Intranet Tests: Small but Helpful!
Epins in RQ: Sell Prepaid Minutes, No Physical Inventory
The Aged Serial # Status Widget
Loyalty Program Tip and RQ Report of the Month
Ensuring Employees Get the Product for the Right Purchase Order
Windows XP End of Life: Small Merchants Must Act Now
RQ Tips: Carrier Commission Reconciliation
RQ Tips: Best Practices in Tracking Door Traffic and Conversion Rates
TracPoint: Serialized Coupons for All Your Digital Marketing
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RQ Tips: Tax Setup Per Product SKU
RQ4 Tips: How to Ensure Inventory Accuracy
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Clik here to view."These tips will give you better control over your inventory on hand numbers, allowing you to better monitor which items sell and don’t sell, so you aren’t keeping non-selling items in stock," says iQmetrix Customer Success Manager Sean Webster.
"They will also help you reduce your inventory managers' time spent transferring stock and creating purchase orders. Lastly, VMI can help you to control losses due to theft."
Sean offers five simple inventory practices to help keep your inventory on point:
1. Set Min/Max Levels on Products. Min/Max levels will not replace your inventory manager; they make inventory managers' lives easier. You can tell the system what your Min/Max levels should be for inventory products per location or have the Min/Max Calculator calculate what your Min/Max levels should be.
2. Auto Transfer Reports. Once you have your Min/Max levels set, you can then use the Auto Transfer Reports. Auto Transfer Reports allow you to automatically balance your inventory levels between stores before you create your Purchase Orders, keeping your Inventory on Hand numbers down as the system will look to move items over from overstocked stores to understocked.
3. Auto Ordering. After you have Auto Transferred items between stores to balance your stock, you are then ready to use Auto Ordering. RQ4 will automatically generate your purchase order for you, using the Min/Max levels as the basis. If the In Stock quantity of an item is below the Minimum level, RQ4 will generate the purchase order for as many as are needed to reach the Maximum level. Before you Commit to the Purchase Order in RQ4 you can edit the Order numbers to override the RQ4 suggested numbers.
4. Inventory Counts are vital in ensuring you have the proper items in stock, and help deter employee theft. Regular inventory counts will help you identify theft and ensure that your Inventory on Hand numbers are correct. You can ensure your count accuracy by making employees do a Blind Count, where they know the values of the counts they are entering but not what the system is expecting. There is no right or wrong frequency to doing counts, but bear in mind that a daily count will generate more accurate numbers than a weekly, or bi-weekly or monthly count.
5. Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) can help you to control inventory costs as the vendors will work with you to ensure you have the proper items in stock, based on what is selling and what isn’t. The vendors control your ordering process for you, with your supervision. VMI is free within RQ4 and will save your inventory managers time as they can avoid creating purchase orders for your stores, but be able to oversee the process and make sure that other inventory processes are being followed correctly (e.g. transfers, inventory counts, etc.). Our VMI partners are OFFWIRE, MobileLine, TESSCO, Wireless Xcessories Group, Technocel, Wireless One and Qmadix.
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For more RQ4 Tips and other iQmetrix Support materials, check out iQmetrix’s Support & Community site!
The Support & Community site puts all the RQ4 support and community discussions in one place. It consolidates our RQ4 help files, client suggestions and discussion forums into a single system, making it easy for users to find the information they need.
*Please note: The new site is only available to users updated to RQ4 version 4.1.4.
To access the new Support & Community site:
- First-time login: You must go through RQ4 to access the Support & Community site.
- Go to the Support tab in the upper-right corner and click on Community & Support.
- After that: You can access the Support & Community site from any device, using the following URL: http://support.iQmetrix.com
If you have any questions, please contact your CSM directly.
