ARTICLE Tired of the “Same Old Thing”?

Do you always service your machines in the same order? Do you always drive the same route to your locations?  You may be overdue for a change, for several reasons.

First of all, it’s possible that you may not be following the most efficient route to get to all of your machines.  Sit down with a note pad and a map, and figure out your current route.  List your locations, and any stops you make in-between on a regular basis, and then compare your route with your map.  Are all your locations nicely grouped together, or spread out all over the place?

People don’t usually study maps of their home community, because they’re already so familiar with the area that they don’t need to refer to a map. Now is the time to unfold a map and look at your area with fresh eyes.  Can you see a faster route to all of your machines with fewer stops?  Some distributors prefer to go to their farthest location and work towards home, while others do the reverse.  Some do a “Great Circle” route, going out and around and back to their starting point. Some start at their wholesaler and then go on to fill their machines with absolutely fresh product. Many distributors fill their machines and then go on to another job, so they don’t return to their starting point. 

Obviously you know your community very well, but try to look at it as if seeing it for the first time.  You may be surprised to find a few extra stops that can be eliminated or done later, and you can speed up the entire route.

A second reason to alter your route is to scout out new locations!  When you see your community with fresh eyes, you’ll notice good potential locations that you might miss if you’re driving the same route week after week.  By the way, it can also be helpful to spend time driving your current route, without stopping to actually service your machines, and take ‘inventory’ of the businesses immediately around each of your existing locations. You can even try driving it from last to first—anything to see it with new eyes. You might find a good prospect right around the corner from a location!

The third reason to periodically change your route is to increase your personal safety.  New distributors may not take as many precautions as they should, but veteran distributors know it’s important to be very low-key (don’t wave around canvas money bags filled with cash, for instance!), and to vary your route from time to time. 

Of course, this means that you’ll arrive at your locations at other than your usual times, so before changing service times, check your notes; some managers may require a very specific time they’d like you to service your equipment (usually to limit disruption of their employees).  If you have any doubts, ask the management, but you’ll find management is usually pretty flexible about you coming in at a different time.  Besides, you’ll probably enjoy a change in your routine!

Many distributors have found that by rearranging their route and making it more efficient, they had the time to add more machines and locations.  They could work their expanded route in the same amount of time they used to take for the smaller route—which meant they could earn more in the same amount of time.  Now that’s efficiency!