Three’s a charm or… It’s really simple and really important

Three’s a charm or… maybe a challenge

There’s a story about a guy who was considered the dean of selling back in the day. As a young sales rep working for a producer of canned vegetables, he called on all the grocery stores in his territory.

In one stop to see an existing customer he was confronted by a grumpy owner. He was upset that the big shipment of green beans the rep had shipped him was largely unsold – even though the owner had marked them down to $.14 per can.

The enterprising rep created a big display of the unsold beans with a sign that said, “Special: Three for $.43”. When he returned the next day to find them all sold, he confidently approached the owner expecting a well-deserved pat on the back. But instead the snarky owner said,” Well anyone can sell ‘em if you give it away!”.

That’s when he realized most folks can’t divide by three. Attesting to that fact, to this day lots of “specials” are still offered in threes. While we can’t build displays, we might still be able to cash in on that factoid when it comes to how we present a price or address proposed savings.

And even if we can’t it’s still interesting to know that we’re not the only ones who have trouble dividing by three.

It’s really simple and really important

Sometimes the most important step that machine operator can take has nothing to do with changing the wash tank or for that matter pretty much anything about the equipment. And nope, it’s not presoaking the flatware, or taking the time to allow the wash tank to achieve the correct operating temperature.

It’s prescrapping (and doing it well)!

That simple act best done with the heel of the hand, or with a rubber spatula (for the squeamish), followed by that T&S sprayer’s use, will do more to guarantee cleaner ware than pretty much all the ideas in that first paragraph.

Good prescrapping not only reduces the amount of soil the machine has to remove, but it results in cleaner wash water for longer so that that machine can deliver clean ware to maximum effect until the next scheduled drain and refill.

Next up: Presoaking and racking flatware. Two schools of thought.