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Laundry Mat?


suzannetoon

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Hello -

 

I am really nervous for some reason to talk to business owners to place my first machine. I'm not sure exactly what to say or expect.

 

Anyways - I was thinking of trying to get a hold of a owner of a busy laundry mat. It seems there are always kids and people already have quarters. Are these good locations?

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Lol I know. I have a sticker machine located at a laundry mat. He demanded 50 percent. So I agreed. But I only give him 50 percent of the profit. I take the total amount collected and set aside 35% for costs of goods. Then the remainder I split down the middle with the owner.

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Great! Well, I will offer 15% of the profit and see what they say. Can I ask whether you secure your machine, and if so how? I tried researching, but came up with nothing.

I have a steiner 4 slot sticker machine there. It is not secured and have not had any trouble with it either. Has been there for almost 3 months. It is in a poverty are too. I should probably secure it but decided to take the risk instead. If you can secure it somehow without drilling holes than that would be ideal and would love to hear how you do it so I could consider doing it as well.

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I have a steiner 4 slot sticker machine there. It is not secured and have not had any trouble with it either. Has been there for almost 3 months. It is in a poverty are too. I should probably secure it but decided to take the risk instead. If you can secure it somehow without drilling holes than that would be ideal and would love to hear how you do it so I could consider doing it as well.

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Personally I'd get some chain and a heavy duty looking padlock and attach it to something heavy. If you're very familiar with soldering maybe make something like this that's a little less sensitive? http://lifehacker.com/5932698/protect-anything-from-theft-with-this-2-diy-motion-alarm
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Hello -

 

I am really nervous for some reason to talk to business owners to place my first machine. I'm not sure exactly what to say or expect.

 

Anyways - I was thinking of trying to get a hold of a owner of a busy laundry mat. It seems there are always kids and people already have quarters. Are these good locations?

 

The locating scripts, section has lots of practical outlines on what to say. I personally don't have a laundromat yet, but for most place if i'm offering commission, I simply walk in, ask if the manager's around, once/if they come out I explain I own a small vending business would like to discuss putting a small machine in, I pay (whatever you pay) and show a picture on my tablet. People around here seem pretty polite with that approach.

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Lol I know. I have a sticker machine located at a laundry mat. He demanded 50 percent. So I agreed. But I only give him 50 percent of the profit. I take the total amount collected and set aside 35% for costs of goods. Then the remainder I split down the middle with the owner.

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35% cog on flat? Where the heck are you buying it? Or are you just cheating him?

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Great! Well, I will offer 15% of the profit and see what they say. Can I ask whether you secure your machine, and if so how? I tried researching, but came up with nothing.

Offering 15% of net you will most likely be placing the machine in your basement or on eBay. If your talking a single head your better off going the charity route. If your talking a rack you need to rethink your split.

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Laundromats are rougher on machines. While I've never had any "theft" issues at mine yet, the machines do take much more physical abuse than any restaurant or retail-based unit ever will. I wouldn't put anything smaller than a 4/5-way rack in a laundromat unless I already had larger equipment present to lash it to all the same though. Plastic machines of any sort are an absolute no-go, and you want to steer clear of anything without a reliable (name brand) coin mechanism. If people have weird, beat up change with them, I seem to get it in my laundromat machines- and I can only imagine what some of these bent up, filth-encrusted coins would do to an LYPC mech.

 

As for locating, it's all in presentation. Approach the owner, explain who you are and what you do in plain terms. Don't be a "salesman"- you're not selling anything but your service. It takes some practice to get it down, but you've gotta start somewhere, so don't sweat it going in. Remember- the worst they can say is no.

 

Good luck! ^_^

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Interesting thread. I went locating earlier this week with Banetrain and Ianded 2 more laundromats. The ones I have already have 1" machines in them. I have been putting in tattoo machines @ .50 and 2" BB @ a dollar. Outfitting them on a giant pipe stand base with a triple bar across the top. So far no problems. Commission is based on gross. Not too high and not too low. Just where want it.

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35% cog on flat? Where the heck are you buying it? Or are you just cheating him?

I came up with he 35% from someone on here who suggested that I hold that amount. No, it doesn't cost 35%.

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35% maybe on candy or toys if sold at a quarter, most flat I get is about 20%. Just add shipping and product cost divided by 300.

I usually try for 30% commission, 25 if possible, but not likely in this area.

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Hell yeah, we kicked a$$ and took names lol. 

Come to Flint, MI and help me kick golpher and take names.  Every place around here has machines in it!  The places that dont have them is because the owners dont want them!  Man, I suck at placing these machines.  I turned to a locating service to see if they can help me out.  Ill see how they do with the first rack and if they do good then I will use them again.  In my defense, my only day off to locate is Sunday (if I dont have other chores to do around the house). 

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Yea I feel ya...I can only locate before and after work...and those times arent ideal...I wish I could go around 2pm..seems like that would be the sweet spot..

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Come to Flint, MI and help me kick golpher and take names.  Every place around here has machines in it!  The places that dont have them is because the owners dont want them!  Man, I suck at placing these machines.  I turned to a locating service to see if they can help me out.  Ill see how they do with the first rack and if they do good then I will use them again.  In my defense, my only day off to locate is Sunday (if I dont have other chores to do around the house). 

