or all) of your customers have the same area code, you should enter it here. The system will automatically fill in the area code for you when creating a new customer. Note: this option only applies when you are storing customers by phone number.
• Default City- Enter the default city for new customers. Leave this field blank if you wish to enter the city manually.
• Default State- Enter the default state for new customers. Leave this field blank if you wish to enter the state manually.
• Default Zip code- Enter the default zip code for new customers. Leave this field blank if you wish to enter the zip code manually.

Track Spending Behavior

All award programs defined in the Frequent Diner Module allow customers to earn points based on their spending behavior.   The type of behavior you may choose track and reward includes:

1. The number of times a customer visits your establishment
2. The dollar value of the customer’s purchases, or
3. The specific menu items purchased

To track the spending behavior of a specific customer you must post transactions to their customer account.  The number of points earned for each purchase depends on type of behavior you choose to track:

# Of Visits- When tracking by visits, the customer earns one point each time he makes a purchase, regardless of the dollar value of the sale. 

Purchases- When tracking by purchase amount, the customer earns a point for every dollar spent regardless of the number of purchases that contribute to this total.

Menu Item-When tracking by menu item, the customer earns the points assigned to the menu item each time the item is purchased.  For instance, if a cappuccino is worth 5 points customers earn five points each time they purchase that item. 

When configuring an award program on the Award Program Setup Form you must use the [Tracking Method] field to select the behavior you wish to track and the [Units] field to create a more detailed description of this behavior for printing on coupons and reports. 

The number of points required to earn an award is usually defined in [Points] field on the Award Program Setup Form, while the [Current Balance] checkbox controls whether or not points from the current transaction are included in the award balance prior to settlement.  (NOTE: When configuring Automatic award programs, however, the format of the setup form changes and point requirements must be entered in a field labeled[Trigger Threshold].)

See the section on Adding a New Award for step by step examples on configuring awards programs to track different types of spending behavior.

Coupons & Other Award Options

Restaurant Manager recognizes a wide variety of coupons, from percentage discounts to free menu items to 2-for-1 offers, etc When using the Frequent Diner Module to create a new Manual Award program, the award, itself, is defined as a coupon.  It is only when the Award Type is “Automatic” that other types of awards may be defined.  (See the section on Issuing Awards Automatically for details on these alternative award types as well as a discussion of using award coupons with automatic awards.) 

Customer Accounts

All Restaurant Manager POS systems include a Customer Database. In systems configured with the Frequent Diner Module, a record – or “customer account” -- must be added to the Customer Database for every customer whose purchases you wish to track.   As described in the section on enrollment, new customer accounts may be created from both the BackOffice Module or from the POS Stations.

Once customers have a unique account in the Customer Database, they earn points for their purchases each time a transaction is posted to their account.    The points earned for each transaction may be printed or adjusted as described in the section on Award Balances.

Once the customer account contains sufficient points to meet the award criteria, the customer may redeem the award.  When the coupon is redeemed the points used to earn the coupon are deducted from the account balance.

Enrollment

When configuring an award program you may use the Customer Type field on the Award Program Setup Form to determine whether the program is open to “All Customers” or limited to a specific sub-set of customers such as “Senior Citizens” or “Wine Lovers”.  The drop down list that appears in the field labeled “Customer Type” is created on the Customer Type Setup Form.

Every time you add a new customer to the Customer Database they are automatically enrolled in any award program that targets “All Customers”.  Each time a ttransaction is posted to a customer account, the customer earns points towards awards programs open to “All Customers”. 

To enroll a customer in an award program that targets a specific Customer Type, you must not only add the customer to the Customer Database, you must also tag their record with the same Customer Type used for the award program, itself.  For instance, to enroll a customer in an award program targeted to “Wine Lovers”, you must access their record in the Customer Database and enter “Wine Lover” in the [Customer Type] field.

Tagging customers with a specific Customer Type does not prevent them from participating in award programs that are open to [All Customers].  It does, however, prevent them from participating in award programs that target a different customer type.  Any given customer record may be tagged with only one Customer Type. 

When customer records are indexed on phone numbers, you may enroll new customers in award programs by following standard procedures for Adding a New Customer to the Customer Database.  When customer records are indexed on a different type of number enrollment procedures may be modified to include issuing Frequent Buyer Cards.

Frequent Buyer Membership Cards

If you wish to issue a Frequent Buyer Card when customers enroll in an award program, you must:

1. Order mag stripe cards pre-loaded with numbers that have a standard format
2. Configure the POS system to index customer records on numbers with this standard format .
3. Make sure every workstation where customers may enroll in an award program is configured with a mag stripe reader.

