October 21st, 2009 by Bruce

Here is a strategy to utilize when you have a potential location that you don’t necessarily want to set up yourself. What I like to do is to broker deals for cash and vending machines. Now that you have implemented your free ad listings like we discussed in my Free Vending Report, and you start getting fresh new leads for your vending business, the next step is to obviously build your business by setting up new locations to definitely make you more money. But what about the leads that you get that are out of your working area, or perhaps those leads that you do not necessarily want to set up? What do you do with them?

Well, what to do is, you broker deals for cash and/or vending machines. You see, I get calls all the time from companies. If you have been in the vending business for any amount of time, you know that when people call you, you have to collect a lot of information, to try and find out their needs, what their circumstances are and think about how you will profit and make money.

Because ultimately you know, some of the companies who call you might be a little bit out of your area. You might prefer not to set them up for different reasons, because you just don’t want to do the driving, or the calls might be for services that you do not offer.

So let’s say it is a pop and snack vending contact and these companies say, ‘Oh, we want coffee, food, snacks, and pop, say the whole spectrum. Sometimes you may not want to set up an account with all of that vending equipment so instead of saying, ‘No, sorry, I don’t do that,’ what you do is broker deals for cash and/or vending machines by contacting other vending operators who you know are looking for locations in that area.

Usually what I do is contact other vending operators I already know. I have seen a lot of vending operators in places where I buy my products, wholesalers and stuff. But I don’t know all of their names. But I always have a few people I know who I can talk to in the business. Furthermore, I always have a few guys and girls who are looking for new locations and wanting to build their business in certain areas.

They know me from talking to me when I am buying products or when things come up. They know me and that I’m building my business; and they know that I’m doing a pretty good job of it. And they are always waiting for me and asking, “Hey, do you have any locations for sale, or do you have any leads you want to sell me because I’m looking for locations?” What I do is, if I ever need a machine or have a location that contacts me and they are out of my area, I will just simply contact one of these vending operators whom I just referred to. I usually have two or three. I find out if they are looking for locations, and I will call them to work the deal.

Nine times out of ten, they usually want it. The only time they would not want it is if it was, for example, out of their area. But here is the deal. Even if you don’t want to say, let’s say you flipped the location and sell it to them. You make money. What happens if they say, “Well, we don’t want it”. Well you already set up the location. What you do is put up an ad at one of your suppliers and say, “I have a location for sale.” And just flip it and sell it to make some money.

So it is a great way to actually make more money in your vending business. Therefore, if I need a machine, for example, there is a friend of mine in the business who is always looking for locations. He knows that I get a lot of locations. Furthermore, he is always telling me, “Hold it. I need one here. It sounds like your business is expanding and growing. You know I will buy some locations off you. Let me know if you have anything in this area.”

Chris Robertson is an 11 year vending operator who teaches and trains people How To Start A Vending Business in their local area. Get Chris’s Free Vending Report to learn how to get started on the right foot!

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October 2nd, 2009 by Bruce

Let’s talk about the script for the next step when you go to the location to talk to them about closing the deal. And sometimes it takes more than walking in and presenting your business card. Initially, there is a follow-up process and then other processes that come into play to actually close the deal on the location.

When you go into the location next, you want to close the deal on that location. This is where I am basically saying that I am almost getting close to closing the deal. These people have already taken my information. I have already followed up with the phone call.

They have invited me back to their company so that I can explain to them about vending services. Obviously, they are interested because there is a reason for inviting me back.

If the company already has vending machines there, you need to look at the machines to see what their situation is and if you can further assist them.

Honestly, as a vending operator, there have been times when companies have called me, and they have said, “Can you come in and help us? We have some problems.” Or, “We were looking at different pricing for our vending service, and we want better service, better pricing, etcetera. Can you come in?”

Well, I have been into big companies before. And I would look at the vending machines they have and the pricing. I would ask the person, “What is your service like?” What are they doing? And I would look at them. If I felt that I could not do better from say a price standpoint, I would just be honest and say, “You know what? It looks like you have some pretty good vending machines here.

The machines look good, the prices are set right, and if the guy is coming on a weekly basis or whatever to fill them, everything is all right.” Not many operators will try and come in here and undercut that. In short, undercutting that would be undercutting yourself.

But say you sell a can of pop for one dollar, and the other guy is selling a can of pop for one dollar. The only issue is, “Well, we just want a better price.” Well, you know you will be undercut because you are going to lose profit margin if you start down-pricing your products just to get the location.

The only time I would ever do that would be if the sales volume was really astronomical. I knew that I would still make a good profit margin based on the sales from the product from the machines. I am referring to a huge company. I don’t normally do that, and in some circumstances, I will just be honest and say, “I think you are doing fine as it is.”

Chris Robertson has been a successful vending operator for over 11 years. He teaches people across the globe How To Start A Vending Business in their own local areas. Get Chris’ Free Vending Report today and start learning how to make money in the vending machine business.

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October 2nd, 2009 by Bruce

So the follow-up is that, whether or not they have vending machines, it is important to listen to what they are saying. The main focus is to listen to the person you go to see. Do not focus on, “Oh, I got my machines, I can bring them in here.

Focus on what they are saying, and then adapt yourself to help them, provide their needs, and solve their problem. And that is it. If they do not have machines already, then you go in and say, “You know, a typical place where we could place machines is in the lunch room or whatever”. But if it is a factory setting or something similar and there are a lot of truckers coming in the back, then maybe a machine can be placed in a common area at the back.

You proceed to take some measurements to make certain the machine will fit in the area, and establish that there is an electrical outlet. Measure the doorways to make sure it will go through the doors – some basic stuff. Then you basically tell them, “I have machines ready and available. I can have them delivered in as little as ten days”.

