How Do You Get Shred Drop Off Customers with No Store Front

The following are a number of ideas how you might be able to secure the benefits of shred drop off customers without manning a store front. Some of these ideas have come from companies already using the ideas. Some shredding companies suggest to me they are making more per hour using some of these ideas then they are making using the shredding truck in normal route shredding scenario.

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Place a normal locked bin in a business such as a Mail Boxes, Etc or similar location. 

They take in the paper, weigh it, collect for the shredding, etc.  You come by and shred the bin like you do any other customer.  I know of one shredding company that has 25 of these in their market. This could be popular in office supply stores, Mail Boxes Etc., printing companies, public storage facilities, etc. Even if you don’t get any business, a number of people will be seeing your “brand” on the bin and possibly placards in the store.

Place your truck at a visible spot on a periodic basis.   

Pick a number of busy streets on the way to the upscale neighborhoods or quality business areas. Look for the businesses that might want extra drop-in traffic and it would be great if they had a reader board too. This potential businesses could be

  • Car dealers
  • Car washes
  • Restaurants
  • Schools

    •  

    Have a scheduled time each week or month when they can advertise on the reader board that you will be there. Place your truck along the road where it can be seen. You might chose hours that are “off hours” for the business (For example 10:00 am to 11:30 am for a restaurant). Share the revenue with the business owner.   Be sure each customer is given printed material to take back to the office. Be sure your website address is properly displayed on your truck. A Web address is often easier to remember than a phone number. Be sure to call on all the businesses that are relatively close to this drop off location. Maybe send a postcard to all the close by businesses and residences. Offer to come by the surrounding businesses next time to pick up their paper, and “oh by the way, would they like a bin or console so they can comply with the laws and keep their confidential paper under lock and key, all the time until it is shredded.”


    Place your truck at a location in conjunction with a periodic gathering. 

    Examples could be:

  • Chamber of Commerce meetings
  • High School football games
  • Bar Association or Medical Association meetings

    •  

    The organization could advertise the periodic shredding opportunity for you in their newsletters, etc.  You could also call on all the businesses or residential customers in the area and remind them that you are there and open for business. 

     

    Place your truck at large businesses with many employees, such as a hospital, insurance company, large manufacturing business, government offices, etc. 

    Place it there one specific day per month.  Offer to shred for their employees. Offer to be there from an hour before shift change to an hour after shift change. Remind the large account that by you offering shredding to their employees, they get the following benefits.

  • Some of their employees are already aware that shredding is important and they might be slipping their secure - confidential material into the large account’s bins and consoles. The large account is inadvertently paying to have their employees’ material shredded.
  • Some of their employees will be a victim of Identity Theft. They say it takes 600 hours to cure the problem. You can imagine that many of those hours will be while the employee is actually working for the large account. If the employees properly shred their material, they will be less likely to be a victim of Identity Theft.
  • You may want to offer to give 10% of your revenue to the large accounts favorite charity or as a commission or franchise fee. For example, you might charge $25 minimum for three boxes and $5 per box after that. On the contrary, you might talk the large account into paying you to be there. 

    • Place your truck in conjunction with a business promotion.  For example a bank or credit union may want your truck to be on their location for special promotions, such as Saturday openings. I have also seen shredding trucks at car dealers.  Of course the most famous one is shred-day at the TV station.  This is the best.  The TV station in my city reports the shredding company often shreds 40,000 lbs or more in a given day.  Plus the TV station interviews the shredding company a number of times during the day as well as show the shredding company’s truck.  This is a great branding opportunity.  The value of the paper has been better than it is now, but still, 40,000 lbs comes close to paying for the day.

    Place you truck in a large gathering. 

    For example, the Race for the Cure draws thousands of runners.  You could be a co-sponsor for such an event. Place your truck close to the starting line and have the race participants bring their shredding to you when they come to the race.  Split or even donate the revenue from shredding that day to the charity. The good will and brand recognition for that event would be fantastic for anyone. Someone once mentioned to me the words, Shred Day at the Ball Park.  That person lived in a city with Major League Baseball.  Go to your local ball team website and look on the promotions page.  Almost every game has some sort of promotion.  Many of those promotional opportunities could be good for you and shredding.  For example, I saw a promotional event at the ball park called “Salute to Armed Forces Night”.  You could make a deal and shred in the parking lot and donate the proceeds to a military family charity.  Another promotional night was put on by a bank or credit union. Think about where else do 10,000 people gather at one time?  Is there an opportunity to do a shred-event?   

    Conclusion:

    It goes without saying, but I must say it.  If these programs work for you then do them again and again.  Don’t settle for one shred-event with the Chamber of Commerce meeting.  If that works, find every meeting you can.  Pay attention to the numbers and the demographics of the attendees. Over time, weed out the unprofitable events, but always try to find new opportunities. 

    Set any or all of these programs up and you can promote them easily and at low cost on the www.ShredDropOff.com website.