Haha definitely could. At first when I got into this business, I was nervous about asking but now it's pretty easy. I still get nervous sometimes but depends on the location. Just walk in, immediately ask if the decision maker is there and go from there. Say who you are, why you're coming by and say you wanted to offer a service to their customers and employees. Say it is no cost to you, I will service it in once a month or longer. If you feel it's necessary offer a set percentage but have that figure already in your head. You can do it!

 

Also have a flyer with your products and if possible pictures. A lot of locations want to visually see how big it is and have a list of the products you offer instead of spouting it out off the top of your head. 

Yea I feel ya...I can only locate before and after work...and those times arent ideal...I wish I could go around 2pm..seems like that would be the sweet spot..

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Go between 9-11. I have got most of my locations during this time. Honestly, in the afternoon the decision maker is normally busy or not around and you are wasting your time in my experiences. 

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Prime times to locate for me are between 10-Noon for most locs, and 2-4PM for restaurants. That's when restaurants are gearing up for their dinner services in most cases, so your DM is almost always on site, and there's far fewer customers to deal with. Just my experience though.

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I wish I could go at those times, I'm always at work...I swear the bigger my vending business gets, the more I wanna quit my job and vend full time lol.. Seems like a more enjoyable way to spend the day...

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Could you take a personal day? Or maybe just an afternoon off? 

 

Then you could spend one day locating. Plan it out ahead of time, and hit the locations you would like to be in. Pitch your machines, get a yes or no, thank them, and move to the next one. Keep going until you get a machine out, and take around the noon time to have lunch. Maybe at a location you would like to place a machine. You can thank the manager for the great service, and great food, and then go into your pitch.

 

Be nice, honest, and friendly, and I think you should get a location or 2 if you hit enough locations. (It's a numbers game.)

 

Another option is to go out for lunch, preferably a late one if you can, and either eat at the location you want to pitch, or keep a cooler in the car, and eat on the way to locate.

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Could you take a personal day? Or maybe just an afternoon off?

Then you could spend one day locating. Plan it out ahead of time, and hit the locations you would like to be in. Pitch your machines, get a yes or no, thank them, and move to the next one. Keep going until you get a machine out, and take around the noon time to have lunch. Maybe at a location you would like to place a machine. You can thank the manager for the great service, and great food, and then go into your pitch.

Be nice, honest, and friendly, and I think you should get a location or 2 if you hit enough locations. (It's a numbers game.)

Another option is to go out for lunch, preferably a late one if you can, and either eat at the location you want to pitch, or keep a cooler in the car, and eat on the way to locate.

This sounds like a great plan. I've taken the day off to do this before but did not have any success. The biggest hurdle was getting the chance to task to the decision maker. All I could do is pitch it to a manager or employee, hand them my card and hear them say, I'll give this to the manager. Like the mage suggested, I'll even do business with them first before making the pitch. Or another big hurdle is when you are trying to snag a spot that has run down machines and the managers or owners have no idea who the vendor is or how to get ahold of him/her. Those are my two biggest problems while locating.

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If you can get a chance to talk to the decision maker than you can more then likely secure the location.

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Could you take a personal day? Or maybe just an afternoon off? 

 

Then you could spend one day locating. Plan it out ahead of time, and hit the locations you would like to be in. Pitch your machines, get a yes or no, thank them, and move to the next one. Keep going until you get a machine out, and take around the noon time to have lunch. Maybe at a location you would like to place a machine. You can thank the manager for the great service, and great food, and then go into your pitch.

 

Be nice, honest, and friendly, and I think you should get a location or 2 if you hit enough locations. (It's a numbers game.)

 

Another option is to go out for lunch, preferably a late one if you can, and either eat at the location you want to pitch, or keep a cooler in the car, and eat on the way to locate.

This is definitely the truth. Sometimes you just have to take a personal day or even a half day off the regular job. That's what I do. If I do though, I make sure I have a list of locations and areas I want to hit but also free style some while driving to those spots/ Also, use your lunch time or breaks when you can. When I first got started, I went on lunch and breaks to ask nearby locations to work. Luckily, I caught the owner at one for a grand opening which allowed me to do a 2 for 1 deal. When he opens another service center in the near future, he already told me I have permission to put a machine in there. ;D

 

Also, when you get locations be friendly to the manager, secretaries, counter staff etc. Learn their names and engage in small talk. They will love that you care enough to ask "Hey Jim, how are you doing today." That they'll be excited when you come and tend to use your machine. At least this has been my experience. I have one place where the owner gives me hugs and calls me his brother lol. I only have one spot off the top of my head where I feel out of place and will say hey and have small talk with the owner if he's there but I don't really relate to the people there and what they like to talk about. 

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  • 1 month later...

Hello -

 

I am really nervous for some reason to talk to business owners to place my first machine. I'm not sure exactly what to say or expect.

 

Anyways - I was thinking of trying to get a hold of a owner of a busy laundry mat. It seems there are always kids and people already have quarters. Are these good locations?

I have one laundry mat and it does very good.Yes place it!

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