To issue a Frequent Buyer Card when enrolling new customers in an award program at the POS Station:

1. Open an order -- even if the customer is not making a purchase.
2. Touch the [FREQUENT BUYER] function button on the Order Entry Screen
3. When the Phone Prompt appears, swipe a new Frequent Buyer Card to call up an optional abbreviated version of the Customer Info Form:

Abbreviated Customer Info Screen

Note: you can bypass the abbreviated Customer Information screen and go straight to the Full Customer Information Screen by disabling “Automatic street lookup” in Station Configuration.

4. Enter the customer name using this format:  <Last Name>, <First Name>
5. Enter the street number -- but not the street name – of the customer’s address
6. Touch the [OK] button to view the full Customer Info Form.
7. Fill in the remaining fields on this form and, if appropriate
8. Use the [Customer Type] button to tag the record with a specific Customer Type.
9. Touch the [OK] button to exit the form or use the [NEW CUSTOMER] button to create another new customer account.

Full Customer Information Screen

Once a customer possesses a Frequent Buyer Card the card should be swiped every time you use the [FREQUENT BUYER] function.

Customer Types Setup Form

In systems configured with the Frequent Diner Module users may wish to create special award programs that target sub-sets of their customer base such as “Senior Citizens” or “Wine Lovers”.  In this case, the concept of a “Customer Type” may be used to both limit the scope of the award program and to identify which customers may participate in the program. 

Use the Customer Type Setup Form to create a drop down list of customer types for display in fields labeled [Customer Type] in either the Award Program Setup Form or the Customer Database . 

• Add-ons > Frequent Diner > [Customer Type] button…OR
• Add-ons > Customer/Street Databases > [Customer Type] on the bottom of the Customer Database screen.

Use the [ADD] button at the base of the Setup Form to add a new Customer Type.

Tag Customers with a Customer Type

You may configure your POS System to automatically prompt for customer type each time you create a new customer account.   Customers may also be manually tagged with a “Customer Type” from both the BackOffice Module or from a POS Workstation. 

To manually tag a customer with a Customer Type from the BackOffice Module:

1. Access the Customer Database to locate or add a new customer
2. Use the drop down list in the Type column to select the appropriate Customer Type for the active customer

To manually tag a customer with a specific Customer Type from the POS Module:

1. Open an order
2. Touch the Frequent Buyer button on the Order Entry Screen to call up the Telephone Prompt
3. Enter the phone number – or ID Number -- of the customer you wish to tag with a specific Customer Type.
4. When the Customer Information Form appears, verify that the information displayed is correct…..OR if the Name field is blank add a new customer before proceeding with the instructions below. 
5. Touch the Customer Type button at the base of the Customer Information Form and use the prompt below to select the appropriate type:

(If the Customer Type you wish to select is not displayed on this prompt you must add a new type to the Customer Type Setup Form.)

6. Touch the [OK] button.

Posting Transactions to a Customer Account

Once customers have a record in the Customer Database, specific transactions may be posted to their account using automatic or manual procedures both of which rely on the Phone Prompt below:

This Phone Prompt not only takes input of phone numbers, it can also be configured to accept the input of numbers with alternative formats.  In systems configured with mag stripe readers, Frequent Buyer Cards can be utilized to read account numbers if desired.

The [FREQUENT BUYER] function button may be used to manually link a transaction to a specific customer account. 

To automatically post transactions to customer accounts you must enable the Phone Number prompt on the Revenue Center Setup Form and then configure each POS Station with a default Revenue Center that relies on this prompt.  The Delivery Module, for instance, is usually configured so the phone prompt appears each time you open an order.  See the section on Opening an Order for more information on configuring the system to automatically prompt for a phone number or other Customer ID.

The Frequent Buyer Function Button

To manually post a transaction to a customer account:

1. Open an order and touch the [Frequent Buyer] button on the Order Entry Screen:

2. When the Phone Prompt appears, use the keypad to input the customer phone number or swipe the Frequent Buyer Card of the customer making the transaction.
3. Verify that the information on the Customer Information Form is correct:
4. Touch the [OK] button.

The [FREQUENT BUYER] function may also be used to create new customer accounts.  Simply input the customer phone number or swipe a new Frequent Buyer Card when the phone prompt appears.  Then use the Customer Information Form to record information about the customer.

Adding a New Award Program

This section offers examples on how to setup a few specific types of Manual award programs.  See the section on Automatic Awards Programs for additional configuration examples.   The examples covered in this section include:

1. Free delivery on all delivery orders in excess of $50
2. A free cup of coffee after ten coffee purchases

Because Manual Award Programs rely on award coupons, the examples below all begin with the creation of a new coupon.  If award coupons had been previously configured the first step below would not be necessary. 

