bulkjake Posted February 13, 2013 Share Posted February 13, 2013 I decided to post this finally after receiving many requests for more information on 'How I get locations'. So, here it is boys and girls, I am giving you pearls here so pay attention: First of all to clarify, I hate locating and I do not think you should be doing that yourself. It's a $15 per hour job and I make way more than that...That being said there is no reason you can't hire your own 'in-house' locators which is what I do. I Pay them $15 per location they deliver to me. This is a fraction of what in person locating companies charge ($50, $60, $75, even $85!!) Here is how I do it: 1) Place an ad on your local Craigslist: Jobs: sales / biz dev section. 2) Offer this part time position as a commission only independent contractor position 3) If the ad is written correctly in this economy you will have more great applicants than you know what to do with. 4) Your locators will be locating in-person! (NOT over the phone 'telemarketing') 5) Make sure you set up the machine within 24 hours of the locator setting the appointment for you to go out. 6) Offer to pay this person a maximum of $15 each location (I am using my 1-800 triples here as an example, obviously racks, U Turns ex... would be a little more) through check or PayPal with a possible bonus based on monthly volume to keep them motivated. 7) Remember, you are the BOSS! Spend an hour or so training this person over the phone on how YOU want things done, role playing, script writing, ex... Be specific but, don't make a science project out of it. 9) Record YouTube videos of your trainings and have your New Hire Locators watch them and save all your scripts to throw in a folder called 'New Hire' on your MAC or PC, this way when you bring someone on, you can send out 1 scripted email with instructions, directions, scripts, video access training...ex. I call this Automated Training! 10) Hire up to 3-4 locators at the same time, giving them all different days to go out with a maximum number of locations they can bring you so you don't get overwhelmed. (I use 5 locations per day per person to start, each person working a max of 1 day for the first two weeks as a 'testing probationary period') 11) Keep 1-2 locators and the other 1-2 will quit or you will need to fire them because they wont bring you enough quality locations. 12) Once you lift the 'testing probationary period' you could raise the number of locations to 10+ per day if you really wanted to get busy however, remember you don't want to overwhelm yourself AND you need to make sure the locations are 'sticking' and you are not getting too many phone calls to pick up equipment due to misunderstandings ex...! 13) This model is fully scalable. Once you grow big enough and your locators have been with you for a while, there is no reason you can't simply have the equipment waiting for your locators at your 'shop' and they can even drop it off for you after they sell or get the account for you. Obviously, that is much more work for them and they would need more compensation and you would need to trust them but, use your imagination. I didn't think that by now I would have located over 80 machines without doing any of the selling either... Using this strategy you should be able to get 10-25 locations per week. (Not telemarketer garbage locations, but live in the flesh solid performers) And all you have to do is Place the equipment (no sales). I even tell my locators now what types of locations are acceptable and what I will not pay for...If they don't follow directions, I let them go. There are too many good unemployed sales people to fight it. Make sure you TRUST your locators before letting them off the reins and be sure to Pr-Screen all applicants heavily over the phone, in person, interview, drug test (optional), background check (optional), references (optional). This is a business not a hobby. Treat it that way, your checkbook and your clock, with thank you. I hope this helps! Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musser Posted February 14, 2013 Share Posted February 14, 2013 That is a good post and very doable. One of the most sucessful bulk vendors I ever knew used this method exactly, except he only paid $10! Even non sales people will do well for a few locations. Everyone does business somewhere that will take a machine, they just need to be asked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogcow Posted February 14, 2013 Share Posted February 14, 2013 ultimately this is appointment setting not locating. sounds good for chairty locs not so much for big money locations because u need follow up rarely are they slam dunks for 10 bucks nobody is going to do the level of follow up needed to land a buffet, bowling center, skating center, etc.. ive worked accounts for a year to get them , but for charity vending and especially honor boxes i'd do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poplady1 Posted February 14, 2013 Share Posted February 14, 2013 This approach sounds good to me. It puts you in direct control of your business and its growth. Plus it does help people needing work. Go for the fence on this one. Very nice post BulkJake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bulkjake Posted February 15, 2013 Author Share Posted February 15, 2013 Thank you guys. I hope this helps people who are trying to grow their business. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bulkjake Posted February 15, 2013 Author Share Posted February 15, 2013 ultimately this is appointment setting not locating. sounds good for chairty locs not so much for big money locations because u need follow up rarely are they slam dunks for 10 bucks nobody is going to do the level of follow up needed to land a buffet, bowling center, skating center, etc.. ive worked accounts for a year to get them , but for charity vending and especially honor boxes i'd do it. I agree with you on all points. I should have stated this method applies primarily for Bulk Charity Vending. This would not work with full line OR rack accounts IMO unless drastic changes were made. I will say I have picked up several $50, $75, $80+ per month accounts using this method. There is no reason this wouldn't work for honor boxes either. I will let you know when I try it later this year... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lake Cities Vending Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 I don't guess you would care to share your ad you place? