ok all, just signed up for a local trade show in a couple months. We will have a 8' x 20' booth to use. I'm looking for your ideas or suggestions on what you would do. I have done a search, but there isn't that much info on here about them. We will be focusing on lawn applications and irrigation. Let the ideas flow boys.:blob4:
What sort of show is this? A consumer, home kinda thing, a local association show? What works in that atmosphere is the same kind of thing that has always worked when trying to gather the masses for a pitch, from the snake oil salesman of yore to todays hottub peddler. Got to give them something to look at, something to ask questions about. Tough for lawn apps and irrigation although you can get some large photographic displays and such if you thought far enough in advance and have the $$$. Low budget? Get a cute girl(s), find or make a roulette(think wheel of fortune) wheel, put some prizes on it, including say a year's service or a irrigation design, throw in some t's or hats with your logo on them, stickers and buy some boxes of candybars at the local sams or costco. People enter in a form for a spin, giving you the opportunity to make a list to market at a later time and presto bango, you hold them for long enough to make an impression, develop some leads and maybe even answer a few q's to those a little more serious. You've got to get a chance with the "roamers" so don't be afraid to "carny" it up a bit. That's the nature of successful campaigns for those types of things.
WOW, GreenUtah, done this before? Was it successfull? I would imagine that one irrigation sale or 3-4 lawns would pay for the booth and make it worthwhile to get the exposure.
Its a "home and garden" type show. The target market for the show is middle to upper income levels. Of course we will see who shows up. I here you about the carny thing. I have a few ideas, but don't want it to get goofy. my wife is all buisness and thinks it should be the "ultimate professional" type set-up. I'm thinking somewhere in the middle. One problem is that I'm having a new logo designed before the show to "brand" our company more. Once we have that I want to have some large color logo and grafics printed up for back drops. I thought I would bring in the z-spray and some bags of fert to put by it. I also may use the fert hopper for a place to put drawing tickets for a free 4step program for 06. Keep the ideas a coming guys....
Give-a-ways to draw in the people in order for you to talk to them. Also put on your give-a-way paperwork, places for people to enter their email addys and if they would like a salesperson to contact them after the trade show. Lots of pictures at least 10"x16" done professionally. Your image there portrays your work ethic. If they see a cheap show setup, they might expect one guy with an old truck and old equipment. If they see a nice booth, they will expect nice work to be done. Have a continuous loop of your work showing on a tv. Dress nice and don't be pushy when people approach. Ask them if they're enjoying their day, if they've seen anything interesting, etc. Then they will come at you with questions about your work when they feel comfortable with you. You will get a lot of shoppers and people looking for free whatever they can get while they're there at the show. Have fun and make a plan. Let us know what you come up with and how you make out.
Yes, many times. I will tell you what does not work at a typical home show, being passive and hoping people will come talk to you. Depending on the size of the show, you need to remember that you will be competing with dozens or maybe even hundreds of other businesses all trying to grab the attention of every single person. The sales pitches go long and hard at these things from people who do this (show marketing) as a primary part of their business. They have the full color wall displays, they have the mini kitchen setups, the slick brochures and the experienced staff. I can't tell you how many times I've cruised the isles and seen people just sitting in their booths, watching everyone else, waiting for someone to walk up and start the conversation. That's failure in my book. You absolutely must create some level of interactivity to pull the weary and leary. For this particular case, with no experience at doing it and no grand display prepared months in advance, I gave him the very best low budget, low tech method for creating out of that atmosphere something that will give him a return on his investment. Again, depending on the show, you may get your chance at 20-50 thousand people walking through, what are you willing to do to make an impact. By the way, having a little gimicky fun is the way successful businesses large and small do these things. I've been to the consumer electronics show in vegas several times during it's heyday and the sema show and seen all the big boys play this game the exact same way, just at different levels of grandeur.
Make sure your entry forms have check boxes: Please provide me a free, no obligation estimate for [ ] Lawn Care [ ] Irrigation Might save you some wild goose chases after the show.....
