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A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO, my partner and I opened a paint store on the small island of Nantucket. I had been a chef for 24 years, and my partner’s background was in construction. So, we may have seemed like an unlikely pair of paint store owners. To be honest, we had no real idea how to run a paint store. However, my experience in restaurants had taught me how to run a business, and perhaps more importantly, how to provide exceptional customer service. At that time, there was only one paint store on Nantucket, and we saw a significant need for better customer service. I believed we had an opportunity to fill that gap and build something special.
I knew from working in the restaurant industry that choosing a POS system is a critical business decision. In the restaurant industry, there are many systems to choose from. But the options for paint and hardware stores are much more limited, since we have specific needs that many systems don’t address. Not being very tech-savvy myself (I mainly focus on sales and operations), I wanted a POS system that was easy to use. We tried a couple of different systems, but we faced significant issues—unfulfilled promises, poor support, and bad functionality. Our frustrations peaked a few months ago, and I decided it was time to switch.
Then one day, one of our business managers was reading this very magazine—Paint & Decorating Retailer. Lo and behold, there was an article about Rundoo, a POS system specifically designed for paint and hardware retailers. I hadn’t heard of it before, but it looked promising, so I reached out. I connected with Max, who walked us through Rundoo’s product. Immediately, I realized it offered the kind of specialization we needed. For example, Rundoo makes it easy to sell tintable products, store information about customer jobs, and look up historical data—things that were difficult, if not impossible, with our old system. Rundoo seemed to truly understand the unique needs of paint stores, which I knew would make our lives much easier.
Time was another factor. With most systems, switching takes months. There’s training to be done and data to transfer—inventory, costs, customers, balances (this is the most important part). We even considered another POS system, whose proposal included two months of training and a five-year commitment. I knew that wasn’t going to work—we needed something right away.
Rundoo promised a quick and easy switch, and they delivered on that promise. Within just two and a half weeks of my initial call with Max, we were up and running on Rundoo. Like with any transition, it wasn’t entirely free of hiccups, but Max flew to the island for a couple of days to help us through the process. Having him there in person—rather than relying on calls and texts—made all the difference. It allowed us to tackle problems together, immediately, as they arose. It also gave us comfort and peace of mind, knowing we had Rundoo’s full support and attention.
The support Rundoo provided during our transition hasn’t let up. Their customer service has been outstanding. Someone is always available to assist, and their response time has never exceeded 10 minutes, which I find exceptional. Tyler, in particular, Rundoo’s technical support specialist, has been invaluable. For example, we recently encountered an issue on a Saturday morning with an American Express transaction that wouldn’t go through. I reached out to Tyler through Rundoo’s chat system, and he called us right away. Since I’m not very tech-savvy, Tyler offered to log into our system and walk us through fixing the issue. This level of support is crucial for us, especially since we don’t have an IT professional on staff.
Since switching to Rundoo, we’ve received nothing but positive feedback from our customers. They love how Rundoo handles invoices and statements, and they appreciate the seamless transition from one to the other. Information is easy to find, down to every detail—from who bought what to where it’s headed and for which job. The software is intuitive and simple to navigate.
Receiving this kind of positive feedback is ultimately why we’re in business—it’s all about providing excellent service to our customers. Rundoo understands this. It’s why they offer such responsive support, and it’s why their product is specifically tailored to the needs of paint stores like ours. I’m genuinely impressed, and I would highly recommend Rundoo to anyone.