The examples below assume that the user configuring the new award program has already logged into the BackOffice Module and has a Security Level greater than or equal to the security level used to protect the Frequent Diner Module on the BackOffice Security Form.

Example 1

To configure an award program that gives free delivery on all delivery orders in excess of $50:

1. Access the Coupon Setup Form to create a Free Delivery coupon: 

1. Use the ADD button at the base of the Coupon List to create a new coupon.
2. Type the text below in the Name field: FREE DELIVERY.
3. Skip the fields labeled Coupon Barcode and Detailed Description.
4. Use the drop down menu in the Discount Method field to select the option that reads “Dollars off Check Total”
5. Check the box labeled Prompt for Amount- this will allow end user to type in a different amount if they have a scalable delivery charge
6. Amount field- put in the lowest amount delivery charge (default on screen)- example above we put in two dollars
7. Quantity to Discount field- put in “1” for default.
8. Limit field- use the default “1”
9. Allow combining with other coupons field- check if you intend on using other coupons in conjunction with the current coupon.
10. Maximum Coupon Value filed- put in the amount equal to the highest delivery charge.
11. Under the Advanced tab type in $50 in the purchase minimum field
12. Enable the “Update Taxes after applying coupon” field only if you charge tax on delivery charges

2. Access the Frequent Diner Module in the BackOffice to call up the Awards Program Setup Form (Add-ons > Frequent Diner)

1. Click on the [ADD] button under the Awards List and type the text below in the Name field:   Free Delivery 
2. Click on the Tracking Method field and select the “Purchases” option.
3. Make sure the <Enabled> box is checked.
4. Type the text below in the Units field: Total Purchase Amount
5. Make sure the Award Type is set to “Manual”
6. Set the security level to override invalid coupon to a manager level- this setting supersedes the same setting in the Coupon Setup form.
7. In the Scope field set “Revenue Center” to Delivery 
8. “Customer Type” setting should be “All Customers”
9. Enable the “Include current order in the point tally”- this will include the current order.
10. Click on [Add Coupon] and choose the “Free Delivery” coupon you set up in Coupons.

Example 2

Follow the instructions below to configure an award program that awards a Free Soft Drink (Any Size) to all customers who purchase 10 cups of coffee from the Carry Out window::

1. Access the Coupon Setup Form and follow to create a coupon for a Free Cup of Coffee.

1. Use the ADD button at the base of the Coupon List to create a new coupon.
2. Type the text below in the Name field: Soft Drink
3. Skip the fields labeled Coupon Barcode and Detailed Description.
4. Use the drop down menu in the Discount Method field to select the option that reads “Percentage off each item”
5. Amount field- type in “100”
6. Quantity to Discount field- put in “1” for default.
7. Limit field- use the default “1”
8. Allow combining with other coupons field- check if you intend on using other coupons in conjunction with the current coupon.

i. Under the “Products to Discount” tab, go to the “Food” menu, click and drag over menu groups: Small Soft Drinks (41), Medium Soft Drinks (42), and Large Soft Drinks (43).

2. Access the Frequent Diner Module in the BackOffice to call up the Awards Program Setup Form (Add-ons > Frequent Diner)

1. Click on the [ADD] button under the Awards List and type the text below in the Name field: Free Soft Drink
2. Click on the Tracking Method field and select the “Menu” option.
3. Make sure the <Enabled> box is checked.
4. Type the text below in the Units field: Soft Drink Purchases
5. Make sure the Award Type is set to “Manual”
6. Revenue Center:  To Go
7. Customer Type: All
8. “Include Current order in the point tally”- enable
9. Coupon Fields
   1. Set coupon to Free Soft Drink
   2. Points- type in 10

1. Access the Menu Setup Form and use the Menu Tree to locate the Small, medium, and Large Soft Drink groups under the “Food” menu.  Expand the “Small Soft Drink” menu group on the menu tree using the “+” next to the name. Click on the first menu item- “Small Coke”.

1. Click on the [Advanced] tab on the Menu Setup Form so the Awards Program section of the form is displayed on screen.
2. Click on the drop down menu in the [Awards Program] field and select the “Free Soft Drink” award program from the list.
3. Click on the [Points Awarded] field and type the number <1>
4. If the menu includes more than one coffee drink, repeat steps 9 thru 12 above.
5. Click on the OK button to exit the Menu Setup Form.

Award Account Balances

Each customer’s account balance – or “award balance” -- may be printed automatically at the base of the Guest Check.   Award Balance reports for individual customers may also be printed manually using the [Award Info] function button on the Order Entry Screen.  In addition, you may print an Award Program report that list all the customers enrolled in a given award program along with their current balance.  In all cases the balance is annotated in the unit of measurement defined on the Award Program Setup Form such as “1 point per cup of coffee” or “1 point per visit”, etc

When using the [Award Info] function button to print an account balance for a specific customer, you must first access the Order Entry Screen and touch the [FREQUENT BUYER] button to look up the customer.  You may then touch the [AWARD INFO] function button to view their current award account balance:

The Award Info button allows you to print a report showing each of the award programs in which the current customer is enrolled.  The report details both the number of points required to earn an award and the number of points the customer has earned toward the award. 

