How to Place an ATM Machine: 5 Tips for Securing ATM Locations

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Want to know how to place an ATM machine? If you don’t own your own store or business, you have to think about where you are going to install your ATM machine. This requires talking to people….

But it’s not as scary as it sounds. A lot of people hate approaching strangers when they need something. Fortunately, you aren’t selling anything. And, if done right, your leads won’t be strangers for long.

We would never suggest sleazy sales tactics when explaining how to place an ATM machine. Instead, we encourage you to try to build relationships with your leads and have meaningful, effective conversations. So think of ATM placement as networking, not selling, and maybe these tips will help put you at ease.

Where Are the Best Locations to Place an ATM Machine?

There are many factors to consider when determining the best locations. It’s hard to develop a definitive list because the numbers and experiences vary from city to city. 

The ATM owner’s personal preference, background, and comfort play a role too. What might be a profitable location for one person might not be for another based on the way the deal is negotiated, the way the parties involved work together, and the way the business is run.

But you can use these guidelines to develop a strong list of leads for placing your ATM machine:

Generally, the best locations are the businesses where you are already a customer. First, you know a lot of the ins and outs already. Second, you might already have a relationship with the owner or someone who can get you a meeting with the owner. If and when you do get to speak with the owner, you then have an initial connection to draw upon in your negotiations.

Next, you want to consider the proximity of the location to your home, your work, and other ATM machines. The best locations are not only going to be the ones that have the least competition, but also the ones that are convenient for you to get to. 

You don’t want to end up spending a large portion of your revenue on transportation costs. You also want your ATM income to be passive, so you want to minimize the time you spend on the business in order to increase your profits.

Finally, you are looking for locations that get a lot of foot traffic. The more people who see the machine, the more potential you have to get transactions and revenue. Busy locations, locations with good reviews, and especially locations with high levels of cash transactions are usually good bets.

For more information and numbers, we list the 9 best locations for ATM machines based on our experience in the ATM business here. But keep reading to see how to talk to location owners to set up an ATM placement.

5 Tips for How to Place an ATM Machine

1. Cold Call

We’re going to cover this one first and get it out of the way! Joking aside, cold calling is a legitimate way to generate leads.

Cold calling is a proactive way to get leads. Referrals are inactive. While referrals are nice because they require little to no work on your part, they do have some drawbacks. First of all, you never know when a referral will come around. It’s also kind of hard to start a business from referrals if you haven’t even begun operating yet. Finally, you might not always like the referrals that come your way. 

One major benefit of cold calling is that you get to choose your potential business partners. Don’t bother calling someone in a neighborhood you dread going to or someone whose business has low reviews. Do your research, choose locations strategically, and don’t use sleazy tactics. 

Cold calling literally refers to unsolicited contact. However, effective cold calls are not random. Effective cold calling requires thought. It’s the first step in the relationship-building process. You might not close the deal on the initial call. It’s actually better that you don’t. Find out more about the importance and benefits of cold calling here.

2. Leave Something Behind

If you visit locations in person instead of over the phone, you will want to have something informative to leave behind. The location owner or decision-maker may not be available when you’re there, or he or she might want some time to think about your proposal.

You can have ATM business fliers made up ahead of time and keep some with you wherever you go, just in case. It’s also a good idea to have ATM business cards made. Opportunities can find you even when you aren’t looking for them. Having ATM business cards handy allows you to network anywhere you go.

3. Borrow Authority

You probably want to know how to place an ATM machine the first time. It can be difficult to negotiate ATM placements if you don’t have the confidence of having even one success story. So if you are trying to place your first ATM machine, don’t let that get you down. 

If you’re in communication with a location owner who asks about your other machines or locations, be honest. There are benefits that come with being the first or only location. Emphasize your motivation to do a good job so that you can get more locations. And explain that you will be able to devote all of your attention to this first location instead of dividing it among multiple.

Finally, try to borrow authority. To put location owners at ease with a first time independent ATM deployer (IAD), drop the name of the ATM processor you work with. That will give them a company to research and call if necessary to back up the information you’ve given them.

