Corporate locations....

[VendingExperts]

I was wondering how other people approach corporate decision makers. A lot of places I have gone into recently have given me the line "oh we're corporate."

Do you call, email, try to pitch in person?

Any advice would be helpful as I live in an area where "mom and pop" locations are few and far between.

[Poplady1]

Ask for the corporate phone number (normally a 800 number).  Call then ask for the department that handles the vending in that location.  Someone is always assigned to certain areas.  Then treat them like any other customer.  Ask how you could go about providing a proposal for that location.

[shepherdsflock]

I've only successfully landed one corporate location and it wasn't even really anything I did myself. I hired Kickstart to locate a few machines and they got me into a Taco John's restaurant somehow. I just put the machine in a few weeks ago. We'll see how long it lasts before corporate kicks it out.

[cointech]

when you call the corp. phone numbers its very hard to get in touch with a real person who can make the decision.

many times you will get voice mail and not get a reply or if you do get someone its very easy for them to just say no and get off the phone fast like

all of the many other calls they get evey day from solicitors. One way is to go to a local store and ask them who their reginal, district manager is and how to

reach them or when they might be at that location. in person alway works best to get in touch with someone. The district manager can then tell you about company policy,

and who to maybe speak to. If your lucky the person will be helpful. Many corp. locations are made up of many smaller franchise owners so you might find that they might be interested in a local grope of stores. I alway pitch it as a trial deal to get them interested in trying it in a few stores and if it works to move forward and if not then pick up the machines whenever they ask. They probably won't sign any type of contract or agreement.

 

the real problem with corp. type locations is its like having all your eggs in one basket. If vending works, they might decide to go with a national account. There is big turnover

so whoever you talk to might be gone in a few months and the next person can change what they want, where they want it, or who they want it from. So you can score big but you can have a huge setback all at once and lose many locations. Mom and pop locations might not earn as much but are a more steady plan. You might lose locations 1 at a time but you won't loose a whole chain with one phone call.