In the screen capture above, five award programs are in effect: Three automatic award programs and two manual. The customer, John Smith, has accumulated sufficient points to redeem one award.  He has earned 51 points (# reflects number of sodas ordered) in the “Soda Drinkers” program which entitles him to an award. In the Cigar Program, eight more points are required to receive a Cigar Club Award: the customer has earned 52 points in this program but needs 60 to achieve an award.

All award programs are independent and, in the example, each uses a different tracking method, the first based on the dollar amount of cigars purchased and the second based on number of soft drinks purchased.

Adjusting Award Balances

From time to time, it may be necessary to adjust a customer’s point balance.  Adjustments may be made only from the POS Module.

This is a sensitive operation easily subject to fraud.  See the chapter on Functions Buttons for instructions on using a high Security Level to protect the [AWARD ADJUST] function and the chapter on BackOffice Security for instruction on limiting access to award balances in the Customer Database.  

When adjusting an award balance from a POS station, you must first access the Order Entry Screen and touch the [FREQUENT BUYER] button to look up the customer.  You may then touch the [AWARD ADJUST] button to call up a list of the Award Programs where the customer has a current balance:

To adjust a customer’s award balance, choose the “Award Adjust” option.  The system will display each of the award balances for the active customer, and allow you to change any one of them.  Award balance adjustments log to an audit file for reporting.

“Manual” Award Coupons

In systems configured with the Frequent Diner Module award coupons may be issued to customers who meet defined spending criteria.  In fact, the configuration of any “Manual” award program usually begins with the configuration of an award coupon and then moves on to the configuration of the award program, itself as detailed in the examples below.

Award coupons are configured on the Coupons Setup Form which is found in the Restaurant Manager BackOffice under the “SETUP” heading on the toolbar >Settlements and Tips > Coupons.

The Awards Program Setup Form can be used to add coupons to an award program, filter the award coupons, and override the original security settings on the Coupon Setup Form. 

Additional configuration settings control how the coupon is issued:

• an alert at the POS
• A message at the base of the Sales Receipt via a coupon
• A printed coupon
• How many coupon that can be applied to a single check
• Dates, times, and days the coupon can be applied.
• Categories of items applicable to the discount

See the section on Award Redemption for instructions on redeeming manual award coupons.

Add Coupons to Manual Award Programs

Use the [ADD] button at the base of the Award Program Setup Form to configure the active award program with one or more award coupons:

1. Click on the ADD button at the base of the Awards Program Setup Form to add a coupon field under the Coupon Heading.
2. Under the General Setup field enter the following:

1. Name field- type in name of Award
2. Units field- type in the unit’s name.
3. Tracking Method- Choose from the drop down menu Visits, Purchases, or Menu
4. Use the drop down menu on the Award Type Field to select “Manual”

3. Under the Scope field use :

1. Revenue Center field- Choose all or a specific revenue center
2. Customer Type field- Choose All Customer or a specific customer type

4. Click on the Add Coupon, then click on the blank box under the Coupon field to access the drop down menu in the new field to select a coupon previously defined on the Coupon Setup Form.

5. Enter the points it will take to redeem award in the “Points” column

Override Password Prompts

When coupons are configured on the Coupon Setup Form, Security Level settings can be used to add a password protection to the redemption of any coupon.  If you wish to override these security settings if and only if the coupon is being redeemed via an award program, then you must enter a “0” in the Security Level fields on the Award Programs Setup Form. Expiration Dates

There is no setting on the Award Program Setup Form that allows award programs to expire automatically.  If, however, you configure an award coupon to expire, the award program expires, too.  In other words, the system will not allow redemption of an award coupon after the expiration date on the Coupon Setup Form.

Award Redemption

Once customers meet the criteria to earn an award, the redemption method – or Award Type – controls how the award is redeemed.  When customers are allowed to redeem awards – i.e. cash in coupons -- at their own discretion, a “manual” Award Type is used.   When the Award Type is “Automatic”, no POS operations are required.  The system will automatically apply the award benefit to the next transaction the customer makes.

The procedures for manually redeeming an award coupon depend on how your system is configured.  If the system is configured to display an alert whenever a customer is eligible for an award, redeeming an award coupon is a single-step process. The alert is enabled using the “Display alert when award is available” option in Station Configuration. If the award alert is not enabled, however, award coupons must be manual applied to transactions using the [AWARD REDEEM] function button.

