VAVending Posted August 8, 2018 Share Posted August 8, 2018 Got out there today and did some pavement pounding. Placed 7 locations and pulled 1. The Long and Foster I placed last week had negative shrinkage. I think -12%, off the top of my head. I can’t help but wonder if the manager who was worried about shrinkage put in extra just Incase I was short, she seems like the type to do that. Also, was at a friend’s auto shop yesterday and placed a box and soda machine there, was getting work done and he mentioned coke had pulled the machine that had been there since he opened because the operator was constantly leaving it empty, he practically asked if I knew anyone who did vending. Was nice since on the way over I had decided to try to sell him on a soda machine and had been praying that his previous machine would be gone and I wouldn’t have to sell him hard (I hate pitching to friends and family.) Got a pretty clear answer to that one. Have a significant amount invested in product now and am anxious to see the returns come in. I think there was a part of me that had to see the cash in the honor box to actually believe people would buy my product. Feels good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flintflash Posted August 8, 2018 Share Posted August 8, 2018 Wow! You're off to a GREAT start. 7 locations is a SUPER selling day. Keep at it, you will get more comfortable with your sales pitch as time goes. As far as the 'Overpayer", I always encourage my route drivers to return the overage (if it's not making up for past shortage) back to the account. We are always telling them when they're short, so why not build "Good Faith" and let them know when they run over. This let's the customer know that you are playing by the "honesty rules" as well. Most times, the customer will tell you to just keep it. Nice start! Keep the momentum going! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VAVending Posted August 8, 2018 Author Share Posted August 8, 2018 11 hours ago, flintflash said: Wow! You're off to a GREAT start. 7 locations is a SUPER selling day. Keep at it, you will get more comfortable with your sales pitch as time goes. As far as the 'Overpayer", I always encourage my route drivers to return the overage (if it's not making up for past shortage) back to the account. We are always telling them when they're short, so why not build "Good Faith" and let them know when they run over. This let's the customer know that you are playing by the "honesty rules" as well. Most times, the customer will tell you to just keep it. Nice start! Keep the momentum going! Thanks for the encouragement! I’ll definitely return the overage, it does make sense. This area is really empty of small vendors. Every large store has a snack machine from one of the big names, but basically no small businesses have a snack box. I feel like I’m competing with no one. Pretty much a vendor’s dream. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flintflash Posted August 9, 2018 Share Posted August 9, 2018 12 hours ago, VAVending said: Thanks for the encouragement! I’ll definitely return the overage, it does make sense. This area is really empty of small vendors. Every large store has a snack machine from one of the big names, but basically no small businesses have a snack box. I feel like I’m competing with no one. Pretty much a vendor’s dream. Hammer your whole area systematically. Start at one point and canvass the entire area before moving on. This will keep you consolidated with your routes and help you control the area thoroughly, should a competitor pop up. It is a dream when you have so much open turf in front of you. That's AWESOME! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VendingKingllc Posted August 10, 2018 Share Posted August 10, 2018 On 8/8/2018 at 6:27 PM, VAVending said: Thanks for the encouragement! I’ll definitely return the overage, it does make sense. This area is really empty of small vendors. Every large store has a snack machine from one of the big names, but basically no small businesses have a snack box. I feel like I’m competing with no one. Pretty much a vendor’s dream. Hope to find that near me as well! I often find myself walking into local stores checking all of the typical areas to see if there is bulk or honor boxes lying around. I haven't seen very many; however that could mean that they just said "NO" to the last guy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VAVending Posted August 12, 2018 Author Share Posted August 12, 2018 On 8/10/2018 at 6:10 PM, VendingKingllc said: Hope to find that near me as well! I often find myself walking into local stores checking all of the typical areas to see if there is bulk or honor boxes lying around. I haven't seen very many; however that could mean that they just said "NO" to the last guy 90% of the time the box is in the breakroom, since you’re selling to employees, not customers. Even if they said “no” to the last guy, that’s just because the service he was offering isn’t as good as what you have; you’ve got this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VAVending Posted August 23, 2018 Author Share Posted August 23, 2018 Up to 20 locations after today. Growth has been slow due to low funds and having to buy more and more snacks. Next week is the first real two week service on half of my accounts, so I’m hoping to see some good results. Still figuring out placements. I’m finding I have more success if my first service is at 1 week and then I push the service cycle out to 2 weeks. People are much more willing to “try something out” for a week. Also having issues remembering to have people fill out the location card, it seems so weird after such a casual and worry free placement to pull out a card and ask for information about their business. At this point I’m filling in address and phone myself and getting other pertinent info on second service. Feels less weird and I can tack it onto the end of the typical “any snacks you’d like to see in the box?” conversation. Apologize for the rambling posts, I lack Bryan’s organization and concise style. