Dress for Success

[Jarola]

Hello everyone,

We have all heard the saying “dress for success” and it’s more than a saying. Within the first three seconds of a new encounter, you have been evaluated… even before you have spoken a word.

It is natural to make these assessments of others, and after the three-second evaluation is over, your words may not hold much weight in swaying their opinion. Luckily, you can always put your best foot forward; otherwise, a poor first impression may find you getting a lot more no’s than need be.

What have you used for your business uniform? I’m looking for a company that can embroider my logo onto a nice polo. I know this may seem like overkill for someone who has only two machines, only one of which is placed, but remember that I am trying to build a solid foundation for a strong and healthy business future. Your thoughts?

Regards,

Jacob

[BudLeiser]

http://www.myspace.com/pitgraphics

This guy is a perfectionist and doesn't know how to charge enough.

[G-man422]

What have you used for your business uniform? I’m looking for a company that can embroider my logo onto a nice polo. I know this may seem like overkill for someone who has only two machines, only one of which is placed, but remember that I am trying to build a solid foundation for a strong and healthy business future. Your thoughts?

Regards,

Jacob

Jacob, I did the exact same thing.  I was 17 when I first started, had 3 triples and didn't have much capital.  I went to the Salvation Army and purchased 3 nice polos for $2 each.  I then took them to a local embroiderer and had my company name put on them.  They looked great and I always wear them when locating and servicing. 

No matter how small or large you are, the person you are talking to has no idea.  Present yourself as a professional and you will be considered and treated like one.  Your idea is not overkill at all.  Good luck!

[Jarola]

Thanks BudLeiser, Kelly, & G-man422 for the feedback!

BudLeiser, his MySpace is set to private. I can send him a message, but should I say you referred me? And I'd love to add him to my resource page. Not sure which category he'd go into, maybe we'd have to create a new one?

G-man422, you were 17 when you started? How long have you been in the business? I bet you've got some stories to tell. I'd love to hear them sometime.

Regards,

Jacob

[BudLeiser]

Private myspace isn't that just a bad facebook. Yea tell him I reffered you for embroidery business. Maybe he has a different site/email/myspace for business. Let him know you want to link him and he should set you up.

[McMEnterpr]

Hello Jacob,

I always wear a dress shirt and khaki dress pants when serving accounts. I also keep a log of who I interact with at each location and review it before I go into a location so I remember the names of the owners and key employees so I can chat with them if the opportunity affords it. It's important to balance the need to service the account quickly (dressing well of course) with having some time to talk and network if it looks like a good time to do so. A solid handshake (if the owner isn't walking around with lots of pizza boxes, etc.) seems to go along way and a sincere hello/thank you. I've gotten a lot of follow-on business, bigger racks, lower commission, and assorted other perks from doing these things.

Regards,

Brian

[Jax Snacks]

A read a quote somewhere that said, "You never get a 2nd chance to make a good 1st impression".  So true!  I always try to be neat, clean shaved, wear a collared shirt and brown casual pants.  I once had a locator that would not replace locations if he determined that the vendor lost it due to looking like a slob.  He would call and verify with the location and ask why you were rejected.

As far as a uniform goes, I like to wear a baseball cap with the M&M logo or Dubble Bubble logo.  However, I would be careful about wearing a shirt with your company logo if you are placing charity locations.  The location may wonder about the legitimacy of the charity.  Always carry charity brochures with you if locating via a charity.  Some vendors will actually wear a shirt with the charity logo to reinforce that image.  However, I personally do not wear any charity logos.  I like to position myself as the "candy guy" and not the "charity guy".

Jax

[whaletail116]

You're right, Jax!  I'd hate to change their perception of the machine that 75% of the revenue is going to the charity compared the actual $1/month that is actually donated.  You're so sneaky!