If you wish to limit award redemption to specific POS Stations you may disable the Frequent Diner Module in the Station Configuration at any station where redemption is not allowed.

Manual Award Alerts at the POS

In systems configured with the Frequent Diner Module, you may enable a setting on the Station Configuration Form that causes an alert to appear whenever a transaction is posted to the account of a customer eligible for an award:

Selecting the “Yes” option at this prompt brings up a screen detailing any award coupons earned by the active customer along with the number of points required to redeem the award as in the screen capture below:

To redeem an available award the user touches the appropriate award button.  The system will automatically apply the coupon to the current transaction and deduct the specified number of points from the customer’s award balance.  If the coupon cannot be applied to the current transaction the operation is canceled.  For example, if you attempt to redeem the free appetizer award, but there are no appetizers on the check, the award is not applied to the transaction and the award balance remains the same.

By default the system will allow the application of multiple award coupons to a single check.  If you wish to prevent this you must enable the “allow combining with other coupons” setting on the Coupons Setup Form.

Manual Award Redemption

Use the [Award Redeem] function to manually apply a discount or other award coupon to the current transaction:

1. Under the MISC Function button (this function can be moved to the Order Entry Screen- see Function Buttons) press the [Award Redeem] button.
2. Choose the Award you wish to apply displayed on the award prompt screen. This process will have to be repeated if you want to apply more than one award to a single check.

An award will not be applied if the award criteria have not been met. A prompt may appear stating: Coupon has zero value (not applied)”. If this occurs, you can add the needed item on to the check and use the [REDEEM AWARD] button again.

If it turns out the customer did not wish to apply an award coupon to the current order, the [CANCEL AWARD] function may be used to undo the redemption prior to settlement

Cancel Manual Award Redemption

When award coupons are applied to a transaction in error, the redemption can be undone prior to settlement.  Use the [Award Cancel] function button on the Order Entry Screen to display all the awards applied to the current order. 

The [Award Cancel] function calls up a list of all the award coupons applied to the current order. 

To cancel the redemption of any of these coupons, simply touch the appropriate award button.  This process will have to be repeated if you want to cancel more than one award on a single check.

Sometimes award redemption is canceled automatically.  For example, if you attempt to apply a coupon for a free appetizer to an order that did not include an appetizer the operation will fail.  Or if you use the [Frequent Buyer] button to change the customer linked to the current transaction, the coupons earned by the original customer will be automatically removed from the order.

Manual Award Program Setup Form

In systems configured with the Frequent Diner Module, you may use the Award Program Setup Form to create an unlimited number of awards programs that can be managed and tracked via your Restaurant Manager POS System. 

The screen capture below shows the default format of this form.  The format changes when the <Award Type> field is set to “Automatic”.)

Add-ons > Frequent Diner > [Award Type] = “Manual”

The Awards Program Setup Form is organized into four sections:

1. Award List
2. General Setup
3. Scope
4. Coupons & Points

Award List

The column on the left of the setup form displays the various awards programs defined by your business.  When an Award Program is “active” (i.e. highlighted in blue on the Awards List) the fields on the body of the Setup Form may be used to configure this active program.  

The Name field in the General Section of the form is the name that appears on the Award List. The checkbox alongside each program is used to enable or disable an award program.

To add a new awards program to the Award List, click on the [ADD] button and fill in the fields on the body of the Setup Form.  .

The [DELETE] button may be used to delete existing Frequent Diner programs from the Awards List.  To maintain the integrity of the Frequent Diner reports, however, it is usually recommended that programs be disabled rather than deleted.

General Setup

• Name- Enter a descriptive name for the active award program which will be displayed on the Award List, on POS Screens and Awards Balances.
• Tracking Method- Use the drop down menu in this field to select the type of customer behavior you wish to track with the active award program.  These behaviors (visits, menu items and purchases) are all described in the section on Track Spending Behavior.  
• Enabled- Check this box on the Award Program Setup Form to enable the active award program. When an award program is enabled it is used to track current customers and their buying behavior.  When a program is disabled customers may no longer earn points under the program, however the program will still appear on reports that track the history of various Frequent Diner programs.
• Units- Use this field to describe the points earned via the selected Tracking Method. This text may be printed on the Sales Receipt, on award vouchers and on other award balance reports.  Commonly used unit descriptions include “1 pt per cup of coffee”, “1 pt per visit”, “1 pt per dollar spent”: etc. 
• Award Type- Use this field on the Awards Program Setup Form to determine how awards are issued after award criteria are met.  “Automatic” Awards are applied automatically once the criteria are met while “Manual” Awards generate an award coupon that customers redeem  at their own discretion.  NOTE:  When the “Automatic” Award Type is selected, the format of the Setup Form changes and additional configuration settings appear.) 
• Security level to apply coupon- Use this field to override password prompts that protect the award coupon as configured on the Coupons Setup Form.  Enter a Security Level of “0” if you wish to completely disable any password prompts linked to printing or issuing award coupons.
• Security level to override invalid coupon- Use this field to override password prompts configured in the field of the same name on the Coupons Setup Form. 

