Locating Tips!

[caserri]

Recently, A friend of mine, Robert Patterson, author of the Candy Man blog, acted on a tip from one of his readers. The suggestion was to use some sort of promotion to make it easier to aquire locations for bulk machines. The idea was brilliantly simple and I credit Rob's reader Josh for it.

As we all know, the going rate for a reputable locator is anywhere from $40 to $60 per machine. For some, that is merely a cost of doing business. For others however, it is an unnecessary and quite frankly a prohibitive expense.

Enter the promotional give away! A theory that has its roots dating back to 1789 when supporters of General George Washington gave away buttons to promote his election to the presidency.

Well here we are in 2007 and the idea of giving something away in order to get something that is more valuable to us is alive and well. Acting on the suggestion of one of his readers, Rob purchased a few $20.00 gift certificates to a local restaurant. With the certificates in hand, he started his journey to place his machines with the novel idea of giving away a free dinner to those who would allow his machines to be placed in their establishment. It was a success! For the cost of roughly half of the going rate of a professional locator, Rob successfully placed machines in locations that he chose.

I give a grade of A+ to this plan. It gives you complete control over your business while drastically cutting placement costs. Not to mention, your self confidence gets a real boost every time you get a YES!

My hat is off to you Rob and reader Josh! Keep up the good work boys! To read more of Robs blog visit http://candyman007.blogspot.com/.

 

Steve    

[candyman007]

What a sumptuous post.  You know, I can't believe that no one has recommended this before. 

Yesterday I got 2/5 places because of the gift certificate and the people who did say No, said no with hesitation.  The gift cards give you a lot more confidence walking in and I'm sure that shows. 

I keep them in my hand while I walk in and people constantly look down at it while you are talking to them.  Just watch their eyes.  At the end of the speech I tell them about the $20 promotional give away and they jump for joy!  I plan on dropping machines off at some killer auto locations today without any problem.  These guys are working for maybe $10 an hour, how could they say no to a free dinner at a nice restaurant?  Even people that make more money have a hard time saying no to a free dinner!

Times are tough right, with the housing market taking a huge dip people want and need things for free.  I am here to fill that void.  Plus I am giving out bounteous proportions of M&M Peanuts and Runts!  Everyone loves the candyman!

Rob

http://candyman007.blogspot.com

http://kickstartvending.com

[mike]

What do you think of getting retirement homes & assisted living retirees involved in locating for us?  I was thinking they may have good connections with shop owners and probably have a lot of free time.  How you think we could get them involved?  I’m thinking along the lines like:

A 10% commission to AARP.

Paying their annual AARP Dues.

Paying some cash bonus per machine.

[Ryan]

I too love the gift certificate idea.  Bloody brilliant!

Here is another idea: I am wondering if you guys have thought about utilizing craigslist as a potential substitution for locators.  Caserri, why not post something on craigslist regarding your $30 referral program? Rob, you could do the same thing.  What do you guys think of craigslist?

[MileHighVending]

That's an awesome idea!

I myself paid a locator service but I would consider do-it-yourself on my next batch of machines.

Another idea I've heard: GIVE the retiree (or person willing to work a few extra hours a month) his/her OWN MACHINE, plus a percentage of the profits from the other machines. This way he/she has "pride of ownership" as well as a stake in how well your machines are maintained.

Just putting my 25¢ in. LOL.

-Mile High Vending

[dromero]

Here in Colombia,

there is no entrance fee. some people even pay only 10 percetn commision. 

 

My advice, move to Colombia.

[dogcow]

Here in Colombia,

there is no entrance fee. some people even pay only 10 percetn commision. 

 

My advice, move to Colombia.

would love to but id end up snorting al the profits maybe i can rig the machine to just accept coke as payment

[dromero]

would love to but id end up snorting al the profits maybe i can rig the machine to just accept coke as payment

Hahah cant believe this was approved. Well it makes you feel better than candy so why not lol

[mrshadetrees]

Been reading a ton on this forum. I've copy/pasted a number of great tips that'll really help. 

This was said in another post. It seemed more relevant for it to be asked here. 

On 10/14/2018 at 7:07 AM, nrod7 said:

When I was told that it was always best to offer (cringe!!!!) a 30% commission on a gumball location,  I almost fell out of my chair.

I greatly appreciate some of the tips and encouragement shared in this thread.

https://vendiscuss.net/topic/32055-need-locator/?tab=comments#comment-266907

I have every intention of locating my first few locations on my own. I have basically 2 questions for you and anyone else who doesn't mind responding. 

