Mistake #1: I placed healthy products next to unhealthy products inside of vending machines. What a failure this was! The unhealthy foods & drinks just cannibalized the healthy ones due to their lower pricing & more recognizable brands. Customers made the irrational, impulse-based purchasing decisions that has become typical when standing in front of a vending machine. Nothing influenced or motivated the average customer to choose the healthier goods. Talk about money down the drain!
Lesson #1:I refuse to allow h.u.m.a.n. machines to be filled with ANY unhealthy products or be placed next to junk food vendors, thus maximizing sales, profits, & positive dietary influence.
Mistake #2: I allowed my healthy vending machines to be placed next to junk food vending machines. Much like my first mistake, this hindered the ability of my machines to positively impact the dietary decisions of vending customers. This hurt our brand value – our machines were just like others in the mix.
Lesson #2: I only allow h.u.m.a.n. machines to be placed in exclusive arrangements or in a 100% healthy atmosphere – this maximizes the value of the h.u.m.a.n. brand and gives the machines & operators an optimal chance of achieving success.
Mistake #3: I used the same vending machines as everyone else & added no attractive features. Bad idea! It’s one thing to sell junk food out of brown, inanimate machines that are clunky to use & unappealing to approach. But it’s an entirely different thing to use these same machines to sell premium healthy foods and beverages while also trying to make a positive, emotional connection with the customer. My machines shouted “Junk that makes you feel bad sold here” instead of “Better your life today!” and, therefore, it didn’t matter what products I was selling.
Lesson #3: I make sure our state-of-the-art, proprietary vending machines include new technologies such as digital video screens and touch-screen LCD displays in order to improve the customer experience, which directly boosts sales & profits.
Mistake #4: I didn’t think my machines’ graphics were THAT important.
Most people treat vending machines as a “last resort” dietary option. My machines had the same unattractive appearance as standard machines, and therefore, people had the same negative psychological connection with my machines as they did with others. This hurt sales & brought me no new, high-end, health conscious customers.
Lesson #4:I conducted numerous customer surveys, emotional connectivity tests, and research studies to produce the most appealing machine graphics, thereby creating a machine that shouts, “You want to buy from me!”
Mistake #5: My machines only offered cash & coin payment capabilities.
This one still makes me cringe! In a world where credit & debit cards are often the only form of payment people keep on them at all times, I was preventing customers from being able to buy items from my machines. This was especially impactful since I was vending premium healthy foods and drinks, which are more expensive than junk food (usually higher than $1).
Lesson #5: I place credit card readers in each and every one of our machines to give consumers the most purchasing power, allow for the sale of higher-priced items, and ensure that a sale at a h.u.m.a.n. machine is never lost. Check out our machines at http://www.healthyvending.com/machines 
Mistake #6: I put products in my machines without adequately testing them for consumer acceptance. This one really hurt! I simply stocked my machines with all of the products I liked & knew, not understanding that different people have different tastes & needs, and thus, different product preferences. By not realizing the great importance of customizing product offerings per location, I ended-up throwing away tons of product that didn’t sell and paid a huge opportunity cost along the way because of it.
Lesson #6: I require that all products are taste-tested, nutritionally- screened, and sales-verified before gaining placement in our machines, and also make sure that every single product mix is customized per location with no exceptions.
Mistake #7: I didn’t realize the significance of creating another revenue stream besides product sales. I just accepted that product sales were the only way I could make money and didn’t think about other ways to increase profits and revenues. I was a blind pessimist lacking an innovative mentality!
Lesson #7: I integrated ad-revenue producing digital video screens on the front of h.u.m.a.n. machines to provide vending operators with extra revenue opportunities without extra work.
As you can see, I made many mistakes over the first few years as a healthy vending operator. And even though it hasn’t been all smiles since our inception in 2003, I sure am smiling now. Why? With each mistake we became better! My mistakes taught me the lessons I needed to know to do things right!
About John Pinto
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