Servicing Your Route

[bacho]

Being my route is only 8 machines big right now, I"ll be able to service it in one day. The way I'm going to be servicing it is, one day I'll go to all the places and collect the money. Then I'll record the product that needs to be refilled on my route sheet. The next day I'll make a Sam's run and hit the places that need to be refilled. That way there will be little or no stock left over.

This is only a part time job for me, as is with most members here. My full time job allows me to service the machines early in the morning which will be good because the businesses are just opening and there's very little foot traffic.

I'm open for any other tips you guys can provide me with. I'm trying to get this thing set up the right way the first time so I don't have to revamp it later. With the price of gas being so high, I want to eliminate running around aimlessly.

[Bravo Duck]

Craig, time and gas are way more expensive than a little unused inventory. Go by Sams the night before and stock up then one trip to your locations to pull your money out and replace the sold product. You should even think about extending service intervals to 60-90 days.  Tom

[bacho]

Tom

That makes sense. But my thinking was having inventory sitting around for a period of time and not being as fresh as if it were coming from the store that same day.

The 60 to 90 day cycle is a good idea but I told my customers I would service them once a month. If I don't show up for a couple three months, it will give the impression the machine is abandoned.

Thanks for the info though. It gives me some things to think about.

[West Coast Vend LLC]

Craig,

If it was my route, of 8 accounts, I would check these stores a couple of times a month in the beginning. Number 1, it shows your customers that you are on top of your business. Number 2, you will be able to check stock in your machines. When you go to collect you can bring only the products that you need. Once you see the buying patterns of the machines, you could service some of them every other month. Make sure you let your customers see that you are following the once-a-month service promise you made when they said yes to the machine placement.

Gary

[dperry]

When you only have one product, you don't have to worry about that.  I buy FORD gumballs from quill.com.  I have to buy 3 cases to get the free shipping.  That makes it about $19 a case.  It's a little more than DB at sams, but I get good reviews from the location owners on how much better it tastes.  But I have 40 machines, and I can go through 3 cases a month with no problem.  But even so, gumballs have a good long shelf life.  They've already been sitting on the shelf at the warehouse for several months anyway.  Just keep them in your house in the closet rather than out in the garage.

[kdeckels]

I don't see a Ford brand on Quill.  I see Carousel - is that the product your talking about?  I'm guessing regular bubble gum flavor, just multicolored?

[Bravo Duck]

Yeah, its the same stuff. Ford only sells gum with the Ford name on it to authorized Ford vendors, everybody else gets Carousel which comes off the same line.  Tom

[bacho]

Let me expain the logic behind the servicing of my route this way. I can hit all 8 accounts on my way to my full time job. I'll store he money in my locker at work and on the way home, stop at Sam's which is about a mile down the road. The next day, I'll stop at all 8 locations on my way to work. This will eliminate any product sitting in my house for a month or two at a time. Who knows how long the candy was sitting in the warehouse before it was purchased. Plus, moving the candy in and out of different climates will have an effect on the candy. It will cause cracking and give it a stale look, even though it's not.

But I have 40 machines, and I can go through 3 cases a month with no problem.  But even so, gumballs have a good long shelf life.  They've already been sitting on the shelf at the warehouse for several months anyway. 

 

 I have all candy at the moment but plan to get into gumballs when I expand. There's no problem stocking an inventory of gumballs because the shelf life is almost tripled compared to candy. The 1080 count is probably what I'll get into and it's cheaper to buy it at Quill then Sam's. You'll have to buy 3 cases of it to get the free shipping but it would be worth it to stock that much, even if your gumball route is small, because of the shelf life.

This is my logic and opinions. I'd like to hear what others do when they service their routes. That was the purpose for this post, so us newbies can learn.