stage would see $72,000 in yearly sales at a 54 percent gross margin; the highest expected annual financial gain would be around $96,000 with a 58 percent profit margin. We would have been happy with any of those numbers, but the actual results turned out even better than the best estimates. In the first year, the five machines that were installed at this facility brought in $103,451 at a 60 percent gross profit margin. Masters said this was the first time in the 80-year history of selling vending machines to BSCs that a single location brought in over $100,000 in revenue in a one-year period. Incentivization One of the reasons sales exceeded projec-tions was the effective use of low-hanging promotional fruit. These can often focus on “more vending bang for the buck” items such as buy one get one free (BOGO) coupons, but similar results can also be achieved by attaching Florida lottery scratch-off tickets, two dol-lar bills or dollar coins to randomly placed vending products. Items of this nature can often cause customers to purchase multiple snacks in an effort to obtain the attached prize and, when budgeted for properly, can do so with minimal impact on the bottom line. In addition, we tried to make it as easy as possible for customers to purchase the products by installing credit/debit card acceptors on every machine. These turned out to be a huge boon to business, as credit and debit card sales now account for approximately 30 percent of our company’s total vending sales. Another benefit of combining these two company types is that it gave us a number of advantages over our competition, includ-ing more consistent cash flow and higher worker productivity. Having two businesses also allows our company to submit lower priced bids — both on the cleaning and vending sides — and thus generate more client opportunities in both areas. This approach succeeded for us in part because of the ready-made synergy of these industries. That alone would have made it more than worth the effort. However, getting creative with the pro-motional side proved invaluable not only in spiking sales to the six-digit level, but also to increasing the enjoyment of running this business. The immediate results one can see after putting together an inventive vending sales campaign has made the company more fun to operate while at the same time making it a much stronger competitor in our local field. With an open mind, a bit of hardwork and some sales ingenuity, it can do the same for you. CM Gary Joyner is the chief executive officer (CEO) of Ft. Myers, Florida-based BSC Advantage Refreshments. He has over 30 years of experience in the cleaning and vending industries. Find out more about his company by visiting www.advantagerefreshments.com or e-mailing him at [email protected]. connect with original formula NEW products ELIMINATES ODORS cigarette smoke dumpster & chute ire & lood CMM Online Bulletin Board laundry SUBSCRIBE/RENEW PRODUCT INFORMATION TO REQUEST A SAMPLE Phone • E-mail • Visit our Website 888.873.3442 www.odorcide.com [email protected] Circle Product Information no. 204 on page 32 www.cmmonline.com 43
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