Automatic Merchandiser - 36

SMALL OPERATIONS

Advice Tailored to the 1 to 4 route operation

Surveys & Signs
Two easy ways to increase sales in your vending machines
By Gary Joyner, Contributor

142680566 | jaouad elkhamluchi | Dreamstime

THE PHONE IN MY OFFICE BEGAN

IT'S NOT ROCKET SCIENCE

ringing just as I was locking the door
at the end of a busy day. I walked back
to my desk and answered the call. It
was the manager of a manufacturing
plant in southwest Florida that I had
signed up for a vending company.
The plant manager was calling
to tell me that his employees were
not happy with the service they
were receiving from the vendor. He
informed me that his employees kept
asking for different products and
the vendor always had an excuse as
to why he could not give them what
they wanted.
I told him that I would contact the
vendor and ask him to take care of this
issue. The next morning, I placed a call
to the vendor and told him what the
plant manager had shared with me.
I was astonished at his response.
He said that if they did not like what
he was putting in the machines, they
could go somewhere else.

I told the vendor that we have product
survey forms we've developed to pass
out to the employees at the location,
and he responded he did not have
time to do that. Needless to say, he
soon received a letter giving him a
30-day notice to terminate his services. (An interesting side note is that
the location was doing over $1,200
per week in sales).
In my opinion, far too many
operators - ranging from large
multinational vending operators to
small one-route operators - think
they know what their customers want
in the vending machines better than
the actual consumer. My 25-plus years
in vending taught me that you'll sell
more products if you give your customers what they want and not what
you want them to have.
Folks, this is not rocket science. I
have heard many comments from vendors saying that the products customers

Automatic Merchandiser * September 2020

are asking for are not healthy for them,
or that they prioritize placing products
they find on sale through their supplier.
Using a vending product survey
form is like having a road map to
financial success - if you just follow the directions on the map. Why
should it matter to you what products
your customers want? Keep in mind
that you are not their nutritionist or
their doctor.
I can absolutely 100% guarantee
this: All of the major retail giants
including convenience stores (vending
companies' biggest competitor) are
constantly surveying their customers
and having focus groups to determine
what their customers want to see in
their stores. As a vending operator,
you should be doing the same if you
want to increase sales and profits for
your company.
SIGNS ARE SIMPLE YET EFFECTIVE

Signs are everywhere you look, except
in break rooms, employee lounges and
cafeterias, that is. Another easy step
you can implement to increase sales is
placing small tabletop signs on tables
or countertops around the break room
that inform your customers about new
items in your vending machines, products that are on sale, or other promotions on specific items.
The overwhelming majority of
snack machines manufactured in this
country have digital message centers
that can be easily programmed to
inform your customers about products
you want them to buy from your
vending machines. When I call on
prospective new vending locations for
my customers, it is only on very rare
occasions that I see any type of customer messages on the message center.
What a waste of a valuable sales tool.
Floor signs can also be very effective in promoting your vending ser-

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