Who should I try to get in touch with? Managers? Owners? It'll be free/free-tiered as it gets rolling, and I honestly think it would be a great boost for startups. But I'm worried I'll be dismissed as a solicitor if I just start walking into restaurants etc.
Any tips from personal experience?
I talk about local advertising issues and other things that affect their business all the time as an aside to any other reason I go to their shops. I don't have an offering in this market yet it is one I am interested in.
If I were you I would show up at slightly off peak hours (say 2 PM at a restaurant, definitely NOT open or close) and try to talk somebody in person. If you buy a coffee or something like that it is all the better.
For that kind of a sales call the real value is what you can learn from them so, seriously, you want them to talk 90% of time. Despite the "elevator pitch" culture, you're better off listening to them about the challenges they have than you are pitching a solution, and if you are going to pitch, do it by directly showing how your solution addresses the problems I just told you.