Poplady1 Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 I noticed several new vendors asking what a locator does that they can't do on their own. I wanted to talk about that for a minute. At Blue Moose we help established vending businesses expand and grow their company. Part of that includes finding the type of businesses that will provide the income needed to pay back the vendors investment and include a nice profit (hopefully). So we look for companies with a min. 65 full time employees for our smaller vending companies and up to 1000's for our larger companies (Canteen/Rainbow/Premier). There are several things you can do on your own that pays off. Get on line to look up business directories for your area. Keep your eye out for new business listings from your Chamber of Commerce. Get in touch with them quickly. Actually the Chamber has great lists of local companies for you. Each morning make a list of 10 companies you want to call. Make the calls. Just tell them you have a local vending company and you would like to talk to the person that handles their vending program. When that person gets on the line be sure to tell them you don't want to take up too much of their time. Explain you are a local vendor offering drink and snack machines (or more if you have them). Ask if they are happy with their current vending program and wait for the answer. I promise you if they are unhappy they will be glad to tell you all of the problems. Listen to them, then only if you can fix those problems ask if you can stop by to show them your program. Then do it. If you make those calls eveyday, at the end of the week you will have lots of information and probably at least one serious appointment. Most of the ten calls each day will be "No". Don't be upset. That's normal. If the company says they have a contract ask if you could give them a bid before the contract expires. Ask for the expiration date and grab your notebook. Write it down on your calendar and call them two months before renewal. That notebook will get pretty darn big but every call will bring different information, different possibilities and you will be well on your way building your business. Start rechecking your notebook each morning, reread your notes. Always be creative. Sometimes the person you need to speak to is out of the office for vacation or business. Make a note in the notebook mentioning when you should call back. Always mark down their name and try to get their extension. When you call back if you get their voice mail do not leave a message. Always continue calling until they pick up the phone. Busy business people do not call back on sales calls. In their head the minute they read your please call me message they think, they can call back if they are really interested. Attend business meetings. Check your Sunday newspaper or whichever day your local news company lists the upcoming meetings. Get involved. Many news papers now have on line listings and event calendars. Stay on top of them. When you are out on the road if you see a company that looks good to you, stop to write down the name and address. Then be brave. Call them. Try to remember you are offering them a free service and free expensive equipment. Many times you are putting thousands of dollars into a location, for FREE. Wouldn't you like it if some company offered to give you free services and equipment! You are not selling them anything. You are offering them a free service. Why be shy. Good Luck to all of you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TKK Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Wow thanx man. Very good advice! Now do you have instructions on how to not be lazy? Lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruff84 Posted January 18, 2013 Share Posted January 18, 2013 Man, i need to grow a pair and start locating. I have terrible anxiety when it comes to stuff like this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shepherdsflock Posted January 18, 2013 Share Posted January 18, 2013 Man, i need to grow a pair and start locating. I have terrible anxiety when it comes to stuff like this. Yep, so do I. One of the things I want to work on this year is getting better at sales and overcoming anxiety when locating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruff84 Posted January 18, 2013 Share Posted January 18, 2013 I need to just drink a few shots of hard liquor and then go locating, as long as i don't get to crap faced all anxiety subsides and i will talk to anyone about anything even if they don't want to hear it. Although a tad to much alcohol and these locating meetings could get pretty hairy quick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cashman Posted January 18, 2013 Share Posted January 18, 2013 Thanks for the advise Bev, really do appreciate it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mission vending Posted January 20, 2013 Share Posted January 20, 2013 I noticed several new vendors asking what a locator does that they can't do on their own. I wanted to talk about that for a minute. At Blue Moose we help established vending businesses expand and grow their company. Part of that includes finding the type of businesses that will provide the income needed to pay back the vendors investment and include a nice profit (hopefully). So we look for companies with a min. 65 full time employees for our smaller vending companies and up to 1000's for our larger companies (Canteen/Rainbow/Premier). There are several things you can do on your own that pays off. Get on line to look up business directories for your area. Keep your eye out for new business listings from your Chamber of Commerce. Get in touch with them quickly. Actually the Chamber has great lists of local companies for you. Each morning make a list of 10 companies you want to call. Make the calls. Just tell them you have a local vending company and you would like to talk to the person that handles their vending program. When that person gets on the line be sure to tell them you don't want to take up too much of their time. Explain you are a local vendor offering