I for one am so excited for Summer show season to be here. It's my favorite time of year and I love that I get to use my podcast to possibly help someone else. This is part 1 of 2 for being prepared before, at and after your trade show. Please let me know if you are that one person I helped! That's all I'm asking for.
Sunday, June 7, 2015
Saturday, June 6, 2015
IT'S ALL ABOUT THAT PREP....
PODCAST 14 - EPISODE 1 OF 2 - TRADESHOWS
Well
it’s that time of year again. Summer show seasons are under way and I for
one am very excited.
Today’s
episode is all about the “BIG SHOW.” In fact, I’m going to do a 2-part podcast.
Today is show 1 – getting prepared and having all the tools you need to show up
and be successful. Part 2 will be what you do during the tradeshows as well as
how you build on that momentum for the next 6 months. My hope is regardless if you are a
manufacturer, rep or showroom you’ll come away with a few tips to make it your
best show season yet.
As I
mentioned earlier, it’s an important time of year for all parties involved. How
you work together is a like a waltz. You must move consistently through all
aspects of the dance.
It really
does take a good deal of planning, but with some preparation and a strong team
to help with a few logistical tweaks – your game of attack come opening day
should be fantastic.
I’ve
been going to tradeshows for about 13 years and always find myself walking the
aisles looking for the newbies. Unfortunately, most stick out like a sore
thumb. Their table placement is wrong, their booth is too dark, they may be
blocking flow with a book shelf that is supposed to be merchandised… the list
goes on.
I’ll kick
this off with A few important tips that begin to make your to-do list about two
– three months out at least if not more.
 |
| Courtesy of NY NOW |
- Choosing a trade show
- Location
- The look of your booth
- Making it approachable
- Show specials? Everyone loves a deal, especially the ones spending the money. Retailers love to save where they can.
- Snacks and Drinks
- Offer something different, something of value. If you are a local at that tradeshow, have a cute print out of the areas must see retailers, restaurants, coffee places… etc. It’ll set you apart from another vendor who may sell something similar to you.Social Media plan of attack or reach
- Make all your reservations – try to always stay within walking distance
- Dry Run before shipping: Making sure you create a list of all items that you’d like to have in your booth. All printables, don’t leave for the last minute. Make a space to test out your booth, map out the booth before packing it up to ship.
TRADE SHOW TOOL KIT:
• Pens:
Always bring extras. Electric pencils are great in a pinch too.
• Bags:
I love throwing a few reuseable bags
in my luggage for last minute items or my lunch to carry to the show.
• Electronic
Gadgets: If you have electricity in your booth. Then good for you…
if you don’t due to saving costs, then make sure you bring travel chargers for
your phone, laptop, etc.
• Cups:
I bring my own travel mug and water
bottle to refill.
• Badge
Holders: I have several that I’ve collected over the years that
have a pen holder and a spot for my business cards.
• Items
to keep in booth: Catalogs, postcards, price
sheets, folders, notepads, business cards, staplers, Square or other credit
card machine device if you’d like to sell products for at once delivery, or
sell the booth at the end.
• NOTEBOOK:
I like a classic journal to staple
retailer business cards or to write notes on anyone who visited me.
• Smartphone:
I use my iPhone to take photos of
badges when they forget to bring biz cards or don’t want to give me all of
their info.
• Lead
retrieval scanners: These are
great for your first tradeshow. So often folks forget to bring business cards
and you don’t want to miss a single person that came by. These are great to
create your first data base.
Sunday, May 31, 2015
Podcast 13 - Kristin Carpenter-Ogden
LUCKY NUMBER 13. This shared episode/podcast is way beyond anything I could've every predicted... it was awesome and I'm totally inspired by this mom of 2, owner of Verde PR and all round outdoor, lifestyle gal. Talking shop about the ever changing landscape of retail was a great conversation that could have gone on for hours... truly. We hope our listeners will enjoy the topic and while the conversation is an important one - my hope is you'll get a good laugh along the way.
