Welcome to my little corner of the blogosphere to share the ups and downs of starting a craft business, with plenty of tips, mishaps and the odd glass of wine!

Saturday 20 July 2013

5 Tips to a Successful Trade Show

Regular readers of my blog will know that I have recently exhibited at my first Trade Show, the Harrogate Home & Gift Trade Show 2013 and wowee, have I learned a lot!

I felt the show went really well, especially given it was my first one and I had no real idea what to expect - the people I met were lovely (both fellow exhibitors and the buyers) and the exciting ideas I have come away with are enough to make my head burst!! If you can afford the outlay (it's not just the price of the stand, but also kitting it out, travelling expenses, accommodation and food whilst you're there) then the contacts you make and the leads it generates definitely make a Trade Show worthwhile doing.

I'm going to share the 5 most important things I've discovered this week on my emotional roller coaster ride!

1. Plan out your stand - do a mock layout and take pictures. Come back to it an hour later. How does it strike you as you walk up to it? Would you stop and have a look? Are your items getting lost? Or do they jump out at you? Think about the items you want to be seen most, or that will draw the buyer in for a closer look. Make sure they are placed at eye height with any lighting you are using focused on them.

2. Prepare for the questions you'll be asked - think about what a buyer would want to know and have your answers ready and written down on a sheet of paper that you can easily refer to. You may know all the answers backwards, but if for any reason you get thrown off track (imagine a buyer from John Lewis stops to talk to you!) it's essential to have the facts at your finger tips! So all you need to have all your retail prices and the trade prices you are offering. What volumes of orders can you cope with? If like me you hand make all your pieces and someone (that pesky buyer from John Lewis again!) asks if you could handle an order for 1,000 of a certain item, what would you do? How long would it take you to fulfill? Do you have backup in place for that situation? Do you have a minimum purchase amount? Do you offer free carriage? Do you drop ship? (terms explained in a minute) What are your terms?

3. Expect the unexpected - our exhibition hall was air conditioned, so although the temperatures were soaring last week, I didn't expect to have any problems with overheating - however the air conditioning packed up!!! We spent two days completely boiling, which made it very difficult to concentrate and as a result the pepped up start to our 4 days of exhibiting fell rather flat in the middle. It also meant that our buyers didn't stay very long and weren't all as enthusiastic as we'd have liked! We were being given bottles of water by the exhibition organisers on a regular basis, which was a relief as if you're manning a stand on your own, you can't keep nipping off to the cafe to buy water!

4. Making friends with your fellow exhibitors - as I just mentioned, if you're exhibiting by yourself on your stand, you need to make friends with your fellow exhibitors... not only will they help keep you sane over the course of the exhibition, but you can also then take turns at keeping an eye on each other's stands while you take loo breaks, lunch breaks, fresh air breaks, etc. I had some wonderful neighbours, specifically the most gorgeous couple ever, Jayne & Ged from Jola Designs who make beautifully clever cushions & canvases and Denise from Denise Moloney Ceramics who designs amazing plates, mugs & tea pots. We had a fantastic time - getting to know people under circumstances like this make for very intense friendships which I hope will last a long time!

5. The most important - GOOD SHOES! You are going to be standing up (something most of us are not at all used to) for up to 9 hours a day... I happened to bring with me 4 different pairs of shoes and I was VERY glad for it - a seasoned exhibitor recommended 2 different pairs of shoes per day. One lady did resort to wearing her slippers on the last day because she'd worn inappropriate shoes previously!

I mentioned different terms above... I thought I was fairly au fait with the terms I would encounter at a trade show, but there were some I'd not come across before, so I'll give you a brief summary of the most common terms used this week:

Minimum Amount - you can decide if you will place a minimum value on wholesale orders, so each order has to exceed a certain amount to qualify for wholesale prices

Free Carriage - Will you offer free shipping? Or does the buyer have to pay 'Carriage'

Drop Ship - where the manufacturer ships direct to a customer when an order is placed - this is particularly requested by online shops, so they do not have to hold large amounts of stock. It's also popular where the items require an element of personalisation (like the majority of my items) so this can be done once the order is placed.

