The coffee service industry has undergone quite a test of resilience since the start of the pandemic, not helped in the last year by the slow return of workers to the office. There was a clear sense of cautious optimism on display at the 2023 Coffee, Tea and Water Show (CTW) in Indianapolis – a sense that 2024 could be the start of better times ahead.

What do OCS operators need to do to succeed in 2024? When the question was asked on the convention floor at CTW, there was no shortage of opinions from operators and industry observers. In this edition of Automatic Merchandiser’s Vending & OCS Nation, host Bob Tullio brings those convention floor conversations directly to you, identifying trends and themes that are emerging from battle tested operators, with solid advice how to succeed in 2024.

Tullio hopes this podcast gives operators who listen a nugget of advice or insight that will help them point their business toward greater success in 2024.

J. Recher understands that convenience services operators can impact millions of people's lives each day. The impact can occur in a small way, through a cup of coffee, a salad or a snack. A closer look reveals that the impact being made by Recher and Five Star goes far beyond serving customers.

In this episode of Automatic Merchandiser’s Vending & OCS Nation podcast, host Bob Tullio talks to C. J. Recher, who serves Five Star Food Service as their vice president of marketing. Recher has another important role as well. He is co-founder of Feeding the Future, a non-profit organization that focuses on keeping kids from going hungry.

What Recher loves about the industry is that operators have such close contact with the end consumer. They can make a customer’s day much improved by providing the right products at the right time. “They're looking to us and the services that we provide to get them through their workday,” said Recher.

At the same time, his work with Feeding the Future is a gamechanger for kids who are unsure where their next meal is coming from, especially on weekends. This podcast is about Five Star’s advanced marketing strategy and a cause marketing program that has earned companywide buy-in.

Like so many of the industry’s leading coffee service companies, Associated Services was stung by the pandemic. Once the best market for OCS, the Bay Area suddenly became one of the worst, as the work at home movement stubbornly took hold.

In the latest episode of Automatic Merchandiser’s Vending & OCS Nation – the podcast for the convenience services industry - Tom Steuber, Justin Steuber and Kim Lenz reveal their formula for success at Associated Services. Host Bob Tullio explores multiple topics with the leadership team, including:

• Strategies that are working

For any operator, especially those who are adjusting to the slow recovery of traditional OCS, this podcast offers a blueprint on how to adapt, how to pivot and how to succeed – which is exactly what Associated has been doing for over 50 years.

Like so many business development experts today, Amanda Puppo, Founder and CEO of MarketReach Inc., started out as a salesperson, working on the frontline. Ultimately, she gravitated to her strength, which was cold calling and appointment setting, to form her company over two decades ago.

In the latest edition of Automatic Merchandiser’s Vending & OCS Nation podcast, host Bob Tullio talks with Amanda Puppo, discussing the evolution and relevance of B2B telemarketing. While some people believe that B2B telemarketing is dead, don’t even think about telling that to Amanda, whose boutique agency specializing in high-level prospecting and appointment setting services, is still working hard to help convenience services operators get positioned in front of decision makers.

Amanda shares the techniques that can translate to successful calling and the thought process behind selling that has led to impressive results for convenience services operators. For anyone involved in appointment setting - the ongoing battle to connect with office managers, facility managers and other key decision makers - this podcast is a must listen.

For business owners who are trying to do telemarketing in house, or for those who have simply given up on the idea of telemarketing, it is worth hearing Amanda’s perspective on why telemarketing – done the right way – should be part of your business development program.

She was just looking for a way to help fund her family’s New Song Mission, a non-profit in Nicaragua. Somehow, that turned into a coffee service journey – coffee cart operator, to OCS and pantry service operator, to roaster.

For Melissa Brown, founder and owner of Well-Bean Coffee in Wake Forest, North Carolina, it’s really all about giving back. On a visit to Nicaragua in 2012, she came up with what seemed like a simple idea – import coffee and sell it in states to help finance the needs of her family’s non-profit.

