When you are working in an account be aware of…
- Any time there’s a change in management, you want to get in and talk to him/her as soon as they are comfortable in their new office.
- You also want to take advantage of opportunities when a company is getting ready to move, expand or consolidate.
These opportunites are discovered inside the account by keeping up with what is happening or having someone inform you.
While out running your routes, look for opportunities:
- Construction trailers with a new building going up
- Leasing agents
- Leave a business card in an empty door (when someone is moving in)
Episode Transcript:
Tom Shivers: Hi, I’m Tom with the Vending Business Show. Here again with Larry Towner. We’re talking about Vending Business Opportunity Proper Data Gathering impending events or planning for profit opportunities in the vending business. So, what are we going to talk about today Larry?
Larry Towner,: I thought we’d talk about pizza. No, I’m just kidding. We’re going to talk about … We’re going to do what we do. We’re going to talk about the vending business opportunity proper data gathering. We’re going to talk about things that are going to happen in your business that you know are going to happen. There’s a few things that we’ve decided we pretty much know that are going to happen in the vending business. We’ve done this for a little while, just a couple of years if you know what I mean. One of the things we want to talk about is things that happen in your accounts. Essentially this is a lot about data gathering. We’re going to talk about this, is how do you gather your data to get yourself to where you can make profits or make … Increase accounts or increase new sales. Things like that.
Larry Towner,: But one of the big things … There’s three big areas when you’re working in an account that you have to really be aware of. One is if there’s a change in management. Any time there’s a change in management, particularly a general manager or something like that, you’re going to want to make sure you get in and talk to that general manager as soon as he’s comfortable in his office. Don’t wait too long. One of the first things new managers like to do is change the vending business. You want to get in, make friends, give him a honey bun. Watch our video on power of the honey bun. You’ll understand what to do. Get in and make friends, things like that.
Larry Towner,: One of the other things that you have to look at is an opportunity in the vending business is if a company is getting ready to move and … It was always my policy that I had a couple of people in the accounts that kind of fed me information about what was going on in the business. I wanted to know how their business was. Was their business good? Was it bad? You know, were they thinking about moving? Were they thinking about expanding? And moving and expanding are two really good opportunities for you to generate more business. Consolidating, are they consolidating two offices into one? And can you get both of those offices in one place?
Larry Towner,: All of that comes from developing some decent relationships inside the accounts. Just go out and talk to people. They’ll have tons of fun. You just learn. You learn about their business. You learn about what they’re doing. If they’re expanding you’ve got another opportunity to get into a new account. If they’re contracting, maybe they’re consolidating. You’ve got more population in an account you can make more money in that account. All of that sort of thing is developed inside the account.
Larry Towner,: We were talking about … We kind of were laughing, Tom and I… We practiced these things beforehand. Believe it or not, we actually practiced before this. We were talking a little bit about, you know, some of the other things that happen when you’re out there in the field. One of the things is, we were kind of talking about one of the great ways to get stuff is … When you’re driving down the road you have an opportunity. You have an opportunity to drive down the road and look straight ahead at the rode like this going, do do do. You don’t see anything straight ahead, right?
Larry Towner,: Or, if you sort of pay attention to what’s going on around you, instead of just going … “I’m at my stop, time to go.” If you’re driving down the road and you happen to see a construction trailer with a new building going up, you might have an opportunity if you’re one to go and stop in and ask the guy what’s going on here. The guy in the construction trailer will tell you ’cause he works for the construction company. He doesn’t care. So they’re putting up a new manufacturing facility, whatever it is, right?
Larry Towner,: It’s been our experience in the vending business, between myself and everybody else I know, first in wins. So folks, if you can get in first and you’re not driving down the road going, “Well, I wonder what’s happening.” Tom and I were laughing. We said, “I know if that were me and I were watching this video, I would say, ‘I knew that’s what my drivers were doing. I knew it.'” “Look at the pretty girl.” Right? There you go.
Larry Towner,: Anyway, so these are all things that … Just pay attention. When you’re doing your thing out there, you’re driving around, you’re looking for new business, look for new construction. Look for … talk to leasing agents, you know? They’ve got new buildings they’re putting people in. Gives you an opportunity to get out there and get a new account. They know who they’re trying to sell to. That gets into networking and all that kind of thing, but it’s all still one and the same.
Larry Towner,: Shoot, go up to an empty door and leave a card on the door. You know, I’ve done that too. You know somebody is getting ready to move in. You start sliding business cards into the door. You’d be amazed how well that works. It’s just one of those little things. If the guy says, “Hey, I want a local vending guy. He dropped a card. It’s got to be local.” Which is generally what the case is. Tom, do you have any questions, any comments?
Tom Shivers: Well, I mean, are you … When are you starting your stand up comedy session?
Larry Towner,: I’ll be here all week. Try the veal and tip your wait staff appropriately. They’re working hard for you out there.
Tom Shivers: All right, well, what are we going to be … Are we going to talk about another impending event later I’m sure.
Larry Towner,: We’ve go so many impending events as it were. We know there’s things that are going to happen. We’re going to … One of these days we’re going to talk about December and some strategies to handle the slow times of the year. And then also some of the other strategies that are just yearly things. Folks, all these things we’re working on are things that you can put on a calendar and you can schedule some of these issues out. We know … Most people in the vending business, with the exception of some of the blind vendors and all who have very busy Decembers because of travel, we know that generally December is going to be slow. We are going to discuss some strategies on that in future shows.
Larry Towner,: We’re also going to discuss other types of events like that that we know are coming. As night follows day, December is coming. We also know that there’s other things that happen that we’re going to discuss. That’s what’s coming up in future shows.
Tom Shivers: All right, well, thanks so much Larry. And you’ve been … Of course you want to subscribe to get more comedy hour here. And you’ve been watching Vending Business Opportunity Proper Data Gathering at the Vending Business Show, a publication of A&M Equipment Sales.
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