MTA (New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority) recently announced that they would hike fares by .25 cents because “vending machines can only dispense dollar coins and quarters.” This has Big Apple straphangers’ up in arms (no pun intended) saying “It is not acceptable to say the vending machines made us do it.” Following closely behind this news, is an admission by MTA that a “software glitch” has allowed vending machines to dispense free train tickets in the amount of $800,000.00.
This example suggests to me that outsourcing opportunities for the unattended sale of non-food and beverage products may exist. Many hi-tech savvy, full line vending companies could do better than MTA in managing the process of unattended sales of train tickets.
Sources of new revenue from the vended sale of food, snacks and beverages are vanishing and will continue to do so. It is time to get serious about searching for new revenue sources. Take a look around your market place and note any unattended sale of any product and service. It might be worthwhile to approach government agencies or private locations with a respectful proposal outlining the strong advantages of your experience in the management of unattended sales.
An absolute prerequisite for soliciting this channel will be the need to meticulously study state-of-the-art software systems and machines used in the sale of non-food and beverage items. It will require plenty of hard work and lots of new learning; is it worth the effort?
I am not sure, but it certainly beats the alternative.
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Biography of Tom Britten:
Analyst, Intermediary, Professional Consultant. A full service resource to large and small operators "Helping Vending, OCS and Food Service Operators to Grow and Profit" 813.469.5437 tombritten@msn.com
Featured Speaker: Business Meetings, Trade Associations, Fraternal Groups, and Government Agencies
Topics: Security, Loss Prevention, Acquisitions/Divestitures, 25 Things That Don’t Change, Time Management, Effective Sales Prospecting
Consultant: Establish strength in the market place, significantly improve profitability.
Areas of Interest: Systematic Sales Prospecting/Booking New Business, Account Retention, Expense Management, Acquisitions and Divestitures/Exit Strategy, Increased Productivity, Right Sizing, Loss Prevention, Improved Internal Controls, Security Analysis, Executive Recruiting
Career Synopsis & Credentials: Tom Britten has broad-based operations and marketing experience in food service, vending and distribution. The client base he has served and sold extends to business / industrial, education, government, health care, and corrections facilities. He has worked in key positions both domestically and internationally and was instrumental in the introduction of Canteen’s full line services in Japan and reorganization of operations in Spain.
He successively progressed through executive positions at Macke, Service America, and Canteen where he became Vice President. He also served for eight years as Vice President of Sales and Operations for the Haddonfield Group, Management Consultants. In this assignment, he designed and implemented profit improvement programs for clients in retail and service businesses. In 2003, Britten formed Britten Management Services LLC, a profit improvement firm.
Professional Associations: Mr. Britten was a member of the Board of Directors of the state vending councils in Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Washington. He is a former recipient of the NAMA chairman’s award for legislative action and has been widely published in a number of trade journals. He published the popular “25 Things That Don’t Change” which has been adopted as essential reading by many food and vending companies. He now serves on the editorial advisory board of Automatic Merchandiser magazine and holds a certificate of appointment as a Federal Contracting Officer for the Veterans Administration, where he is an appointed representative of the American Federation of Government Employees. Britten is also a past Chairman of the Human Relations Board of Hillsborough County.
He can be reached at tombritten@msn.com
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September 4th, 2008 at 8:17 am
Good morning Tom,
It has been a long time, in fact the first time I met your wife was dinner with both of was at a restaurant on the Susquehana River. Then you achieved the your profesonal goal of becoming a Vice President. Looks like life has been good, post Lapidas appears to be good. For the most part, your smile is great and a good representative of you.