A note for IT administrators:
To grant all employees access the RQ4 Support & Community site, please ensure to whitelist the URL: http://support.iQmetrix.com
Summit Video: Reconciliation & Employee Commissioning – Stacy Hamer
iQmetrix Executive Account Manager Stacy Hamer hosted this session at the 2010 Wireless Summit in Scottsdale, Ariz. You can watch it in its entirety, by clicking on the video below:
For information about the upcoming 2011 Wireless Summit in Miami (Oct. 16-18) and to register, visit http://summit.iqmetrix.com/
Pay on Pay: Reconciliation & Employee Commissioning -- This 30-minute session explores how to use RQ4’s reconciliation and employee commissioning functionality for best results. We discuss commission settings, SOC codes, chargebacks and how to pay employees only what you have been paid from your carrier.
Highlights include:
- Understand how RQ4 tracks commission from carrier in detail.
- Build employee commissions around carrier commissions to automate the process. You get paid; employee gets paid. You get charged back; employee gets charged back.
- Best practices around setup to ensure you are capturing the right data to reconcile accurately.
- Best practices around reconciliation in general to save time and get better results.
- Don’t overpay employees on items you haven’t been paid for you (i.e. features). Use new filters to ensure you’re safely only paying on active live features. This cuts out any fraudulent transactions and takes out risk of paying up front and charging back later.
For information about the upcoming 2011 Wireless Summit in Miami (Oct. 16-18) and to register, visit http://summit.iqmetrix.com/
RQ4 Tips: Biometrics Improve Security and Accountability
iQmetrix, in partnership with DigitalPersona, is proud to offer Biometric Authentication in RQ4. Exclusively compatible with DigitalPersona fingerprint scanners, iQmetrix offers clients the ability to maximize security and increase accountability through fingerprint authentication in RQ4.
"Clients have told me having fingerprint scanners has helped them improve employee time clock accuracy by reducing buddy punch-ins and creating an expectation for employee accountability," says iQmetrix Customer Success Manager, Erin Drake.
"When you're a retailer trying to increase your bottom line, employees stealing time can be just as costly as stealing inventory."
The easy to use, fingerprint scanners allow for easy setup in RQ4. Register individual employee’s biometric identity in four easy steps:
- In the Employee console, double click on the employee you wish to configure.
- From the employee profile screen, click the Fingerprint button.
- Have the employee place his/her finger on the fingerprint scanner and click the Fingerprint button corresponding to that finger to perform the scan. Entered will be displayed in the Status field if the scan was successful.
- Click Finish and Save Changes.
Once installed, the fingerprint scanner logs users into RQ4 without the need for passwords, by capturing the fingerprint image and identifying unique fingerprint features. It then relays the unique information to RQ4, and compares it to all registered fingerprints in the system to ensure that users can only log in as themselves. The process eliminates “buddy punching," maximizing security and increasing accountability.
The iQmetrix biometrics solution can be used with both RQ4 login and payroll punch-in functionality. Security Settings control whether employees have the option to log/punch in with fingerprint only, or fingerprint/typed password.
If you are interested in Biometrics or purchasing fingerprint scanners please call 1.888.888.8170 or email support@iQmetrix.com.
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For more RQ4 Tips and other iQmetrix Support materials, check out iQmetrix’s Support & Community site!
The Support & Community site puts all the RQ4 support and community discussions in one place. It consolidates our RQ4 help files, client suggestions and discussion forums into a single system, making it easy for users to find the information they need.
*Please note: The new site is only available to users updated to RQ4 version 4.1.4.
To access the Support & Community site:
- First-time login: You must go through RQ4 to access the Support & Community site.
- Go to the Support tab in the upper-right corner and click on Community & Support.
- After that: You can access the Support & Community site from any device, using the following URL: http://support.iQmetrix.com
If you have any questions, please contact your CSM directly.
A note for IT administrators:
To grant all employees access the RQ4 Support & Community site, please ensure to whitelist the URL: http://support.iQmetrix.com
You Don't Know What You Don't Know
Explore some of the lesser-known functionality within RQ4 and discover what you don’t know you don’t know! Get some tips to better gauge how you’re doing overall as a company, keep your staff in the loop and make yourself unique to your customers - all by using RQ4.
