SAMPLE SCRIPTS

Here are a few sample scripts and assumptions

The person calling is Suzy Q
She is with ABC Vending
She participates in the National Children's Cancer Society vending outreach program
She is cold calling and doesn't know allot about the situation
The decision maker is a man
The person answering the phone is reasonably knowledgable

Don't waste you time giving your presentation to someone who is not the decision maker
If you talk to the screener and they tell you there are only a couple of people in the office and it is right by the vending machines, tell her thanks and move on to the next lead. If the person answering asks if you want to get talk to the decision maker tell her in just a moment but you would like to ask her a couple questions first.

Ask if they have machines now or ever had vending machines.
Ask why they might have been removed.
Ask what type of business they are in.
Aks how many people come through the office, plant each day.
Ask who makes the decisions on installing these type of machines.
Get the name and title of this person.

Script
"Hi, my name is Suzy Q and I represent the National Children's Cancer Society charity. We are asking businesses in the area to donate one square foot of unused space to benefit the charity's Vending Outreach Program. We will maintain it and keep it
filled."

"I'd like to know if your company would be interested in
helping out the National Children's Cancer Society. It won't cost you/them (in the
sense of "the company you work for") any money at all."

"Hi, would you be interested in a free vending machine
service? We stock it and service it."

(If In person) If the Decision Maker says no: "I'd like to leave
my business card with you, if you don't mind, in case you change your mind
or if you know someone else that would be interested.

Ways to Find Leads

Regularly solicit your current customers.

Always be on the lookout and talk to them on a regular basis.
Ask if they want more machines at existing locations or if they need machines at other locations.
Always carry business cards. You never know who might
know someone who could be a good prospect.
Also, talk to friends, family, co-workers, and current customers.

Other good ways of gathering businesses to call or visit is to go to
www.superpages.com and do a search. I have a whole article in the archives on this subjcect.
The superpages will generate you a listing you can work with.

Get County Clerk Records for your use in contacting new businesses.

You can browse the Assumed Names and UCC records kept by
your County Clerk and also get a list of new business filings.
In some areas, you can subscribe to a service that will fax you
information on all new businesses that have opened.

I will also place a tiny add in one of the local community papers asking if they would like to help the vending outreach program of your choice and would like a small candy vending machine for their customers or employees.
If interested they will give me a call but at least you are getting your name out their.

This will get you a great start in planning and coming up with locations.

Till next time, keep on vending!
Candyman

Locating Tip: Do Not Discuss How Much the Charity Receives!

A question that is commonly asked is this.

"What if they ask me how much the Charity Recieves?"

If someone asks you how much the Charity recieves, you can tell them it is calculated based on the total number of
machines you have located, but the Charity gets paid every month and that you don't have exact numbers. Then change the subject. It is really nobody's business except for you and the Charity per your agreement. You can also just say that it is confidential but the Charity gets a cut each month of the sales based on the number of machines I have located. Keep it simple but never go into all the nitty gritty details of exactly how much you are paying per machine.

The important thing is that the Charity's are making a substantial amount off the Vending Outreach Programs and that is helping their cause and essentially do not have to do anything for that steady revenue stream that supports their Charity each month. They love the Vending Machine Operators that are supporting their Charity Organizations.

Locating Bulk Candy Machines

As we have said in prior articles (See in the Archives) that using the Charity approach is the only way to go when dealing with Bulk Candy Vending machines. Unless you have a machine in a bowling alley or restaurant that is really kicking in some serious dough each month you can just stick to the Charity Approach. If the prior is true, than maybe a commission could be justified.

Lets for sample purposes use the NCCS National Childrens Cancer Society.

When you call you can say,

Hi, I'd like to know if your company would be interested in helping out the National Childrens Cancer Society?

It won't cost you/them anything to be in the program.

All we need is about 2 square feet of floorspace to put a small candy machine.

Would you be willing to donate this to help?

This is just a first step and a very simple basic script, but many times this is all you need.

Before this call is even made and the script read there is one important thing you must do.
That is getting the decision maker on the phone. This may prove difficult but not impossible.
When calling you may get someone else answering the phone or screening calls. You need to make sure you are asking for the manager or person in charge. Getting the name of this person is critical. After that it is a matter of calling and getting them on the phone. If this person asks you if they can take a message just tell them you will call back. Ask them when will be the best time for me to call them back? Never call between 11:00am - 1pm. You will find most of the people you wish to talk to will be at lunch.

Do not call a business during their busy periods. You will need to learn this. Examples would be calling a restaurant during lunch. If you are put on hold for a long period of time or disconnected. Call back and tell them you were disconnected. More than likely they will try to put you through. When leaving a message to call you back, don't count on it. It is very rare when a prospective business will call you back to discuss putting "Your Machine" into their business. Alway rememeber it is your machine and you need to make the phone calls to pursue them and close the deal.

Candyman
Keep on Vending!
http://bulkvending.blogspot.com

Locating - Upcoming Articles

I am going to start a series of articles on locating since this is really at the heart of your business. I will not claim to be an expert on locating, but will share what I have read and my experience on the subject. I would also like your comments and input as we discuss this subject. I am going to discuss a bit about using telemarketing as an approach, but will go into other various topics over the next few weeks.

The first rule in any type of locating is to get ready for people to say no. It is just a fact, but if you are prepared in your mind that this is a numbers game and the more you do this the better you will get. Getting your own locations will save you money. If you think about it a locator can cost between $30 and $60 for a location. You can buy a machine for that and it drains from your profits. If they get you a lousy location then you will end up paying another location fee or have to move it yourself.

After the Christmas break I had a machine that was doing about $30 a month that was located in a Hair Salon and had the owner ask me to remove the machine. I asked him why and he said he just wanted it in for the Holidays and to bring it back next year that he did not think it did very well. Little did he know, but I was not going to argue and promptly took the machine out. I also had a machine that was only doing about $5.50 a month and decided to pull it and rellocate it. These are machines I will either need to contact a locator to place and spend between $60 and $100 for 2 machines or I can locate them myself. This will be the topic of discusssion and as I talk about general rules I will also go into specifics on how I relocated these 2 machines. I hope you will find this interesting and useful.

One tip when locating by telephone is to have a script in front of you. There are various scripts and approaches but you will need to develop your own script over time and tweak it based on what works good for you. The key is creating your script. I will give some examples in other articles. The script will keep you focused on the topics you want to discuss and make you sound more confident.

I have a friend who calls me CandyMan so I decided to start going by this name in the blogs.
Till next time, keep on vending!

Candyman
http://bulkvending.blogspot.com