Commission Plans can Increase Productivity

Commission plans can improve productivity. For this to happen, Antares vending operators just need to take measures to ensure that drivers don’t skimp on service.

Business has been good for Antares vending operators, mainly due to the Natural Choice vending program that they use. The only thing that can be worse than not getting any business is turning away new business because you can’t find enough good help to service existing customers.

This is not an isolated issue. Everyone in business today is feeling the pinch of a full employment economy. In vending, a lack of qualified employees usually results in some level of deterioration in the quality of service you render to the customer. When this happens, the customers start to shop for better service.

To counter this problem, Antares vending operators are reviewing all of their systems and procedures in an effort to maintain quality service levels, with smaller staffs. They are forced to work longer, harder, smarter and faster, just to survive the good times. The area that needs focusing is the route labor, because it is the largest expense on the profit and loss statement after product costs.

There is no simple solution to this problem. In order to attract and retain quality people, a company must offer competitive wages and benefits; a safe, friendly work environment; a training program that enables employees to perform at or above acceptable levels; and offer the employee the opportunity to grow personally and professionally.

Unsophisticated operators install route commission plans with the hope that it will provide simple solution to all of their staffing problems. The level of an employee’s compensation is tied to the level of productive work he does. Given the incentive, most people would be willing to work harder, since they are being paid for their effort. This is why it is referred to as incentive compensation.

Your Antares operation must become an aggressive and creative recruiter. However, before the company can afford to pay market rate wages and benefits, it will have to develop and implement route productivity practices that maximize the amount of revenue each route person turns in, relative to the cost of running the route. In other words, you can’t pay competitive wages unless the company earns enough money to do so.