Scope

Use the fields in this section of the Awards Program Setup Form to limit the scope of the active award program:

• Revenue Center- Use this field to select the type of transactions that will count toward the active award program.  By default <All> transactions (or revenue centers) are counted but you may limit the program to a single Revenue Center such as “Delivery” or “Carry Out”, etc.  The hyperlink in the drop down menu provides direct access to the Revenue Center Setup Form
• Customer Type- Use this field to select the customers who are eligible to participate in the active award program.  By default <All> Customers Types are included but you may limit the program to a single type such as “Senior Citizen” or “Coffee Drinker”.   The hyperlink in the drop down menu allows you to create new Customers Types for inclusion in the program.

Coupon & Points

Use the fields in this section of the Awards Program Setup Form to identify how many points are required to earn a specific coupon.

• Current Order Checkbox- Check this box if the points earned on the current order should be applied to the award balance prior to settlement.  When this setting is enabled an award program that offers a free cup of coffee after ten visits will generate the coupon for the free coffee during the customer’s tenth visit.  When this setting is disabled the program generates the coupon after the tenth visit is completed and paid for.  To prevent theft and abuse, the system requires that items must be sent to remote printers before they are included in the award balance.  This prevents user from adding items to an order to meet the award criteria, redeeming the award and then deleting the same items.
• Coupon Detail- Use this field to select a coupon to award to customers who earn the number of points detailed in the Points field below.

Note: It is recommended the “Apply Coupon automatically” be disabled in the Coupon Setup form when using coupons in conjunction with awards. Enabling this coupon setting may lead to misapplication of awards

• Points Required- Use this field to indicate how many points a customer must accumulate to earn a coupon.  The way points are accumulated depends on the behavior selected in the field labeled [Tracking Method].

Automatic Awards Programs

Most restaurants use the Frequent Diner Module to issue award coupons that can be redeemed at the customer’s discretion.  In Restaurant Manager™ these award coupons are referred to as “Manual” Awards.  “Automatic” awards, on the other hand, are applied automatically to the purchase immediately following the transaction that triggered the award.   For instance, an award program that offers a 10% discount after 10 visits would automatically apply this discount to a customer’s purchase on their 11^th visit. 

Configuring award programs to issue awards automatically makes POS operations easier and more efficient.  On the other hand, issuing awards automatically means forgoing the flexibility of “Manual” awards where coupons are not applied to a transaction until customers proactively choose to redeem them.

All the topics covered in the overview of the Frequent Diner Module apply equally to Manual and Automatic awards programs.  In other words, the procedures for everything from adjusting the Station Configuration to posting a transaction to a Customer Account are the same for both Manual and Automatic Awards.

To configure an automatic award you must select the “Automatic” Award Type on the Award Program Setup Form.  This selection causes additional fields to appear on the body of the Setup Form.  These new fields supersede the default fields labeled Coupon and Points with Criteria for tracking spending behavior.

Because automatic awards are never applied to the transaction that triggers the award, it’s important to take extra care in setting automatic award criteria. Take, for instance, an award program that offers a free coffee mug to customers who spend over $50.  The POS operator does not get prompted to present this mug while ringing up the transaction that crosses the $50 threshold.  The award prompt appears, instead, the next time the customer makes a purchase.

Automatic Award Criteria

Four fields in the Criteria section of the Award Program Setup Form determine when spending behavior meets the criteria to earn an automatic award. 

The Trigger Threshold defines the minimum criteria that must be met to earn an award. An award is issued after a customer crosses the threshold value, even if their award level is not exactly equal to the Trigger value.  For example, suppose you offer a free T-shirt after $100 in purchases.  If a customer makes an initial purchase valued at $90 and then spends an additional $20, the system will tag the customer as having met the $100 threshold on his second visit. 

The Recurrence Interval allows the customer to earn the award more than once. In Addition, the recurrence interval can be any value and does not have to be the same as the Trigger Threshold.  A few examples should help clarify the functionality of these two parameters.  The following table shows different values for Trigger Threshold and Recurrence Interval and the point at which awards are issued given these values.

