How do the pro locators do this.

[Agapevending]

i have been trying to  locate today. But so  far  ever one has  said no.  How  do the pros do this. 

it must have been a fluke  when i found  two  the last time  i tried.  Both were on  the fly. just picked up the phone and called..

I am  going nutty trying to t get these out.

[sweetstop]

One day on my lunch break I sat in my car and got 4 in the same town and 1 it turned out to be my best location to date.

Other times i could spend hours and get nothing but no or the manager is not here!

Keep trying !!

[WillisNYC]

Welcome to the sales aspect of this business.  Yes, you can go days without getting a yes and then get three or four in one day.  It is all a numbers game.  The more doors you knock on and the more phone calls you make, the more likely you will be to succeed.  Your sales 'pitch' will get better with time and eventually you will get through all the no's to the yes's.  I have been in sales a long time, so it is no surprise to me.   However, don't lose heart, locating vending machines is one of the easiest, if not THE easiest product I ever sold in my life.  Trust me, selling currencies, life insurance, tax services or ANY of the many other products I have sold in my life is FAR more difficult than this sale!

Most of all, don't lose heart, keep doing it and success will come.  You will never 'get lucky' if you don't give yourself a chance to 'be lucky' by asking for the business.

I do most of my locating in person.  I must have approached 100 different service stations before I found one owner with 30 stations AND he was unhappy with his current vendor!  If I had stopped asking before I got to him, I would not have his 8 current stations, nor would I have the chance to get the other 22!  And no, locating bulk is not very different from full line.  (I have done both and just liked full line better.  I also had the capital for it.)

Good luck.

[havending]

   I have only ever located in person, only use the phone to follow up.

I also only locate in person.  the only time i call a location on the phone is for a speical situation.  Like having some else service or repair a location or changing equiptment.  etc. 

You will have more luck in person.

[havending]

Oh to answer the question locators just get on the phone and call and call until the get the amount of yes answers you paid for.  They go for quanity not quality.  Sad but 99% true

[candyman007]

The truth is there are good days and bad for every sales person.  

When I first started my vending route, years ago now, I located my first 20 machines in person.  

It took me several weeks to do it.  It was a nightmare.  The rejection was horrible.  

Then I got smart, realized I was horrible at it, and hired someone.  

But landing that big location can feel so rewarding.  Actually landing any account feels good

after a day of rejection.  

Locating is a numbers game.  You can make hundreds of phone calls and face 100% rejection.  

Then your next 3 calls might result in yes, yes, yes.  So don't give up.

If you're determined to locate on your own then just don't give up.  I would recommend anyone

who wants to locate on their own to do it in person.  Not because in person is more efficient than

locating over the phone, it's not; but it's too easy to give up when you're home alone making phone

calls.  A huge part of our business now is keeping team moral up.  There are very few individuals

who can sit at home and make cold calls all day.

Regards,

Rob

[Hillbilly]

I agree with havending.  Try it in person and see how it goes.  It's a lot easier to say no over the phone.  When you are standing there people will read your body language,how you speak,how you dress,how clean you are,etc.  As long as your a decent person they will more than likely say yes.

[mainor5251]

That might be true 99% of the time but that's why you go with one that allows you to reject any unwanted locations. I recently used Kickstart for 5 locations and only needed a replacement.  But after I turned down the replacement location Rob's staff got me another replacement which happened to be a decent size chain family restaurant that has tons of potential.  My advice keep working on locating yourself, network with friends, family, and co-workers where you already have an in, also hire a reputable located like Kickstart to get you some nice locations also.  I've gotten pretty comfortable locating in person (got 7 locations last time I went locating) but still like to utilize Kickstart.

[havending]

That might be true 99% of the time but that's why you go with one that allows you to reject any unwanted locations. I recently used Kickstart for 5 locations and only needed a replacement.  But after I turned down the replacement location Rob's staff got me another replacement which happened to be a decent size chain family restaurant that has tons of potential.  My advice keep working on locating yourself, network with friends, family, and co-workers where you already have an in, also hire a reputable located like Kickstart to get you some nice locations also.  I've gotten pretty comfortable locating in person (got 7 locations last time I went locating) but still like to utilize Kickstart.

