"Phoenix Point-of-Sale is the Number-One POS Brand for Brand X Pizza!"

As students at Auburn University in Alabama, Tim and Julie McGowin sought refuge from college-themed pizza by creating Brand X Pizza, a "generic-brand pizza that's as good as, if not better than, everybody else." Eighteen years later, college students still crave a $6 carryout pizza from the busy takeout and delivery restaurant. To better manage the rush of incoming and outgoing students, Tim and Julie switched from paper tickets to Phoenix™ Point-of-Sale from FireFly Technologies.

"We're about as Italian as Alabamians can be," says Julie. "We simply offer reliable service and great food. We chose the Phoenix system because of its reliability. Our Linux-based server has never gone down in the nearly two years we've had the system."

No Matter How You Price It, Phoenix Can Handle It
"We also selected Phoenix because of its flexibility. Other systems were limited in their functionality. For instance, Auburn University issues a meal-plan card that can be used off campus. The university charges 5% per card per sale plus fees, so we couldn't allow discounts with those orders. Phoenix is able to handle our three pricing schemes, with no problem.

"We have a huge menu: pizza, pasta, wings, calzones, desserts, and salads. Plus, we have a two-page catering menu. We also have a ton of toppings, which Phoenix can display all on one screen."

"I'd Like to Place an Order Two Years from Now..."
"Deferred orders are no problem with Phoenix. They used to be a real pain. If someone wanted to place a huge order two months in advance, we'd ask them to remind us the week of the order.

"Now it's all in the Phoenix system. Someone could place a deferred order two years in advance if they wanted. One of our employees entered a deferred order four months in advance for his graduation party. We also use the deferred order feature for events like sorority rush week."

Remote Access...Delicious!
"The icing on the cake is that Phoenix is completely Web-based, which gives me remote access to the system. If we're at home and I can see that it's very busy we can help out. We have the phone lines roll over to our home phone and take orders from the house."

Manageable Marketing
"A lot of people leave because of graduation or summer vacation. So we did a Customer Appreciation Week, in which we did great specials on boxtops. Those who responded were our regular customers for the summer. We used that database of names to do our summer mailings.

"For the Super Bowl, we queried those who had ordered 50 or 100 wings on Auburn's football game days and sent them a special offer. We got a huge–about a 33%–response."

Ready, Get Set, Deliver
"The college kids take to Phoenix very well. For instance, we run delivery and server performance times once a month to see how fast they are. We do the same with ticket averages. College kids are very competitive. Seeing their numbers keeps them trying to be at the top."

With Phoenix, There's Time to Spare
"Phoenix is a great time saver. The system records driver tips and prints a payroll report of the number of hours worked and overtime. I can just enter it into my payroll software.

"Phoenix also provides summary sheets and tax summary for sales taxes. We do everything online. It only takes five minutes to pay my sales taxes online. There's no need to get an accountant involved."

Keeping Track with Inventory
"Phoenix provides good price and cost control. For instance, once we've entered the portions for a large pepperoni, I can retrieve the item's exact food cost. I can also redo menus and pricing based on inventory costs. Plus, I use Phoenix to track current prices and deliveries from my three distributors. Phoenix tells me of any price variances among them."