As CEO Daniel Baron explains, SmartTab’s Customer IDentity Profiles and new virtual box office deliver an unforgettable customer experience that turns clubgoers into regulars.
(NOTE: This story appears in the September 2024 issue of ED Magazine.)
At the root of today’s business model is providing a memorable customer experience, something that not every club manages to get right. However, with SmartTab’s premium POS system, not only do clubs get it right, but they get it right the first time. Designed by former hospitality workers, SmartTab users reportedly don’t know how they ever operated without the system’s features.
“Once our customers use SmartTab, they can’t live without it,” shares SmartTab Founder and CEO, Daniel Baron. “Club operators will say they have plenty of POS options, but after they start using SmartTab, they feel strongly that they only have one option.”
Customer IDentity Profiles provide the customer experience of the future
By scanning a customer’s ID or credit card, SmartTab creates individual Customer IDentity Profiles that provide a handful of useful information, which is encrypted to prevent data breaches. This feature gives club staff the ability to instantly see how many times a customer has been to the club, how much money they spend on average, how much they’ve tipped and what they typically order.
Imagine the tips your bartenders could earn if they had the ability to ask guests if they wanted the same cocktail they were drinking when they stopped by months earlier! Creating a sense of familiarity and recognition is a tactic that turns casual customers into regulars.
If your club has various membership levels, that will also pop up in SmartTab’s Customer IDentity Profiles, ensuring members get the VIP treatment from the moment they walk through the door. Knowing exactly who is in your club is key to creating a customer experience that keeps them coming back for more, and with the data provided by SmartTab, the possibilities are endless.
A SmartTab feature customers are already loving when they visit their local club is the ability to open a tab and check out on their own, right from their phone. Giving the customer control over the tab also relieves staff from having to do the work themselves, and guests no longer have to Venmo each other after a night out. It’s a win-win.
“The customer is given the opportunity to open their tab from their own device, which puts the power and control of managing the tab in the customer’s hand,” Baron explains. “They can close out when they want to. And these features aren’t necessary, you don’t have to use them; but a lot of the younger people that start seeing these features in clubs are going to start expecting them.”
“Club operators will say they have plenty of POS options, but after they start using SmartTab, they feel strongly that they only have one option.”
– SmartTab Founder and CEO, Daniel Baron
SmartTab’s POS leads to satisfied customers, higher revenue — and valuable protection
Any club staffer will tell you that a slow POS system leads to less revenue and fewer tips. Patience may still be a virtue, but these days, it’s hard to come by, and if someone has to wait too long to get their drink they’re less likely to leave a tip or come back for more. With SmartTab, club staff can instantly create a tab or search for an existing one without the delay other POS systems deliver.
“It speeds things up,” Baron explains. “So, those few hours where it’s busy, that’s where SmartTab adds its value. And it’s not single-digit revenue growth, it’s a double-digit and it’s validated through the staff that walk home with those tips.”
SmartTab also leads to higher revenue by offering superior chargeback protection. Looking at a Customer IDentity Profile, club staff can see all of the chargebacks a customer has made on purchases they’ve made there in the past. Whether it’s a bouncer using a SmartTab tablet at the front door or a mixologist working behind the bar, they’ll instantly see this information after scanning the customer’s ID or credit card. You can then determine if you want to turn these customers away and mark their profiles as banned, preventing further revenue loss at your club.
Furthermore, SmartTab stores everything you need to refute a chargeback, including an itemized receipt, a copy of the customer’s ID and photos taken of the customer while entering a tip amount and signing for their purchase. No other POS system makes it this easy for clubs to defend themselves against fraudulent claims.
“Instead of having everyone stand in line and queue at a box office when they’re on-site, clubs can presell admission and generate revenue in advance of people arriving.”
– SmartTab’s Daniel Baron
Enhancing customer experience with the virtual box office
New SmartTab features are always in the works, with the company’s latest project being a virtual ticketing system. Rather than having people pay for admission at the door, the idea behind this feature is to allow customers to purchase admission in advance on their devices.
“Instead of having everyone stand in line and queue at the front door when they’re on-site, clubs can presell admission and generate revenue in advance of people arriving,” describes Baron. “It removes the process of the transaction, puts it on the customer’s own device, and then that customer becomes known to you.”
When purchasing club admission on SmartTab’s virtual box office, customers receive a QR code that can be scanned at the door, significantly reducing the time spent checking IDs and taking payment. If the customer doesn’t have the QR code for any reason, their admission purchase is stored in their Customer IDentity Profile, which can be accessed by scanning their ID or looking them up by their name or phone number.