Im not going to get in to a big thing here but the truth is that they know nothing about the business that they are calling and are only on the phone long enough to talk charity and get a yes or know.  Its cool that rob will let you decline a location but if hes so good why dosent he do comm accounts.  Thats where the money is good eating places, bowlings allys.  I have been doing this for 15 years i know a thing or two about vending and locators and the whole business.

[West Coast Vend LLC]

Pro-locators are really just Pro-phone calling solicitors. They call stores by zip coded lists by area's you request.  How do you think they cover the USA.  They don't have offices in each state.  Their call operators are calling off a list of small stores, restaurants, etc.  They don't even know what the stores look like or how much business they do.  They don't know if they are in safe area's or what condition the accounts are in. If that's how you want to get accounts you can do that yourself.  You may find 1 in 50 that will alright.  That's why you don't get commission accounts, chain accounts, big money accounts from "Pro" locators.

If someone can tell me different, please do.

Gary

[bostonvendor27]

IMO the rejection rate is high if your a pro or not !  Like Rob said there are good days and bad. Same goes for the owners/ managers .You might be a great seller but catch someone on the wrong day? There are so many factors involved , you just need to keep at it.  Personally I have located my first ten machines and It was very hard for me, but I'm glad I did. Like other people say on this site, you need to learn how to locate. I have used a locator as well and IMO I don't see any problem with it as long as you use someone that your comfortable with and has a good guarantee.

                 Good luck!

[will.vend]

It might have already been mentioned but I always ask my existing accts if they have any other locations or if they  know somebody I can contact at other locations. I do all my locating (im commission only) and thanks to useful information from you guys I have tweaked my approach, today I got a rack from an attended laundromat that has a neglected rack already there. I wish I had my camera there because it looked like s***      my machines next to it were shining so much I needed sunglasses , maybe I will take a pic and post it next visit. thanks again for everyones ideas.

[candyman007]

If the underlying message is that you can't have a successful route by using a locator then I would absolutely have to dispute it.  

While our methods are not perfect, they are continually getting better.  And with the internet we have been able to

amass far more knowledge about each individual location.  

For instance.  Our database tells us when a new business opens so we can do our best to get you in there before

any other vending operator has a chance.  

We can also see how long a business has been open, the # of employees and historical sales.  

Our job, and this is something we still work at, is putting all of that knowledge to work for you.  

Your job is to do your own due diligence.  

There is a reason the majority of KSL clients report higher gross sales than the national averages for bulk vendors.

Part of that is the job KSL does but the greater part of that is that our clients have far more knowledge than the average bulk vendor.  We are constantly pushing our clients emails about bulk vending and how to increase their cash flow.  We love our clients to get on VENDiscuss and devour the endless knowledge here.

Regards,

Rob

P.S.  You do make some great points too Gary.  We don't do commission and corporate chain stores are generally not our target.  Frankly the business model is different for commission than it is for charity for both vendors and locators.  

[mainor5251]

Everyone has different business models and goals, I have chosen one that fits around my family and current job.  Havending, as much as you endorse your own business model you need to remember its not for every one.  I've seen enough post of yours to know theres some things about it that doesn't work for me, personally.  And while your out making your million next month or whatever your up to I'll enjoy my smaller condensed, little less profitable route of locations that I get on my own and as well as the ones Kickstart gets.  You can throw out statistics and what ever else you want about locator's, I'm going on my current experience with locations that are doing over $20 a week that were located by Rob's team.  Oh, and I was wondering to you even enjoy bulk vending Havending? And no I'm not being sarcastic. 

[sweetstop]

my 2 cents:

locators are good for someone starting out or building their route quickly as most have a full time job, a family or other commitments when we start in vending and the time to locate by phone or even worse in person is just not in the cards. If I can pay a couple months of income to have a location secured while I am doing something else that is making me money then its worth it.. To me if you have machines in storage of any kind it pays to have someone locate it and have it start producing income now then later because I was too busy to get to it.

[JPVendCo.]

     I was out doing some locating this weekend.  I stopped by a small mexican restaurant that had 4 vendstars in the front from 4 different "charity"  vendors. After speaking to the owner and informing her of the generous $1.00 per month donation to the charity, all 4 vendstars are in the back room waiting to be picked up by their owners.  She told me someone called on the phone to locate 3 of the 4. A nice commission rack is now on location paying her $$$!

hope you don't live in my nieghborhood.......