Locating Experiences

[alyssamma]

I was wondering why so many people have different experiences with the same locator? I've used Kickstart and Midwest and my experiences with them are different than many others.

And I see lots of posts - Midwest won't return my calls and then someone else will say they always get them. One person will wait 3mo for a location, the other will get one within a week.

The same is true of Kickstart...just all over the place in terms of people's experiences.

I understand locating is highly dependent on where you live, but many things (communication, for example) are not.

Anyway, just rambling

Kevin

[alyssamma]

LOL, no, I'm not saying anything specific here. I have an earlier post which talks about MW vs KS. I just meant that some people say Rob is great and communicates well, others will say the reverse. Ditto for Midwest.

I've posted good things about Midwest and then had people PM me saying they had the exact opposite experience.

It is just strange to me that people have such different experiences dealing with the same companies.

Kevin

[alyssamma]

Kelly, your comments are exactly what I am talking about. There are many here who don't think Rob communicates well. You also imply that he gets you good locations. Again, many here would disagree.

What is interesting to me is that there is such a difference of opinion.

I don't think it is a person's view of how they should be treated. I can tell you, as I stated in a different email, I have always been able to reach Midwest. With Rob it is hit and miss - sometimes good and sometimes bad. The fact you have a different opinion is what is strange to me. I would think we should have the same experience from the same locator.

And I don't mean to just bash KS. I know there are people here who can't reach MW and don't get calls returned. Again, odd that it is so different.

To reiterate, I am not bashing or supporting KS or MW with this thread. Just pointing out that there is a wide difference of opinion on how these locators perform, and that is odd.

Kevin

Kevin

[Jax Snacks]

Kevin,

After 25 years in the corporate world, communication (or lack there of) has always been a challenge. One interesting thing that I learned is that some people respond better to certain forms of communication technologies.

I have found that some people love communicating via email and others still love voice mail. I had a manager that would take 3 days to respond to a voice mail, but when I sent him an email he resonded within a few hours. Other people are the complete opposite and will sit on email for 3 days, but return calls the same day. Not sure what is up with that, but I like to quickly determine and label a person as either an email person or a voice mail person.

Another factor is their priorities. As we all have our voice mails and emails fill up, we all give priority to certain messages. I am sure the locators do the same thing. After all, some customers spend more money than others and some customers are more of a pain in the a$$ than others.

This may or may not have anything to do with it, but just wanted to throw that out.

Jax

[alyssamma]

Jax, you might have something there. And (lack of) communication seems to be the #1 problem with locators.

The other issues are quality of locations. I would believe that is local - i.e., MW might have an easier time in OH than IL just because of their connections and the local economy.

Still, I find it interesting the huge splits in KS and MW as far as people liking/disliking them.

[Jax Snacks]

Yea Kevin, it is interesting how locating orders are all over the place some times. But let's face it, location orders are not as cut and dry as we vendors would like. It's not like placing an order for a dozen roses. There is risk in every location order and some orders will go better than others. At some point even a good locator can turn bad and then good again. The good and bad with locators seems to go in spurts - much like the stock market.

Geography and local conditions can had a huge impact. A locator's business model and strategy may work great in one city and totally bomb in another. A vendor's experience and expections also play a role. New vendors often have unrealistic expectations about locators and vending in general.

Jax

[timberframe50]

Kevin, I have only used 2 different locators so I'm by no means an authority. But I find that when you buy a product or service you always go into the deal with some level of expectation. Each of our expectations differ from vendor to vendor. I think we order a location and expect it to happen quickly, be a killer location each an every time.

Let me share my experiences with 2 different locators. But before I do I should express my expectations listed in no particular order, but the top 5 are must the next 4 I will waiver slightly.

