How to contact businesses and offices
We find that cold calling is the most effective way of contacting a potential vending location. You don't even have to leave home.
There are different ways to contact a potential vending location for the first time. You can;
1. Call them
2. Email them
3. Visit them
4. Put a flyer in their letter box.
I’m sure there are other ways as well. You can try a combination of approaches to see which gives you the most success for your time and effort.
For us, cold calling is our preferred approach as we can target more locations in less time. It saves us petrol having to visit each location and time if the “decision maker” isn’t available at the time we visit. Also, the “decision maker” is likely to request for more information which you can send via email...that saves having to print lots of flyers.
Visiting a location has its advantages too. First, you get to meet the “decision maker” (if you have made an appointment) so it’s easier building rapport with them. Second, you’ll see whether the location is suitable for your vending machine by investigating the location.
Email (or spam) is an easy way of making contact with a large number of businesses at the press of a button. But think about what you do when you receive spam in your email mailbox? That should be enough to make you reconsider this approach.
We would put the letter box drop in the same category as emailing (don't do it unless you really have to). This may be an easy way to target a large number of businesses however unless you have sent the mail to a person expecting to receive it, then it may not be successful and may be costly.
3. Marketing for Vending Locations and Sites: Marketing material
No matter how good your vending marketing material is, make sure you follow up on 2 or 3 days time so they don't forget you.
When you are speaking to someone about your vending machine service, it’s unlikely they will make a decision on the spot. This is when when a one page flyer, which includes information about your service and your contact details, will be useful.
What should you have on your vending machine service flyer?
1. Some colour (so that it looks professional)
2. A picture of the vending machine (e.g. a picture of a drinks 
machine because it will help the “decision maker remember what you are taking about)
3. Your name and contact details
4. Information and contacts for your charity group (e.g The St George Foundation, if you are supporting a charity group)
5. Details about the vending machine (e.g. a drinks machines requires electricity, vends soft drinks, fruit juices, energy drinks and needs about 2’ x 2’ of space)
Click here for the St George Foundation vending machine program marketing flyer (opens in Microsoft Word)