Planet Antares Incorporated | Planet Antares Vending | Planet Antares

A blog for people to know about how to manage and find information on vending business.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Planet Antares Vending And Customer Service

In vending, the focus should be on management of customers for loyalty and enhancing profits, at the same time. You shouldn’t get confused between the concepts of managing them for profit. The only way to strengthen the bond between loyalty and profits is to manage both at the same time.

To build relationships in your Planet Antares vending business, eye to eye contact with customers at all levels is essential. People buy from people they like and they can be very fickle minded regarding their preferences.

A lot has been said and written about customer loyalty, most of it being irrelevant. Among the weakest measurements used by companies are those of customer loyalty. Techniques such as use of satisfaction surveys and fancy customer relationship management software only result in disappointment of customers at a faster and more efficient pace. Usually, there is a contradiction between high levels of customer satisfaction and falling per-capita sales. When survey questions are asked of only location management and not the end customers, data can be skewed.

When a provider asks any questions about price, quality, service and variety, it creates an expectation on the part of the respondent that better things are going to be provided in the coming times. If you want to conduct a survey for your Planet Antares vending business, make sure that you have a complete plan and that you can carry out fully. If you are unwilling to address all the related issues that may surface, then don’t start before making an appropriate strategy and plan.

This is becoming a point of concern as customers are sick and tired of all the pampering and patronizing. The only solution for customer fatigue is to get straight to the point and provide the perceived value, which may be quite elusive or distasteful but crucial all the same. To begin with, you will have to be a good listener.

Planet Antares vending operators must understand that there is a direct link between employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction, customer retention and employee turnover. The importance of these relationships should be indicated in rewards and incentives.

The operator who offers the best compensation package will get most of the good accounts. This can be an additional investment in your people and a more beneficial use of capital than other expenditures.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Home Based Planet Antares Vending

For many of us, there is no place like home to spend time. It would be a dream come true if we could run our business from home while doing what we longer to all those years. The growth of home-based business opportunities and a shift to the service economy in the United States has made working from home a very attractive option for many Americans.

While considering a lucrative alternative, think about Planet Antares vending machines to start earning revenue for your home almost instantly. Any machine at the right location has a very realistic possibility of paying for itself well within the first year of setup.

Low inventory and minimal travel are some of the benefits of a home based vending business. All vending operations can be handled in one or two days a week. All you have to do is to check the functioning of your machines and service them properly, aside from collecting your money.

Planet Antares vending is different from most home based business as it doesn’t require you to work closely with any group of people. All the goods can be ordered online, thereby dealing with very few people in the process. You are in absolute control of the number and selection of business relationships you maintain in this business.

It is your choice to lease, buy or rent your Planet Antares vending machines. There is virtually no risk in starting a home based Planet Antares vending business. to start, you can go for a few vending machines and gradually expand your business when the profits start rolling in.

For many working families, a Planet Antares vending business allows one of the parents to care for the young children or to rotate responsibilities if both are involved in the business. This business is also perfect for you during retirement as a good source of income.

Planet Antares vending programs lead you to have a blossoming home based vending business, easily and quickly, using the Natural Choice vending program, your vending business will provide total control over every aspect of your expansion. You can easily develop this home based business into a full fledged enterprise that becomes your main source of income.

Friday, June 13, 2008

Attractive Packaging For Planet Antares Vending Business Success

When people are on the go and have less time, the product in your Planet Antares vending machine should provide convenience, comfort and ease to them. When you consider the products that are best suited for your vending machines, you have to think of quick indulgences. These are products that make life easier for busy customers.

Some of the packaging challenges faced by Planet Antares vending operators are listed below:

1. The primary concern of an operator must be to make packaging cost-effective. If potential sales are estimated to be 5 percent or more of a product’s total, vending specific packaging becomes a good option.

2. Look at the form and function of the product. Confections and beverages appear in Planet Antares vending machines in the same packaging as they do in the stores. However, many non-food products and non-traditional items require vending specific packaging to maximize “appetite appeal” and protect against damage. Most vending products need to be designed for a single use. This would not apply to the snacks and beverages sold in Planet Antares vending machines. The size of these items will almost always be the same, be it in a retail store or vending machines.

3. Next, you must think about optimizing communications on the package’s facing panel. Consumers usually cannot handle the product before purchasing it. They can’t inspect it or turn it on the side or back panels. So, it is essential to display the key information on the front panel itself. Consumers should be able to see it through glass front two or three feet away.

In the current vending industry, the package of your Planet Antares vending products has to work both inside the machine and in the consumer’s possession. Of course, this is what will work in your vending business. There are a number of strategies that can be implemented in your vending business to drive sales. Effective packaging is one thing that can be done to have a successful Planet Antares vending business.