RQ4 Tips: Using the Phone Activation Wizard (PAW) within Sales Orders
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Clik here to view.I sat down with iQmetrix Customer Success Manager Carma Young and asked her for some RQ4 Tips to help users get the most out of the software.
She said the following three RQ4 features are worth taking a closer look at:
- The ability to use the Phone Activation Wizard (PAW) within Sales Orders: "Clients love this because their salespeople are able to tell the customer exactly how much they owe," says Carma.
- The option of an additional SPIFF in the Price Sheet: "This is helpful because users can add more than one SPIFF on a phone and it's all done in one centralized place -- which eliminates the need for multiple Price Sheet Promotions."
- The ability to Lock RQ4 -- using CTRL L and setting by time: "This is used to prevent other salespeople from doing sales under the wrong logged in user -- which reduces security risks."
1. The ability to use the Phone Activation Wizard (PAW) within Sales Orders:
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Clik here to view.
- The PAW will launch within Sales Orders.
- To activate this new feature, it has to be turned on for the location at which you want it available. Go to Settings>>Company Setup>>Location Setup.
2. The option of an additional SPIFF in the Price Sheet:
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Clik here to view.
- Adding the SPIFF option to the price sheet will reduce the number of complicated promotions offered by carriers. If there is a SPIFF based solely on the term, this solution will apply.
3. The ability to lock RQ4 -- using CTRL L and setting by time:
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Clik here to view.
- The Lock Screen in RQ4 allows users to keep company information safe by securing an instance of RQ4 when the workstation is not in use. A specific time-out can be set to activate the Lock Screen after the workstation has been inactive. Alternatively, any RQ4 user is able to secure their workstation at any time using built-in keyboard shortcuts, which will instantly lock their instance of RQ4. Once verified –- by either entering their password or scanning their finger -- the user is able to unlock RQ4 and continue their work right where they left off, without having to log out and log back in.
- To set this up, you can go to Employees Console>>Role Management>>Under that Role, where you can check the check box to enable it and enter in the idle time.
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For more RQ4 Tips and other iQmetrix Support materials, check out iQmetrix’s Support & Community site!
The Support & Community site puts all the RQ4 support and community discussions in one place. It consolidates our RQ4 help files, client suggestions and discussion forums into a single system, making it easy for users to find the information they need.
To access the Support & Community site:
- First-time login: You must go through RQ4 to access the Support & Community site.
- Go to the Support tab in the upper-right corner and click on Community & Support.
- After that: You can access the Support & Community site from any device, using the following URL: http://support.iQmetrix.com
If you have any questions, please contact your CSM directly.
A note for IT administrators:
To grant all employees access the RQ4 Support & Community site, please ensure to whitelist the URL: http://support.iQmetrix.com
RQ4 Tips: How to use the What if? Widget
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Clik here to view.In this article, I am going to cover a recent addition to version 4.4 of our RQ Retail Management solution: the “What if? Widget."
What if? Widget
One of the most interesting new items added in RQ4.4 is the “What if? Widget.” This Widget allows your sales associates to view the commissions they stand to make on a sale. To fully utilize the What if? Widget, there is some setup involved. In order to get the Features and Accessories tabs to populate, you'll need to ensure that your Features are linked to Rate Plan Compatibility, and Accessories are linked to Phone Compatibility.
a) Compatibility setup
If you are not using compatibility, the instructions on how to set this up are below. When using compatibility in your database, during a phone sale, the Phone Activation Wizard will pop up 2 more screens. The first screen will prompt a list of features for employees to choose from and the second will prompt a list of accessories to choose from, based on Rate Plan and Phone compatibility. Compatibility not only allows the “What if? Widget” to function fully, but will increase speed at the point of sale.
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Clik here to view.
