October, 1932
THE
COIN
MACHINE
JOURNAL
11
An Operator
Looks at the Help
Problem
Old-Timer Reveals Secrets of Dealing with Collectors and Route
Men. Says Loyalty Must Be Earned, Not Bought.
STUDY of the vending ma
chine business over a period
.of years convinces me that
'the paramount problem of the in
dustry is the “help problem,” says
a well known operator in comment
ing on the important issues of the
day.
Employment of help in this in
dustry differs greatly from the em
ployment problems of other busi
nesses, observes this writer. The
utter lack of routine, the long hours
and the emergency calls demand of
employes in this field a greater and
more marked attention to duty, dis
regard of established practices and
the like,
When the operator reaches the
100 machine capacity he is faced
with the problem of employing
help. A well organized route of 100
machines begins to impose new duT
ties on an operator, duties which
tax his capacity to stand up under
the long hours and responsibility
incident to the conduct of a route
this size,
.
Some operators, I know, employ
boys to service routes, teaching
them the simple duties of cleaning
and adjusting machines on location
and making collections. As the bus
iness grows they find it necessary
to employ location solicitors. And
as they develop into routes of 800
machines or more they find it in
cumbent upon them to employ office
help to handle the details incident
to keeping a record of collections,
routings, and other items vital to
the profitable operation of a route
of this size.
The simpler merchandising ma
chines require no great amount of
technical help, but operators of
A
musical machines and machines of
the bell types find themselves in a
position of having to employ skilled
mechanics and technicians in order
to provide uninterrupted service on
their machines.
Demands Greater Loyalty
Since there is a maximum of ir
regularity in the servicing of a
large route it follows that the job
calls for a greater degree of loyalty
and application to duty than in
Steeplechase
▼ Sets Another
Record
EDWARD C. KENNEDY, a Chicago
operator, has this to say:
“I am certainly sold on your
Steeplechase. My first machine
took in a gross of $123.71 in one
week. I believe this record will be
pretty hard to beat. Please enter
my order for 10 more machines,
which I will arrange to pick up
from your factory next Saturday.”
Read about the
Steeplechase
on pages 24 and 25
other trades where regulation of
hours, remuneration and work per
formed is more easily assigned.
I have found that most operating
businesses just grow up and develop
without design or plan until they
reach the point where the organiza
tion of personnel becomes a matter
of concern. For instance, a scale
operator develops his business to
the point where he has 500 units in
operation over a wide territory,
Enhanced Scans © The International ■ Arcade Museum
Having attended to all the details
of purchase, solicitation, inspection,
repairs and service the operator
finds himself in a position of inde
cision as to how he can assign duties
to help that he begins to add to his
business.
This condition is duplicated, I
believe by operators of other ma
chines and where the operator has
built a large mixed route the prob
lem of segregation of responsibil
ity is a vital problem.
Placing of Responsibility
Generally operators begin to-
shove off responsibility on the
shoulders of mechanics by giving
them a bonus on new locations. It
seems that this policy instills a
sense of ownership in the mind of
the mechanic and makes him work
for new locations. It also overcomes
the hazards involved in switching
the owner’s attention from the op
erator to a minor employe. On the
other hand operators have found
that these new locations built up
by help seem to feel that the help
is the owner of the route and this
more often leads to the development
of a new operator since the help has
in effect created a business for him
self at the expense of his employer.
Holding Route Men in Line
I have successfully avoided this
situation by dividing the business
into territories and advising loca
tions that they would be serviced
by the help in the future. I have
always made i't a point to pay a
periodical call on the location and
keep up contact and keep the loca
tion sold on the idea that I am the
owner of the business. .
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