Friday, June 6, 2008

Best Product Mix For Planet Antares Vending Machines

As the owner of a Planet Antares vending business, you always need to be sure that you offer the most demanded product mix. If some employees are responsible for filling of the vending machines, make sure that they place the right products in every vending machine. Also, you must rotate the products frequently to offer a large variety to the consumers. To accomplish all this, category management will be required.

Basically, this is a system that simplifies product selection at the route and warehouse levels and also enables you to control the machine menu. There are different products that only turn quarterly and this costs the company in terms of tying up the warehouse space. That’s why category management is implemented by experienced vending operators.

Some vending operators hesitate in using category management because it need a different way of selecting products from the traditional practice. The problem with the conventional product selection based on the prejudices of the owner or route driver is that it is costing the operators more in sales and profits. Planet Antares vending operators, among others, must prefer using category management for product mix selection.

You can save in many aspects by using category management, such as:

1. higher profitability resulting in increased location sales
2. lesser cash investment in inventory from a reduced number of stock keeping units in the warehouse
3. greater labor efficiency and higher productivity

By selecting the fastest turning products, you will be able to ensure higher sales for your Planet Antares vending business. As the inventory level reduces, so will the amount of investment in fewer but faster turning products. In the end, you will have to manage lesser number of products and face lower burden of inventory as well as chances of error.

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Generating Income With Planet Antares Vending Machines

If you are wondering which business opportunity can help you make money, the answer is vending. Many people start a vending business with the assumption that it is easy and shortcut to success. However, that is not true. While it is easy to start your own vending machine business, considerable effort will be needed to ensure sustainable profitability in the long term.

The benefits of Planet Antares vending machines include the ability to earn a stable income with convenience and a low investment. There is also more flexibility of work operations as compared to a job or other business opportunities. When you purchase good quality vending machines, it is essential to locate them properly and keep them in top working condition.

When you start searching for vending locations, make sure that it matches you chosen products and the demand of target customers. A single vending machine is capable of providing substantial income if it is strategically placed. As the revenue starts increasing, you can expand your vending business by buying new machines and looking for untapped places to install your vending machines.

To begin with, look for a traditional product rather than going for a new one like newspapers, digital items, etc. this is a crucial decision that has a direct impact on customer satisfaction and sales maximization. Keep an eye on the sales pattern of different products to differentiate popular products from slow moving ones.

Always use technically updated vending machines like Planet Antares vending machines. These will help you in achieving:

a. better customer service
b. sales tracking through vend detection technique
c. lesser machine damage and wear and tear caused by manual handling
d. wider customer base through multi-payment options
e. higher level of security with cashless payment technology for vending machines

if you seek a good market share of the vending industry, look for reliable vending equipment from reputed suppliers like Planet Antares Corporation. They offer good quality machines at reasonable prices along with after sale services like refilling, repair and overall maintenance.
Your vending machine business may be a source of secondary income or a full fledged venture.

By running it professionally and with careful planning, you will surely be successful. After all, vending machines can only generate income if you put the right amount of time and money in them.

Monday, June 2, 2008

Enhancing Sales For Planet Antares Vending Locations

Today, vending operators are facing situations where workplace populations have declined and operating costs continue to rise. It is difficult to find skilled labor and competition is becoming very strong. This makes it essential for you to sell through every vending machine that is already on location.

If you plan to increase the sales volume of your Planet Antares vending machines, there are only two ways to do that. First is to add new locations while the second is to generate additional traffic in existing locations. The second option is much cheaper and will have a more dramatic effect on the profits of your Planet Antares vending business. An increase of 1% in the same location sales can improve the profitability by 20% or more.

Generally, most of the costs involved in running a vending business and serving an account are fixed. These are vehicle and facilities expense costs, administration costs and so on. This would mean that higher traffic at such an account would only involve additional product costs, higher commissions and sales tax.

According to an industry observer, the gross profit in vending presently runs at around 52.5% while operating expense averages at less than 25%. It has also been observed that operating profit has declined to an average 1.6%, being half of what it was 10 years ago. This should encourage you to use the method of generating more dollars from each Planet Antares vending machine at every location without having to increase operating expense to any great extent.

Another way to increase sales in your Planet Antares vending business is to add new locations but it is also costly. The best thing that you can do is to increase the sales in the existing locations. This can be done by adding more products in your vending machines or adding more vending machines in that same location. These strategies can be effectively used to increase sales.

A vending business should always be profitable. If it ceases to be profitable, you must start looking for new ways to increase sales. By doing that, you can ensure that you maximize your profits at all times.