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Hello All,
Newbie here from Southern California.
I was wondering if any of you have ever set up a booth at a “Home & Garden Show” or “Table Top Expo” in a Mall or something like this.
What kind of response did you receive?
What items did you give away etc?
Good idea to have a free drawing?
Any input would be appreciated.
Thanks to all those who have posted before. I’ve already learned a great deal from your posts!
Lew Miller
Palm Springs areaI have done home shows in the past..they work fairly well. It is all about the space location, Then how good your spot looks. Get the banner from HB, a good table, and brush up on your public relations skills. The giveaway or discounts are up to you. ( I offered protector or percentage discounts off my running ads). I wore a nice polo shirt, docker type pants and my HB badge. The fist few times we had our booth set up like a room. Asked a local carpet store for a remnant, put a arm chair, antique dresser, floor lamp etc..put the table at the back if area is large enough.
Palm springs has some very high end places and lots of retirement folks. If you are running as owner operator make that clear, people love that.
Do your homework as far as what the other guys are offering and charging. Be ready to explain the HB process, some people don’t know anything about it. I would guess that hard surface flooring is popular there, we get the old “I have hardwood floors” that is when I reply “we clean upholstery too”. Smile and be upbeat….GOOD LUCK. You have some killer golf courses there and they have as much carpet as they do grass……..$$$$
I wanted to share our experience with our last home show here in UT. We had a tremendous response (even with stormy weather) this past weekend. I have talked to some of my operators about considering home shows in their area. One of the most common responses has been, they think it requires an expensive display set up. I have done approximately 8-9 home shows (usually one show/yr) since I started our business and have always been pleased with the results (some more than others). We do not have an expensive display. We usually set up a table with spotters & promotional items with a banner – that’s it. It’s that simple. We handed out water bottles (approximately 1500) and 9 out of 10 people were interested in at least stopping by for the free water. Once we ran out of waters, we handed out chocolate dippers. The waters worked best. We were able to talk to many people through out the 3-day event. We also had the protected tissues displayed and that was a big hit. I have pictures of the event. If you are interested, let me know & I will email them to you. What a great way to get right in front of your potential customers – it works!
Yes Laura, I would like to have the pictures e-mailed to me.
My address is heavensbest.lew@verizon.net
Thanks!
Lew
Lew,
I just sent off the presentation.
Please call or email if you have any questions.
Today I booked a job in our new territory. When I asked the customer how she heard about us she said her manicure lady got a card from her customer who met me at the home show and was raving about our company. I have not done any work for the manicure lady or her customer and already they have sent me a referral. Life is good đ
I too have done plenty of shows and they do work well when you are active in engaging attendants. If you sit back and let people walk by, it could be a waste of money. Corporate has a display that could work well.
can we see your pics laura. heavensbestlv@yahoo.com
Where is the best place to find information about these home shows? Would the local chamber of commerce have this type of information?
Let me know when you have a moment.
thanks,
Hi Jesse,
I belong to two different Chambers of Commerce.
One has the Home Show and the other the Table Top Expo.
Each show runs about 5 hours and the cost is $165 for members and $295 for non-members.
The other Chamber Home Show is for members only and runs $140.
I’ve been contacted by a company that runs home shows. The price was $995 for a three day show. I declined.
Hope this helps.
Lew
Jesse:
Try this; http://www.atlantahomeshow.com
I had my Table Top Expo on Saturday for 5 hours, March 8.
It was held in the biggest mall in the Palm Springs area.
It was unfortunately very slow. Only had 8 people sign up for our free drawing, 3 areas of carpet cleaning. 3 possible leads but booked nothing so far. I stood out front the entire time just trying to make eye contact with people when they walked by.
We had a nice display. Had the Heaven’s Best banner and the stand up banner on the post. Coffee cups, HB mints, candy, etc. etc. It was slow for the others too.
One of the other vendors had balloons. The little kids were carrying them all over the mall with their logo on it. Since we don’t have balloons that I’m aware of, I might order some online from someone.
Hopefully my Home Show April 5th will be busier. They will be coming just to see the vendors.
Lew
I’m going to be in my local spring home show at the end of the March. It will have been 2 years since the last one I did. I live in a small community of 4500 people but it draws from the entire county. Best part is the cost is $50. I plan to have a 3 room, 350 sf max. for $85. Stain removal and protector is extra. This offer worked well in Jan and Feb when it went out in the val-pak. I will post again after the show.
Hello,
Participated in my 2nd Chamber of Commerce âHome and Consumer Showâ this past Saturday.
My last show in a huge Mall, I booked a total of ZERO appointments.
This Show cost was $135.00 and the lasted 5 hours. It was held at our local Community Center so everyone who came was there for the Show.
I along with my Chiropractor friend who had a booth reserved next to me shared a 8.5 X 11 flyer ($192.00 each) that went out in our local newspaper the Wednesday before. My half page had my prices etc. and also said that if they stopped by my booth they would get a special âShow Onlyâ discount. In the middle of the flyer, we advertised the Home Show itself. The Chamber was very happy about that. Iâm sure they will recommend me over the other two carpet cleaners that belong. I also clean the Chambers carpets for free. Itâs only a small area and the President of the Chamber always mentions me in her âPresidentsâ letter to the Chamber members.
I had business cards with a label on the back that said if they booked by May 1st, they would receive 10% off.
When I had my first person show interest in having his carpets cleaned, I handed him the business card with the 10% off and said if he booked by May 1st he could receive the 10% off. He seemed interested but was getting ready to walk away. Out of the blue, I said if he booked right now, I would give him 20% off (a $239.00 job) and he made an appointment! Ended up booking 6 appointments that day saying the same thing. I charge $139 for 3 areas so Iâll still be doing ok.
Many people either brought the flyer in or said that they had seen my previous flyers.
I had one lady who said she used one of my Chamber competitors to clean their Community Center carpets and that the carpet âsquishedâ for 3 days so I may get that business also.
Thanks Laura and the others for your Home Show ideas etc. Itâs appreciated.
Lew
The local home show had a total of 40 exhibitors. The day wa cool but sunny and was well attended by local residents. Many of my previous customers stopped and mentioned how nice the carpet still looks and were a walking talking advertisment. I had a show special that worked well in January and offered it again. Many people wanted to check with the spouse and were very interested. Didn’t book any jobs during the show but I have recieved at least 5 since then from show atendees. I know there will be more when the weather here decides to straighten up and turn more spring like. I plan to get an ad on the local access tv channel when my val-pak ads come out in 2 weeks.
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