Introducing tech? How to get the team on board

Consensus holds that technology has become a requisite for success in convenience services. And while the majority of convenience services operators accept this reality, consensus also holds that successful implementation requires acceptance on the part of employees.

Which explains why a session on successfully adopting new tech drew a standing-room-only turnout at the recent NAMA show at the Georgia World Congress Center.

Much of the discussion focused on the importance of team communication.

"We try to make sure that we have regular check ins …with those teams that are implementing those new technologies to make sure we understand what challenges they're getting," said panelist Jeremy Cauble, director of customer experience for Canteen Vending Services Inc., a food and beverage service provider owned by Compass Group North America.

"We try to kick the tires as much as we can before we roll it out there."

Management needs a plan

Panelist Mike Melton, a fellow operator and director of operations at Refreshing USA, agreed with Cauble.

"You need to come up with a really good plan, and you have to be able to sell that plan 365 days a year until you get to where you're going," said Melton, who ran an independent convenience services operation before joining Refreshing USA, a nationwide company that has grown through acquisition of independent convenience services operations.

Melton said Refreshing USA stresses the idea to employees that once they execute a new technology, it will be easier for everyone.

When Melton introduced technology to his own independent company in 2015, "I was so tired at being at the mercy of everybody that worked for me…We implemented technology and it's been a game changer…it never stopped, because once you implement the basics, then it's so intriguing and you get so much out of it that you start going, 'how can we go a little deeper, how can we maybe merge another technology with the technology we're doing now to take it to the next level?

"The timing for everybody now in today's world is if you're not starting down the path of technology you're behind," he said.

Fortunately for convenience services operators, technology has improved significantly over the years.

Panelist Alan Munson, vice president of business development at 365 Retail Markets Inc., a provider of convenience services technology, emphasized the support role that tech providers can offer.

Tech providers offer training tools such videos and white papers, Munson said, adding that it's important to recognize that individual employees respond to specific tools differently. Some employees will want more "hand holding" than others.

Find your allies

The panelists agreed a company needs to consider which employees will be the most willing to work with new technology before introducing it to the entire staff.

They also agreed on the importance of testing new technology internally and with select customers before introducing it to the field. Cauble noted that unforeseen issues are likely to emerge throughout the process.

"It's knowing those teams and asking them directly, who is willing to test it?" Cauble said. "You try to find who those subject matter experts or champions for technology are in those areas. Start with one of those so they can test it in the field in a live customer environment for testing there. Give it a couple weeks or two months depending on what it is to really validate performance in a live space, and then start rolling it out."

At the same time, sometimes the most resistant employee will surprise you, noted session moderator Nathan McQuillen, who, as an account executive at WTI Wireless, has helped many companies introduce new technology.

"That gets other people to buy in to that who were potentially resisting," McQuillen said.

Sometimes asking new hires to be the first to try new technology works, Melton added. When the veterans see that a novice can be successful with a new technology, it encourages them to use it.

But no matter what tactic a company takes, new technology sometimes forces some employees to quit.

This should not be viewed in a negative light, Melton said. Companies need to use technology to succeed, he said, and employees that will not embrace it will not help the company succeed.

Resignations inevitable

Melton shared an anecdote of something that happened in 2015 when he computerized his independent company: he lost all of his drivers.

"That was one of the best things that ever happened to that company," he said. "It's a very eye opening process that you get."

Refreshing USA is currently introducing technology to a newly-acquired company. Melton believes he will lose one third of the people on the project.

"But when they're replaced by other people, that facility will be so much better off than it is today," he said.

Melton said he asks employees what their vision is for their job — do they want the company to make more money and do they want to for themselves?

"All of that goes back to technology, because without it, there's no way we can do it," he said. "There's no such thing as a non-successful (tech) rollout. There's such a thing as a really painful rollout."

Cauble agreed.

"Sometimes you have to break the whole thing apart and try again," he said.

Small or large, choices can differ

The differences between how large and small companies introduce tech was also discussed.

"When you're small is when you should really start because that's when you're investing the most," Munson said.

Small companies also usually do not have the staff available to make use of all the reports that tech systems provide, Melton said. A small company therefore has to decide what things are most important.

Larger, multi-branch operations face the task of having to get more people to support new technology.

"You need to get those stakeholders involved early and make sure that they understand that they have a voice at the table," Munson said for larger, multi-branch companies.

First steps

Large and small companies alike need to have their data organized before introducing a lot of technology.

"Getting a piece of software without having that stuff in place won't work because it's garbage in, garbage out," McQuillen said.

"If you don't have your operational procedures tight, then when you start throwing technology out there, it's going to show," agreed Melton.

Reflecting again on his time operating a smaller operation, getting all of his machines fully computerized took Melton six years. The following year came the payoff: the bottom line improved by 5%.

"Don't do 50% of your machines, don't do 70% of your machines, do them all," he said. "All of a sudden that $30 machine (revenue) is a $200 machine. And you don't know it if you're not using the technology and you're not getting the information."

"If you're not using technology, you may think you know what your pricing is in the field, but trust me, you don't," Munson agreed.

For those operators who have not yet begun the tech journey, Melton said he would start with installing credit card readers on machines since you lose up to 70% of sales without them. Then comes the vending management software, which enables the next step, adding telemetry.

"You can research the VMS while you're making more money from the credit cards," Melton said.

Once you have telemetry, you can begin prekitting routes in the warehouse.

"VMS is one part of it, but when you take it to prekitting you plug so many holes…holes are when product doesn't get sold, for whatever reason," Melton said.

"You're not in the vending business anymore," Melton said. "You're not in pantry and you're not in micro markets…if you're going to stay in this industry and compete, you're in the technology business."