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This is the third of our six-part healthy vending business series on Perfecting Your Elevator Pitch. Links to the other articles can be found at the bottom of this blog.
Build Your Company Reputation
It won’t do your vending business any good if you capture the interest of a prospective client in your first two to three sentences, but then fail to impress upon the client that you are the right choice for the job. Other vendors have approached many businesses in the past, and for one reason or another, they chose to not initiate a contract. You don’t want to be the vendor with the sales pitch that drives your client into the hands of another company. There are a few ways to avoid doing this, by not telling the client too much up front and discussing what makes your company unique.
In one sentence, state how long you have been in business and the types of industries you serve. Talking about the industries you serve is better than mentioning specific companies. This tells the prospective client that you are discreet and won’t mention their company to future clients. You can lose a prospective client very easily in this sentence if you make them think that you will talk about their company freely to secure additional properties.
Tie this in with your previous sentence that resolved their concerns about a particular industry-specific issue. For example, you could state that you work with auto repair shops because you understand the client base and know what types of machines work best in those environments.
Don’t talk about the actual cost unless the client pushes you for this information before a meeting is set. If you must give a price, tell them that they have options available and give them a low starting point. If you state that vending machine operations have a range and provide a low and high number, they are automatically going to assume that their contract would fall somewhere in the middle to high end of the spectrum.
Give them a low number, and if they are asking about price, consider it a positive sign that they want to have a meeting. It’s also important that you provide them with this information without haggling about the price. Otherwise, they are going to feel you are unprepared and don’t really know the cost associated with the installation and maintenance of the machines.
If you do end up talking about money during the initial elevator speech, you should qualify your rates by talking briefly about safety and features. While you should avoid talking negatively about other companies, you should state that your vending business prides itself on safety. Explain how many companies may offer low prices, but that they don’t offer the same features and safety as your company. Inexperienced companies may not install a machine in the best location and as a result, injuries that would have been completely avoidable occurred. Explain that it’s one of the reasons why hiring an experienced, professional company is so important.
Lastly, if you are a healthy vending business owner yourself, you have created a unique selling proposition already. Eating smart and eating healthy have become a national goal that your business can align with. Of course, a provider of healthy snacks is not sufficient. You want to add weight to your points by conversing about your personal healthy lifestyle as much as possible. People want to know about yourself. Your company’s reputation is relatable to your personal reputation.
Your plan to perfecting your elevator speech should have a basic outline that accomplishes the following goals:
- Create a pitch that fills a need.
- Resolve concerns and alleviate reservations about installing a machine.
- Talk about your company’s reputation.
- Accommodate the target audience and discuss consumer behavior.
- Discuss vending machine options.
- Practice makes perfect
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