4. Offer Value

Obviously, the best way to land a deal is to list the benefits of working with you. There are many ways location owners and businesses benefit from having an ATM machine on the premises. More cash transactions mean less credit card transaction fees, and ATM service means more traffic, customers, and sales.

Listen to the location owner’s pain points. Does he or she experience any problems that you can solve? That’s your in!

5. Implement the LAER Method

Chances are, you won’t make it through this process without meeting a few objections. People are naturally skeptical of things they don’t understand. Rather than take the time to understand, it’s quicker to dismiss the idea altogether. Fortunately for you, an objection is not the end of the conversation; it’s just the beginning.

The LAER method of handling objections requires that you listen, acknowledge, explore, and respond. Essentially, it’s an active listening technique. Listen to the owner (objections and all), indicate that you understand, ask follow-up questions to dig deeper and clarify the issue, and then respond with facts.

Not only does active listening show respect for the other party, it also allows you to educate the owner without lecturing. This way, you can provide the information that specifically applies to the location owner. It’s quick, it’s direct, it’s relevant, and it’s effective.

How to Place an ATM Machine

There really isn’t much to placing an ATM machine. It just takes some practice. Remember that the more feelers you put out, the more hits you’ll get. But keep in mind that you want quality over quantity. Do some research and take the time to build relationships with businesses you really want to work with. 

With these tips, you now have the tools to approach valuable leads, build relationships, have meaningful conversations, and place ATM machines!

How to Use LAER for Handling Objections

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LAER is most widely known as a marketing technique used by salespeople. However, you will find that it’s actually a great active listening technique for handling objections in any scenario. That’s why we’ll explain in this article how to listen, acknowledge, explore, and respond to objections you might face when approaching location owners with a proposal to place your ATM.

What is LAER?

LAER is a communication strategy that stands for Listen, Acknowledge, Explore, and Respond. While you might think these four steps go without saying, it’s actually a method that needs to be practiced and perfected. Too often we want to jump in with our solution, especially when we are so confident and sure of it. But doing so will almost certainly cost you the deal.

You know you have a good idea. You wouldn’t be approaching business owners with an ATM opportunity if you weren’t sure the location would benefit from it. And, you know there is little to no risk on the part of the location owner. But how do you get someone to trust you and to hear you out (especially for your first placement)? 

If you’ve struggled to negotiate locations in the past, it probably isn’t the idea that isn’t working; it might be the presentation. These are the four steps of the LAER method explained:

Listen

This is the first step, but it will be a vital one throughout the entire conversation. You don’t want to just listen to the owners’ initial objections, you’ll want to also listen to their answers to your questions. 

Listening doesn’t just mean not interrupting. It means really trying to understand the perspective of the speaker. As the location owner says he or she isn’t interested, try to understand why. When you ask probing questions to get to the root of the pain that’s causing the objection (step 3, explore), listen closely to the answers. 

This way, when you respond (step 4), your response is personalized, genuine, and helpful. Responding in this way rather than from a generic script will show the owner that you are a professional who actually listens.

Acknowledge

During and after actively listening to the owner’s objections and answers to your questions, acknowledge that you understand what is being said. Acknowledgement can be a verbal, “I understand,” or a non-verbal head nod. Whether or not you agree with what is being said, acknowledgement encourages the speaker to keep talking. 

When he or she is finished, begin your response with a summary of what was said. If you get it right, great! If you get it wrong, the speaker will be happy to clarify and probably grateful for the opportunity because it shows that the conversation is two-way.

No longer are you simply trying to “sell” a machine, an idea, or a proposal. You are engaging in a professional conversation that works to please both parties. Again, acknowledgement doesn’t necessarily mean agreement. It just means that you are trying to meet the owner at his or her point(s) of concern 

Explore

Exploring allows you to dig deeper into the root of the objection. What exactly is causing the concern? Where is the objection coming from? You might find that a location owner is objecting due to past experiences, misinformation, or different goals or agenda. 

Ask questions that allow you to better understand why people are objecting. Don’t assume you know why they don’t agree. If you do, your response isn’t going to cut it; you will only scratch the surface of the problem. Don’t try to align what you hear with your beliefs. Instead, try to really understand them so that you can provide a realistic response.