drink and snack machines (or more if you have them). Ask if they are happy with their current vending program and wait for the answer. I promise you if they are unhappy they will be glad to tell you all of the problems. Listen to them, then only if you can fix those problems ask if you can stop by to show them your program. Then do it. If you make those calls eveyday, at the end of the week you will have lots of information and probably at least one serious appointment. Most of the ten calls each day will be "No". Don't be upset. That's normal. If the company says they have a contract ask if you could give them a bid before the contract expires. Ask for the expiration date and grab your notebook. Write it down on your calendar and call them two months before renewal. That notebook will get pretty darn big but every call will bring different information, different possibilities and you will be well on your way building your business. Start rechecking your notebook each morning, reread your notes. Always be creative. Sometimes the person you need to speak to is out of the office for vacation or business. Make a note in the notebook mentioning when you should call back. Always mark down their name and try to get their extension. When you call back if you get their voice mail do not leave a message. Always continue calling until they pick up the phone. Busy business people do not call back on sales calls. In their head the minute they read your please call me message they think, they can call back if they are really interested. Attend business meetings. Check your Sunday newspaper or whichever day your local news company lists the upcoming meetings. Get involved. Many news papers now have on line listings and event calendars. Stay on top of them. When you are out on the road if you see a company that looks good to you, stop to write down the name and address. Then be brave. Call them. Try to remember you are offering them a free service and free expensive equipment. Many times you are putting thousands of dollars into a location, for FREE. Wouldn't you like it if some company offered to give you free services and equipment! You are not selling them anything. You are offering them a free service. Why be shy. Good Luck to all of you. Great post Bev!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogcow Posted January 20, 2013 Share Posted January 20, 2013 I need to just drink a few shots of hard liquor and then go locating, as long as i don't get to crap faced all anxiety subsides and i will talk to anyone about anything even if they don't want to hear it. Although a tad to much alcohol and these locating meetings could get pretty hairy quick. Can't tell if this a joke or not. If not it would be incredibly unprofessional behavior, and long-term abusing drugs or alcohol to deal with anxiety goes down a bad road. There are things you can do to eliminate these anxieties the right way let me know if u want to know them I need to just drink a few shots of hard liquor and then go locating, as long as i don't get to crap faced all anxiety subsides and i will talk to anyone about anything even if they don't want to hear it. Although a tad to much alcohol and these locating meetings could get pretty hairy quick. Can't tell if this a joke or not. If not it would be incredibly unprofessional behavior, and long-term abusing drugs or alcohol to deal with anxiety goes down a bad road. There are things you can do to eliminate these anxieties the right way let me know if u want to know them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruff84 Posted January 20, 2013 Share Posted January 20, 2013 Can't tell if this a joke or not. If not it would be incredibly unprofessional behavior, and long-term abusing drugs or alcohol to deal with anxiety goes down a bad road. There are things you can do to eliminate these anxieties the right way let me know if u want to know them Yes, it was a joke. It's hard to get a joking tone across on the internet, though I do have anxiety about it, but nothing too bad. I don't drink and if I did I wouldn't be mixing business with pleasure anyways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mission vending Posted January 20, 2013 Share Posted January 20, 2013 Yes, it was a joke. It's hard to get a joking tone across on the internet, though I do have anxiety about it, but nothing too bad. I don't drink and if I did I wouldn't be mixing business with pleasure anyways. You can always add a "smiley face" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GagesVending Posted January 21, 2013 Share Posted January 21, 2013 I used to be nervous about locating too...then I discovered that even the "big, bad decisionmaker," too, is only a person. The worst thing they can do is say no. Just be confident and assertive, but yet friendly and professional. Learn how to combine these qualities and you'll be more successful at it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spdydre Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 haha! Sad thing is I know a guy that actually does this and he has been very successful haha I need to just drink a few shots of hard liquor and then go locating, as long as i don't get to crap faced all anxiety subsides and i will talk to anyone about anything even if they don't want to hear it. Although a tad to much alcohol and these locating meetings could get pretty hairy quick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cloudedjourney Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 haha! Sad thing is I know a guy that actually does this and he has been very successful haha Lol I'm pretty sure business and drinking go hand in hand a lot of the time. It doesn't surprise me at all. Try to remember you are offering them a free service and free expensive equipment. Many times you are putting thousands of dollars into a location, for FREE. Wouldn't you like it if some company offered to give you free services and equipment! You are not selling them anything. You are offering them a free service. Why be shy. This post is exactly what I needed to hear! I've been quite busy but also not looking forward to getting back out there and locating. I really liked what you wrote at the end of it. Calling around had me feeling like an annoying telemarketer, but it's important to remember that I am offering a valuable service! If I don't believe in the business then why do it!