Pro-forma - this is when the exhibitor sends the buyer a detailed breakdown of the items purchased and the prices, along with the terms (i.e. payment must be made within 30 days, payment must be made before items dispatched, etc) and the sellers bank details, which then allows for the buyer to make an online payment for the goods.

I hope all of that has been useful - I learned so much this week that I could just go on for hours (but I won't bore you all any further!) instead I'll just leave you with some pictures of my stand and now I'm off for a mooch around the other Handmade Monday posts with a cuppa and some cake!




20 comments:

  1. Really glad that you had a positive experience - I was thinking of you. Your tips sound very helpful. Did you have a visit from Mr John Lewis?

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    1. Thanks lovely :-) Sadly Mr John Lewis didn't visit me - but one of my fellow exhibitors did have a visit from Mr Boots, which had us all in great excitement!! Simmi xx

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  2. Your stand looks so professional! I hope it went really well for you x

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    1. Thanks Natalie :-) It was brilliant - will have to wait for at least 3 months to see exactly how many orders come out of it, but definitely worthwhile so far! Simmi x

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  3. I'm so glad your first trade show went really well. Your stand looked impressive.

    Great tips and advice xx

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  4. Your stall looks stunning. Some great tips, especially the first one. I always end up rather chucking my stuff on the table, so am going to try and have a plan for my next fair. Sometimes it is hard as you don't know what space you will have.

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    1. Thanks :-) I felt that there would be so many more professional looking stands with display units and made for purpose shelving attached to the walls and so on, that I really had to make sure mine didn't look too unsophisticated! Simmi x

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  5. As a long-time veteran of smaller-scale Christmas Crafting shows, having a "GO-BAG" of munchies, water, sealable plastic baggies, tissues, etc. also helps! Along with a "CON-KIT" -- a small bag of "tools" such as scissors, stapler, pens, post-its, markers, hole-punch, paperclips, tape, batteries, small swiss-army knife... Think, mini-"survival"-Kit! -- It's also a great way to make GOOD Friends with your fellow Vendors! As well, LOTS of Business Cards!! - I usually serve them up next to a little dish of Candies... That attracts the Kids, inturn, a hopefully-*BUYING*-Parent.

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    1. Ohhh yes, I fotgot about the mini survival kit - yes, I thankfully had all that hidden under my table :-) Simmi x

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  6. Wow that's really interesting and helpful, thank you! But also, it would be useful to know if it worth doing it all?

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    1. Glad it wasn't too OTT - hard to know when you've got loads to say, you don't want to bore people to sleep!! But yes, it was definitely worth doing if you are interested in selling to the trade... one thing I have found is that in some cases my wholesale prices are too high, but that's the downside of handmade items - they take so long to make that you can't sell them as cheaply as the mass produced stuff. But not every retailer will mind that. Simmi xx

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  7. What a lovely adventure - your stall looked great, sounds like you really enjoyed yourself. Thanks for the tips too - not sure I'll be doing any trade shows for a long while yet, but plenty of things to think about.

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  8. well done Simmi! your stand look amaaaaaazing - so many gorgeous things but not too crowded, i'm not surprised you had lots of interested parties :)

    I'd love to do some trade shows at some point so thank you so much for sharing what you've learned - i will be bookmarking this post!

    good luck with all your new orders! xxx

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  9. Your stall looks very professional. Glad it went well for you :)

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  10. Very thorough and well thought out post. Thanks for sharing the practical tips!
    Your stall looked great - neat and each items could have been easily noticed.
    I'm starting to be afraid of those fussy and inquisitive John Lewis customers!!!

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  11. Beautiful blog you have! I'm visiting from Facebook craft blog share.

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    1. Awww thank you so much Naomi :-) Have got myself a cuppa so I'm off to visit your blog now and some of the others on that list! Simmi xx

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  12. Trade shows aren't just about placing eye-catching displays or creating visually appealing designs. In the end, it's all about human interaction. If you want to attract a lot of customers to buy your product or utilise your service, then you have to give them a taste of it. Give them an experience of your product or service. Once you tap into their emotions, you'll surely convert a non-believer into an advocate. Good luck!

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I really appreciate all comments made on the blog (it reminds me that I'm not talking to myself!) so just wanted to say thanks for adding your thoughts. Simmi x

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