Former pelt trader keeps skin in the POS game

Martin Ross got into the point-of-sale business with no experience in that market

By Darren Greenwood, Auckland | Tuesday, 11 October 2011
Martin Ross got into the point-of-sale business with no experience in that market.

All he and his business partner, Bill O’Brien, had when they took over what would become Total POS Solutions in 2003 was the gumption to give it a go. Along with decades of management and marketing experience under their belts, that is.

Ross, a Cantabrian, spent most of his first 15 years out of the University of Canterbury as a commodity trader, director and marketing manager for companies dealing in lamb pelts (skins without the wool attached), cowhides, and leathers.

After a stint as business development manager for the New Zealand Trade Development Board, Ross spent four years in Paris developing New Zealand’s trade in Francophone countries throughout Europe and North Africa.

O’Brien was no newbie either, having spent years working for Shell, Skellerup and Canterbury District Health Board before joining investment firm Aotea Jones Group, where Ross also worked in the early 2000s.

Ross and O’Brien dived right in, giving an existing EFTPOS and cash register provider a new name, expanding its staff over the years from eight to 11 full-time employees, with two part-timers and a number of workers “on call”. And last year, Total POS acquired the Remedy Group (the local reseller for Quest products) and Remedy’s Tony Blandford joined the company.

Today the company serves 5,000 customers in the Canterbury region, from small owner-operated firms to larger local chains to both national and government organisations.

Ross says a wide range of “best of breed” products meet all customer POS needs including remote management and innovative marketing such as loyalty discounts, instore promotion and text messaging.

The latest devices include maitre d’ services using consumer tablets which are big enough to display table maps for better management; full two-way EFTPOS integration on Casio registers; and fully-supported terminals for ad hoc use in temporary bars and restaurants.

Total POS reports no supply troubles with deliveries taking one to two days from suppliers in Auckland, including Sektor, Monaco, Zintel, Ideal Business Systems, POS Partners, Advanced Equipment Supplies, Skyzer and ACR.

The company’s Kilmore Street office was inside the security cordon after the February quake, but suppliers helped move equipment to spare offices at Sektor’s Christchurch branch.

“The first few weeks were very stressful for all our staff — our customers were stressed with personal and business issues, their POS systems were damaged, there were frequent power and internet outages which caused further problems and for the first three weeks, we had to make do with all our phone calls coming in via one cellphone,” Ross recalls.

Total POS eventually found a larger home in St Asaph Street.

“Overall, our sales figures have been where we would have expected them to be if the earthquake had not happened. In fact May 2011 was our biggest month ever, and apart from March, we have been on or ahead of budget each month since February,” Ross says.

Sales have come from earthquake replacement, unaffected businesses upgrading due to gaining extra business, and customers upgrading or expanding as normal. Some EFTPOS terminals have also been upgraded to meet the May 31 deadline for compliance with terminal standards.

Total POS expects the reconstruction of Christchurch will generate business from visiting construction workers patronising hospitality and retail customers, and next year will see a lot of its business coming from rentals, back office support, and maintenance.

“There is no doubt in my mind that Christchurch is the place where I want to be and the place where I want to do business. The plans that are being floated for a renewed CBD without the tall buildings but with more open space and increased low-level retail, hospitality and residential space are exciting and will make Christchurch a great place to live in three to five years time,” Ross adds.