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flintflash Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 11 hours ago, VAVending said: Up to 20 locations after today. Growth has been slow due to low funds and having to buy more and more snacks. Next week is the first real two week service on half of my accounts, so I’m hoping to see some good results. Still figuring out placements. I’m finding I have more success if my first service is at 1 week and then I push the service cycle out to 2 weeks. People are much more willing to “try something out” for a week. Also having issues remembering to have people fill out the location card, it seems so weird after such a casual and worry free placement to pull out a card and ask for information about their business. At this point I’m filling in address and phone myself and getting other pertinent info on second service. Feels less weird and I can tack it onto the end of the typical “any snacks you’d like to see in the box?” conversation. Apologize for the rambling posts, I lack Bryan’s organization and concise style. When filling out your account card, I would grab a business card from the account. Verify that the info on the card is current and then fill out the card yourself in your vehicle before you leave their parking lot. I wouldn't have them fill out the card and I would save the "any snack you'd like to see" conversation for the 2nd or 3rd trip around. Let them enjoy the service for what it is, before you get into "customizing" or "accommodating". Keep it simple to start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VAVending Posted August 23, 2018 Author Share Posted August 23, 2018 25 minutes ago, flintflash said: When filling out your account card, I would grab a business card from the account. Verify that the info on the card is current and then fill out the card yourself in your vehicle before you leave their parking lot. I wouldn't have them fill out the card and I would save the "any snack you'd like to see" conversation for the 2nd or 3rd trip around. Let them enjoy the service for what it is, before you get into "customizing" or "accommodating". Keep it simple to start. It’s funny, yesterday I handed a location card to someone to fill out and they just stapled the manager’s business card to it and handed it back. Seems like they had the same idea, lol. I know I should keep things simpler, as I’m starting out I’m trying to get a feel for what snacks are snacks people want to see and what snacks people will actually buy. In addition I’ve been surprised by the number of employees who acted surprised and said they didn’t know about the box when I asked what they’d like to see in it (even though it’s in the middle of the breakroom, lol.) I figured I was raising awareness. But I’ll take your advise and back it off, don’t want locations getting too choosy too soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhumphrey829 Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 8 hours ago, flintflash said: When filling out your account card, I would grab a business card from the account. Verify that the info on the card is current and then fill out the card yourself in your vehicle before you leave their parking lot. I wouldn't have them fill out the card and I would save the "any snack you'd like to see" conversation for the 2nd or 3rd trip around. Let them enjoy the service for what it is, before you get into "customizing" or "accommodating". Keep it simple to start. I just go off of their business card or if they don't have a business card, I just tell them I need their address so i can get them into my system then as Tony said, I fill out the card in the parking lot before I leave. I try to make sure they have to do nothing, the less they have to concern themselves with, the easier it is on everyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VAVending Posted August 23, 2018 Author Share Posted August 23, 2018 5 minutes ago, bhumphrey829 said: I just go off of their business card or if they don't have a business card, I just tell them I need their address so i can get them into my system then as Tony said, I fill out the card in the parking lot before I leave. I try to make sure they have to do nothing, the less they have to concern themselves with, the easier it is on everyone. That’s what I was leaning toward. Honestly, as long as the business card displays the name of the business clearly I’m kinda liking the stapler method. Though, on the other hand, that will make my route card envelopes much thicker. We’ll see. Bryan, do you use the Sheridan stacking sleeves? I’m looking to order 25 and stuff them 2 Cameron to a sleeve, but the fact that they refuse to show me a shipping price until I give them my card and place my order makes me twitchy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhumphrey829 Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 7 hours ago, VAVending said: It’s funny, yesterday I handed a location card to someone to fill out and they just stapled the manager’s business card to it and handed it back. Seems like they had the same idea, lol. I know I should keep things simpler, as I’m starting out I’m trying to get a feel for what snacks are snacks people want to see and what snacks people will actually buy. In addition I’ve been surprised by the number of employees who acted surprised and said they didn’t know about the box when I asked what they’d like to see in it (even though it’s in the middle of the breakroom, lol.) I figured I was raising awareness. But I’ll take your advise and back it off, don’t want locations getting too choosy too soon. That's good advice. I