Having been operating on the market for more than 3 years, it seems that we have found the essence of building a great vending business.
Boft Global instant photo printing machines are installed in 400 locations across 28 countries. We have been experimenting with placing our machines in various spots, at various angles and with various designs.
One thing that we can say for sure: location is the main factor that predicts your profitability. But sometimes getting a good spot turns to be a long and cumbersome process. In this note we are sharing some insights on securing sweetest spots for vending machines.
The more people pass by your kiosk, the more photos are printed. Even if you find a good location, it can be a pain to get it. The tips and tricks we have accumulated will help you get the best spots from malls, parks, and touristic places.
Come prepared
The best option of working with rejections is not receiving them at all. To avoid them, come prepared.
Tailor letters to specific locations stating why you find them appealing, mention the particular locations of interest.
If the product is not known well, show it from different angles: present the photos from different locations worldwide or provide visualizations of how the kiosk will look within the interiors of the spot you’re trying to negotiate.
Show that the product is popular, prove it with photos with customers in queues. In our personal experience, sharing real success cases is the best instrument of persuasion.
Highlight marketing opportunities
Generally, there are two options to be placed in a mall: through space leasing and marketing departments. If you get a “no” from rental, try approaching a marketing dept. The kiosk can be used for printing branded photos, showing ads and special offers.
Pitch Boft as an entertainment device useful for mall administration and entertaining for customers.
Get placed for a short period and then extend
Negotiate placing the kiosk at temporary events like Christmas market to enhance customer experience. Create higher value for customers with special offers.
When the mall administration sees the product and customer interest in action they will more likely agree on extending the contract. Furthermore, you will have a contact within a place that should ease the negotiations.
Recently, we launched a special offer with one of the biggest chains of malls. The machines were placed for New Year Holidays. Our specialists worked closely with the mall administration. At the end of the event we were able to negotiate a year-long contract.
Place your machine to a cinema
Cinemas have almost unlimited power over its territory within a mall. You can try negotiating placing a kiosk within one. In our experience, their management is more interested in providing richer customer experience, especially when lots of their clients spend time in a lounge zone waiting.
Negotiate with head office
If a particular mall is reluctant to lend you space, contact its management company. Such companies operate a number of malls.
They might have a different angle of looking at your proposal. They consider not only short-term financial goals but also long-term plans across the whole chain. Boft is a good tool to enhance customer experience in a malls, and they might have a mall in mind in their portfolio that is just in need of such an instrument.
Furthermore, you can increase your bargaining power in negotiations by discussing placing 2+ machines in different malls of the network.
Seek other contacts
Invest your time in finding a contact within a location. Investigate your network and try to find a person who can introduce you to an organization’s representative. A referral from outside can significantly improve the negotiation. Additionally, you may communicate your interests to the other contacts within the organization.
Be patient and persistent
Sometimes it just takes time. People are busy. Be persistent in reminding of your interest, but don’t do it often. It helped Boft HQ to secure the most unapproachable malls.
Huge thanks to our franchisees worldwide for useful insights and feedback in preparing this article #boftworld ✌