nam Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 I often have a problem with owner/managers not knowing what a lot of my machines are and how they work. Of course most are familar with standard candy/gumball machines or even a sticker/tattoo, however they don't know what a Wowie, Oscar, Zingo, Shootin Hoops or a lot of my other machines even look like. It's usually necessary to bring these larger machines into the location which often they say not to bother and they aren't interested. The normal response for almost anything you're selling, especially if they don't know what it is, "No not interested". The same person that tells you they aren't interested often will change their mind once they see the machines running but so often they don't want me to bring it in. So here is my answer - I hope. I bought a Sony 9" portable DVD player and am making video's of different machines to play for the owners. I do have large pictures to show but nothing really does what watching a Wowie or similar machine can do when they see and listen to it in person. I plan to also video even an 8 select U Turn, neon spirals, etc. so they can see them in action. I have made like a home page on the DVD that shows my business name and different machines. When I click on one of the machines it will then take me directly to just that video clip. It has a remote control so I can pause a video, raise and lower volume all with the little remote. It has a swivel screen that allows me to turn the video directly towards the customer while I still am able to control it with the remote. The battery life without recharging is 6 hrs so shouldn't be a problem working all day with it. My hope is to not only get more interest without having to bring these big machines in and out but also save time and my back! lol I was gonna just use my laptop but they take awhile to start up, etc. each time. This little portable machine is very small and turns off and on like a radio or something. My first video is of the Shootin Hoops machine and you can watch the video on my previous post "Shootin Hoops Video". The picture quality on this machine is really really good so don't let the pictures with the camera of the video fool you. The pictures didn't come out well of the video. Click on the pictures and it will make them bigger and better but still not the quality you get in person. Anyway, I'll be trying this for the first time next week so will let you know the response I get. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdavid Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 Pretty cool, Nam. What software are you using to create the DVD interface? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tooldini Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 GREAT idea for sure. I hope I have that problem in the future Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nam Posted July 11, 2009 Author Share Posted July 11, 2009 pdavid, We also bought a new Sony camcorder at the same time we got this little machine. The software came with the camcorder. The camcorder is really really little and just uses flash memory of 8gb. Our old one used mini cds and like this new one a lot better. Much smaller yet, light weight and really nice picture quality. So the software lets us put like the LLC name on a front page when the video starts and then mini icons of the machines come up on the screen. I can highlight the one I want to show so a bar lights up on that icon. I click it and just that one begins to play for the customer. We would like to find a free or cheap software package to edit the videos a little better. It would be nice if we could crop the video just like a picture but this software won't let us do it. Haven't really looked yet but there most be some software out there. I just check downloads.com but no where else yet. nam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BudLeiser Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 This is a really great idea. But what about an iphone 3GS? Always on you, with a car charger should be always charged. Just record it with the I phone, walk in, give a spiel, ask if they would like to see a video of it. And woila, whip out the Iphone and impress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vipergts Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 This is a really great idea. But what about an iphone 3GS? Always on you, with a car charger should be always charged. Just record it with the I phone, walk in, give a spiel, ask if they would like to see a video of it. And woila, whip out the Iphone and impress. This is a great idea, but why rain on his parade? lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-man422 Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 Nam, thats a great idea. I will be interested in how your locating goes now since, like you say, theres nothing like seeing a wowie in action. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caserri Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 Nam I think this is the best idea I have heard in a while. I printed pictures and the whole time never thought of a video till you brought this up. I will be forced to vote this post up!!!! Kelly voting for nam? Seriously though, it is a great idea nam, I had to throw you a vote as well. Keep us updated on how it works out for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nam Posted July 23, 2009 Author Share Posted July 23, 2009 Well, thought I'd give a heads up on how the little dvd machine has done. It has worked out great and even better than I expected. I think because it is so different than listening to all sales pitches that owners have to hear all day long. Somtimes you can see they are real curious before I even start the machine. They're so not used to seeing anything like this! I placed a Wowie this morning in a very large restaurant on my first call or the day. The owner watched the little video twice, took maybe 60 seconds and he just walks away from me towards the entrance to see where we could place the machine. As soon as he saw the video he was sold and just became a matter of moving a few things to make a spot for it. This isn't the first time this has happened showing the little video clips. It gets decisions faster than I can do it myself. The best part is simply they are curious as to what I want to show them. I know some of these owners would have blown me off immediately by just saying they wouldn't be interested. I'm getting owners and the waitresses coming over to watch the video. I had another restuarant owner on Monday tell me as soon as he came out he had to go and was just leaving. I flipped my little screen up and said I could show him what I've got in 30 seonds. He watched the video once and asked what his percentage was and showed me two different spots and said I could put it in either place I liked and he just left. He walked out the door and I placed the Wowie right on the spot. Took maybe 1 - 2 minutes with the owner. I like it! Now I just need to find time to make more videos of different machines to place. nam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lurtsman Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 That is very impressive. The device is much more professional than trying to show them a video on my cell phone >->. I'm glad to hear you are having so much success with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amall23 Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 Nam, you're a genius! Voted up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dperry Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 He watched the video once and asked what his percentage was and showed me two different spotsJust curious. What percentage do you give for Wowies? These use the location's electricity, unlike regular machines, so I would expect to give them a highter percentage. For gumballs, if it were me, I would even do 50% commission. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nam Posted July 23, 2009 Author Share Posted July 23, 2009 dperry, Very rarely will anyone bring up the cost of electricity as in comparison to running their restaurants this machine wouldn't make a bit of difference. Yes, you can pay up to 50% commission if necessary. Of course I'm not going in that high and probably wouldn't pay that until the machine had reached a volume high enough to justify paying that much. nam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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