Like the trigger value, the award is actually issued on the visit AFTER the milestone is crossed.  So in the above example, with milestones at 10, 20, and 30… the actual award is issued on visits number 11, 21, 31 …

The Duration field indicates how many times a single customer may earn the same award.  The duration parameter can be used to set up awards that once triggered, are continually issued for a certain period of time.  For an example, every 20th visit, you get 10% discount on the next two visits.  This example could be configured as follows:

In the above example, the customer would receive the discount on the following visits:

21, 22, 41, 42, 61, 62, 81, 82 … etc.

In many cases, the duration parameter is not relevant and may be set to <0>.

For awards that are based on the purchase of certain menu items, you can configure the award program so that awards are issued only if the customer purchases one or more award items.  For example, suppose you have an award program that prints a free coffee voucher after every 5th cup.  The [Award Item Required] checkbox means the free coffee voucher is not printed until the customer actually orders another cup of coffee. 

Automatic Award Setup Form

The Award Program Setup Form changes from a default format to the format shown below when you set the “Award Type” field to “Automatic”.  The Criteria and Award sections below do not appear in the default format:

Add-On's > Frequent Diner

The Awards Setup Form is organized into an Award List and five groups of fields that are used to configure each award program:

1. General
2. Scope
3. Criteria
4. Award
5. Output

Award List

The column on the left of the setup form displays the various awards programs defined by your business.  When an Award Program is “active” (i.e. highlighted in blue on the Awards List) the fields on the body of the Setup Form may be used to configure this active program.  

The Name field in the General Section of the form is the name that appears on the Award List. The checkbox alongside each program is used to enable or disable an award program.

To add a new awards program to the Award List, click on the [ADD] button and fill in the fields on the body of the Setup Form.  .

The [DELETE] button may be used to delete existing Frequent Diner programs from the Awards List.  To maintain the integrity of the Frequent Diner reports, however, it is usually recommended that programs be disabled rather than deleted.

General Setup

• Name- Enter a descriptive name for the active award program which will be displayed on the Award List, on POS Screens and Awards Balances.
• Tracking Method- Use the drop down menu in this field to select the type of customer behavior you wish to track with the active award program.  These behaviors (visits, menu items and purchases) are all described in the section on Track Spending Behavior.  
• Enabled- Check this box on the Award Program Setup Form to enable the active award program. When an award program is enabled it is used to track current customers and their buying behavior.  When a program is disabled customers may no longer earn points under the program, however the program will still appear on reports that track the history of various Frequent Diner programs.
• Units- Use this field to describe the points earned via the selected Tracking Method. This text may be printed on the Sales Receipt, on award vouchers and on other award balance reports.  Commonly used unit descriptions include “1 pt per cup of coffee”, “1 pt per visit”, “1 pt per dollar spent”: etc. 
• Award Type- Use this field on the Awards Program Setup Form to determine how awards are issued after award criteria are met.  “Automatic” Awards are applied automatically once the criteria are met while “Manual” Awards generate an award coupon that customers redeem  at their own discretion.  NOTE:  When the “Automatic” Award Type is selected, the format of the Setup Form changes and additional configuration settings appear.) 
• Security level to apply coupon- Use this field to override password prompts that protect the award coupon as configured on the Coupons Setup Form.  Enter a Security Level of “0” if you wish to completely disable any password prompts linked to printing or issuing award coupons.
• Security level to override invalid coupon- Use this field to override password prompts configured in the field of the same name on the Coupons Setup Form. 

Scope

Use the fields in this section of the Awards Program Setup Form to limit the scope of the active award program:

• Revenue Center- Use this field to select the type of transactions that will count toward the active award program.  By default <All> transactions (or revenue centers) are counted but you may limit the program to a single Revenue Center such as “Delivery” or “Carry Out”, etc.  The hyperlink in the drop down menu provides direct access to the Revenue Center Setup Form
• Customer Type- Use this field to select the customers who are eligible to participate in the active award program.  By default <All> Customers Types are included but you may limit the program to a single type such as “Senior Citizen” or “Coffee Drinker”.   The hyperlink in the drop down menu allows you to create new Customers Types for inclusion in the program.

Criteria

The following four fields work with the Tracking Method field to determine when customer behavior meets the criteria for an award.

• Trigger Threshold- Use this field to define the number of points a customer must accumulate to earn an award for engaging in the behavior detailed in the Tracking Method field.
• Recurrence Interval- Use this field if the active award program continues after the Trigger Threshold is met.  For instance, if you wish to offer a free drink on every 10th visit, set the recurrence interval at “10”.
• Duration- Use this field to automatically apply a discount or other award to multiple transactions.  For instance, if customers who spend over $100 earn free dessert on their next two visits the duration would be <2>.  Leaving this field at “0” DOES NOT mean the award is never redeemed.  A “0” in this field limits the award to a single redemption.
• Upper Threshold:- The Upper Limit defines the number of points after which the active award program expires.  Once a customer attains this number of points no further points may be earned.
• Award Item Required- If the Tracking Method has been set to “Menu Item” you may use this field to require the current transaction include the item being tracked before the award is issued.  This setting is usually enabled when the Award, itself, is a Menu Item. 

