The hardest part of getting a vending machine placed usually isn't finding a business that could use one. It's the twenty seconds between walking in and knowing whether you're about to get a yes. Most operators either over-prepare a pitch nobody asked for, or under-prepare and fumble the one question that actually matters. Neither gets you a signature.
#Who to actually ask for
Skip the front desk as a decision point. It's a relay, not a gatekeeper worth pitching to. Ask specifically for:
- Office manager or facilities manager: the right contact at most standalone offices
- Property manager: for a shared building, apartment complex, or multi-tenant site
- Shop owner or manager on duty: for a single small business like an auto shop or salon
- HR or operations lead: occasionally the right contact at a larger company where facilities is a shared, outsourced function
If you don't know the title, "who handles decisions about things like vending machines or break room amenities" gets you routed correctly almost every time.
#The walk-in, step by step
- Introduce yourself and the reason for the visit in one sentence. "Hi, I run a local vending business. I wanted to see if you'd be interested in a machine for your break room, no cost to you." That's the whole opener. Don't lead with your company history.
- Ask a genuine question before pitching further. "Do you currently have anything for staff to grab a snack or drink, or is that something that would be useful here?" This does two things: it tells you whether you're walking into a live need or a lost cause, and it gets them talking instead of you presenting.
- Make the offer concrete. Machine type, roughly where it would go, that you handle delivery and all servicing, and that there's no cost to them. Vague offers get vague answers; specific offers get decisions.
- Address the commission question before they ask it. If they bring up money, explain how it works plainly. See how location commissions work. If they don't bring it up, you don't need to either on a small placement.
- Have the agreement ready. A one-page placement agreement you can fill in and sign on the spot turns "sounds good" into an actual location instead of a maybe that goes cold.
#What to say when they hesitate
- "We'd need to think about it." "Totally understand. Would it help if I left a one-pager with the details, or would a quick 5-minute look at where it'd go make the decision easier?" Give them a low-effort way to say yes, not just more time to say no.
- "We already have something." Ask what, and whether it's working well. A tired, poorly stocked competitor machine is one of the easiest replacements to win.
- "I'm not the right person." Get the right name before you leave. A vague "I'll pass it along" almost never turns into a callback.
- "What's in it for us?" This is your cue to explain commissions plainly, or to reframe it as a staff amenity if the business isn't commission-motivated. Some care about the cut; most care more about staff convenience costing them nothing.
#Following up without being a pest
One follow-up, about a week later, by whatever method they gave you (email beats an unannounced second visit for most office contacts). If there's no response after that, move on. A location that goes cold after one nudge is telling you something, and chasing it further costs you outreach time a better prospect could use instead.
#A simple way to track outreach
You don't need software for this at the volume a new operator is working at. A spreadsheet with the business name, contact, date visited, outcome, and follow-up date is enough to make sure nothing falls through the cracks. Once a route grows past a handful of active prospects at a time, this is exactly the kind of thing route management software starts to earn its cost.