Locating vending machines isn’t rocket science. And while most locating companies hold their secrets very close, we do not mind sharing exactly how we do what we do. We even encourage you to go out and try locating yourself. You probably won’t have the same success rate as one of our full-time professional locators, but you may find that you are able to get your machines out there yourself!

Our customers range from small time operators starting out to some veterans of the industry. Even when you know how to locate yourself, you may find it is much easier and faster and a better use of time for you to pay someone else to do it.

Here is a sample script you can use when locating bulk candy machines for charity:

It’s that simple in the beginning, just let them know what you are doing and get right to the point. Almost everyone is open to hearing about it, with very few exceptions. Some people will say “Yes” right away after you say this, or they may ask questions, or they may say “no” and give you a specific reason, or not.

Most people will ask how big the machine is, what types of candy are in the machine, how often it is serviced, and so on. Just have a conversation with them and answer them honestly. This may seem scary at first, but once you approach a half a dozen prospective locations, it will start to feel natural.

Once in a while, someone will ask what percentage of sales gets donated to the charity. The charities have these programs available because the donations add up and genuinely help them in a big way. Most charities have a phone number where the prospective location owner can call them and find out that it is legitimate and get their questions answered by someone at the charity who knows how to ease their concerns. If a prospective location owner starts to ask questions about how much money gets donated to the charity and starts to give you a hard time about it, I will just tell them that a significant amount goes to the charity, but we do need to pay the overhead of buying the candy and having someone come out to service the machine every month. I tell them if they have any further questions about it, they can call the vending coordinator at the charity directly and provide this person’s name and phone number. Just keep your cool, act a little surprised and smile at them and give them the information openly, urging them to call the charity directly.

If you know statistics on how much money your chosen charity generates from the vending program, you could throw that out there too. One of the most popular charities, the National Children’s Cancer Society, generates over $1,000,000 per year from the vending program. That’s quite a lot of money (and candy machines)! So I might say to the prospective location owner, “I know our charity generates over $1,000,000 per year from these candy machines, so it really adds up.”

If a location owner tells you “no”, there are a few things you can do to turn it around. I will ask them why not, and sometimes they have a legitimate reason, like they don’t have enough space, or they had a bad experience with another vendor in the past. You can always tell them “Try it out for a week or two. We can leave it here, and if you don’t like how we are taking care of the machine, or you decide you don’t want it anymore, just call the phone number on the top of the machine and we will come and pick it up.” This works in some cases.

The key is to keep talking to them after they say “no” to find out more information. It will only take a couple minutes and who knows, you might be able to get the location after all. This was the biggest mistake I made when I started locating.

You want your “script” to seem natural, as if you are just starting a conversation. You don’t even need a script really. The most important thing is that you are genuine, confident, and smile at people and look them in the eye. If you have this part down, what you say doesn’t even matter that much.

Locating candy machines is just like anything else in sales. It’s a numbers game. Don’t get down on yourself or take it personally when people tell you “no”. This is just part of the process. When I started locating, I used to keep a piece of paper with 50 or 100 check boxes drawn on it. Whenever I got a no, I put an X in the box. When I got a yes, I put a check mark in the box. This may sound silly, but it will really help you to see the big picture. If you talk to enough people, you will get those machines placed. That’s all there is to it.

If you aren’t comfortable with sales, or you’ve been trying it without very good results, you can always hire a professional locator to get them out for you. If you work with us, your experience will be very painless. We will get your machines out there in no time and leave you wondering why you didn’t call us earlier!