*Jessica* Posted March 8, 2013 Share Posted March 8, 2013 I was wondering about certain locations and their cultural attachment to children. Does anyone here have any idea or experience with whether or not bringing in a small child (mine is 3 years old) with them will tug at the location owners heart strings a little bit enough to close the deal (i.e. getting a "yes" to place your machines at their location) versus coming in alone? Theory being that if they physically see your small child they may* think to themselves something along the lines of "by letting them place their machines at my location, I am helping put food on the table, etc." Any thoughts? ---- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Jessica* Posted March 8, 2013 Author Share Posted March 8, 2013 I thought I was posting this here but I accidentally posted it in bulk vending reports. I deleted that post as much as I could (I wish I could delete the old thread) but I reposted here. This is not intended to be a duplicate post. I was wondering about certain locations and their cultural attachment to children. Does anyone here have any idea or experience with whether or not bringing in a small child (mine is 3 years old) with them will tug at the location owners heart strings a little bit enough to close the deal (i.e. getting a "yes" to place your machines at their location) versus coming in alone? Theory being that if they physically see your small child they may* think to themselves something along the lines of "by letting them place their machines at my location, I am helping put food on the table, etc." Any thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GagesVending Posted March 8, 2013 Share Posted March 8, 2013 I don't have children... but, I've actually heard that it can be helpful with young kids because apparently the manager feels like they can't say no to a little kid. At a professional level, I don't think it's appropriate though, unless you happen to be there (like eating with your family at a restaurant) and get the opportunity to ask management. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bulkjake Posted March 8, 2013 Share Posted March 8, 2013 Hi Jessica. I had a locator who worked for me for about 6 months ago, and I allowed her to bring her 3 year old after we talked about it. Let me tell you what, she crushed it most days! There were some days that she would bring me 10 locations!!! I wish I could get her back but, she got really sick. When I post my next ad to hire someone, I may even tailor to Moms with kids. I wouldn't even think twice about it. Just do it. Everyone likes kids. And if they don't, you don't want their crummy location anyways... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shepherdsflock Posted March 8, 2013 Share Posted March 8, 2013 I've had zero luck with my children along. I think bulkjake's experience had more to do with the fact that she was female. Women seem to do much better at locating for some reason (at least in my experience with telemarketers), and a woman with children probably multiplies that by 10. If I ever hire an in-person locator, I will look specifically for a woman. Even if their ugly, women just seem to be received much better than men. I think it's because women don't seem as intimidating and don't have as much of a reputation for being selfish jerks. If a woman walks into a store and asks to locate a charity machine they are more likely to believe that she is supporting a charity. When a man does it, they immediately suspect he's just using "charity" as a ploy to make money in their store. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate9303 Posted March 8, 2013 Share Posted March 8, 2013 I've taken my children with me locating on numerous occasions. Now that I think about it I realize I've secured two of my larger rack accounts while having the kids present with me. It could be a coincidence or maybe they think: hey his kids are well behaved. The guy can't be too bad. I say go for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Posted March 8, 2013 Share Posted March 8, 2013 A little different slant on the same topic but I just recently started training my 14 year old son and 16 year old daughter on the in's and out's of locating. I tag along with a big smile and play up the role of dumb dad that "doesn't really have a clue about this sort of thing" and let the kids do all the talking. I can't say they get many more yes' than me, but location owners are MUCH more patient with the kids even though their pitch isn't nearly polished. They haven't been doing it very long, but they still haven't had a single owner completely steamroll them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Priusjames Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 Another great topic. I just forwarded a "snippet" to my daughter, who has been expressing an interest in doing vending to help her through college (in Boise). Ive started thinking about how to best help her by way of vending. She's a talented artist, too, maybe a business custom painting or designing bulk machines? When she gets polished, she and my granddaughter will make an awesome locating team. There's no end to the usefulness of this forum... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reel Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 Personally i think its a very bad idea and it presents you as being small and very unprofessional, plus kids can distract you or your potential customer and kill your spiel completely.......dont do it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffd95 Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 Ok, this may sound cruel, but I like to joke and laugh. Can anyone rent me a well behaved child for a couple of hours? I'll take him or her to her favorite hamburger joint. I need to place some machines. hahahaha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Priusjames Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 Personally i think its a very bad idea and it presents you as being small and very unprofessional, plus kids can distract you or your potential customer and kill your spiel completely.......dont do it! Or, your kid can be part of a "spiel"...there's more than one way to skin a cat, one person's weakness can be another's strength. Did you read bulkjake's post about his most successful locator? Small businesses like working with "small", I know that *I* do. As for "professional", I imagine a bank manager would have a different opinion from that of a pizza store owner, who might be turned off by a suit and tie. Which place would be better for my rack of 6 Oaks with 2 flatline machines? I'm just sayin'... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Priusjames Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 Ok, this may sound cruel, but I like to joke and laugh. Can anyone rent me a well behaved child for a couple of hours? I'll take him or her to her favorite hamburger joint. I need to place some machines. hahahaha I can't imagine spending hours at an account telling jokes, I need to place some machines and want to teach my quiet and well behaved kids not to pigeon-hole people when trying to run a business...you never know who could turn out to be your best customer. I joke and laugh with my kids, and with customers (where/when appropriate). One man's ceiling is another man's floor... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reel Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 I note your comments James, however anybody thats trying to locate machines should present themselves at the prosepctive business as being a professional including the way they dress, having a quality business card, armed with the appropriate flyers or broshures to show the prospect if necessary.............and of course a good spiel!. We all love our kids but realistically kids shouldnt be involved or with you when cold cavassing at all, anybody that prides themselves on being a professional simply wouldnt do it. No professional in this business i beleive would use a kid as part of a spiel its totally unprofessional. As far as selling to a Bank Manager or a Pizza owner, one rule in selling is you need to adjust your spiel and the way you communicate according to the type/level of person you are presenting too. When selling you need to be able to adjust to the type of busines you approach, meaning you dont use the same spiel or talk the same to a blue collar locationas you would a white collar one!. For instance a female generally would have more success at a blue collar location than a male, sure there are exceptions but generally i find this the case whether selling a vending service or something else.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pjvend Posted July 1, 2013 Share Posted July 1, 2013 I have had 2-8 year old children and grandchildren with me: on the routes, locating and professionally locating. Never any real problems, but some GREAT memmories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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