"We got licked."  -Joe Paterno

[Jax Snacks]

Whale, did you read (and understand) the posting?  I do not wear any charity logos as other vendors may do in order to misrepresent the situation.  By the way you just insulted the vast majority of members here who are charity vendors. If you don't like vending, then why are you here?  Also what is that massive 8 location "route" of yours positioned as - charity or commission?  How about talking about vending since that is what this forum is supposed to be.

Jax

[whaletail116]

8 machines, all neither commission nor charity.  I simply told the owner that I'm a college student at the university, trying to pay my way through school.  My trick, I talk to them.  After awhile, the realize that I'm a proud member of both Phi Alpha Delta (Iowa's pre-law Fraternity) and Alpha Kappa Psi (a professional business Fraternity within the Tippe College of Business).  They realize that I spend my time as a Big Brother on Thursday afternoons and tailgating and at the games Saturday morning.  They agree with my philosophies of living debt free (both machines and tuition) and they understand that time is hard to come by.  They happily allow me to locate a machine within their establishment.  That's how it is in Iowa.  Florida may be a bit different, ranking 4th in violent crimes per capita since 2006.

[BudLeiser]

I bore them in to submission with stories about how I commit to doing things that don't earn any money.

Really 4th? How about non-violent crimes? Does that some how take into account the number of crimes that are committed but no one bothers to report/police don't bother to report to?

[whaletail116]

Yup, 4th, behind South Carolina, Tennessee and Nevada.  Unsure about nonviolent crimes but I can't imagine the two being drastically different.

[Jarola]

Alrighty then...

I'd like to thank you all for taking the time to read my post. I really do believe it's important to make a good impression. That includes more than your outward appearance, but also the things that you say.

Getting back to our subject, how do the rest of you "advertise" yourselves as you service your route? A car or van that looks like a gumball machine? Baseball cap with your logo? Business cards to hand out as needed? Anyone else use a shirt with your logo?

Regards,

Jacob

[dperry]

Getting back to our subject, how do the rest of you "advertise" yourselves as you service your route? A car or van that looks like a gumball machine? Baseball cap with your logo? Business cards to hand out as needed? Anyone else use a shirt with your logo?

I wear a clean polo shirt and in the summer I wear khaki shorts.  In the cooler months I'll wear jeans.  I used to wear an NCCS shirt, but I stopped doing that when I started focusing on racks and toys that were commission-based.

Never ever advertise on you vehicle.  You are carrying cash in your vehicle.  Don't advertise that you can have loads of quarters in there.  Somebody might wait for you and rob you if they knew what you had inside.

My car is a beatup chevy cavalier.  I don't wash it until the day after I do my servicing.  That way it has a month to get all dirty again.  I'll be getting a van in the future but I'll be making sure it has no vending markings on it at all.

[dperry]

8 machines, all neither commission nor charity.  I simply told the owner that I'm a college student at the university, trying to pay my way through school.  My trick, I talk to them.  After awhile, the realize that I'm a proud member of both Phi Alpha Delta (Iowa's pre-law Fraternity) and Alpha Kappa Psi (a professional business Fraternity within the Tippe College of Business).  They realize that I spend my time as a Big Brother on Thursday afternoons and tailgating and at the games Saturday morning.  They agree with my philosophies of living debt free (both machines and tuition) and they understand that time is hard to come by.  They happily allow me to locate a machine within their establishment.  That's how it is in Iowa.  Florida may be a bit different, ranking 4th in violent crimes per capita since 2006.

You are obviously only in this for the short term and not serious about this as a future enterprise. 

What will you do in the future?  Do you plan to be a perennial student?  Do you plan to sell your routes after you graduate?  Do you plan to lie to the location owners and say that you are still a student?

You present yourself as somebody who has nothing to learn since you seem to know it all already.  You obviously have nothing to offer either other than just to say how wonderful you are.  So then, why are you here?

[G-man422]

Jarola, I have given car magnets a thought.  I think a wrapping a car would be pretty awesome as well but I am not in the market for that yet.  I stick with my shirts and business cards for now.