learned from Flint a while ago, it's easy to customize boxes while you are small, but think bigger picture, (which I ididn't do at first lol), think about when you get up to say 200 locations, and you will get there quicker than you think. Can you imagine trying to customize every box you have on location. If they request certain items, I will try and get those in there, but I learned the hard way, it becomes too difficult to try and base the boxes off of what they don't eat. Try and build all your boxes the same, with slight variation of products, it will save a lot of time in the long run. By they way, 20 locations is a great start! Keep moving forward Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhumphrey829 Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 1 minute ago, VAVending said: That’s what I was leaning toward. Honestly, as long as the business card displays the name of the business clearly I’m kinda liking the stapler method. Though, on the other hand, that will make my route card envelopes much thicker. We’ll see. Bryan, do you use the Sheridan stacking sleeves? I’m looking to order 25 and stuff them 2 Cameron to a sleeve, but the fact that they refuse to show me a shipping price until I give hem my card and place my order makes me twitchy. i don't use shipping sleeves, although I probably should. I had actually ordered some from dennis, but they did not fit the brown boxes so I just threw in the towel lol. I can see how using them would make it a lot more easy to stack and when I get to where it's too hard to stack i will probably go to some kind of sleeve. I only go through dennis or cameron packaging for any of my boxes and acccessories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VAVending Posted August 23, 2018 Author Share Posted August 23, 2018 4 minutes ago, bhumphrey829 said: i don't use shipping sleeves, although I probably should. I had actually ordered some from dennis, but they did not fit the brown boxes so I just threw in the towel lol. I can see how using them would make it a lot more easy to stack and when I get to where it's too hard to stack i will probably go to some kind of sleeve. I only go through dennis or cameron packaging for any of my boxes and acccessories. I would order from Dennis but I believe you’re right; he only sells sleeves for the white boxes. The Cameron and brown boxes are essentially the same dimensions, correct? The brown are just twice as wide and sloping toward the front? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhumphrey829 Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 I think so. I believe 2 small boxes would fit in a sleeve, but i would hate to spend the money then find out they don't lol. Are you doing only small boxes right now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VAVending Posted August 23, 2018 Author Share Posted August 23, 2018 4 minutes ago, bhumphrey829 said: I think so. I believe 2 small boxes would fit in a sleeve, but i would hate to spend the money then find out they don't lol. Are you doing only small boxes right now? Yup, until I feel like product is moving enough that I’m not going to see 50% stales on my chips, I’m sticking to a 23 product offering. Too much startup capitol tied up in snacks that could expire as it is. I think I’m managing things well and am almost out of the awkward startup phase, but I’m not ready to move to a 40 item box yet. Soon though. I can’t see myself getting more than the 70 Cameron boxes I have. Thats why it’d be nice to have a sleeve that fits both sizes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VAVending Posted August 23, 2018 Author Share Posted August 23, 2018 Got that backward, Sheridan doesn’t have them, Dennis does. I must have been looking at the white sleeves from Sheridan. Weird. Well I guess Dennis is getting an order from me then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VAVending Posted August 29, 2018 Author Share Posted August 29, 2018 Ran my larger route today. Serviced 16, pulled 1, placed 7. 60% of the route was placed last week, the other 40% was on a two week schedule. Pulled $105, shrinkage was 34%. A somewhat abysmal week I’d say, but I’m placing at a steady rate and am about ready to start cutting the dead locations and refine my route. When I hit 35 locations (end of the week probably) I’m going to hover there for a bit until I’ve made sure those 35 are good locations and not money pits, then I’m going to purchase a bunch of wood grain boxes and start placing again. It’s disheartening to pull a nearly empty box and find only $2 in it, but that’s the biz I suppose. I’m in this for the long haul, a few minor hicoughs won’t throw me. Here’s to the next decade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flintflash Posted August 29, 2018 Share Posted August 29, 2018 11 hours ago, VAVending said: Ran my larger route today. Serviced 16, pulled 1, placed 7. 60% of the route was placed last week, the other 40% was on a two week schedule. Pulled $105, shrinkage was 34%. A somewhat abysmal week I’d say, but I’m placing at a steady rate and am about ready to start cutting the dead locations and refine my route. When I hit 35 locations (end of the week probably) I’m going to hover there for a bit until I’ve made sure those 35 are good locations and not money pits, then I’m going to purchase a bunch of wood grain boxes and start placing again. It’s disheartening to pull a nearly empty box and find only $2 in it, but that’s the biz I suppose. I’m in this for the long haul, a few minor hicoughs won’t throw me. Here’s to the next decade. Alright! You're up and running. So, just a couple of points (and this is just my observations): First, servicing accounts after one week is too soon in my opinion. That would account for your lower volume. Definitely try for a 2 week cycle (minimum) when servicing your