Jump to content

Locating


Flyboy718

Recommended Posts

Seven "Maybe" and four "No" today locating.  Anyone else doing any good out there.  Been going during my lunch breaks and locating.  I can usually hit 4-6 places in an hour.  Then I go locating after work sometimes.  Trying to get these 6 machines I picked up located.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've had days like that. I took off half a day of work to locate once and got nothing but no's or they already had a machine. I agree the charity helps a lot. I've got a couple of barbershops and other small places like that with commission on doubles...Rarely get more than 20 no's in a row before I got a yes though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Today I almost didn't go locate.  I was just going to sit in my truck on my lunch break and enjoy the weather.  Instead I went and decided I would hit a few places.  I went to 3 places and got a maybe and 2 No's and as I was walking out of the last -No- which was a nail salon; a woman comes running out and said "Excuse me sir, I overheard that you have a candy vending business and I have six locations that I own and I would be very interested in you placing machines at all six locations"    I said GREAT!  She then started to tell me about some car dealerships she owns and how we could probably do those and also her business freinds that she would talk to for machines as well.  You never know when locating....dry spell than WHAM!  The Lord blessed me today!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's awesome! Crazy how you got exactly the number of locations you had machines for lol. Guess you'll just have to go buy more now! I just had that happen with 4 full-line accounts at once. Exciting stuff for sure. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Went 2 for 3 today locating. A payday loan/check cashing place, it will be interesting how it does. I am thinking a cashed check may mean loose change, which may mean quarters in my gumball machine. The other one is a restaurant. I may have gone 3 for 3, it was a nail salon and I couldn't understand a word they said.

If anyone has experience with a payday loan/check cashing. Are they any good? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wasnt thrilled about commissions either. when i first started out, i read up on the charity sticker programs and it rubbed me the wrong way. to me, it makes it seem like the charity receives all of the proceeds, when in reality they may only make a small percentage after its all said and done. so instead of committing to $2/machine/month, i send a percentage to local animal shelters. the difference is im honest and upfront. they know that its a business that supports (local) charities and organizationd, not a charity-run machine that receives all proceeds, like i believed in the past.

When people know and can see what its going to, charity machines can be very effective. only one of my machines is commission, a sticker machine at a childrens hands-on museum. and its 501c so technically charity too. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, Zigzag Vending said:

I wasnt thrilled about commissions either. when i first started out, i read up on the charity sticker programs and it rubbed me the wrong way. to me, it makes it seem like the charity receives all of the proceeds, when in reality they may only make a small percentage after its all said and done. so instead of committing to $2/machine/month, i send a percentage to local animal shelters. the difference is im honest and upfront. they know that its a business that supports (local) charities and organizationd, not a charity-run machine that receives all proceeds, like i believed in the past.

When people know and can see what its going to, charity machines can be very effective. only one of my machines is commission, a sticker machine at a childrens hands-on museum. and its 501c so technically charity too. 

I am not sure how telling someone you are sending a unknown percentage to your local animal shelter is any better than participating with a legitimate vending charity. I have used the NCCS for years because they are a verifiable charity with a very good website that explains clearly what their mission is and how the money is spent. The NCCS states on their labels that they get a fee from the vendor regardless of sales and it is also clearly stated on their website. I explain to potential customers that the charity gets $1.00 per month per location regardless of sales. If they act like that isn't much I explain that the more machines I have out the better the charity does so if I have 500 machines out the NCCS gets $500.00 per month ($6000.00 per year) which is a very nice chunk of change for any charity. Most understand that concept. This charity has helped me get into many corporate locations because I can fax or give them my contract, show proof that I pay the charity, give them the charity website and encourage them to call the charity to verify that I am in good standing with them. As far as I am concerned this is an excellent situation for all parties involved. I encourage all vendors to go to https://thenccs.org/ if you haven't already and look at how they help the families of children with cancer and provide scholarship programs to young people who have survived this awful disease. It is indeed a legitimate charity.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Im not saying that they arent legitimate, i believe they are. but for my business model i wanted to work with local organizations. and i keep the donation acknowledgements i receive from them. but theres three reasons it works for me personally. it may not work for everyone. but 1) i live in small town kansas with small towns around me, so helping locally hits deeper to me and yhe locations i serve. 2).if i make $250 a month on 10 machines and the charity gets $10, do i feel that im adequately reimbursing the charity whose name im using to get in the door? at 10% they get $25. and 3) if im new, have 20 machines with stickers but only have 5 placed brcsuse i eork another job while getting this going, I may be shooting myself in the foot paying $20/month and may give up on the business before i have a chance to see the real value  in it. again, it works for me personally and it could work for someone who is shy about the charity route. go talk to a local organization you have a particular reason to want to support locally, get inspired, and drop your business card and a small donation upfront so if anyone asks them, yes you are contributing to their efforts. and keep donation acknowledgements to show the most stubborn skeptics.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's actually a good plan imo. Personally I don't live in a small town, and though i'm sure there are some charities (its hard to find them when I look) there aren't any around where I live that would probably mean anything to someone two cities over. So charities like the NCCS are great because it's sort of a one stop shop. 

