Down for the Count

If a worldwide competition for counting were held, there’s a good chance that convenience store clerks would win it. They count all day—deliveries, lottery tickets, propane meter readouts, safe drops, drawer contents—there’s really no end.

We once knew a clerk who counted things compulsively. He’d sit in the car and tally the seconds he spent at a red light. He’d count the spoonfuls of cereal he ate every morning. He knew how many steps he took when he went on a run. He tracked how many times his wife snored at night (he lost lots of sleep!).

When our SSCS sales representative first met him, he was in quite a state, sitting on the floor in front of his cold dispensed beverage machine, counting how many times the ice dispenser rumbled.

“Hello,” the sales rep said.

“You have two eyebrows, two nostrils, more than nine fingers, and a neck,” said the clerk.

“That’s quite perceptive of you,” our sales representative replied.

“That’s five words,” said the clerk. “Six, if you don’t count the contraction.”

“So I take it you like to count?”

“I can’t stop and being in this business doesn’t help.”

A light bulb went on in the sales rep’s head. “Have you ever heard of SSCS?”

“No.”

“We provide solutions to fuel your bottom line and I think I have one for you: our c-store back office software, the Computerized Daily Book. It counts sales and deliveries, tracks your inventory, accurately records how many hours your employees work, and best of all calculates your profitability. We even work with partners like Quantum Services, RGIS, and PITT Inventory that help us make sure you don’t have to count everything, all the time.”

The clerk leapt to his feet. “Sounds great! Sign me up!”

We’re happy to say our software helped this man in countless ways. Of course his store’s profitability is on the rise, but it helped in other ways, too. He stopped counting toothbrush bristles and grass blades. His blood pressure’s dropped, and he sleeps through the night. Last time he called our support department with a question, our call administrator told him, “We’ll get back to you within the hour.”

“That’s awesome, he replied, “but who’s counting?”