Why You Should Consider Changing Micro-Market Suppliers.
Taking the leap of faith and moving from traditional vending to a micro-market setup is not done lightly, and with it comes a new way of delivering food and drink, as well as many more opportunities to delight and excite your workforce.
Sometimes, it doesn’t all go perfectly to plan. Your initial design, build and installation went perfectly, and the staff enjoyed the launch, yet the following weeks and months have seen a rarely-stocked fridge, dirty coffee machines and you’ve had no communication from your new supplier.
In this article, we look at why it’s crucial that you choose a reliable and credible micro-market supplier, and that you should always be prepared to cut a bad supplier loose, before any more damage is done.
With a new supplier comes fresh ideas
The world of food and drink is fast moving, and full of technological innovations. If you’ve been in a micro-market contract for some years but haven’t been happy with the level of innovation, be it from an equipment, product range or promotional perspective, it might be worth looking elsewhere.
A top quality micro-market supplier will have a fantastic operations and retailing team behind the scenes, working to introduce great new product lines to your micro market and encouraging you to try and take different seasonal products throughout the year. Having a proactive team behind your solution will give you the confidence that the solution will keep momentum throughout the length of the contract, and avoid the risks of lower engagement from menu fatigue.
It may also be the case that when your contract expires, you want to look at refreshing the entire micro-market build, and there’s no better way to approach this than with a completely clean slate. Your existing supplier may see no issue with the current build, but it pays to take the opportunity to review the layout and design and see how much further you can go with the concept.
Half-hearted communication isn’t acceptable
We hear from so many micro-market clients that their incumbent supplier has all-round poor communication, from the account manager through to the operators and engineers attending to work on machines.
We know how important it is that you are kept in the loop with any changes, positive or otherwise, that may affect your setup. That’s why with Connect you get a dedicated, named point of contact for all questions and queries, and access to our customer service desk whenever you experience a technical fault.
If you feel like your site is not being taken seriously, and that you’re not being listened to by your incumbent, you are not necessarily stuck with what you’ve got. Yes, you’ve made an investment in the build and equipment for your micro market, but there is also an opportunity to move away from the servicing and operating of the equipment, to a better provider – one that’ll demonstrate how your micro-market can work better for you.
Food and drink as a perk only offers great value when it works well
As businesses find it increasingly more challenging to find and retain top talent, there’s an option to take a look at providing food and drink for free (or subsidised) to staff. It’s a serious sign of your intention to keep hold of great people, if you’re willing to invest significantly in the physical and mental wellbeing of your team.
It’s also not as expensive as you might think, given the huge impact it can have on reduced staff turnover and lower recruitment fees to replace team members. If you’re not too confident that the commercials will balance out, subsidising food and drink purchases is a great middle ground that will still give staff that feeling that they’re genuinely valued.
However, if your existing supplier is only bothered about taking the cash from the sales and doesn’t look at buyer behaviour, high performing products and low performing products, the boost to retention and recruitment may well only be seen in the short term. Menu fatigue still kicks in, and at some point those staff members will begin to look elsewhere for something a bit different – free is only good if it’s something you want!
Working with a micro-market supplier who understands how to execute this approach well, can completely transform your recruitment and retention model.
What to do if you’re unhappy with your current supplier
Taking the steps to remedy the issues with your micro-market begin with reaching out to a trusted, credible supplier, like Connect. We work consultatively with our clients from day one, and our industry leading retail operations team work tirelessly to deliver new products, great promotions and a host of new ideas to every micro-market we operate.
Getting the process started is easy. Reach out to us on 01865 341011, enquire through our website, or drop us an email to sales@connectvending.co.uk. We will work closely with you to determine if there’s anything we can help you improve – most of the time we’re able to bring new life to a micro-market that just needs some TLC.
Let’s talk about your micro-market today. We’d love to hear from you.