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Clik here to view.
You can do this through the Rate Plan (add feature) or the Phone (add accessory) or through the Feature (tell it which rate plan it works with) or the Accessory (tell it which phone it should be sold with). Please note: There is no way to tell the system when a particular phone AND rate plan are sold on an invoice, then make this particular accessory or feature available to sell.
a.1. To set compatibility from the Phone or Rate Plan, go into any rate plan/phone, go to the Compatibility tab and then choose the Accessories or Features to populate when this Phone or Rate Plan is sold, making sure to put a checkmark on Suggested sell.
Example of a phone's compatibility list:
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Clik here to view.
a.2. To set cross-compatibility from the Accessory or Feature, go into any accessory or feature, go to the Compatibility tab, then choose Cross Compatibility and choose the Phones and Rate Plans that this item should be added to, making sure to put a checkmark on Suggested sell.
Example of an accessory’s cross-compatibility:
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Clik here to view.
b) Widget Locking
To lock a widget to the employee's home screen, you will want to go into Settings >> Human Resources >> Role Management, choose the employee level, then click the Widgets Tab, add the Widget and lock them in place.
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Clik here to view.
Related help files:
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For more RQ4 Tips and other iQmetrix Support materials, check out the iQmetrix Support & Community site
The Support & Community site puts all the RQ4 support and community discussions in one place. It consolidates our RQ4 help files, client suggestions and discussion forums into a single system, making it easy for users to find the information they need.
To access the new Support & Community site:
- First-time login: You must go through RQ4 to access the Support & Community site.
- Go to the Support tab in the upper-right corner and click on Community & Support.
- After that: You can access the Support & Community site from any device, using the following URL: http://support.iQmetrix.com
If you have any questions, please contact your CSM directly.
Reduce Theft, Increase Accountability and Save Money with Biometrics
Employee theft is a growing concern across all retail industries, in terms of both time and attendance fraud (buddy punching), as well as inventory shrink.
According to the 2010 NRF Security Survey, the leading factor contributing to retail shrinkage was employee theft, accounting for 43.7% of retail losses, and a total loss of $16.2 billion dollars. For retailers to ensure they are protected against theft, they need a way to hold their employees accountable.
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Clik here to view.
Exclusively compatible with DigitalPersona U.are.U devices, RQ4 Biometric Authentication is the only way to ensure that passwords aren’t being shared among their employees, or worse yet, stolen.
Support for the U.are.U 4500 stand-alone fingerprint reader and U.are.U 4500 Keyboard with integrated fingerprint reader is tightly integrated into your RQ4 application and is easily implemented into your business to seamlessly provide users with a reliable means of holding employees accountable. Fingerprint biometrics gives you the peace of mind of knowing your business is protected against employee fraud and theft.
Digital Persona Fingerprints can be setup in RQ4 in 3 easy steps:
- Download drivers from the iQmetrix Support Site.
- Plug in the USB U.are.U Device.
- Enroll employee fingerprints in RQ4.
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Clik here to view.
After instituting Biometric Authentication in their stores, Brennan Salassi, IT Manager for Prime Communications said, “The combined DigitalPersona and iQmetrix solution enables us to drive down our labor costs by reducing buddy punching. The U.are.U solution has proven very rugged and reliable. The devices are quick to recognize fingerprint scans."
RQ4 Reports: Tips and Tricks, Customizing and Sharing
In this edition, we will highlight several hidden features within the RQ4 reports module: Customizing and Sharing.
Did you know? Almost all of the RQ4 reports can be customized and modified based on the way you wish to view the report. You can also modify it to any other group that you wish to share it with. You decide how the report should look and who has access to these customizations. Other users are allowed to view the reports you have customized, but don’t have to spend the time to create it.
Drag and drop the Freeze Columns marker to easily freeze any column to the left of the marker. This is very helpful for reports that may have many columns.
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Clik here to view.
