Don’t ignore an employer’s signal that they are considering medical vending or even worse, an employer’s request for medical vending.  They understand the value of providing over-the-counter (OTC) medications for employees but are tired of paying for abuse of that privilege as employees take handfuls of OTCs home to their families and neighbors.  Others want to avoid a perceived liability.  With or without you the customer is likely to move ahead and you need to decide if the account is worth your time even with reduced OTC sales.  Reduced OTC sales are better than no OTC sales and a savvy distributor will recognize and opening to make other sales to a customer who wants their expenditures to be meaningful.

How should medical vending be offered?  An employer may think medical vending is as profitable as other types of vending.  It isn’t because it is used on an “as needed” basis rather than on an “impulse” basis.  The employer may also think that employees will pay for the same amount of medications they have been taking with free access.  They won’t.  It may be necessary to explain this to the employer before or while discussing the following options:

It may be worth it to you just to buy, install and service a Fast-Aid Center as part of maintaining good customer relations.  However, any of the other options are equally viable because of the high value of medical vending and the positive affect it will have on your customer’s bottom line.

If employees are abusing free access to OTC medications a Fast-Aid Center will give your customer calculable cost-cutting relief.  You will gain your customer’s appreciation and close the door to the competition.  You might even consider offering the benefits of medical vending to win your competitor’s accounts. 

If healthcare professionals (or any other employees) are handing out OTC medications a Fast-Aid Center will free that time to spend on more productive duties while maintaining the well known benefits of OTC medications in the workplace.  For instance, an American Association of Occupational Health Nurse’s Journal states, “Occupational health nurses are influential health care professionals responsible for the promotion, protection, and restoration of worker’s health”.  When nurses have more time to spend on these priorities the employer will benefit as the health and safety of all employees improves to increase their productivity to make the company more profitable.  The health and safety distributor may realize an increase in OTC sales as well from employees who have avoided OTC medications but now find a Fast-Aid Center more convenient or less intimidating than a trip to the health department.

If OTC medications are not available to all shifts or are not available at all it is a win-win situation for you and the employer.  A Fast-Aid Center gives employers controlled access to OTC medications on the third shift or may provide an answer to cost and liability concerns that prevent employers from supplying OTC medications at all.  In both instances, the health and safety distributor gains new OTC medication sales.

Don’t create a new problem for yourself or your customer by offering an unreliable machine if medical vending is the answer to keeping current customers satisfied, creating new sales or winning new accounts.  Fast-Aid Centers are designed to offer maximum reliability, versatility, durability and security as the “Competitor Analysis and Comparison” chart on this site shows.  We hope you will take the time to read it.  In any case, please contact us if we can answer any questions or be of further service.