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Getting Vending Locations Yourself

Though there are many options for you to hire other people - individuals or companies - to find the best places for you to locate your vending machines, the fact that you can actually do it yourself should not be overlooked. Many people are surprised to discover that locating their vending machines is actually a great deal easier and more pleasant than they had expected.

The reason that most people choose to hire someone else is that they simply don't know where to start and don't feel that they are qualified to do the job properly. They are often afraid that there will be a great deal of sales involved - something with which not everybody feels comfortable - and that they simply will not know how to identify and act upon the best opportunities.

That being said, those who do take the plunge and give their own locating a try are generally happy to discover that they only have to do as much selling as they want to. More often they are simply providing customer service than actually doing any selling. Unless a specific location already has its fill of vending machines, many companies are happy to be able to welcome the convenience that a vending machine has to offer their customers and employees. Therefore, instead of having to sell to your locations, most of your communications will consist of requests for products, refilled machines and other forms of maintenance.

Instead of thinking of what you're doing as selling when you're talking to new prospective locations, consider it to be a form of educating. You're not selling anything to companies providing you with a location. The vending machine is what does the selling. You're simply telling them about what you have to offer and the benefits that they could experience by placing one of your machines on their property. You're not asking for their money, just some space. Then, their customers and/or employees will decide whether or not a sale will be made from the vending machine.

You can choose the scouting method that suits you the best. The two most common and effective techniques include visiting companies on-site and cold-calling (that is, phoning them when they don't know you and they have not requested information from you). Cold calling is a good way to get things started because it means that you won't rack up any travel expenses and you can contact a large number of locations in a relatively small period of time. However, visiting locations yourself has the added benefit of allowing you to actually see what kind of opportunity the place may have to offer.

The key to keeping motivated and successful is to remember that no matter how well you do, not every location you call or visit will want to place one of your machines for you. Don't be discouraged by this. It is normal for between 10% and 25% of the companies you call to be interested in giving vending machines a try. For the first while, your successes will likely be within the lower end of that range. This just means that you will want to place a large number of calls and stop by several different locations. Remember, you should be able to interest one out of every ten that you contact, so your success simply depends on your persistence.