“It becomes like a membership,” Baron explains. “You’ve basically got a way to connect your customer to their entire experience.”
He goes on to share how excited he is for this new SmartTab feature, which is currently out on a limited release and is expected to be available to everyone at the end of the year.
“It’s all part of an ongoing development effort to create this kind of trusted relationship between a business and their customers by giving customers greater access to their wallets, removing the friction from their experience and delivering and selling more desirable services while people are inside the club.”
Don’t want the hassle of a new POS system? Don’t worry — SmartTab does it all
SmartTab doesn’t just offer premium customer experiences for clubgoers. They go above and beyond for their POS clients, ensuring a smooth transition, hands-on training and 24/7 user support. After signing up, SmartTab staff will fly out to the club to install the system and ensure the club is set up for success.
From network infrastructure and running wires to installing the POS system and going live, a member of the SmartTab team does it all. Once the system is live, they work with club operators to train club staff until they can use the system on their own. Even after a club has the new POS system up and running, the SmartTab staff is available to help with any snags that come up all day and night.
“Everyone that works at SmartTab has experience in the hospitality industry,” Baron shares. “Whether they worked in bars, restaurants or clubs, they’ve been servers, bartenders, managers, owners and operators. Our staff is full of people from all walks of life.”
SmartTab’s CEO is so confident in their POS system that there’s no risk to signing up.
“We’re month to month,” continues Baron. “No termination fees, no, gotcha fees. Nothing. If someone wants to move on from us, we let them go peacefully, and we’re really kind about it. We want our long-term partnerships built on trust. We do our part to make sure people know that we take our responsibilities very seriously, and if they want to cut corners to save money, we won’t allow that because it ends up being more expensive, not just for them, but for us. So, we do things the right way.”
Bridging the gap between the digital and physical worlds
Founded in 2010, Baron started SmartTab as a passion project which he originally ran all on his own. The company’s first 100 POS systems were all sold, installed and primed by the CEO himself while he simultaneously continued to build upon his product. He also took care of all the hands-on training and provided his customers with 24/7 support.
Ultimately, the business grew when people in the industry started approaching the CEO. Their passion for SmartTab’s mission and the system’s potential motivated Baron to build a team of industry professionals who truly care about creating a product that will reinvent the POS system.
“I brought on some really passionate people,” Baron recalls, “and they haven’t left. I love connecting with people who also have a bit of heart and care about what they do. That’s the magic. We care a lot. So for me, I want to see this organization spread and grow with this sentiment at the core of our staff.”
In terms of the company’s future, Baron has his sights set high. As a continually evolving product, the CEO has several evolutionary features in the works, adding different layers of complexity to what is already sophisticated software.
“Eventually we’re going to build more features around the adult industry and feature entertainers,” Baron reveals. “The idea is to bridge the gap between the physical world and the digital world, and not in a way that’s going to be disjointed and uncomfortable, but rather one that’s familiar.”
He goes on to point out how people have transitioned to using their phones for practically everything. From paying for groceries to getting on a plane, each can be done without a device but it’s viewed as outdated.
“If someone made me print out a plane ticket today, I’d immediately question the airline’s long-term business plan, because I can’t remember the last time I printed out a ticket,” Baron explains. “And even though I like to know the option is available, I’ve transitioned to having pretty much everything on my phone. At SmartTab, we’re working on creating the technologies that are congruent in the bar and the adult space, and will focus on building that platform out.”
“The idea is to bridge the bap between the physical world and the digital world, and not in a way that’s going to be disjointed and uncomfortable, but rather one that’s familiar.”
– SmartTab’s Daniel Baron
Expo demonstrations and expectations
After a successful tradeshow in 2023, SmartTab returns to the ED Expo this year in Dallas. Attendees will get to see how the POS system works and get a live demonstration of both Customer IDentity Profiles and the new virtual ticketing booth. At the 2024 ED Expo, Baron and his team hope to spread awareness and introduce club owners and operators to the POS system of the future.
“We only want to work with the merchants that want to work with us,” assures Baron. “We don’t want to deliver anybody a sales pitch. So for us, the goal for EXPO is to help attendees understand what makes SmartTab different and how it stands out.”
Even if your club just installed a brand new POS system, Baron encourages you to stop by their booth anyway so they can show off SmartTab’s capabilities.
“We love showing off what we’ve got,” he quips. “We also have a lot of interesting personalities on our staff, so come meet us! Everyone’s got a backstory on how they got involved. I usually tell everyone that my story is not the most exciting or interesting, so if you’re at EXPO, make sure to stop by to get to know the people behind SmartTab.”
For more information, visit smarttab.com.
