hawksfan9325 Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 Ok. First off this is a bit of a rant. but I feel it is necessary. Anyway, I have been going at this vending game for a little over 2 years. I have one very good account now that nets me $1,000 a month, and one smaller account that does about $100 a month net. I live in a town of about 80,000 people, plus two colleges with over 25,000 students. I have had probably 25 meetings with various account managers in all types of business's. I have been aggressive with follow ups, explained my pricing structure, discussed commissions when applicable, and been overly nice. I HAVE NOT CLOSE ONE ACCOUNT IN OVER YEAR! I have been very upset as I feel I am very up front with all these locations, and my pricing is very competitive. I am getting to the point where I feel I am too small to compete with these guys. What the hell am I doing wrong? I hate to sound winey, but this is a tough business, and I am a tough dude, as I have been battling Addisons Disease for over 2 years. I just need some veterans to chime in, and maybe wake my golpher up a bit. I don't think I could have been more clear, friendly, and concise in these meetings. I even offer a variety of "healthier" options too. I feel I may be missing something. There really is only 3 other vending companies in my area.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TKK Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 Although I havent done it the big guys in my town throw incentives. Offer better equipment, etc and say u have a monthly special. Were ur giving every New location x ammount of sign up bonus for this.month. Ive seen these big guys buy locations a car 70k m3) or give them a couple grand as an incentive. Like I said I havent done it im still pretty good at growing here on my own. Get to know the person in charge and definately find ppl who know ppl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryChris Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 Maybe you should consider hiring a salesperson on a commission basis. I believe you when you say you are nice and honest and all but some people just have a way to talk. I sort of do but people like TKK seem to be born for sales. It's a very simple idea. Offer 100% of the revenue that the account does in it's first full week. If tgey land you an account that yields 200/week, they get $200. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hawksfan9325 Posted March 24, 2014 Author Share Posted March 24, 2014 Maybe you should consider hiring a salesperson on a commission basis. I believe you when you say you are nice and honest and all but some people just have a way to talk. I sort of do but people like TKK seem to be born for sales. It's a very simple idea. Offer 100% of the revenue that the account does in it's first full week. If tgey land you an account that yields 200/week, they get $200. Have you used a salesman before? I could easily find someone on craigslist for this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryChris Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 Then do it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryChris Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 By the way. I have not used a person that calls theirself a salesman for hire or anything but I have given this deal before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snack dude Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 The question is are you comfortable talking to business people. If your not it shows. The hard part for me is getting the appointment. I always felt and feel if I can get a meeting or get in front of people I can close the deal Maybe do a presentation in front of a mirror or in front of friends and have them critique you. My weakness is I suck on paper. Be confident and do not back up to the big guys. Remember this is a service buisness and being a small company means personal service and when the ops manager calls he gets you not some sales guy or customer service rep. Also ask the customers you do have to be references so you can give potential new customers a reference sheet and assure them they may contact those contacts. Even if you only have three customers put them all on the sheet. When I meet with a potential customer I have bullet points that I try to hit. 1) I am the owner not a sells person so any promises I make I intend to keep 2) We are family owned and family run, Myself, My Wife, and Three kids who are working their way thru collage and have grown up in our business. When you feel the need to contact us it will be one of us answering you. 3) This is our livelihood not a side line or after hours second job. 4) We do not have route drivers, One of our family will be servicing your machines and we will service the hell out of them. To me confidence is the key Good Luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hawksfan9325 Posted March 25, 2014 Author Share Posted March 25, 2014 I feel that I am confident, as getting the meeting is half the battle. I do realize sales is a confidence game. Perhaps I am not showing true confidence. I still have a lot to learn about this business. I guess it's just difficult to differentiate from all the others, as it seems like they have the nicer machines and what not. I am not going to give up, I guess I just need to get stronger with closing. I do like the points you mention though. Thank you for those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TKK Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 To be honest its the way you speak to them. Make them want your vending Machines. Make them go like man we should help out the little guy. If uou cant get the main guy which I almost never get get someone close to them. A manager or someone and keep them wanting your service. I know this for sure, most places.already have vendors, and they dont care about Vending atleast not as much as you do...so even if they have crappy machines, crappy service, no comission, and an incentive most of them rather say nah thanks, than sure come on in let me take my personal time to go over details. But theres a way to get to everyone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metrovending Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 What's your business card look like?, do you wear a company shirt?, What's your sales material like? I have company embroidered shirts, front & back glossy business cards & a 7 to 9 page brochure that has a full color picture of a bottle machine on first page. My brochure has a binder with a clear cover page, You have to look like your the big dog on the block. Having all these tools helps with confidence & if your oral presentation isn't flawless it's not a big deal because you have wowed them for a minimal amount of cost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZVendor Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 Try not to offer too many different options unless they lead you there. You want them to lead the conversation so you can pick up on what their needs are, especially if they are unmet by the current vendor. Don't overwhelm them but rather speak to their concerns and needs with what you can offer to meet those needs. The real key is listening. If they don't feel that you are listening but rather dictating to them they will tune you out. So don't walk in and announce that you are the answer to all of their vending needs or even lead them to believe that. Instead ask them how you could improve on the vending they might already have and then be prepared to listen. You also do not want to use the word "No." Always answer with a comment like "I will find that answer out for you," or "That is a terrific idea, let me look into that and get back to you with an answer tommorrow." Then have that answer for them when you say you will. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reel Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 You have been given some good solid advise here... I would just like to add that sometimes in sales you can get caught into saying how great you and your business is...........when realistically what you need to be doing first up is trying to extract from the potential customer what their actual needs are. When you have extracted this information then tailor your response based on how well your placed to meet their individual needs over your competitor.. Also often businesses don't give the go ahead at the first meeting, one of the keys to selling is following up after an initial meeting and continue to do so until a decision has been made. