The most important factor in going live is that it happens in a low key, low pressure manner because the staff are not entirely familiar with the new system, will encounter situations they are not sure how to handle and pressure will degrade performance rather than enhance it.

Pressure is a useful technique to use when people who know what they should do and have been trained properly, and instead of performing as they have been taught are being lazy, sloppy and careless.

On the other hand, when staff do not know what to do and are applying themselves and trying to learn something new, training and support are the tools to use to enhance performance, and pressure is counter productive. Thi8s is clearly the case when a new system is being implemented and the changeover takes place.

Managers that try to apply pressure at this point of time do not understand the effective use of pressure as a technique. Such managers are dangerous, inept and counter productive and should be removed from their management role because their actions threaten effective implementation and the time and money that has been invested in the system.

That does not mean that pressure will not exist. Often commercial reality means that there is pressure in getting the system up and running quickly. That pressure where it exists however is a negative factor, and effective management will try to mitigate its negative influence. The role of competent management at this point in time is to remove pressure, provide support, facilitate the efforts of the users and make the transition easy.

With this in mind, the time to go live should not be at the busiest time of the day or week. Perform the switchover when business is relatively light, expect issues to occur that need to be resolved and work with the staff to make the transition smooth.

Immediately prior to going live, the following steps need to be taken to clear totals and transaction files so that the internal data in the system makes a clean start:-

1. Perform a Day Z-Read on each of the POS terminals by keying 22 followed by the Command key.
2. Clear the Totals File on each POS terminal by keying 1000 followed by the Command key
3. Clear the Transactions File on each POS terminals by keying 1001 the Command key.
4. On the system running SELLmatix Control, you should go to the data directory where the SELLmatix Control files are stored and deleting all files with a ".tran.csv" file extension. These files contain data from the practice transactions and need to be cleared so that live transactions are not mixed with the old practice data.

Once these steps have been taken, you are ready to perform live transactions. Take time to systematically resolve any issues that arise, (and they will) and once that sales processing is working smoothly you will be in a position to move on to Cash Control, Stock Control and start to receive the benefits that your system can provide. But these benefits can only be achieved after sales processing is being handled smoothly.

If you haven't already done so, why not activate SELLmatix now and start enjoying the benefits of the system now. With SELLmatix, you don't have to pay for everything up front. You can implement the system in stages adding parts as you go from the savings you make. As little as $30 gets you started. No risk. No long term commitment. Activate Now!

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