1. When out locating, do you still offer 30% each time, or do you vary it sometimes?  I was planning on 20% but your logic on keeping the location is sound, I think I'll try 20% and then 25% if no luck.  

2. Do you sometimes offer charity initially or even as a rebuttal?

 

Even though I don't like in sales much, it's what I have the most experience in (I even did 3 solid months of cold-calling for Main Street Hub lol) and so I'm half actually looking forward to locating on my own lol most days. It'll also be a good personal challenge to not give up regardless of how long it takes to secure that first location. After running the #'s and reading, too many reasons not to do this. 

 

If this topic has already been discussed somewhere else, please throw me a Zelda. 
 

*** *** ***  *** *** ***  *** *** ***
searchable keywords: what percentage profits to offer, cut, pitching, locating tips, advice, self, in person, securing, locations, nccf, script tips

Edited November 6, 2018 by mrshadetrees

[gumball guy]

3 hours ago, mrshadetrees said:

Been reading a ton on this forum. I've copy/pasted a number of great tips that'll really help. 

This was said in another post. It seemed more relevant for it to be asked here. 

I greatly appreciate some of the tips and encouragement shared in this thread.

https://vendiscuss.net/topic/32055-need-locator/?tab=comments#comment-266907

I have every intention of locating my first few locations on my own. I have basically 2 questions for you and anyone else who doesn't mind responding. 

1. When out locating, do you still offer 30% each time, or do you vary it sometimes?  I was planning on 20% but your logic on keeping the location is sound, I think I'll try 20% and then 25% if no luck.  

2. Do you sometimes offer charity initially or even as a rebuttal?

 

Even though I don't like in sales much, it's what I have the most experience in (I even did 3 solid months of cold-calling for Main Street Hub lol) and so I'm half actually looking forward to locating on my own lol most days. It'll also be a good personal challenge to not give up regardless of how long it takes to secure that first location. After running the #'s and reading, too many reasons not to do this. 

 

If this topic has already been discussed somewhere else, please throw me a Zelda. 
 

*** *** ***  *** *** ***  *** *** ***
searchable keywords: what percentage profits to offer, cut, pitching, locating tips, advice, self, in person, securing, locations, nccf, script tips

     I assume you are looking to start with bulk candy. I would encourage you to start with used single head gumball machines. They are small, reasonably priced, easy to move and the easiest to locate. Get with a charity like the NCCS (National Children’s Cancer Society) who has a simple vending program that can be done month to month. I wouldn’t fool around with commission because bulk gumballs and candy usually don’t make enough to justify paying commission. Example: You have a gumball location that does an industry standard $7.00 per month and you service it on a 3 month cycle. You count out $21.00 and if you are paying 30% commission to the business they get a whopping $6.50. Pretty underwhelming for the location. Now before someone jumps all over my bulk candy/gumball commission statement with disagreement I understand that there are always exceptions to the rule especially in high traffic restaurants or retail outlets. My primary point to you is start small and simple while you see if you like vending. If you like it then continue to build a route. If you don’t like it then you can cut bait, sell the equipment pretty easily and move on.

[mrshadetrees]

Among other things, I liked the charity point you made, to not mess with commission. I'm now going to pitch the charity angle and last-ditch-rebutt with commission if other rebuttals still haven't worked and they haven't called the cops. 

The fun of optimism aside, I do agree it is important to prepare for the averages. Given how large my city is though, And my business goals, if it brings less than $15 I probably won't hesitate to relocate it until I'm receiving at least $15-$20 since a higher overall average is important to me and I at least somewhat believe in my quality lead generating abilities.

Day 1 is certain to be a most interesting and fun conglomeration of everything I've gained from this forum and other articles (anyone else grow a collection of copy/pastings in the beginning?!). 

Since I'm currently wanting to create just another side stream of income, I'm fairly sure I'll like all that's required to run a small route and will only least like the locating aspect and lower than desired minimum returns. I have a truck, I'm mechanically and mathematically inclined.

I did decide my first machine will be a 2 head, PM&M's and gumballs or PM&M's and whatever the location prefers, that should help with my minimum goal. And yeah, finding a used 2 head would be ideal. 

Your response has definitely helped me. 

Edited November 7, 2018 by mrshadetrees

[DirtyHank]

what part of texas?

[mrshadetrees]

Austin area, you?

[mrshadetrees]

 

On 11/7/2018 at 6:51 PM, DirtyHank said:

what part of texas?

"Dallas," Ah, cool. Thanks for responding.