Sunday, May 24, 2015
Podcast 12 - Kris Kaplan
Today's special podcast interview is with Kris Kaplan. You'd never look at him today and notice that he's 25+ years sober, a lover of core values and principles. Sure he has an Ironman tattoo, is a certified Gazelle's Coach. His reps love him and he's grown up in the gift industry. Kris Kaplan or as I like to call him K2 is a testiment to one thing - perserverence. Grab a pen and paper and listen up!
Sunday, May 17, 2015
PODCAST 11 - Solocast {Upselling + Great Sales Apps}
Todays podcast is all about upselling and a few reminders of why it's good to build relationships as well as a few of my favorite apps to keep me on track. Notes are in my blog. www.retailcouch.blogspot.com
Thursday, May 14, 2015
UPselling + Favorite Sales Apps
It's never too late to start over. If you weren't happy with
yesterday, try something different today. Don't stay stuck. Do better.
**Podcast 11 : SOLOCAST notes
Effective
up selling requires patience, detailed observation, resilience and some skill.
Get a
few more dollars out of your customers by following these five up-selling tips:
1. Get them talking:
People
love talking about themselves. In my experience, the better the conversation,
the longer a retailer stays in the conversation, the more they tend to spend
and the greater the chance they’ll become a repeat customer.
Conversation
helps build a relationship, showcases your product knowledge and makes the
retailer/buyer feel like you’re their friend instead of a salesperson. How,
though?
2. Ask open-ended questions:
Get
your customers talking by asking them open-ended questions. You don’t want
their response to be “yes” or “no” because you can’t learn anything about them,
how they plan to use the product or how much they’re able to spend.
This
process will reveal products or services that the customers didn’t intend to
buy.
If
you’re selling candles and accessories, for example, try asking questions like:
• What are your best selling candles now?
• How much are your customers willing to
spend?
• Tell me about your favorite scents.
3. Suggest
products your retailers need:
The
answers to your open-ended questions will help you suggest products the buyer
might need to solve a problem they expressed during your conversation. If
you’re suggesting a more expensive product than the one they were looking to
purchase, always explain its features, benefits and why this product is better
suited to fulfill their needs. (REALLY KNOW YOUR PRODUCTS)
Not
every up-selling story has a happy ending. How you handle rejection can send a
message to the customer about how genuine your recommendations really were.
4. Walk customers through all of your
lines:
– even
if they didn’t want to see all of them.
The
pathway you take through your products can present up-selling opportunities
too. If you’re helping a retailer with creating a men’s area, walk them through the men’s products you carry and suggest additional lines that
you’ve found popular in other accounts of yours.
Creating
voids can make you more successful when you ask those open-ended questions. See how
up-selling can help? If you don’t ask, you don’t know.
5. Close the sale the same way you
started it:
Remember
how bubbly and friendly you were when you walked into the store? Act the same
way throughout the entire transaction, tell them your name and don’t forget to
thank them for instilling their trust in you before you leave.
6. Cloud Syncing:
It is worthwhile investing some time into having your files and
documents synced up through “the cloud”. This will ensure you will always have
access to the latest versions of your documents across all computers. Nothing
is more painful than to realize while on the road that the important document
you had to print is only available on your desktop computer at home.
A simple solution is Dropbox – it allows you to store files in the cloud and it
supports multiple platforms. And best of all: it’s free.
I LOVE DROPBOX!!!
Being that we are all 1099’ers – being smarter with our time is
just smart business. Which brings me to a few of my favorite apps for the time
management, being able to scan orders or info to the appropriate vendor/person
and just an overall importance of maintaining your professional side by keeping
up with maintaining your bio and profile.
o TurboScano Adobe Reader
ACTION: Which up-selling techniques have
worked best for you on the road, in your trade show booth, on the phone, etc...
Thanks for listening and reading!
Hope you enjoyed it.
Michele
{Leave a comment with any suggestions, thoughts or a great recipe}
Monday, May 4, 2015
Podcast 10 - Lindsey Huxford of Kitsch
This week we speak with a great gal from a haute brand called Kitsch. Lindsey Huxford new she loved fashion from a young age and as such was determined to get to Los Angeles and go after her dreams of working in fashion. I hope you enjoy the podcast as much as I enjoyed speaking with her.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)