I like to always say, “I give five to ten business working days – which is two weeks, so that you can make arrangements with the mover to bring in the machine.” You talk with them a little about the pricing, or you just say to them, “I will put together a proposal, and I will write in the stuff that we talked about today. Then I will call you back, and we will see if we can get the machines going.” That is usually what the process is.

In conclusion, you go in there, and you talk to them, somewhat finalizing what they want. If they say, “We are ready to go,” then I say, “No problem. I am ready. Let’s do it. I will go and get the machines. I will call you when I have a delivery date set, so that you know when they are coming. Consider it done”. Or they might say, “Can you put together a little proposal for me about what we talked about today, so that I can give it to my boss, or such and such a person who can make a decision on this?” Consequently, if they do that, go home and email them a basic proposal.

Follow up with them again, perhaps three or four days later. And then you say, “I have the machines available. I have a couple of other companies that are interested, and I need to try and get confirmation from you whether you are going forward with these machines or not – the ones I quoted you on”.

Right? So, that is how you create urgency in the business and close the deal on the locations. And by that point, you should close the deal. Just understand that closing the deal on locations is a little bit of a process.

Sometimes it is a fast process. Other times it takes a little longer. But the pay-off can be great. Now I will tell you from personal experience, there have been accounts that I have closed really quickly and some have taken a little while longer– a few weeks. Some have taken a few months. But even for the ones that have taken a few months, the pay-off is huge.

So just be patient, and follow the system that I have outlined here for you. In conclusion, you will do just fine. So that is your vending scripts’ outline for today.

Chris Robertson has been a successful vending operator for over 11 years. He teaches people across the globe How To Start A Vending Business in their own local areas. Get Chris’ Free Vending Report today and start learning how to make money in the vending machine business.

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October 2nd, 2009 by Bruce

The goal is for you to go in and talk to a potential location to get your vending machines in there. They may start explaining all the problems they are having with this provider. They don’t come to fill the machine; they don’t do this or that. Then you reply, “Listen, no problem. I can set up some machines similar to what you have here. We can run the same kind of selections. I will even throw in a few more extras so that you have some more healthy items”.

You look at some suggestions they want and types of items too. If they say, “The vending guy never acknowledges our request,” then say, “No problem. Just let me know when you want the machine, and I will help you and put it in”. It might even be that one comment you make to them that will get you the location.

Evidently, the biggest pressing issue they are having might be that, “The guy doesn’t listen to our requests.” And if you say, “You just tell me what you want in the machine, and I will put it in,” they might say, “You are in”. I will make the call. The other guy is out. Not that I am in favor of kicking vending operators from companies or anything, but if the other person is not doing the job properly, then they should not be there.

That goes for me too. If I am running my business, and I’m slacking, if I lose a location because I am just not pulling my weight, you know what? Then I deserve it. It sucks. But you know what? That is what business is all about.

Personally, I have never lost an account like that before. The only time I have ever lost an account was when a business folded or something similar. This is very rare. The biggest thing for me is to be keeping my accounts in good order, keeping good relationships with clients, and making and maintaining my promise to the company. And if you do all those things, you will definitely win in this business.

Chris Robertson has been a successful vending operator for over 11 years. He teaches people across the globe How To Start A Vending Machine Business in their own local areas. Get Chris’ Free Vending Report today and start learning how to make money in the vending machine business.

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September 30th, 2009 by Bruce

Here is a question from one of my students during a recent training call.

And so you’re also asking, “How do you know if you’re a successful vendor or if you need to take it up a notch?” Well, you know what? Are you working your business? Are you actually building your business? Are you, or are you just working it?

Here’s the thing: Are you a vending operator, and you have a few machines on locations and you’re just filling your machines and filling and doing that sort of thing? Or are you a vending operator who is ambitious and wanting to get out there and build your business, get more locations and fill your machines at the same time?

When you asked, “How do you know if you’re a successful vendor?” It just depends on WHAT YOU WANT out of the business and WHAT YOUR NEEDS are.

For me personally, I had a full-time job. They had control of me. They told me that I had to come in at 5:30 am to drive a bus. And then I wouldn’t get home until late.

I worked a split shift for a few hours, and I would go out and sell my machines, and I had to come back in the afternoon to drive the afternoon part of the split shift. I got home at 7:30-8:00 pm at night, missed dinner with my family and had just enough time to see them, put my children in the bath and then put them to bed.

I could only do that for so long. There was no way I was going to live my life like that. I want control of my life. I want to have control of this. So that was when I started hustling.

You know what? I hustled and hustled until I built a business. I would say that my business is always growing to become better. I feel successful in my business because I have been able to do things that a lot of people only wish they could do.

But that’s just because I worked my butt off to get it. I know guys who are younger than me who have vending businesses that are twice the size of mine. So I mean, it depends on you and your ambition, where you see yourself and where you want to be.
To answer that question, you want to take that up a notch. You need to start doing more in your business and building your business the way you want to build it. Don’t let it sit dormant.

A business sitting dormant is only waiting for problems. What if you lose an account and you lose income? At least, if you’re building your business, then you know even if you lose an account along the way, then you are not losing a lot.

And if you really take care of your locations, it is very rare that you will lose an account, unless the company goes belly-up or something similar. But if you take care of your locations, you don’t ever have to worry about competition.

As long as the user is taken care of, you have the machines in there, your service is good, and you have a good rapport with the clientele there, you are good to go. Actually, that is a really good question.

Chris Robertson has been a successful vending operator for over 11 years. He teaches people across the globe How To Start A Vending Machine Business in their own local areas. Get Chris’ Free Vending Report today and start learning how to make money in the vending machine business.

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