Award

• Discount to Apply-Use this field to select a discount as the incentive in the active award program.  The discount options displayed in this field are configured on the Discount Setup Form.  Discounts, however, may also be configured as coupons and it is NOT RECOMMENDED that standard discounts be offered as awards.
• Coupon and Points to Apply- Use this field to select a coupon as the incentive in the active award program.  If an appropriate award coupon has not yet been created you may click on the Coupon field label to access the Coupons Setup Form.
• Note:It is recommended the “Apply Coupon Automatically” be disabled in the Coupon Setup form when using coupons in conjunction with awards. Enabling this coupon setting may lead to misapplication of awards
• Menu Item to Give- Use this field to select a Menu Item as an award.  Any menu item configured on the Menu Setup Form may be given away for free. When the behavior being tracked is the purchase of the same item given away as an award, it is recommended that you also enable the Award Item Required setting above.  
• Output- The “Output” field setting contains the fields necessary for adding or editing when the desired award is in the form of a message. The message will appear on the bottom of the guest check. Typically, the customer is required to bring the receipt back containing the message to redeem the award.
• Message to Print- The “Message to print” setting is the field where the user will add a message that will appear on a guest check when an award has been achieved. Clicking on the [Add] button will allow the user to enter in an award message description (title) and an associated award message to appear on the guest check. The [Edit] button will allow you to change the message description only. The [Remove] button will allow the user to remove a message entirely. It should be mentioned that one message may be used on different awards.

Add a new message:

• Select the award name listed in the Award Name column on the left side of the Award program Setup form.
• In the Output filed click on [Add]. 
• Type in the Award description when the “Award message description” prompts appears.
• Type in the message you want to appear on the guest check in the blank message box.

Automatic Award Examples

In this example we configure RM to track the sales of certain Beer items by customer, and to print a “free beer” message on the check once a customer has purchased 50 points worth of beer, another “free beer” message at 100 points, and a “2 free beers” message once he’s achieved 150 points.  We also restrict the award program to sales issued under the TABS revenues center.  All new customers are automatically enrolled.

The important thing to note when configuring this scenario is that 2 award types are required:  one for the 50, 100 point awards (1 free beer), and another for the 150 points (2 free beers).

Example One

From RM BackOffice:

1. Go to the Menu setup form. Using the [Search] function on the bottom of the form, type in Budweiser, hit [Search] and double click on Budweiser Bottle. In the Budweiser setup page go to the “Advanced Tab” and go to the “Award Programs” field. Go to the Award Program field choose the Beer Drinker program from the drop down menu and add points in the “points awarded field”. Assign points to all the beers you want to include in the award program.  You could assign 10 points for the “expensive” beers, and 5 points for the “regular” ones.

2. Go to Add-ons->Award Programs to open the Award Setup form.

1. Click on the “Add” button at the bottom left of the screen and enter “50-100 point Beer Promotion” as the title of the award.
2. With the “50-100 point Beer Promotion” award selected, set the configuration parameters as follows:
   1. Units:  Beer Points
   2. Revenue Center: Bar Tab
   3. Customer type: All
   4. Tracking Method: Menu
   5. Trigger Threshold: 50  (will issue the award once this level is reached)
   6. Upper Threshold: 100 (do not wish to issue an award beyond the 100 points)
   7. Recurrence Interval: 50 (only issued once after the initial threshold)
   8. Duration: 0 (only activated once, upon crossing the threshold)
   9. Message to print: “Free beer” (create this message to contain the desired text)
   10. Discount to apply- no discount
   11. Menu item to apply: disable

Example 2

To set up the 2 free beer award at 150 points, create another award called “150 point Beer Promotion.”

With the new award highlighted, enter the following parameters:

1. Units:  Beer Points
2. Revenue Center: Bar Tab
3. Customer type: All
4. Tracking Method: Menu
5. Trigger Threshold: 150  (will issue the award once this level is reached)
6. Upper Threshold: 150 (do not wish to issue an award beyond the 150 points)
7. Recurrence Interval: 0 (not a recurring award)
8. Duration: 0 (only activated once, upon crossing the threshold)
9. Message to print: “2 Free beers” (create this message to contain the desired text)
10. Discount to apply: no discount
11. Menu item to apply: disable

Note: It is recommended the “Apply Coupon Automatically” be disabled in the Coupon Setup form when using coupons in conjunction with awards. Enabling this coupon setting may lead to misapplication of awards

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