Contents of Automatic Merchandiser - APR 2012

Automatic Merchandiser serves the business management, marketing, technology and product information needs of its readers including vending operators, coffee service operators, product brokers, and product and equipment distributors in print.

Page 14 of 47

FUTU R E
O F VE N D I N G
Another important trait, according
to Breland, is self assessment. Most vending owner/managers are strong in some areas and weak in others. A successful leader recognizes his or her strengths and weaknesses and del- egates accordingly. "You can hire some- one where you're not good," he said. Some observers are hopeful that
Jim Dill- ingham of Vend-ucation, Dunbarton, N.H., thinks the vending indus- try is rife with bad business practices.
today's exciting technology will bring people from outside the industry with better marketing and manage- ment skills. "We need people from outside the industry," said Jim Dillingham, who operates Dunbarton, N.H.-based Vend-ucation, which educates schools about vending. He is a longtime vending operator and equipment distributor. "The same old mentality is the problem. Inside the industry, we just have too many assumptions that are no longer accurate," he said Dillingham maintains the industry is rife with bad business practices, such as offering customers high commissions, dishonest sales reporting, and promising unrealistic benefi ts without delivering on the promises. He
'' We need more people from outside
the industry. ''
agrees with those who say fi nancial and technology backgrounds will be important for future operators. Dillingham said future leaders
will have longer return on invest- ment schedules due to the higher investment required for state-of- the-art equipment and technology. He said unique technology affords a window of opportunity for nego- tiating realistic and profi table vend prices. New technology can place a vending proposal outside the framework of a perceived commod- ity, he noted. Tom Whennen, a former vend- ing operator who now operates a
business consultancy called The Entrepreneur's Source in Oak Park, Ill., said future vending operators will be more focused on the bigger picture. He said vending companies will be more "customer
centric," meaning by using technology they will create a more positive consumer experience at the point of sale and post sale. He said people with college business
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is a registered trademark of McNeil Nutritionals, LLC. April 2012 VendingMarketWatch.com Automatic Merchandiser 13