By Ken Joyner
Let me tell you about a time when everything that Advantage Refreshments does differently made a big difference! I pulled into the parking lot of a particular corporate headquarters building recently and the thought of landing this vending contract was paramount in my mind, to say the least. Our research had revealed that they had three prime locations in our market. Opportunities like this do not come along every day.
The receptionist greeted me. I introduced myself and asked for the HR manager, the person I was to meet. A few minutes passed and the receptionist escorted me to the conference room. I was a bit surprised to see four people waiting inside for me, but I knew it would be fine because I was confident that once everyone reviewed my proposal, they would be impressed. The four people sitting at the conference table included the company President, Human Resource Manager, Vice President of Operations, and the Facilities Manager.
Cutting To the Chase
After introductions, just as I was beginning to open my mouth the President said, “I don’t want to sound rude, but you are the third company we have met with this week. How is your company any different than your competitors’, because all vending companies are selling the same brand name products and assuming your prices are competitive, why should we choose you as our employee refreshment service provider?” For good measure, he finished by saying, “All of the vending companies say their service is great and that when our machines need service, they will be here.”
I thanked him for his comment and then proceeded to agree with him that the overwhelming majority of vending companies are pretty much alike. He looked at me and said, “Well at least we can agree on that.”
I began the presentation with our, “Top Ten List of How We Are Not Your Typical Vending Company.” I jokingly said that if David Letterman could have his top ten list, we could also. The list includes the following:
The Top Ten List
1. We install brand new state of the art electronic merchandisers (vending machines) at each location. This goes against the typical thought process of most vending companies that install used equipment at a new location.
2. All our brand-new merchandisers come equipped with credit/debit card acceptors. Hard to believe that some vending companies in 2023 have machines at locations that do not accept credit cards.
3. Each location receives a cash recycler. Our machines make change for up to a $20 bill with $5 or $1 bills for their employees instead of a weighing them down with a pocket full of quarters.
4. Our brand-new merchandisers all have an electronic Guaranteed Product Delivery System. Employees either get the product they have selected or get their money back, guaranteed, no more post-it notes on machines or employees kicking and shaking machines because they did not get their product and even worse, the machine kept their money. The HR manager commented how nice that would be since her team spends an inordinate amount of time handling refunds for their current vendor. They no longer must fill out vending refund slips or wait for their vendor to come by and make refunds.
5. BOGO (Buy-One, Get-One Free Program). Every month we will have at least one item in the machines that will have a free-vend coupon attached to it allowing their employees to get the second item free.
6. $2 dollar bills will be attached to products for employees to win when they purchase certain items.
7. Two-For-A-Dollar program. We always have at least two cold drinks and three snack items that are priced at 50 cents.
8. Free lottery scratch-off tickets for their employees to win when buying vending products from our brand-new machines. An employee at one of our locations won $1,000 from a winning Lotto ticket affixed to the back of a bag of cookies.
9. Free tasting samples of our frozen food products on a periodic basis especially when we introduce new items.
10. Quarterly employee survey forms for their people to tell us what they want in their machines. Employees get to determine the items that will be available in the vending machine.
Differences Do Make a Difference
After the presentation, the president of the company came up to me, shook my hand and apologized for possibly sounding rude when he made the comments about all vending companies being the same. Yes, we did end up getting all three of their locations.
At Advantage Refreshments, we are proud of the differentiators that set us apart from other vending companies. One of our biggest and best cheerleaders for our company and the services we provide are the team members at the locations we serve. Exceeding their expectations is our number one priority. Does your vending company do all of this for you? If not, call us today and begin to enjoy an employee refreshment program that you associates will enjoy!
715-587-7900
[email protected]
