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Getting the boot


vendtex

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Just curious for those who've done this a while.....how frequently do you get booted from locations and does this tend to be a chronic problem?  Can I expect to constantly have to relocate a percentage of  the machines every year?  Is full line any less likely to get the boot?

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I've been booted from 8 bulk locations in the year and a half I've been vending. 5 because they weren't allowed from upper management, 1 closed, one remodeled and decided to boot all the vendors and the last one booted my candy machine because they were buying a snack machine. 

Haven't been booted from a full-line account yet. I have solid relationships with them and feel like I give them good service. 

I think bulk is more likely than full-line to be booted. 

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I've only been at it since 2015. But most my bulk locations are solid. Especially if they've lasted at least one cycle. After that, like Quickvend said it's some regional manager thing normally. I had a few locations for  8 months before the regional manager showed up and kicked me out. A couple I've been kicked because the big snack and soda guys didn't want the competition. But that's few and far between. Maybe 4 locations in a year for me if any.

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About 10% of all my new locations in 2016 were booted. All for the reasons already stated above. Got one machine also currently locked in a closed business. Commission seems to be very unlikely to be booted. I'm not doing contracts with bulk commission but I am with amusements. And probably full line and ATMs when I cross that bridge.

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     If you are going to run charity bulk you will always be losing locations (or voluntarily pulling equipment) for a multitude of reasons. Losing/relocating accounts is a frustrating and constant part of the vending business. Why do you think there are garages all over the country with vending machines sitting in them? Most of the time they were bought with the intention of getting them out on the street and it never happened or they were on the street at one time and the location was lost. Two different scenarios...same result. Why? Because the vendor wasn't up to the task of locating or relocating the equipment. This is, in my opinion, one of the biggest reasons people fail at bulk vending and to a lesser extent all other vending as well. So many people entering the vending business think "I'll place the machine and it will be there for years making money.".  Unfortunately it doesn't always go that way and slowly the machines start coming back home . In short order the new vendor is overwhelmed and disenchanted. Then it's fire sale time.

     If you are getting into this business you better put "Finding New Customer Accounts" at or near the top of your business plan.  Be ready to get those machines back out earning in short order. If you plan for it going in, I really think it will improve your odds of growing and succeeding in this business.

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16 hours ago, gumball guy said:

     If you are going to run charity bulk you will always be losing locations (or voluntarily pulling equipment) for a multitude of reasons. Losing/relocating accounts is a frustrating and constant part of the vending business. Why do you think there are garages all over the country with vending machines sitting in them? Most of the time they were bought with the intention of getting them out on the street and it never happened or they were on the street at one time and the location was lost. Two different scenarios...same result. Why? Because the vendor wasn't up to the task of locating or relocating the equipment. This is, in my opinion, one of the biggest reasons people fail at bulk vending and to a lesser extent all other vending as well. So many people entering the vending business think "I'll place the machine and it will be there for years making money.".  Unfortunately it doesn't always go that way and slowly the machines start coming back home . In short order the new vendor is overwhelmed and disenchanted. Then it's fire sale time.

     If you are getting into this business you better put "Finding New Customer Accounts" at or near the top of your business plan.  Be ready to get those machines back out earning in short order. If you plan for it going in, I really think it will improve your odds of growing and succeeding in this business.

What I was trying to gauge given my need to use locators was the expected kick out rate because at some percentage rate of kick outs it would become unprofitable.  I'm considering trying to use in person locators rather than tele marketers because I'm hoping that there might be a higher success rate.....the "foot in the door" phenomenon.  It seems like it may be helpful to have the diversity of bulk full-line and honor boxes to help cushion the effects of kick outs on the business.

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13 minutes ago, vendtex said:

What I was trying to gauge given my need to use locators was the expected kick out rate because at some percentage rate of kick outs it would become unprofitable.  I'm considering trying to use in person locators rather than tele marketers because I'm hoping that there might be a higher success rate.....the "foot in the door" phenomenon.  It seems like it may be helpful to have the diversity of bulk full-line and honor boxes to help cushion the effects of kick outs on the business.

My advice is to use locators to supplement your business and not rely on them for the majority of your locations. Try and find time to locate yourself even if it's just one location per day. My reason for that is I'm focused on getting quality accounts with people I like working with. Commission is what I'm using to cusion the kick out effect.

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7 minutes ago, zjtaylor said:

My advice is to use locators to supplement your business and not rely on them for the majority of your locations. Try and find time to locate yourself even if it's just one location per day. My reason for that is I'm focused on getting quality accounts with people I like working with. Commission is what I'm using to cusion the kick out effect.

My full-time job makes that difficult.  I'm mainly doing this business for my son who is 27 but I need for him to do most of the work.  He's been able to get a few locations but sometimes it's not the decision maker that says yes.  Commission on $10 a month for gumballs would not seem to be much of an incentive for someone not to kick you out it would seem.  I'm hoping to get some racks ready for placement and perhaps that would be more likely to stay with a commission.

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I don't know, finding a location is what it is. Some people I think are favorable to a machine, some are indifferent, and some just impulse said yes to a machine. $10 commission is just icing on the cake to someone who likes the idea anyway. I have a car audio place I walk into sometimes, and half the time the machine is empty. I've tried different ways to put my machine in there, and they just don't want the change. If places like that get your machine...getting kicked out isn't easy. Had a tattoo place where the guy just was always super suspicious of the charity and first hiccup (a coin jam) and he was ready to give the boot.

I figure no where is safe forever, commission helps with johnny shop owner who doesn't mind beer money once a few months. That's been my experience so far.

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5 hours ago, vendtex said:

What I was trying to gauge given my need to use locators was the expected kick out rate because at some percentage rate of kick outs it would become unprofitable.  I'm considering trying to use in person locators rather than tele marketers because I'm hoping that there might be a higher success rate.....the "foot in the door" phenomenon.  It seems like it may be helpful to have the diversity of bulk full-line and honor boxes to help cushion the effects of kick outs on the business.

     It is hard to give you an average kick out rate because it is different for everyone.  That was my point above. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Great service, attractive, clean machines and a professional demeanor are a few things that will help reduce kick outs. If you are doing gumballs/bulk candy/honor boxes go through a verifiable, legitimate charity like the NCCS so if you are questioned by the location you have tangible information that you can provide them. Diversification can be a good thing but you will be looking at a much bigger initial investment with full line and you will need to acquire enough locations to help offset stales. Full line generally is more stable in regards to location retention (contracts can help there) but also requires frequent service and machine maintenance can be a bit more expensive and challenging than bulk. if you are doing honor boxes you are constantly losing locations and relocating. Look at the honor box section in here. The successful box operators are constantly locating.

     Have your son keep working on his locating skills. It gets easier with time. Make sure he is asking to speak with the decision maker and that will help reduce the number of times he gets a location and then the owner comes in and says get it out. If he can become proficient at locating you will save alot of money in the long run.

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  • 1 month later...

I've been in this business going on 14 years. In those 14 years i've lost maybe hundreds of locations due to various reasons. Most closing, some location owners buying their own machines, some remodeling and bulk just doesn't fit their new decor,ect. A wise man once told me years ago....you will eventually lose every location you get. If you really want to be successful in this business you need to learn to locate for yourself. If you have extra machines, always keep one or two in your truck while you're out servicing. Make it a point of locating at least one of those machines that day.

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