Finding a location for your vending machine business can be a fun yet challenging endeavor. It requires persistence, patience and a keen eye for what a good location looks like. Not all vending machine locations are equal. Outstanding accounts will be hard to get when just starting, but many have done it before you, so I have faith. Here are the top eight things you should do to quickly land your first vending machine location.
1) Make a list of potential locations- This is where your persistence and hustle will come in. First, you must create a list of all the places that would be good for your vending machines. This list could include restaurants, grocery stores, hotels, gas stations, etc. Once you have your list, it's time to start making some calls.
2) Start calling and asking for the decision-maker- When you contact a potential location, you must request to speak with the decision-maker. This is the person who will ultimately decide whether or not to allow you to place a vending machine on their premises. Unfortunately, you will often have to call multiple times before speaking with the decision-maker. This is where your persistence will come in handy.
3) Make a pitch that is impossible to refuse- Once you finally get in touch with the decision-maker, you must make an offer they can't refuse. This offer should be a win-win for both parties involved. For example, you could offer to give the location a percentage of the profits from the vending machine. Or, you could offer to donate a portion of the proceeds to a charity of their choice.
4) Get the contract signed- Once you have made an offer that the decision-maker can't refuse, it's time to get the agreement signed. This is a crucial step in the process, as it will protect you and the location.
5) Follow up and continue to provide excellent service- After you have landed your first vending machine location, it is essential to follow up and ensure everything is going smoothly. You should also continue to provide excellent service to the location. This will ensure that they are happy with your service and will be more likely to allow you to place additional vending machines on their premises.
6) Develop rapport. When starting out, this will be hard, but whatever you can leverage to sound official will help a lot when closing a new account. For me, I leveraged donations to local charities with each product vended. This worked wonders for the early stages of my vending business.
7) Get your mindset right and learn/develop a sales process. Vending is 90% sales and 10% vending, figuratively speaking. So if we spend 90% of our time landing new accounts in our vending business, we only have to spend 10% worrying about machines.
8) Know what you are getting into. Vending is an excellent business and allows many of us to take a day off whenever we need to. It allows us freedom from someone telling us a schedule. But it also requires heavy-lifting and loading products and is not a remote job. You have to labour to scale a successful vending machine business physically. This is no easy business, and it is essential to know that.
The vending business's success is about mindset, location, hustle, and salesmanship. If you keep these five things in mind, you will be well on your way to landing your first vending machine location quickly. Thanks for reading!