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwi Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 I would just like to add that sometimes in sales you can get caught into saying how great you and your business is...........when realistically what you need to be doing first up is trying to extract from the potential customer what their actual needs are. When you have extracted this information then tailor your response based on how well your placed to meet their individual needs over your competitor.. You make some very insightful comments mate... apart from when your taking the piss out of me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mission vending Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 I have never been good at sales and in order to overcome this I have spent a lot of time and effort establishing relationships that I can get referrals from, here are some ways Have you asked your current location if you can use them for a referral, gotten a referral letter from them or better yet asked them who they do business with locally and if they would introduce you? Find some B2B service guys like the water bottle delivery guy, a/c guy, janitorial company and invite them out for lunch. Discuss how you can help each other out with referrals from your existing account bases, if you don't have that many to refer offer to pay $100 or so for a referral and introduction. They need to find out if they are happy with their current vendor, if not what the concern is and then introduce you as the potential solution. The introduction from someone that they know and are doing business with is a great way to get in the door. Your odds of closing a deal go up greatly if someone they already know introduces you. I've said it before and this looks like a good opportunity to say it again. Get involved in your community and get yourself known. Join the Chamber of commerce and show up at the lunches, volunteer for events, if you have the ability donate to events. Go to any other business networking kind of events. It will take time but as people get to know you calls and referrals will start coming in from people that want to help you because you are helping your commmunity. I've been doing this for about 9 years now and much of my new business comes from referrals from relationships that I have established and made a effort to maintain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snack dude Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 One thing I forgot to add NEVER, NEVER,NEVER,EVER,EVER, Bash another vendor. No matter what the potential customer thinks or says about them, DONT DO IT There is a thing called class, That aint it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spdydre Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 You either have to get a salesperson or just purchase existing accounts to grow. I was in the same boat although I was able to close some good accounts I hit a wall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryChris Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 One thing I forgot to add NEVER, NEVER,NEVER,EVER,EVER, Bash another vendor. No matter what the potential customer thinks or says about them, DONT DO IT There is a thing called class, That aint it It's funny that you mention that. There are times when the customer will actually criticize the current vendor for things that are frustrating to hear like "We asked for healthy stuff and he never gave us anything." When I hear that, I let them know that, while I do have some healthier alternatives like nuts, pretzels, etc... I do not fill my machines stocked full of "healthy" stuff because they tend to not sell and I am left with all of the stale product. On one of the accounts that I mentioned, I did assure them that we ALL have machines that break down. I don't tell them that my machines are somehow superior and that they will never break down because it will make me look like the biggest jackass when it happens to my equipment. What I DO recommend is that you ALLOW THEM to talk harshly of the current vendor but you just keep your mouth shut and nod. The best advice here is to listen to the customer. On probably every account that I have closed on, I let the CUSTOMER do the talking. I simply get the ball rolling and once they start bashing their current vendor, I start taking notes on what they want and what they don't want. Usually they feel confident that I will provide what they want because I simply took notes on it. I probably did 20% of the talking while they talked about the rest. And trust me, I can do 100% of the talking if I want to. I have just learned to shut my mouth and let the customer make my sale for me. My FAVORITE thing in the WORLD is when they say "I know we are a small company and we won't make you a lot of money..." The account is mine for the taking if I want it at that point, and on my terms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spdydre Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 What are your monthly goals? I would not wait a year to find an account. If you cant get one in person hire a salesman. If that doesn't work buy a small account that's for sale. Talk to your current accounts and ask if they know any other people that need vending and offer an incentive. Offer them other services coffee etc. One thing about vending is that you need to continue to grow or your business will die and before you know it you have a garage full of machines. You can loose accounts any day so you always need to be expanding even if its at a slow pace. Even if you only did two accounts in the year that would be two more than you have now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hawksfan9325 Posted March 27, 2014 Author Share Posted March 27, 2014 You guys have all given great anwers. My goals are really one new machine at a time. I am at $1,000 a month now, and would like to double that with the next account. Do you guys have any other spots for buying up locations? Craigslist in my area either never has location, or they are dog location grossing like $40 a week. They has to be a spot online where locations go up for sale? In my brief search, I couldn't find much. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TKK Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 Hawksfan that should be very easily doable! This last month I grew like crazy and not looking for locations, they were all people I had talked to before. I added $4,000 a month gross to my route with 3 locations, 6 machines. Im trying to slow down actually lol as im a one man show. That raised me from 8k a month to 12! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hawksfan9325 Posted March 28, 2014 Author Share Posted March 28, 2014 Hawksfan that should be very easily doable! This last month I grew like crazy and not looking for locations, they were all people I had talked to before. I added $4,000 a month gross to my route with 3 locations, 6 machines. Im trying to slow down actually lol as im a one man show. That raised me from 8k a month to 12! So you spoke to them before, and then they just happened to call you back, or did you do aggressive call backs? I am going to get some new business cards, and a few new shirts. That should help get the ball rolling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TKK Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 I just placed an order for business cards so although very useful ive never used one. I feel like crap when they ask. Shirts I do have but just to service. Well yeah I kinda called back and asked. One place had submitted a proposal months ago and they gave me the ok weeks ago in 2 locations. One had no vendors and one the vendor got the boot. Both dmv type places with 40 employees and about 100+ walkthrough I also bought a location this morning. Small single price Pepsi machine and usi snack machine. Makes 600 gross a month and I paid $1900 plus $300 to fill. 100 employee 24hr refinery place. 3 shifts tho. I saw it last night at 1am and by 2 I had closed the deal bought it in the morning and less than an hour later kept servicing my route. Swapped locks, but stickers, said hi to owner. Done. I always try to have 5-10k cash at home for when I find these deals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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