My team at Just Marry!, is toiling away coming up with new bridal show ideas to use in the upcoming months. Of course an interesting booth that attracts attention is important to stand out from the crowd, but there is so much more to it. I actually got a lot of ideas for our bridal show booths by attending a local home show. I was in search of flooring for my house when I found the ad for a big home show here in Orlando. I was a woman on a mission, so when I went to the show, I was ready to buy. I just needed to find the right company with the right price and I would be ready to go. I picked up a diagram of the show and made a b-line for the flooring vendors. My tour was met with very different booth styles as far as setup and personality. For the most part they looked the same: flooring samples, table with sign up sheet, candy in a bowl and business cards. Some displays had the flooring samples on the floor so I could see larger samples put together, from the perspective that I would see it every day. Others had smaller samples organized by type (wood, laminate and vinyl) on the wall. They were pretty easy to navigate on my own. Here is what made the difference:
Booth one had one sales person sitting on a stool reading a book. She didn’t even look up when I walked over to look at the samples. Booth two had a sales person sitting behind a table talking to a couple. His booth was huge with all types of flooring, but he didn’t move from his chair to show examples of anything that he discussed. When I approached him to chat, I knew exactly what I wanted. He told me that he had one or two samples with him and he casually pointed to the right hand corner and said you can come into the store to see more. He didn’t ask for my information. In fact, he acted as though he was bored with me. Booth three had two guys, one of which was sitting on a stool making sarcastic remarks about the other flooring companies at the show. I just walked past him. Booth four was bustling! There were about ten sales people chatting with potential customers. They were all dressed in company t-shirts and each of them looked engaged with the customers and excited about their product. I watched as they showed customers the different types of flooring and discussed why each one was good. I even overheard one giving a couple tips on how to save money by going with a different grade of laminate; same look, good quality, lower price. As I stood there watching, a nice gentleman came up to me and asked when I was planning to do my flooring project. This started a long conversation (it wasn’t just a yes/no question) in which he showed me the different types of flooring, how it would stand up to my dogs and my children and was even able to give me a quick estimate based on what I thought my square footage was. He was great! He even gave me samples of a few of the colors that I liked to take home with me to look at in my house. I took his card, he took my information and I left the show.
The next day, my phone rang. It was the “flooring guy” from the show. He wanted to make sure that I had everything that I needed and he wanted to know how the samples looked in my house. I told him that we were still deciding, but that I would give him a call in the next couple of days. No one else followed up with me. A few days later, everyone in my house got the stomach flu. It was a pretty icky few days here, so flooring was the last thing on my mind. I didn’t call the “flooring guy” back. I actually put the flooring project on the back burner. I was busy at work, I took a trip and I felt too busy to deal with it. Three weeks passed and my phone rang, it was the “flooring guy.” He just wanted to follow up since he hadn’t heard from me in a little while. He also reminded me about the show discount for the flooring that I wanted and he offered to give it to me even though the offer had expired. He also offered to schedule the installer to come out the next day to take measurements. I was sold! My “flooring guy” did everything right…
- He was attentive at the show
- He followed up a couple of times without being pushing
- He was enthusiastic everytime I spoke with him
In addition, his company got it right.
- The booth and the staff were branded so that they stood out from the rest
- They had the proper amount of staff for the number of people attending the show
- All of the sales people were trained to give a great sales experience to all attendees
By the way, they were a bit more expensive than some of the other companies, but the attention to detail made it worth the extra expense. Keep these thoughts in mind as you prepare for your next bridal show. I am sure it will make a difference in what you sell. I’d love your feedback. Post me your top bridal show tips or tell me if any of mine work for you. Happy selling! Susan
