Poor vending machine service is an unfortunate reality for some businesses. From bad equipment to empty slots to rude associates, service problems like these can leave you frustrated and wanting to find a replacement, or do away with vending services altogether. That very well might be the outcome for a small handful of customers. But more often then not you can take certain measures to improve the service you're receiving.
5 Tips to Improve Your Vending Machine Services
1. Talk with your supplier.
Have a sincere conversation with them about your concerns and the problems you've been experiencing. Ask them why it's happening. In our experience, vending companies sometimes experience situations outside their control that lead to a temporary decline in service. For example, a delivery truck could have service problems and needs repair. This often puts vending operators behind schedule, leaving them scrambling to service their many machines.
2. Keep track of the problems.
One of the measures we take for customers that experience ongoing service problems is to place them on our weekly call list. This means we call them every week to check on the vending machine and record each service issue. It allows us to build a history that we can then show the supplier so they can see all the issues with their own eyes. This often proves an effective approach to improving vending machine services.
3. Work on building a positive relationship.
As with any vendor your business works with, always strive to develop a positive relationship with your vending company. Good supplier relationships can lead to better service, pricing, and availability. Communicate that you understand and respect their needs as a business, and they will return the favor.
4. Understand the meaning of bad service.
In our experience, there's often a disconnect between the supplier and the customer in regards to what constitutes bad service. Sometimes a customer might think a supplier does not provide good service if a slot of Coca-Cola is empty, despite the rest of the machine being nearly full. The vending company, however, will hardly think this is a service problem. In this example, the solution would simply be replacing another slot with Coca-Cola so there would be more available.
5. Work with a vending management company.
Sometimes vending machine services are so bad that a customer wants to remove them from the property but they still want vending, just not the hassle of dealing with service calls. That's understandable. A vending management company is a great way to get the service you want without the hassles. They will coordinate and manage everything from installation to service requests.