• Location within a 2 week time frame
• Replacements within 2 weeks, only after i have tried to make it work. (different products)
• 3 month kick out guarantee
• Contact name & number of person authorizing machine
• I want the option of either charity or commission
• Within my 5 zip code area
• Revenue guarantee
• Right to reject location
• I'm looking for more retail locations as oppsoed to breakrooms

After I did this list I found it quite interesting that most everyone listed communication and I did not. After so thought to this I beleive that communication is a 2 way street, if I need an update I ask. I think this comes from my 35 years as a manger in corporate america. Either email or Telephone, it depends on how they have responded in he past, I agree with Jax on this point.

So with all of that said; neither locator meet expectation #5 they only wanted Charity

Locator 1 got me IMO  good locations they meet 8 of 9 expectations

• I'm not any of these today but this locator fulfilled expectation 2&3 but slightly waiviered on #6 but acceptable to me.

Locator 2 got me IMO inferior locations but they meet 8 of 9 also

• I communicated  the day I located these, that I don't believe they would meet the revenue required but I was will to give them a chance, you just never know.

• Currently waiting for replacements.

Based on these 2 experiences I could call either one for the next set of locations and feel good about it, but I will probably try another one to gather more data.  Sorry for this very long post but I need to do it this way.

In closing I think vendors have not taken the time to list there expectations, then catorize them into needs and wants, then do I fair accesment of their experiences. Reaction on impulse not on fact. But that is what vending is about, Impulse Buying. 

 

[T BIRD]

IMO, you will always be disappointed Timber with what you want in #1 and 2 in terms of time frame.

[alyssamma]

All, to clarify, I wasn't really talking about what vendors expect vs. what locators can deliver. I am talking apples to apples comparisons here.

For example, for vendor A, Kickstart will always return calls, but for vendor B they never will.

For vendor A, Midwest takes 6 weeks to get a location but for vendor B they take 2 weeks.

This has nothing to do with what the vendors expect or don't expect.

My question had to do specifically with these differences. Locating times I can kind of see - different areas of the country, different machines, etc. But other differences don't make sense to me.

It is obvious that even people who are "happy" are looking for new locators. We had a girl announce herself a while back and she was mobbed with requests

You would think that either Midwest or Kickstart would have a clear majority of people who like them - they are certainly rated the highest. But in my experience - admitedly anecdotal and non-scientific and composed of reading posts and getting PMs - there are just as many people frustrated with them as there are happy with them.

And I don't think the unhappy ones have unrealistic expectations. Some do, but most - certainly the ones I've spoken with - do not.

Anyway, that is the meaning of my original post

Kevin

[Rustinm]

alyssamma,

I personally think it depends a lot on the vendors personality. I think that even though locating is a business deal, being personable to the locators and your attitude wth them makes a big difference. For example, If you are rude to them when they make a mistake of somekind, they will be a lot more likely to put you on the bottom of the list when it comes to something like a replacement location. The simple fact is that a company like midwest has so many cleints already that if they dont like the vendor they can easly "forget" that they owe you a location. When it comes to them returning your calls, they may just not get around to it as fast if they really dont like talking to you. Im not saying that this always true but i really do think it makes a difference. I know that once 1st class placement started messing up a lot and i started to lose some of my patients that it was like flipping a switch. They didnt return calls for like two weeks and it was like they just gave up on my locations and moved on. It was not like that at first, they were excellent for the first few locations. I think when we deal with locators we should check ourselves before saying something that could come back to bite us in the butt. We need to give them the respect they deserve, because you know locating is not easy! And just for our personal benifit, we should still give them respect even when they dont really deserve it because if we dont then we may not get what we signed up for!

[BudLeiser]

I'm waiting for my locations, but as far as initial communication Rob Patterson has been very good, Don Kimball is my favorite so far. I think midwest had min or cost that I could not meet. And another was friendly but a bit of a salesman (hey that might be good in finding locations though!)

Oddly enough all the "really bad" locators people complain about did not respond to my bulk email. (I think most are out of business by the time I got here)

[G-Vending]

Ok what Rob did for me..After a week i got a check-in email after 2 weeks he offered to refund my money said he could not find a location for me...

So Rob Kickstart did the right thing..

Is there any locators out there that just does full line?