Healthy vending options are a win for everyone – we know that for certain. Over the last several years, we’ve helped hundreds of people start their own healthy vending businesses. During that time, we’ve listened and followed each operator’s successes to learn the secret ingredients that now make up our best-in-class new business training program. Based on their feedback, here are three ways that healthy vending business owners keep great locations:

1 – Be Easy to Find and Hard to Forget

Healthy Vending Marketing: In all industries, it’s the people with that particularly “unforgettable” quality who earn the best reputations. On a local scale, you can solidify your own golden reputation quite easily. When setting up your business, it’s important to:

• Have consistent contact information (name, phone number, email, web address) on all of your marketing materials
• Make sure your contact information is easy to say and spell (reallylongemailsarehardtoread@gmail.com)
• Return emails and phone calls as soon as you possibly can! You’re building a service business, and being fast on your feet with a response can make a great impression

2 – Be Seen (and Heard) By Your Customer

Much like a crew of roadies, many expect the person servicing their food and drink machines to be invisible, arriving before the staff arrive or dropping by as the last few people leave for the day. While that’s certainly an option, remember that a lot of the decision to use a new vendor (such as you, when you first won the location) has to do with a bad relationship between the previous vendor and the location. When you take time to say hello, smile, and make small talk, you increase your like-abiltiy factor and solidify your relationship. I love the nicknames I have earned from my customers, because you only earn a nickname from someone who remembers something about you. (I know you’re expecting to hear the nicknames, so I’ll share my favorite: The Candy Man!)
If your key contact isn’t on location when you visit, or if your paths don’t cross, I recommend sending them a fast, friendly email after your service appointment to let them know that you were there. It serves as another reminder that you’re a part of their team!

3 – Regularly Solicit Individual Feedback

Vending Operator with Customer: This ties in nicely with being seen (and heard) by your customer. Your key contact at a location is the best person to talk to about logistics around your service appointments, but it’s a great idea to chat with the folks you encounter during your appointments. Aside from small talk, I recommend asking them about their favorite products in your healthy vending machines, as well as what they’d like to see. Recently, I discovered that my key contact at a location had gotten the wrong feedback about some of the snacks that the staff had wanted. When I talked to a few of them, they were upset that the products they had requested didn’t make the cut. This, coupled with some slow-moving items in the machine, made it easy for me to bring in the requested products and boost sales. In addition to better revenue, the team was excited that their feedback was not only heard, but also acted upon.

How do you keep your locations happy?

Everyone has their own best practices, and I encourage other vending operators to share some of their ideas for keeping the best vending locations happy and profitable.
 
 

Your daily inspiration isn’t coming from the New York Times today, as a popular article touts the unfortunate truth of the murky crawl at which US paychecks continue to slowly increase.

U.S. wages and benefits grew in the spring at the slowest pace in 33 years…(this) also likely reflects a sharp drop-off in bonus and incentive pay for some workers.
If you’ve been counting on your annual review to result in a hearty increase, or banking on your Christmas bonus to finally put in that pool you’ve always talked about, the harsh reality may be that things won’t turn out the way you want. So what’s there to do?

#1 – Find a Niche, High Demand Adjacent Position, then Negotiate Like Crazy

Not every trade and position can be replaced by a self-checkout kiosk, but job reports are still pointing to the reality that most companies are able to find the workers they need for all levels and placement without having to provide promotional incentives or increases in job pay. This is least likely to be the case for super-niche positions.
As a help desk associate for a large company, you may be one of many with the job. In these situations, you have little bargaining power, and the strength of what you do is diluted by the fact that several other people can simply step in and pick up the slack if you didn’t show up one day. In virtually every large company, however, there are special positions and unique assignments that require particular talents, specific education, and very unique combinations of job history in order to be successful. These positions have the bargaining power when it comes to paycheck increases and other perks, because they cannot simply have their work handed to someone else.
These niche positions do exist, and they often have very particular standards for candidates. As a generalist, you should look at similar jobs within your company that have only one person filling them. Find someone disenfranchised with the company or on the edge of retirement, and seek to build a case to replace them when it’s time. As you build yourself into this new role, you’ll find your degree of importance changes significantly. At this time, you’ll have the advantage and be ready to take on your boss for better annual increases, stronger bonuses, and other advantages. Obviously, this can take quite a while, though.
#2 – Start Your Own Business and Stop Relying on Someone Else
Not everyone can find an ultra-niche job position, and most of us simply don’t have the patience to wait (presumably) years to get set into a job where you can push back and get what you want. This lends to the polar opposite option from #1 – quitting your job.

