Good day fellow vending enthusiast!! First off, my long time girlfriend Shara Blough and myself were engaged to be married this last weekend!! No date set yet but I'm sure you all will be in the know when it is set. Ok on with the E-Thought, this weeks will be on how to get engaged and never have to set a date for the wedding...lol....(just kidding Shara).
I want to talk a little about being a non "MEGOLOMART". There are numerous advantages and disadvantages to both being family owned and being a large corporation. I have worked in both worlds (coca-cola) and now at Vend Northwest.
Some of the things I love about being non corporate would be the closeness of the working unit and feeling of family. Here at Vend everybody knows everything about everybody and therefore makes it somewhat easier to implement policies and plans, on the other hand everybody knows everything about everybody!! It is also very easy to maneuver through the red tape on bringing in new items and also keeping in stock those items that sell but maybe not as well as the corporate types would like. It's very nice in meetings because I am actually talking to the owners of the company and when my customers tell me things that they want or don't want, it is a direct line to the decision makers and things tend to get done a lot quicker! I also feel that being the size that we are, we are able to listen,understand, and communicate better with the customer. I know that corporations have sales people and customer service reps that have their ear to the ground as well but they are not able to react, respond, and appease as quickly, do to mountains of procedures and corporate restrictions. I don't want to generalize as it may not be appropriate but this is the way it goes in my experience. Of course every "little" guy would love to grow up and be a "big" guy someday, I would just hope that when it comes to the point of that leap, they remember who made it possible for them to make that leap! EVERY customer "big" and "small" is critical to the well being of any company. To quote a recent disgruntled customer of mine "the customer may not always be right but they should be treated as such without exception". Sometimes this is a hard lesson learned but hopefully it is learned, trust me...it is learned.. As far as disadvantages there are many as well, funding would be at the top of my list, maybe even for the large corporations this would be a disadvantage as well but the level of resources(monetarily speaking) are smaller for the "little" guy. Ingenuity is paramount in this area, there are always options if you are willing and able to look and work VERY hard at it.
Part of my reason for this topic is just to let you guys know a little more about our thinking and the way we feel about you "our customer". It is very important to us that you guys understand how much we value and appreciate the opportunity you give us everyday to help and support your companies and family's, as without doubt by being our customer you are helping all of our families here at Vend NW. Thank you.
Regards
Curt Wokal
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