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAH50 Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 great post. Hears my question. Lets say i call a factory, with 400 employees, and get a chance to bid on their contract. How do i bid on that? Obviously i know that ive got to turn a profit at the end of the day but heres my questions. Do i offer drink, snack, cold food and coffee? I dont do cold food or coffe so can i get the contract with out those? Do i need to offer to supply forks, spoons, napkins, etc? (i worked at a place once the vendor did this) How much are the "big guys" paying for commision? the most i pay now is 10%, is that enough or should it be more being a big account? I have never pursued these type places and may not any time soon, Im just curious. Thanks in advance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mission vending Posted January 26, 2013 Share Posted January 26, 2013 great post. Hears my question. Lets say i call a factory, with 400 employees, and get a chance to bid on their contract. How do i bid on that? Obviously i know that ive got to turn a profit at the end of the day but heres my questions. Do i offer drink, snack, cold food and coffee? I dont do cold food or coffe so can i get the contract with out those? Do i need to offer to supply forks, spoons, napkins, etc? (i worked at a place once the vendor did this) How much are the "big guys" paying for commision? the most i pay now is 10%, is that enough or should it be more being a big account? I have never pursued these type places and may not any time soon, Im just curious. Thanks in advance If you are going to pitch a location like this then offering cold/frozen food is a must, they won't even look at you if you don't. Yes, you will need to offer condiments with the food, you factor it into your cost. Consult with the location about commission, it might be nothing or you might need to reach as high as 25%, again you factor the commission into your pricing but to get a location like this you better be prepared to work on smaller margins than you would in a typical soda and snack account but the additional sales volume you get there will still make the location profitable if you bid it out right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poplady1 Posted January 26, 2013 Author Share Posted January 26, 2013 Mission has it covered. Also when you call and get someone willing to let you bid, one of your questions before hanging up might be "How many machines do you have now and are they adequate". Your contact should be able to give you the information and if it sounds too much for you just say so. It takes a lot to close a 400 employee account. Without food and coffee machines you won't want to market to that size. Many times on a large account management wants to gather at least 3 proposals to compare at renewal. You may spin your wheels a lot before winning a bid but again, this is just part of the business. Some of the larger companies have a clause in their contracts that they must be informed of a nonrenewal a full 90 days before that date. They state notification must be made by certified letter to a specific address listed in the contract. If that isn't done they will hold them to it. Few companies want to go to court to fight about vending. Hope that adds something to the conversation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwi Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 Another thing we do here besides offering fresh/frozen food & coffee to large accounts is to offer "free" inline water coolers. They aren't very expensive & are simple to maintain & if you have plumbed coffee machines you only need to tee them off the water line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mission vending Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 Some of the larger companies have a clause in their contracts that they must be informed of a nonrenewal a full 90 days before that date. They state notification must be made by certified letter to a specific address listed in the contract. If that isn't done they will hold them to it. Few companies want to go to court to fight about vending. Been there on the wrong side of that!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reel Posted February 3, 2013 Share Posted February 3, 2013 I wish you were doing locating here Bev!. For me frozen yes, fresh not unless we really need to, water coolers no no no as we vend water! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwi Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 I wish you were doing locating here Bev!. For me frozen yes, fresh not unless we really need to, water coolers no no no as we vend water! Hi Ron, I know it sound stupid to offer water coolers as we also vend water in our vending machines too but if we didn't do it someone else would. Most companies here have water coolers for their staff & will pay a monthly rental or bottle delivery charge for this service even though our tap water quality is perfectly safe to drink. Our offer of a "free water cooler" is only available to customers who sign a 36 month coffee machine rental. The cooler is also factored into the rental price of the coffee machine so they are actually paying for it anyway without knowing. Most companies here don't supply cups with their coolers so staff will still buy a bottle of water out of the machine so they can reuse it at the cooler during the day. I guess we operate differently to most "full line" operators on here as we are more directed towards coffee vending than anything else. Whereas you may offer fresh/frozen food machines to help you get a snack & drink site we offer fresh/frozen snack & drink to get a coffee site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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