I guess the part I was wondering about was when you said 

22 hours ago, Zigzag Vending said:

 the difference is im honest and upfront. they know that its a business that supports (local) charities and organizationd, not a charity-run machine that receives all proceeds, like i believed in the past.

 

Kind of makes it sounds like people not using local charities aren't honest and upfront. Just how I interpreted it, not saying that's what you meant. But again, in the end I think your plan makes and sense and should work great. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I understand. its not necessarily the vendors themselves. but to me, when u look at some of these charities and they are willing to give u the title of "representative" and send you (for a price) enough branded merchandise and even a charity id badge with your picture on it, it is with the idea of misleading the location into thinking you are a respondible member of that organization, and that candy  machine MUST be owned by said organization if its being brought in by a walking billboard. in essence, THAT to me would be false advertising.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't think that the store owners feel that way at all judging by the reactions you get sometimes.

I do think there is a chance of ppl thinking more is given but if you think through the costs of putting it there and collecting it idk. I don't think that a local charity would be different that way though either.

I've been doing this about 1.5 months and I've given more to the charities then we've made in profit so far.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 months later...

Something to think about most of the public knows these cancer charities are about fundraising. Anyone who has gone through this disease knows they don't do much but hit you up for donations. I like many other people would never put money in a machine with a cancer charity sticker.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, Funcndymn said:

Something to think about most of the public knows these cancer charities are about fundraising. Anyone who has gone through this disease knows they don't do much but hit you up for donations. I like many other people would never put money in a machine with a cancer charity sticker.  

Not true. Go to https://thenccs.org/  and see how they use donations to directly help families with daily expenses, transportation for treatment, etc. There are many legitimate cancer charities out there so I disagree with your assessment that most of these organizations are just "fundraisers". If there are some fraudulent cancer charities out there than please share so we can avoid doing business with them.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know a local charity that is wanting to create a national  vending outreach program.   Besides providing stickers, literature, and a contract type letter,  what else would one expect from the charity?

How can they manage it on their end to keep it as simple as possible? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

From a vendor's perspective I would suggest looking at established, reputable charities who use vending as a revenue stream and try to emulate what they do. I think it wise to have a person whose sole job is to direct the vending program but that may not be a viable option due to cost. The program needs to be consistently managed from top to bottom and needs to be transparent so people can see what is happening with donations. Make it simple for vendors to participate and to pay their fees. I think the key these days is an informative, easy to use website that provides all pertinent info to people looking for help, potential benefactors, and corporate partners (big business and small vendors alike).  Just my 2 cents.  I wish them luck.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 hours ago, gumball guy said:

Not true. Go to https://thenccs.org/  and see how they use donations to directly help families with daily expenses, transportation for treatment, etc. There are many legitimate cancer charities out there so I disagree with your assessment that most of these organizations are just "fundraisers". If there are some fraudulent cancer charities out there than please share so we can avoid doing business with them.  

I like the NCCS, except that their stickers could be smaller and I wish I could login to their website to order stickers instead of having to mail the paperwork or scan it and send it by e-mail. 

I'm curious about the people offering to share 20% of the drop. How do you do it? Do you count the money in front of the client? I think paying $1 a month per machine to the NCCS is cheaper and involves less hassle.  

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

37 minutes ago, VictorVending said:

I like the NCCS, except that their stickers could be smaller and I wish I could login to their website to order stickers instead of having to mail the paperwork or scan it and send it by e-mail. 

I'm curious about the people offering to share 20% of the drop. How do you do it? Do you count the money in front of the client? I think paying $1 a month per machine to the NCCS is cheaper and involves less hassle.  

 

You pay 20% of the gross sale from each time you pull. Most places you count or weigh it in front of them then pay them. Some want receipts some don't. The charity route is much easier because you are in and out of each location quickly. One of the challenges you face with commission on bulk candy/gumballs is that the machines don't always make that much. Service cycles on candy are ideally 2-3 months in my opinion so unless it is a powerhouse location you may only pull 10 to 20 bucks which is about 4 bucks or less for the location at 20 percent. On capsules you can stretch out those service cycles to save you money and to make the locations commission a higher dollar amount when you pay. Most of the time I will go 25% on candy and at least 30% on gumballs. I really try to avoid paying commission on candy accounts but sometimes it is unavoidable.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Truly a BRUTAL day out there, it was tough. 2 for 27, with the last one being anyone who would take a machine.

I hope no one else suffers these type of locating days.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sometimes you have your bad days, just don't let it get to you or it will show in you're body language and it will just get worse.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It got better, someone called in and I delivered a machine yesterday.  3 for 27, still not very good.


1 yes for 9 no's seems good to me. That's probably better than what I average

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When your out selling your going to get more no's then yes's , it's a numbers game . When I first started I hated the selling part but now I've come to enjoy it and I also locate for other vendors now .
I do cold calls but I've also started advertising on Craigslist and I do telemarketing as well .
You can get a list of new businesses in your area also and that's a good start , if a business says no then keep their information and contact them in the future, I usually contact the no's in 6 months.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...