SMALL
OP
When to service a vending account
With an organized, easy to use and
professional truck setup, now it's
time to determine proper servicing
of the accounts. If an operator goes
to service a snack machine and 30
out of 35 spirals are empty, the
customer has probably had to call
for service. That may be ok once,
but if that customer always has to
call, because the operator is waiting
to get the most cash they can? The
answer is that the customer will
soon be looking for another vendor.
The operator waiting for the most
cash in the machine is probably
also losing sales due to items being sold out 3 days before flling.
This all adds up to lost sales and
a reputation for bad service. The
other extreme is going to a machine
to fnd only one item sold out, with
none of the others even close, basically making the service worthless.
sider how much a workman's comp
claim for an injured back will cost in
increased insurance premiums.
Vehicles are an essential tool to
the vending operation. Keeping them
professional looking and organized
for fast effcient service is a key strategy to business success.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Investing in plastic totes with internal
dividers allows drivers to transport product
without damaging it as well as presents a
more professional appearance.
the added beneft is how clean and
organized this looks to the customer
when the driver rolls in three or four
stacked boxes with the product all
separated and in good shape.
Notice that I said, "rolls in." That
is because I'm assuming that the
driver is using a dolly to bring product into the accounts. Every truck
should have a dolly assigned to it,
what type is up to the operator, but
I would recommend one that drivers
can convert to a platform when they
need to bring both snacks and soda to
the account, allowing them to make
one trip. Don't let the cost of a good
dolly deter the purchase, instead con-
IDEAL: HALF SOLD OUT
In order to come to a happy medium operators need to look at how
many units were sold in each price
point. Servicing a machine that has
40 to 60 percent of the units sold
is a good option. The machine still
has product in it and the driver is
taking out a fair amount of cash
per trip. Ultimately, we all would
like to service a machine with one
or two products left in each spiral
and no empties, but it's important
to realize this is unrealistic without
technology. The best we can do
is to get close. Read more about
servicing accounts at www.vendingmarketwatch.com/10950871.
Dominic Finelli is a 43year veteran vending
operator in the Washington D.C market and
recognized industry
professional. He can
be reached at dom@askfnelli.com.
Marketplace
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Inquiries to Jamie Bauer: Toll Free: 800-547-7377 x1314 • E-mail: Jamie.Bauer@VendingMarketWatch.com
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Your salespeople can focus their valuable time
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company's products and services.
June 2013
VendingMarketWatch.com
NuAge
MARKETING SOLUTIONS, LLC
P O. Box 85
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