Our local association puts on a show each spring at the community college. Its well attended, everyone from realtors to lumber yards to landscapers are there.
I am starting a new venture soon, and I wonder if its worth my effort to buy a table and kick start things – any experience to share?
Replies
You mentioned the show is at a community college - Are you talking about a show to recruit employees, or one to market to potential customers?
Looking to recruit customers.
Treat every person you meet like you will know them the rest of your life - you just might!
I've stood at several shows wile working for truss manufacturers. From our perspective, what we generally get is a lot of tire kickers wanting quotes and very little business directly from it. There is probably a fair amount of INDIRECT benifit - Name recognition, good will, etc. But that's difficult or impossible to measureI realize my perspective is quite a bit different. But there may be some similarities too.
Prevent inbreeding: ban country music.
Same type experience as Boss H.
Manned a booth at a large exposition in '95, cost was well into the 5 figures, no business from it, but a lot of people came by wanting to sell TO us.
PS: have later bought 15k worth of tools from one vendor at a show, also made contacts with another company we later teamed with for a 300k govt. contract.
Edited 1/24/2007 3:29 pm ET by junkhound
My first was last spring, It payed for itself 10 times over. So I did the smaller fall show, with a more profesional dispplay, did just as well with less people at the show.
This spring I am going to do two, the same one I did last year plus a larger, longer 4 day one.
I agree look as professional as possible. I am a small family run business, but at the show I look like bigger company. I don't give anything away, I just inocently say hello to passerbys. If they are looking to have work done they stop and look at the pictures and signs on my display and talk. Then 99% of the people will set up an appointment with me right then and there for an estimate. I've gotten 15-20 leads per show and about 10 contracts from each. Maybe if I gave stuff away I would get more leads/jobs.
I have about $1500 in display furniture/materials which can be used at every show. And $900 for the booth plus 3 days of my time, it seems to be worth it.
I am interested to see what others experiences are.
Well, long as the subject's up:
http://www.traditionalbuildingshow.com/RandR/design_challenge.shtml
In my town we have a huge home show twice a year. Last year was my first full year in business and I did both shows with great success. So I would reccomend them.
Make sure your presentation, display or whatever looks better than everyone else who does the same thing. If you are just 50' from the competition and their product is dispayed in a better way you lose. The reality that you may do a better job for the paying customer is irrelevant.
I don't do giveaways to get info. How many people here have given their name and number to enter a raffle with absolutely no interest in the product or service? If they aren't interested enough to give this info with no strings attached are you a good enough salesman to convert them. I know I'm not, there has to be some level of interest on their part or you're wasting time. IMO
If you can make sales(vs. generating leads) I think it's a lot easier to build confidence and momentum. Knowing you've written $23k in sales is a lot more reassuring than knowing you've got any number of leads. But sales vs. leads depends on what you do, of course.
When I did my first show I did it for the exposure and thought it would be a success if I could break even. Wow was I wrong on that. The two shows accounted for nearly a third of our sales for the year. To say that I'm counting the days to the next one is an understatement.
Best wishes,
Rob
From my experience , I agree as well.
Tim
You know the old sales pep talk, "Talk to 100 people, maybe get names and phone numbers out of 20. Of those 20 maybe schedule consultation appointments with 6. Of those 6 maybe sign on two."As a small archy office, those 2 may mean 40,000 in contracts for us. May be a similar type of scenario for a small builder. One thing I will always give my boss a large amount of credit for is that he is the type of guy who really is constantly pounding the pavement looking for more work, and we are always busy.Alot of our buisness today is repeat and referral, but I know that when he first started this office he credits one of these home shows for giving him a jump start. Funny thing is, speaking of repeat and referral, a fun thing he likes to do is take repeat and referral clients we have today, and trace tham back like through a family tree to that original show 15 years ago.I think they can work, but you really have to make a real effort. You can't half azz it. Realize you are not going to sign anyone on standing at the booth. Get contact information and a little repor is about the best you can ask for. Take notes, and seem interested. Then follow up, follow up, follow up.
Edited 1/27/2007 11:14 am ET by xosder11
Brian,
Buy a table? To what purpose? Shows can be wonderful and well worth the time and effort. They can also be a horrible waste of time and money..
