Book Your Booth!

 

  
  There are trade shows and expos for just about everything these days! Pets, extreme sports, bridal, children and more. But perhaps the most popular and most long-standing of all is the home show. Are you merely a spectator at these events, or have you jumped on the path to success and registered as a vendor? If you haven’t you are missing out.

Home shows give contractors the chance to meet hundreds- if not thousands- of people looking to build, improve or remodel. Every person that walks by could be a potential customer, making you a live advertisement- a walking, talking brochure.

If you decide that attending a show is a good choice for you, there are several things you have to do to prepare. The first is your presentation. Many trade shows will provide a table and chairs. Some people simply use what they are given, bring a logoed tablecloth and set up the table with literature and perhaps easels that display work. Others go further by investing in tabletop display mounts, which have many different designs. These usually are displays that fold out to have three sections, and often times are done in felt or carpet, so pictures and fact sheets can be hung with Velcro. Others, take down the table, and bring in larger displays that stand on their own. There are many options, and these can be found at sign shops or a variety of on-line retailers. But, don’t worry too much about getting really elaborate. Most people are not going to buy you on your display- they want to hear what you have to offer. As long as it looks inviting and professional, and that staff that is manning the booth is the same, you will do just fine. One thing for sure though, is that you should have your company name prominently displayed.

Now that you have your display worked out, you will need to gather some things to bring along. You should make sure you have plenty of business cards, brochures, before and after pictures (perhaps in binder form so people can flip through- and some of your prized jobs can even be blown up and hung on easels), fact sheets and more. Depending on your budget,
perhaps you can print up promotional items to hand out as well. Everyone loves to fill his or her home show bags with ‘free stuff’. Anything from pens to key chains and yardsticks to can coolers can work. Magnets are a good idea as well, as they can be placed on the fridge, always in front of homeowners- your number at their beck and call should the idea for a project finally spark!

Finally, to add some professionalism to your booth, you can display plaques that you have showing your membership to the Better Business Bureau, Chamber of Commerce, and any professional organizations. You can purchase stands for these. Your walls back at the office may be bare for a long-weekend, but your potential customers will get to see you are the real deal.

You can also get creative for ideas to lure attendants to your table- and inconspicuously generate leads. You can have raffles for gift certificates, items and more, and draw one or more winners throughout the show. The key is, that in addition to generating excitement, you have also generated a fish bowl or entry box full of people who came to a home improvement show from some reason or another- all prospects that you can mail something to
at a later date!