It was an uphill climb (a nightmare at times) that required hard work and the willingness to take extreme risks – something many operators and small businesspeople can certainly relate to. When everything about her plan seemed destined for failure, Brown found a way to persevere and ultimately, her story is about faith, philanthropy, effort and a little luck – which always helps.

For any entrepreneur, Melissa’s story is a great listen, an inspiration that may cause some to consider the value of giving back to a cause that truly means something to you.

As she put it, she started out as a “card carrying salesperson.” Now, Brynne Tillman is the world’s foremost expert in LinkedIn engagement and her strategies are proven.

In this episode of Automatic Merchandiser’s Vending & OCS Nation, host Bob Tullio talks to Brynne Tillman of Social Sales Link.  She provides a five-step framework for mastering LinkedIn for social selling.

Brynne notes that the buyer’s journey has changed and operators/suppliers who want to successfully connect with prospects need to fine tune their LinkedIn strategy. For anyone who is actively posting on LinkedIn with the hope of generating some new business from all that posting activity, this podcast is a must listen.

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She was a 2023 recipient of Automatic Merchandiser’s Most Influential Women in Convenience Services Awards. With 38 years of industry experience, Sandy Schoenthaler is still going strong as a very active consultant.

In this episode of Automatic Merchandiser’s Vending & OCS Nation, host Bob Tullio talks to Sandy Schoenthaler about her journey, her efforts to move women forward in the industry and her many ideas that are helping operators succeed, especially in the micro market business.

Schoenthaler reveals the three micro market suppliers that she feels are instrumental to the success of the operators she works with and what operators need to do to thrive in the micro market business. She shares her solution relating to micro market security and gives listeners her recipe – her secret sauce – for micro market success.

With a successful background in technology-oriented startups, Matan Sharf and his co-founders of ansā, found themselves attracted to the coffee business, an industry with plenty of room for innovative technology.

In this episode of Automatic Merchandiser’s Vending & OCS Nation, host Bob Tullio explores the journey of a tech start-up that plans to cause some disruption in the coffee service channel, in the best sense of the word.

About four years ago, ansā began the process of inventing a micro roaster with the ability to roast fresh coffee on demand, in a workplace. OCS operators may want to pay attention to their model, which almost sounds too good to be true. With no capital investment required, a low wholesale price for single origin green coffee beans (a product that isn’t sold at warehouse stores), total sustainability and today’s workplace environment that craves something special in the OCS channel – operators around the country are lining up to get on board.

Anyone who uses LinkedIn on a regular basis as a business development tool or to enhance their career path, will be captivated by this podcast from Automatic Merchandiser’s Vending & OCS Nation, hosted by Bob Tullio. Serdula was initially unimpressed by LinkedIn when she first signed up almost 20 years ago, but as she took a closer look, she began to see the potential and the rest is history.

She wrote the book "LinkedIn Profile Optimization for Dummies." She has lectured around the world and her company, Vision Board Media, founded in 2009, is recognized as the pioneer of LinkedIn profile optimization and it is where many executives turn to for professional and employer branding. This podcast and Donna’s energy will light a fire under your LinkedIn engagement effort.  If you have neglected your LinkedIn profile, it could very well inspire you to freshen it up and get back in the game.

Businesspeople pay Donna and her team to teach them how to SOAR on LinkedIn, but for our listeners, this powerful advice is available on Vending & OCS Nation.

This Los Angeles area operator has been driven by his love for the vending business and the determination to overcome adversity. Bob Tullio first met Barry Rosenberg from VendingOne in the 1990’s at Saban Entertainment in Los Angeles. Saban created the Power Rangers. Tullio, the host of Automatic Merchandiser’s Vending & OCS Nation, was impressed that a one-man operation had somehow landed a major vending account, where Tullio’s company had the coffee service.

Over 20 years later, Rosenberg is a force to be reckoned with (Tullio says he always was) – but now, he is an established operator who in early August, was interviewed for an article in the Wall Street Journal. Barry has come a long way and in this episode of Vending & OCS Nation, he shares his story, some advice and his genuine love for the industry.  Any operator who has ever been in the trenches will certainly relate to his story.