If you do it, don't do it half azzedly! Have professionally done (or at least professionally looking) information, or a working dispaly or something that people can actaully see, touch, look at, etc..Offer hand outs, business cards folders materil samples.. etc.. and some sort of incentive to get them to give you their information.. "free estimate worth $50.00" win a leather jacket sign up here. Give me your phone number so I can harass you isn't gonna sell too well so it's gotta be something they want..
I enjoy going to them and found my Icynene installer at one. I was looking forward to going to another one a few weekends ago but the ice storm came and paralyzed the state (Oklahoma). I was driving by the convention center where it is held during the week and saw the trades trucks outside unloading and setting up their exhibits... little did they know it would be for nought... there was no way anyone could have attended in that dangerous weather. So cross your fingers and hope the weather is nice the weekend of the show should you choose to setup at one!
Handyman, painter, wood floor refinisher, property maintenance in Tulsa, OK
I did a boat load of trade shows for a tech company in a past life - different businesses but how you prep and execute your show plan is the same. If your goal is signed contracts (or at least scheduled visits) your set-up, pitch and sales aggressiveness is very different as opposed to just collecting names for a mailing list.
* Make your booth interesting, touchy/feeling building stuff. Nothing more boring than a guy standing behind a plain flat table with flyers on it. I was at a builders show and a guy made a kick-azz dog house for his booth. Showed off quality exterior details that he used for talking points...he was selling raffle tickets to win it with the proceeds going to some local charity...his booth was always mobbed. He said it took him a couple of days to build and was mostly made from job scraps.
* Be engaging, stand on the edge of the aisle and proactively engage people in small talk. If you bring a chair make it a bar height one, if you're giving your feet a break you'll still be at eye level with most people.
* Dress professionally; khakies and a polo...and wear comfortable shoes, you'll be standing on concrete all day.
* Turn the cell phone off. I see more guys hunkered down in the back of booths with their head stuck to a phone and ignoring people lingering around the booth. Why bothering going?
* Just as important as attending the show - and even more work - is the follow-up after the show; 'thank you' cards to your list of names mailed within a couple of days, phone calls and schedule visits to the hot prospects, additional mailings and phone calls to the entire list over the next couple of months...not uncommon to have someone who seemed not very interested at the show pop up with a project a few months down the road....but you gotta stay in touch.
If you judge your trade show success only by the contracts you sign at the show you'll probably be disappointed, there's whole marketing/sales plan around the show and it's alot more work than just the day in the booth.
Good luck, -Norm
It depends upon your business.
We did a show in 05 and our best job of the year came out of it ten months later. I'm looking forward to this years shows. We're planning our campaign now.
blue
"...if you just do what you think is best testing those limits... it's pretty easy to find exactly where the line is...."
From the best of TauntonU.
I've had it both ways with the home shows. Good and a waist of time and money. I think the way to tell is weather the marketing company in charge will advertise the event well enough. One show that is well advertised and put on annually at the same local I bought the cheapest booth and had the most traffic of any of the vendors except the Magic Mop guy. "Go figure?" Had a good result from a show at a local stadium too.
But a one time show at a local collage was a total bust and all the vendors were so P.O.'ED that it made the news after the fact on Sunday eve. TOO late to draw a crowd.
All in all my set up for the show is pretty lame. Chop say table, poster on an easel, (home made and printed at Kinko's) table saw at the back of the booth and post cards / business cards laid out. But the booth almost runs itself. I wear Docker slack and a polo shirt with sport coat.
I've gotten call as much as two years after the show. So whatever your hand-outs are make them were you spend your money to make them look professional. I hope this helps.
Best to you and yours, Chris.
Some say I know too much.
Thanks for all the advice - The home show is well attended, and an annual event - I am looking at the dates now, and mid-march is pretty well booked for me, so I may have to wait - I want to do it well, if at all.
Treat every person you meet like you will know them the rest of your life - you just might!
I have a friend that does the New Orleans Home & Garden show and also the Home & Garden show in Kenner every year.
He tells me that he gets almost a years worth of work from both shows and says that it's well worth the money.
busta
"It ain't da seafood dat makes ya fat anyway -- it's da batta!"
Oh, lookie heah sha, Santie Clause, he dun brought himself to town.
A cajun friend told me that is what his folks said on Christmas morning.