Dear CAVC Members,

Our new website is here!! Thank you for your patience waiting on its arrival. One piece of business before we really get this blog going; the one page that is yet to be finalized is the Members Page. If you have yet do so please send over a high resolution jpeg of your company logo and the best phone number and email to reach your company at. Okay…on to the blog:

At J&J we just installed LightSpeed this week. I have been a nervous wreck waiting on this, dreading the process of making all of our data systems work with one. And although it’s been a busy week it hasn’t been an awful week. And now that it’s just about over I am so excited about what this change means for the growth of our business (I literally just cried tears of joy when I was told the system would know to replace regular Snickers bars in our micro markets with the Halloween Pumpkin Snickers until Halloween and then it would revert back to standard Snickers bars…it’s the little things in life that make a big difference).

I  titled this blog Embracing Change instead of New Website because in large part the delay in getting this thing launched has come from me. Although I’m a millennial I don’t like technology. I actually dislike almost everything that’s new because I dislike not knowing things. I had no idea how to create a website, what content should be included, what pictures should be included, etc. In short the project seemed too big. But actually once I got started, with the help of Tara at VendCentral, the whole process was really simple.

My point in all of this is that if you are a CAVC Member and haven’t embraced technology yet please do so. It’s a lot easier than it might seem and in the long run will make life much easier. I promise.

Here are some things to do if you haven’t done so already: (Sidenote: This is based on my own experience. I’m sure there are a lot of things I’m missing, some things I’ll recommend that you dislike but these are just suggestions based on what’s worked for J&J. Take away what you like and leave the rest behind.Also, please note none of the below programs or products are in any way endorsed by CAVC and CAVC is not making these suggestions.

-Install a warehouse pick system. So far we LOVE LigthSpeed. The staff has been awesome and the program is very user friendly (even I understand it).

-Adopt mobile payment methods

-Update YOUR website. Not sure where to begin? I highly suggest contacting Tara@vendcentral.com. I loved working with them on this project. If you do decide to update your website here are some things to make sure you include:

• Social Media – Get a Facebook, write a blog, share on instagram, etc. Everything time these things are updated they increase your SEO (search engine optimization, the thing that makes sure you show up in a Google search)
• A call to action phone number and email at the top of the home page. Make it easy for people to get a hold of you
• An “Our Story” page. Today’s consumers want to feel like they a part of something. Make them feel like they are a part of your story

– Once you update your website pay someone to manage your SEO. We use BrandRep and love them. It’s seriously been worth every dime.

Alright, CAVC. That’s it for now. Enjoy the website! Embrace change!

Sincerely,

J. Skidmore