Running a repair business is stressful. It’s tough to own a business, work on the technical repairs, supervise employees, run operations, and ensure your customers are happy. To make your life easier, you decide to invest in POS software to streamline your business activities and provide a seamlessly automated workflow.
Choosing the right software for your business is essential. Unfortunately, this process is exhausting as most people don’t know where to begin or end their search.
Do you know what could make your life even more stressful? Investing in the wrong POS.
If you are a repair shop owner looking to invest in the right POS, have sifted through many, many options, experimented with trials, and are now considering Lightspeed and RepairDesk as the two worthy candidates, here are some things nobody would tell you, but you must know when making the final decision.
Ease of use
The biggest driver for any owner to invest in a POS is to bring efficiency into business. Streamlining business processes and automating business tasks is one of the critical factors of a POS. But what if you don’t understand how to do it in the first place?
LightSpeed is a popular choice and is used by many businesses in the generic repair space. However, it has an interface that can seem a bit complicated and clunky at first. Several reviews on popular review websites mention that getting used to LightSpeed’s interface takes a while and requires you to go the extra mile to learn its complex system.
RepairDesk, which is primarily designed to enable a comfortable user experience, is hard coded for the cell phone industry and super flexible and customizable for generic repairs. It has a straightforward dashboard with everything available at a glance. The interface is intuitive, keeping it as simple and easy to use as possible.
Both LightSpeed and RepairDesk offer around-the-world access, thanks to cloud technology, and LightSpeed even provides apps for Android and IOS to access data. Even though Lightspeed has additional device accessibility, its apps have bugs that can hinder the user experience. On the other hand, RepairDesk does not offer apps and simply allows you to access the software using a browser.
Customizable for the services and repair industry
Every repair shop is unique, and you, as the owner or manager, have optimized the business workflow as per your unique service and customer base. Like many companies in the POS space, LightSpeed targets various industries with one generic software, which means that its offerings will fulfill 40-50 % of your workflow requirements. Therefore, prefer lightspeed if you have standard requirements.
RepairDesk has a core software for the cellphone industry and a new version designed to serve a completely customizable solution. In every sector it has decided to enter, the pain points of that industry are taken into consideration, and a tailor-made solution is provided. The software is built on years of feedback from valuable customers, market research, and extensive testing. For example, RepairDesk Self-check-in feature lets your customers enter their details through a tablet or iPad when the store gets a high influx of customers. Many competing POS do not provide this facilitation.
Also read: Why your repair store needs a digital self-check-in process.
It’s important to understand that each industry has its pain points as businesses grow, and a “one-for-all software” theory will never be able to provide the solution you’re looking for. Opt for Repairdesk if you want to automate most of your business processes, as well as scale and grow.
Reliability and data security
Imagine your customers waiting for you to provide them with a receipt, and your system crashes. Or the customer data gets leaked and misused. A situation like this is embarrassing and deteriorates your customer experience. The whole point of investing in software to make your business efficient goes out the door.
A strong code, constant security checks to avoid any security breaches, and reliable and speedy server hosting, are all the basics for any POS software to function successfully.
LightSpeed and RepairDesk are very reliable platforms, having served for years to clients all over the world. However, there have been some reports of Lightspeed having extended downtime impacting business operations. RepairDesk, on the other hand, also has a couple of days a year for maintenance downtime, but they loop in the merchants beforehand. In terms of data security, RepairDesk is GDPR compliant, which means all data stored is processed in line with GDPR requirements; ensuring data is safe and well protected. RepairDesk also provides a dedicated hosting option for its multi-store and franchise merchants so you can keep your code hosted in a server near you and your merchant data extra secure.
Dedicated and personalized customer support
We have all been in a situation where we need assistance, and we need it ASAP. Whenever we need help understanding, such as how to perform a task using the software or facing a problem regarding the software, customer support is our go-to solution. This is why excellent customer service should be at the top of your list when selecting POS.
Lightspeed provides customer support to all its merchants through online support, video tutorials, and webchat. However, because of the sheer volume of the queries they receive every day, they are not able to respond to each query in a personalized way. As a result, sometimes it takes Lightspeed more than a couple of days to respond and resolve a simple bug or software glitch.
RepairDesk takes pride in having an excellent support team, always there to help you. In addition, they provide concierge service in their support. The customer support professionals understand how important your business is to you, and that is why the dedicated team is available 24/6 to assist you via phone, email, and chat. RepairDesk made it to Capterra’s list of top performers in 2022, thanks to their outstanding customer reviews.
Software Franchises and Multi-stores
Are you a single store thinking of expansion plans? Or a Franchise or multi-store trying to unify business monitoring and performance management? A feature you should consider when investing in a POS is its ability to cater to growth, scaling, and ultimately moving to a multi-store or franchise model. You will need a quick overview of all your stores, a proper system in place for intercompany invoicing, the ability to create different price lists for other franchises, and one list and apply it to multiple stores to manage profit margins. Does the POS you’re interested in provide you with a centralized dashboard where you can manage all your franchises and stores?
LightSpeed is best for small businesses and does not give you much support to cater to multi-store capabilities or handle a franchise business. So if you’re a business with multiple franchises, RepairDesk should be your go-to software as we also cater to this area. Take control of your business through centralized dashboards and reporting features. Manage profit margins easily using intercompany invoicing.
Take your multi-store management to a new level- learn about intercompany invoicing now!
Value for money
Running a business successfully requires making intelligent decisions. It would be best to find a balance between getting the best services for the lowest price. Investing in POS software seems logical as automation and efficiency create more business and eventually reduce costs. But what if the POS itself is pricey? Instead of bringing down costs, it converts into an additional fee!
LightSpeed’s standard plan is at a price point of $199/month which is a considerable investment if you’re new to the POS world. RepairDesk lets you take a breath here and gives you room for experimentation by giving you a professional plan for less than half this price. So, you don’t even pay half the price and get industry-specific tailored-to-needs software. That is true value for money!
Commitment to continuous improvement
Today, technology has changed the world, and our demands are rapidly evolving as per the needs of the business. Therefore, you need a software provider who is open to suggestions and provides timely changes. Lightspeed, in this regard, has hit a block where we have not seen many feature updates or software upgrades happening frequently. RepairDesk usually has a bi-weekly feature release that updates the app and offers new features to help customers stay on top of their game.
To conclude, Lightspeed is a great choice for small businesses who are not looking for customizations, optimizations, and growth. However, if you plan to personalize your workflow according to your business needs and are planning to expand in the future, RepairDesk is one-of-a-kind software that provides industry-specific features and covers all your pain points. Choose wisely; your business depends on it.