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Use the Configure Columns wheel to format your report based on certain criteria, such as <, >, = or search and format for a specific number or word.
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Clik here to view.
Now the report is customized in a way that makes sense for you... Have you ever wanted to share these customized reports with other groups? Now you can.
Once a report has been customized to your specs, it can be saved along with its special formatting by selecting “Add To Custom Reports.”
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Clik here to view.
Create a customized report name and description for your report. Use the default date range to easily run the customized report for a specific date range each time the report is opened.
SHARE the report with members of any other HR role!
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Access your custom reports from the “Custom Reports” section in the reports module. You can also see what reports have been shared and with what roles.
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Clik here to view.
To learn more about RQ4 Reporting, be sure to visit our iQmetrix WebEx site and register for an upcoming live webinar.
Salespeople's Body Language Speaks Volumes
As a wireless retailer, you obviously train your staff on the devices and plans you offer. Salespeople are scripted on what to say in any in-store scenario.
But what about what they don't say?
Retail Minded's Nicole Reyhle recently wrote a blog post about the importance of salespeople's body language and non-verbal communication.
"We've all heard the expression 'She looks like a (fill in the blank here)' and in the case of retail, you want that blank only to pertain to positive attributes," she writes. "If it’s not, it’s time to do some role playing to help strengthen the 'appearance' of your actions."
These tips are a good refresher for any staff serving customers face-to-face.
Reyhle offers the following three tips:
- Stand Openly. "Get out from behind your cash wrap or desk, avoid crossing your arms or leaning on something, and stand up straight and tall."
- Use Positive Facial Expressions. Smiling and nodding in agreement go a long way in terms of establishing rapport and trust. They also help to reinforce the customer's conclusions when trying to choose a product or service.
- Avoid Dominant Gestures."Anything too extreme in your body language can scare a customer off," she writes. Respect the customer's personal space. Let the customer finish speaking before you interject, to not appear rushed or scripted. And avoid staring. The key is to make the customer feel at ease.
While these may seem like common sense, a lot of people's natural body language is subconscious. They may not realize the way they stand inside the store is actually uninviting, or that they tend to scowl when bored, etc.
If anything, tips like these are a good refresher for any staff serving customers face-to-face. It's good to be aware that their non-verbal cues might be conveying mixed signals.
In Time for Spring Break: RTR Solves Common ePin Problems
The first two weeks of March are typically the Spring Break period for U.S. colleges. Given that students are among the biggest consumers of prepaid minutes, it's a great time for wireless retailers to sell ePins.
And with the recent launch of AT&T and Verizon’s real-time replenishment (RTR) prepaid integration, selling eprepaid minutes just got a lot easier.
Previously, it was simple enough to use the integrated ePin service -- sell a SKU, print a pin. But since the RTR update, we've been getting great feedback from clients about how it works.
Sign up today to start selling real-time prepaid minutes by the following business day. Contact your CSM for more details.
The integrated RTR service means an almost instant posting of minutes to the appropriate account for a prepaid subscriber’s service. When clients were deciding if they wanted to invest time in trying something new, the questions that came out were common across the board:
- And what if they put it on the wrong number? Answer: Error message if that number doesn’t exist with that carrier.
- And what if it’s postpaid account? Answer: Error message if it’s not a valid account.
- And what if it’s the wrong carrier? Answer: Error message if it’s not a valid account.
“You would be surprised how often someone buys an AT&T pin only to realize that they are T-Mobile or Verizon. Sometimes they are even post-paid,” said one of our clients.
Another client told us, “We currently have a problem with reps selling ePins to customers that are actually postpaid subscribers."
- By entering in the phone number into this system, if the customer is on postpaid, will the system prompt the rep that the customer is not a prepaid customer? It sure will.
It seemed like such a small thing, but as more and more clients inquired about the new functionality, we realized it was really going to solve a number of pain points.
It’s amazing the difference a small automated step can make for customer experience.