How To Deal With Customer Loosing Money On Vending Machine

When you are doing the vending machine business on a daily basis,

you always contemplate that no one calls you during the day especially when you are driving and going to locations. I personally try to stay away from the mobile phone when im driving simply because we don’t want to end up in bad scenarios like : the dreaded police reprimanding you and also the fearful event that you’re driving license might be suspended and of course a split-second accident which will negate the possibility of setbacks and delays on doing your vending business in case you get a bad hit with the thought also if you get a whiplash and unforeseen internal injuries which you might succumb.

I personally leave the mobile phone alone

even when it rings or when i hear some notifications. It sometimes triggers you to answer and act immediately since customer is always number one. Customer must always be served and answered immediately when they call, it is the lifeline of your business. If there is 1 unhappy customer with influence even thou the other 99 or hundreds in the office is happy, you will be in big trouble since it only takes one individual to take you down.

It is just like owning a self-employed business here in Vancouver, BC or perhaps anywhere that is connected to Yelp or other online rating system. If there is a negative comment and opinion, your business will be asking for it. As self-employed business entrepreneur it is really though to make everyone happy and even if you are Michael Jackson, there will be always a particular individual that abhors your guts or the way you conduct your business.

That’s why i always have to be very restrictive and prefer not to talk to people because we are in the era where one should be extra cautious with actions and words.

If you talk too much and get comfortable it is not recommended since most people nowadays are very cautious and might think you have a hidden agenda or might label you with something, so the best approach is just smile, be polite, refill and leave.

But there are a lot of occasions that i have to leave it with people who do the talking to me and if i feel that they are very receptive and have the same wavelength then i will begin be comfortable and start to be very friendly and talk anything that is under the sun and just talk to your heart’s contentment. Otherwise to option is to be a yes-man person.

Normally when someone calls you which no vendor likes, is to politely jot down the concerns and problem, normally customers just leaves on my voicemail and i note everything down and prepare the reimbursement on my next visit to the location.

Basically there are 2 kinds of locations,

the first one is that they always keep track and make sure that everyone is happy and as a vendor to their company they wanted to have an immediate solution,

especially when the coins get jammed up the machine which is not the vendor’s fault but of course they always blame it on the vendor’s machine that it is crappy and needs to have it replaced or updated. This location needs to have a float perhaps a 10 dollars coins to be maintained at all times to keep everyone happy. I had a very good lcoation which is on a learning school in richmond and it is very good and always give the float to the person in charge but there was an instance that i was extremely tired and beat up and there was to situation when the owner asked me for some loonies and i said i have to go and bring it next time.

When i was halfway going home, she suddenly called me and told me that they will not renew the contract anymore since it is just a month to month contract, i just realize that i made a grave mistake and started apologizing and she made it clear that the machines will be taken out. The last time i went there, they had another vendor serving the location.

I used to talk to the lady owner at this location and make some chit chat conversation and i was very nice and smiling all the time, from that moment on, i just have to shut up and stop being too friendly and i was just suggesting that all vendors should just do this mantra : Smile, Say Yes all the Time, Hello, Refill, No Stare and Leave as quickly as you can.

The second one is that they don’t care about their employees and the vendor.

The management will just tell the customer employee to call the vendor on the sticker attached to the machine and normally i get calls directly from the customer and all i have to do is get the reimbursement on a small envelope to the customer the next visit. Sometimes the management will just unplug your machines without even consulting you and they do this at will since they just don’t care about anyone. Sometimes the management will just move your machine and put another vendor’s machine beside yours without letting you know.

Personally i like locations that just send emails or text when they encounter problems. These are the kinds of people who have empathy towards small self-employed people, they are the ones that initiate the talk and i actually enjoy going to these locations and do a bit of chit chat myself, since we are social creatures and need to interact and speak your mind and not being too restrictive.