accounts. I know many of those were newer accounts and you wanted to hit them sooner for the first service, and that's OK. Just know that the volume will be mediocre at best. Second, any account that cleans out your box and leaves you $2 should be talked to immediately. Gage your course of action based on their response. If they try to pull some money together for you, or have ideas on correcting the problem, go ahead and leave another box and try one more time. If they seem indifferent or have a "not my problem" attitude, then pull it immediately. Shortages are always a tricky thing. YES...it is part of the Honor System and will ALWAYS be a part of the business. You can't eliminate the shortages, only minimize them. Leave notes with return dates and talk to your customers regularly. You are off to a GREAT start! You will have 35 accounts in no time! Keep up the good work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VAVending Posted August 29, 2018 Author Share Posted August 29, 2018 Thank you for the tips and moral support! Right now I’m locating every week and servicing every other week, in part. When I get a new account I come back after one week regardless, but then move it onto my two week route. So one route is always growing and one route only ever seems to have seven locations (not sure why but that’s my placement average in a day, and I’m currently only running Tuesdays.) I am planning to accelerate things a week and go into the delinquent account next week in order to leave a note and talk to them. There’s also a pediatric clinic I need to visit that put my honor box on the top of a shelf somewhere and forgot about it, I’ll be checking in on them too. I asked if I could move the box down to a more accessible location (as the box was invisible where it was), and they said sure. Then as I left I realized I’d forgotten my location card in the new box and went back. Sure enough an employee was in the process of tucking the box back into obscurity. Frustrating. So I waited until they walked away and moved it to the middle of the shelf, not ideal but better than nothing. I’m going to catch the manager and talk to them. Otherwise things are going well, and I know once I cull the bad locations my route % will improve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VAVending Posted September 5, 2018 Author Share Posted September 5, 2018 I’m in the middle of running my route and I just had to share this, at the location that was short $17 last week, an employee approached me and told me they’d just put a $20 bill in the box to cover the last two weeks of product they bought (this is before I had a chance to place a sticky note on the box). The location is now both my best seller and in negative shrinkage. Lovin’ it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VAVending Posted September 5, 2018 Author Share Posted September 5, 2018 Aaaand the manager called and wants the box removed. Came down off that high quickly. Waiting for him to finish an interview so I can plead my case. Hopefully he’s not too difficult. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhumphrey829 Posted September 5, 2018 Share Posted September 5, 2018 5 hours ago, VAVending said: Aaaand the manager called and wants the box removed. Came down off that high quickly. Waiting for him to finish an interview so I can plead my case. Hopefully he’s not too difficult. LOl, get used to it. Don't get to high when things are going great, and don't get too low when things are bad. It all equals out as long as you stay persistent. My route started out at between 30 and 35% in the beginning. It will come down over time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VAVending Posted September 5, 2018 Author Share Posted September 5, 2018 51 minutes ago, bhumphrey829 said: LOl, get used to it. Don't get to high when things are going great, and don't get too low when things are bad. It all equals out as long as you stay persistent. My route started out at between 30 and 35% in the beginning. It will come down over time. Yup, lost the location. Just means I should place three more, right? It wouldn’t get to me as much if the employees weren’t begging me to stay. I just told them to talk to the manager and I’d try again in six months. Not much more you can say, I think the managers pride was hurt that any employee would be short any length of time. I’m a little worried because all of the boxes I collected today were one week new locations and they were almost all empty of product. Generally if a new box sells that well, then it didn’t sell at all and they just took. Doing my accounting tonight so we’ll see. The more I do this the more I realize how it’s the perfect business for me. It just all makes sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VAVending Posted September 6, 2018 Author Share Posted September 6, 2018 Serviced 10, pulled 2, placed 2. Gross: $77. Shrinkage 7%. Had that one location to mess up my accounting. If I apply their overage to previous shrinkage then it puts me closer to 30% shrinkage. Placed so few because I have a weird head thing going on right now (eyes hurt tremendously) and am feeling terrible. Plus I had to take an elderly friend to a nerve test this evening, so I called it a day early. Next week is full service week again, with all new accounts falling into the two week cycle. Have one business I’ll likely pull for underperformance, and probably 10 where I’ll be posting shortage notices. A few others now need a second box in order to stay on two weeks. Another two weeks and I plan to be at capacity (35 boxes) and start aggressively culling shrinkage and underperformance. Then Dennis will be getting an order from me for some wood grain boxes and the cycle of violence will continue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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