Respond

Don’t tell someone why their way of thinking is wrong. This is aggressive, salesy, and off-putting, and it’s a surefire way to convince someone not to work with you. If you simply respond with facts, you can let someone determine on his or her own what makes the most sense. 

Your response should be factual and helpful. Recommend a solution, a next step, and/or compromise. Keep reading to see some common objections you can use to prepare yourself.  

What Objections Do ATM Owners Face?

New ideas can be scary. Change can be scary. Why try to fix what isn’t broken, right? Location owners might be particularly hesitant to enter into a partnership with you if they really don’t know much about ATM machines or the business. The less they already know, the scarier the change will be.

Location owners are also busy. Don’t be surprised if they aren’t quick to jump at an opportunity that they think will create more work for them. They also might not see that the potential rewards outweigh the perceived risk.

Here are some objections you might come across (or maybe already have) when approaching location owners:

  • I’m afraid an ATM machine will attract crime.
  • I don’t have room for a machine in my store.
  • I don’t have time to handle an ATM machine.
  • I think I’d rather purchase my own machine.
  • I don’t feel comfortable working with someone new to the business.

What kinds of questions can you ask to dig deeper into the root of the objection? Next, we’ll provide an example.

What Happens without the LAER Method?

Let’s take a look at two conversations, one that uses LAER and one that does not. Which one sounds more effective to you?

Without LAER:

ATM Owner: Thank you so much for your time. I wanted to talk to you about placing an ATM machine in your store. Is this something you might be interested in?

Location Owner: No, not really. I don’t want people breaking into my store.

ATM Owner: Well you see, adding an ATM to your store will increase traffic to your store and get you more sales. 

In this scenario, the ATM owner provides the location owner with the potential value and benefits of adding an ATM machine to the location. However, this response completely ignores the root of the objection. So it isn’t going to be a strong enough response to convince the location owner to work with you.

This response also sounds rehearsed. It’s totally acceptable to use a script to guide you, especially when you are just starting out. But in this case, the script is obvious because it sounds as though the ATM owner wasn’t really listening to the location owner. Instead, the ATM owner responds as though it didn’t actually matter what the location owner said; the response was going to be the same. 

It sounds almost as if the ATM owner was just waiting for the opportunity to recite the list of benefits. And while they might be true (there really is a list of benefits of ATM machines for location owners), they don’t address the concern the location owner has. This response does not provide a solution or compromise.

With LAER:

ATM Owner: Thank you so much for your time. I wanted to talk to you about placing an ATM machine in your store. Is this something you might be interested in?

Location Owner: No, not really. I don’t want people breaking into my store.

ATM Owner: I understand. Break-ins can be expensive! Have you experienced a break-in here before?

Location Owner: No, but I’ve heard stories of other robberies in this area.

ATM Owner: Oh. There have been robberies in this area? Were they ATM robberies?

Location Owner: No, they robbed cash registers. OR I don’t know.

ATM Owner: Are you worried about theft during store hours or after store hours?

Location Owner: Well, both, but the robberies here happened (during/after) store hours.

ATM Owner: Uh huh. I see. Well robbery is definitely a concern, but ATM machines aren’t really a big target for armed robbery. It takes a long time to breach an ATM machine, and that increases the risk for average robbers. What if we put the ATM machine outside of the store?

Do you see how this scenario sounds more like a two-way conversation with both parties sharing new information with the other? The ATM owner listens to the location owner by repeating or summarizing what the location owner says, acknowledges the location owner by verbally affirming that he or she understands, explores the root of the problem by asking probing follow-up questions, and responds with facts specifically about ATM crime and even proposes a compromise.

So if you were questioning the effectiveness of active listening strategies before, hopefully now you see the benefit! Are there other methods you can use? Absolutely! The point is that you practice active listening in order to provide more effective responses and close those deals!

How to Use LAER for Handling Objections

In summary, listen to what the owner says, acknowledge that you understand the objections, explore in depth the pain that is driving the objection, and respond to the pain only when you fully understand it.

The concept is simple, but execution can be tricky. You might not get it perfect right away. Practice using it and listening for it in your day to day conversations. You may find that it even improves your conversations with your loved ones!

For scripts you can use to get location owners to talk to you to negotiate deals, check out the Member’s Area at ATMDepot.com!