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bulkjake Posted February 16, 2013 Author Share Posted February 16, 2013 I can't ... Craigslist has made several changes to the back end recently. If everyone starts using my same ad (even slightly modified) we will all get 'ghosted' and our accounts blocked and IP adresses banned for duplicate posting. I use Craigslist for my other businesses so I can't have that. Sorry, just get creative, write an ad but keep it simple! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lake Cities Vending Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 I understand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lake Cities Vending Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 I tried the free classifieds locally and didn't have any luck. But I did get a personal locator. My wife's sister was wanting to make some extra money. So my wife knew I was looking for a locator and talked to her. I gave her 4 machines last Saturday, 2 triples, 1 single and 1 double. She called Tuesday and she had placed all of them and wanted more. I gave her 5 more machines Thursday evening, 2 triples, 2 doubles and 1 single. She is all excited. The best part, she wants the deliver the machines. She says it easier if she has the machines to give them right then. I'm paying her $15.00 a location and $5.00 if she delivers. I told my wife I would give her $20.00 for the locations and $10.00 to deliver. She said she is really happy with the agreement we have now. Looks like I may have to buy some more machines soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Posted March 17, 2013 Share Posted March 17, 2013 I tried the free classifieds locally and didn't have any luck. But I did get a personal locator. My wife's sister was wanting to make some extra money. So my wife knew I was looking for a locator and talked to her. I gave her 4 machines last Saturday, 2 triples, 1 single and 1 double. She called Tuesday and she had placed all of them and wanted more. I gave her 5 more machines Thursday evening, 2 triples, 2 doubles and 1 single. She is all excited. The best part, she wants the deliver the machines. She says it easier if she has the machines to give them right then. I'm paying her $15.00 a location and $5.00 if she delivers. I told my wife I would give her $20.00 for the locations and $10.00 to deliver. She said she is really happy with the agreement we have now. Looks like I may have to buy some more machines soon. That is AWESOME! I'm happy for you. Something to think about but (please don't take this the wrong way, I'm on your side) what you're paying her is a crime and very soon she's going to realize it once she factors in gas she's spending, etc. After a month I'd slip her a hundo and say "Here's 50% of my first months gross. The better I do the better I want you to do". That'll go a LONG way. She's excited and happy to be doing this...keep it that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bulkjake Posted March 17, 2013 Author Share Posted March 17, 2013 Be sure you are posting the ad in the correct section. I use Craigslist > Jobs > Sales / Biz Dev Great job getting someone on board to help grow your business for you! Nothing wrong with sliding over a bonus based on performance of the new equipment at the end of the month either as Rick suggested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lake Cities Vending Posted March 17, 2013 Share Posted March 17, 2013 I've already been thinking about some sort of bonus for 5 or something along that line. I really think we should be giving her at least $20.00 per location plus a delivery fee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
executivevending Posted March 17, 2013 Share Posted March 17, 2013 I really want to try this but the only thing that worries me is what if they like doing this a lot then think hey why not buy some machines and do this myself? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treadmill Posted March 17, 2013 Share Posted March 17, 2013 I really want to try this but the only thing that worries me is what if they like doing this a lot then think hey why not buy some machines and do this myself? That's what business is all about taking risks. Most likely it won't happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lake Cities Vending Posted March 18, 2013 Share Posted March 18, 2013 I really want to try this but the only thing that worries me is what if they like doing this a lot then think hey why not buy some machines and do this myself? Help them get started and when they find out its more work than they thought you can buy them out at a discounted price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mission vending Posted March 18, 2013 Share Posted March 18, 2013 Help them get started and when they find out its more work than they thought you can buy them out at a discounted price. There you go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
executivevending Posted March 18, 2013 Share Posted March 18, 2013 Okay thanks guys. I'm going to try it out once i get some more gumballs ordered then. An odd thing about this is i like to locate full line machines and not bulk. Just not a fan of preaching the whole charity speech Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bulkjake Posted March 22, 2013 Author Share Posted March 22, 2013 I really want to try this but the only thing that worries me is what if they like doing this a lot then think hey why not buy some machines and do this myself? Sorry I just saw this. That would not happen for several reasons: 1) I have ALL my locators sign a 'Non Compete Agreement' within the Independent Contractor Agreement that basically says they can't start any type of vending business within 100 miles of the city I do business in. (This is not IRON CLAD but, when people see a 10 page agreement written by an attorney, they tend to pay attention, or at least think twice. Especially with clauses like 'monetary damages' and 'breach of contract'. 2) 90% of people are just flat out LAZY. They want nothing to do with starting their own business. (Lets face it, this isn't easy but, it is fun) 3) This is a business. It's your business, as a few others have stated, you need to take a little risk. 4) I also feel that with a county population of 924,000+ I am not really worried about competition... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.