There is a hotdog place by me and everytime I drive by I see this car.  I think to myself "Now that is a catchy way to advertise!" 

Gumball machine hot air balloon anyone?

[chowchowjailboss]

As posted previously, do not advertise on your car.  If you have a few dollars on you or nothing at all, the bad guys do not know that.  When they see a vending company vehicle that is a target for cash money. 

[Jarola]

Thank you, dperry and chowchowjailboss!

Those are excellent points about the vehicle that I hadn't thought of previously.

So, in regard to security, do you recommend changing up your route? Seems to me that always arriving at the same day or time could be risky.

Regards,

Jacob

[dperry]

If you service every month or two, and have lots of stops per service run, I don't really see how you can show up at a location at the same time every time.  The thing you want to avoid is counting your money at your vehicle after you serviced the stop.  If you are like me, I count the money after every stop.  What I do when I am done servicing a location is I dump all my materials (service bucket, extra product, etc) back into my car, then I drive to the next stop.  Only then do I count the money from the previous stop.  That way if anybody is watching me at the stop and follows me out to my car, then I'm not hanging around counting my money, and giving them an opportunity to rob me.  They would have to be really persistant to follow me to my next stop to rob me.  But hopefully that will be too much work for them.

I feel it's better to count the previous stops money after I arrive at the next stop.  Nobody is likely to know yet that I have any money in my car. They won't know until they watch me go collect the quarters at the current stop.  But then like I said, I don't hang around once I collect the money.

[cavity]

excellent idea!

[whaletail116]

DPerry, yes, I plan to get rid of the route as I relocate to grad school, unless my younger brother (junior in high school) who is considering the U of Iowa would like them. 

As for your recent post, why not wait to count your earning until you return home?  I'm missing the urgency of why the money needs to be counted right away, especially if you're that paranoid of being robbed, which I am not.

[West Coast Vend LLC]

Sounds like a great idea.

Gary

[dperry]

As for your recent post, why not wait to count your earning until you return home?  I'm missing the urgency of why the money needs to be counted right away, especially if you're that paranoid of being robbed, which I am not.

I don't remember saying anything about it being urgent.  I just like to know how much I have from each stop, write it down, dump it into my coin box and move on.  I have to know how much each item makes at each stop.  This scenario only happens on my single or double locations.  If it's a location with a rack, then I count the money in the location so that I can calculate and pay the commission.

[The Mage]

I would never put anything on my car.  My triples all vend into the same bottom, but I am planning on placing cardboard dividers in between each section to create separate compartments for the change so I can keep track of exactly how each head is doing.

Anyway, I fully intend to either count each compartment as I am dropping it into my moneybag, then writing that number into my record log for each head.  If it is a commission route, I will pull everything out, into 3 separate piles, and count them in front of the manager, or where it is easy to see me, and log the sales, and commission. 

Everything will be in the money bag, and counted, when I walk to the car.  And most likely held behind the record book so people see that instead of the money bag.

After I drive to the next location, then I will dump it into another bag, or money box, kept in the locked car, so I can reuse the small bag again.

This is more security, having as little cash on me as possible, and if you lose count as your dropping the coins into the bag, you already know what was in there from the last head, so recounting is easier.

And a final thought about security, lift weights.  The bigger you are, the less people will want to mess with you, and it sure makes lifting all the candy easier.

But keeping business cards on you is a good idea.  But generally I can't see a car sign helping in a business like this.

[whaletail116]

I guess I just don't see the need to know exactly how much the machine has earned before leaving the store.  I do all of my counting once I return home and I still have an excellent idea of which products are selling and which are not without having to count each quarter from each compartment.  

I live in Iowa.  Crime here is seldom and I never even considered being robbed until I read thought of it here in the forums.  But I suppose it does occur and is something that needs to be discussed.

I really like The Mage's view on the subject.