There are certain qualities that make up a good business owner, and they’re not all focused around having a business degree or ten years in upper management. In fact, the best traits of good business owners are more centered around personal drive, determination, and a desire to help others.
Going out on your own takes a lot of careful planning, to ensure that you have the financial strength to survive a start-up time period with little to no pay. It also takes a good business plan, so that you have clear goals in place and know when you’ll arrive at them.
For many (myself included), starting a business is an exciting, captivating experience that requires hard work but pays off in dividends. Our own vending business startup plan helps you get started in less than 90 days, and is based off of the feedback of our thousands of vending business owners that we’ve helped since our company first opened in 1988.

#3 – Add an Extra Income Stream and Keep Your Day Job (for now)

As great of an idea as it may seem, starting a new business isn’t always the best option for right now. Perhaps you don’t have your finances in order, or your family just isn’t prepared for the big changes (and the little bit of chaos) that are associated with business startup.
In this case, you should look at an extra income stream. From selling things on eBay (which people still do, apparently) to freelancing, there are tons of ways to pick up the occasional gig. If you’re like me, these things may be interesting, but they’re far from dependable. That’s why I started my own vending route on the side.
One of the best perks of operating your own vending route in your own area is that it’s not a 9 to 5 job. In fact, many vending operators can service their routes on their way to a job, or on their way home. It only takes a few minutes to stock a vending machine and collect the cash inside. When you manage that time really well, you’ll be able to supplement your existing earnings with stable vending dollars.
Want to learn more about starting up an extra stream of income as a vending operator?  Contact us today!
 

Your daily inspiration isn’t coming from the New York Times today, as a popular article touts the unfortunate truth of the murky crawl at which US paychecks continue to slowly increase.

U.S. wages and benefits grew in the spring at the slowest pace in 33 years…(this) also likely reflects a sharp drop-off in bonus and incentive pay for some workers.

If you’ve been counting on your annual review to result in a hearty increase, or banking on your Christmas bonus to finally put in that pool you’ve always talked about, the harsh reality may be that things won’t turn out the way you want. So what’s there to do?

#1 – Find a Niche, High Demand Adjacent Position, then Negotiate Like Crazy

Not every trade and position can be replaced by a self-checkout kiosk, but job reports are still pointing to the reality that most companies are able to find the workers they need for all levels and placement without having to provide promotional incentives or increases in job pay. This is least likely to be the case for super-niche positions.

As a help desk associate for a large company, you may be one of many with the job. In these situations, you have little bargaining power, and the strength of what you do is diluted by the fact that several other people can simply step in and pick up the slack if you didn’t show up one day. In virtually every large company, however, there are special positions and unique assignments that require particular talents, specific education, and very unique combinations of job history in order to be successful. These positions have the bargaining power when it comes to paycheck increases and other perks, because they cannot simply have their work handed to someone else.

These niche positions do exist, and they often have very particular standards for candidates. As a generalist, you should look at similar jobs within your company that have only one person filling them. Find someone disenfranchised with the company or on the edge of retirement, and seek to build a case to replace them when it’s time. As you build yourself into this new role, you’ll find your degree of importance changes significantly. At this time, you’ll have the advantage and be ready to take on your boss for better annual increases, stronger bonuses, and other advantages. Obviously, this can take quite a while, though.

#2 – Start Your Own Business and Stop Relying on Someone Else

Not everyone can find an ultra-niche job position, and most of us simply don’t have the patience to wait (presumably) years to get set into a job where you can push back and get what you want. This lends to the polar opposite option from #1 – quitting your job.

There are certain qualities that make up a good business owner, and they’re not all focused around having a business degree or ten years in upper management. In fact, the best traits of good business owners are more centered around personal drive, determination, and a desire to help others.

Going out on your own takes a lot of careful planning, to ensure that you have the financial strength to survive a start-up time period with little to no pay. It also takes a good business plan, so that you have clear goals in place and know when you’ll arrive at them.

For many (myself included), starting a business is an exciting, captivating experience that requires hard work but pays off in dividends. Our own vending business startup plan helps you get started in less than 90 days, and is based off of the feedback of our thousands of vending business owners that we’ve helped since our company first opened in 1988.

#3 – Add an Extra Income Stream and Keep Your Day Job (for now)

As great of an idea as it may seem, starting a new business isn’t always the best option for right now. Perhaps you don’t have your finances in order, or your family just isn’t prepared for the big changes (and the little bit of chaos) that are associated with business startup.

In this case, you should look at an extra income stream. From selling things on eBay (which people still do, apparently) to freelancing, there are tons of ways to pick up the occasional gig. If you’re like me, these things may be interesting, but they’re far from dependable. That’s why I started my own vending route on the side.

One of the best perks of operating your own vending route in your own area is that it’s not a 9 to 5 job. In fact, many vending operators can service their routes on their way to a job, or on their way home. It only takes a few minutes to stock a vending machine and collect the cash inside. When you manage that time really well, you’ll be able to supplement your existing earnings with stable vending dollars.

Want to learn more about starting up an extra stream of income as a vending operator?  Contact us today!