Mastering the Home Show Circuit: A Guide to Success for Contractors | Episode 27 | Trades Secrets: Contractor Marketing Podcast

Play Video about Mastering the Home Show Circuit: A Guide to Success for Contractors | Episode 27 | Trades Secrets: Contractor Marketing
There’s no place like a Home Show. There’s no place like a Home Show.
 
Showing up at community events is a key part of your exposure as a brand and as a business that people can count on. In this episode of the Trades Secrets podcast, we are breaking down why participating in Home Shows is good for business.
 
Plus, get tips on how to create your own booth.
 
Episode Covers:
  1. What is a Home Show?
  2. How Home Shows can help strengthen your brand
  3. Why sales teams are important at Home Shows
  4. A few Do’s & Don’ts for your booth at a Home Show
 

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Transcript: 

Amanda Joyce (00:00):

Hi, I’m Amanda Joyce.

Devon Hayes (00:02):

And I’m Devon Hayes. And today’s topic is Mastering the Home Show Circuit for Contractors. And here’s why you should care. Um, home shows can be a big investment. So today we wanna talk about how to maximize your ROI and keep your pipeline full for that sales team. Welcome to Trade Secrets, where we demystify digital marketing to help contractors get the most bang for their marketing bucks.

Amanda Joyce (00:30):

This is for you if you’re a contractor looking for actionable marketing insights.

Devon Hayes (00:35):

Learn from home services, industry experts to elevate your business through simplified marketing strategies.

Amanda Joyce (00:42):

Let’s dive into today’s trade secret. Okay. So before we kind of dive in and talk about all the secrets and tips we’ve got for you guys and figure we should not put the cart before the horse and talk about what a home show is. 


Devon Hayes (00:57):

Kind of start with the basics. I think, um, I think, I think a lot of contractors know exactly what it is, but um, usually I don’t know what they have, like a winter, spring, fall home show. Um, depends on where you live, but it’s just a great kinda opportunity for different contractors and vendors to showcase their products and services, um, show kind of the latest trends. Um, I don’t know, things like that. They like,

Amanda Joyce (01:25):

Yeah,

Devon Hayes (01:26):

I have friends that always, you know, they always go to see how cheap the hot tubs are, but <laugh> there’s typically, and they

Amanda Joyce (01:32):

Never get cheaper.

Devon Hayes (01:34):

<laugh>. No. Well you think, but they, you think you’re getting a deal. They’re like, oh, we’ve got the home show discount for you. The $500 off lo and behold, it was actually increased 500 to be anyways. Mm-hmm. Tricks, tricks, tricks, but generally it’s a great place for contractors to get right in front of their customers, direct to consumer, um, kind of targeting, there’s homeowners there, they’re looking at landscaping, you know, there’s always a ton of roofing contractors, solar. Um, I haven’t really seen a lot of, uh, plumbers there, but, um,

Amanda Joyce (02:08):

Landscapers, pool companies.

Devon Hayes (02:12):

Yeah, actually I did see, I did see at the Denver Home Show there was a, a plumber that kind of had like the before and after of like a giant, um, hot water heater and then down to like a tankless hot water heater and kind of showed a really Pinterest it out space. Like once they’ve reduced the size and they can make their laundry room dreams come true. So, um, yeah. But anyways, it’s just, yeah, it’s, it’s just, you know, it’s just a great place for homeowners to kind of find, have a one-stop shop for all things home and garden and also spices. Yeah.

Amanda Joyce (02:42):

And in theory, yeah, <laugh>

(02:44):

And in theory, most of the people that are attending are like, they’re an engaged consumer. Maybe they’re there to look at the hot tubs, but they’re, they could very well see some cool new appliance or something that they, they decide they want to invest in. So they’re definitely kind of perusing. So it’s a great opportunity to maybe catch somebody when maybe they’re, they’re not there looking for your service, but you might very well be able to kind of pull them in. Or if you’re really lucky, they’re actually actively there looking for service providers just like yourself.

Devon Hayes (03:11):

Yeah. So, so some of the benefits, we’ve kind of covered ’em, but like, it is that direct marketing, you’re talking to homeowners directly, it’s super targeted. Usually you won’t go to a home show that isn’t in the communities you wanna be serving. So, um, direct marketing, you’ve got your brand awareness, top of mind awareness. Um, it’s a great place to actually get some customer feedback and talk to people about, I don’t know, like what they’re looking for in, you know, for their homes or kind of landscaping trends if they’re looking for pavers and, you know, thing, I don’t know if they wanna have like a, they’re going electric or maybe, you know, ev charger installations. Um, that’s kind of a big trend. And if you can push those as an electrician and those are going like hotcakes. Everybody’s buying, you know, electric vehicles now. So maybe 10 years ago a home show wouldn’t have been a great fit for you, but maybe it is now. So, um, absolutely. Anyways, yeah, so, so it’s,

Amanda Joyce (04:09):

Yeah. And I was gonna say, the other thing too, to keep in mind is maybe you’re gonna get, gain some brand awareness with somebody that doesn’t want an EV charger today or doesn’t need a roof replacement today, but they maybe have a good conversation with one of your, your salespeople and then a year from now, you guys are the first people they’re gonna look up when it’s time to, to go find that service provider. So it can, it’s a great way to talk about brand awareness and put faces with the company and, you know, just get your team out there and, you know, remind people that you guys are there and waiting in the wings when they’re ready to talk to you.

Devon Hayes (04:40):

Yeah. Kind of build that rapport, build trust. It really helps to have, you know, a know knowledgeable salesperson there. But, um, some other benefits, I mean, you can connect with other like vendors, other suppliers, other contractors, um, you know, those networking and building kind of some of those relationships that are mutually beneficial. Um, so it’s, I mean, it’s just overall, it’s, it’s, it’s a great, I would say it’s a great investment for contractors. Um, and we’ll kind of talk about how to do the math on that to see if it’s a great investment, but, um, yeah. So let’s, so let’s, with that, let’s kind of dive into how to make the most out of these home shows and how to, how to be successful with them. Um, should you decide to kind of go down that path. Uh, I guess the first thing we have on our list here is, uh, preparing for the show. Yes. You don’t wanna be a week out and go, oh shoot, what are we gonna do? Um, there’s, there’s a lot of preparation that goes into this in order to come across professional and for it to work for you and not be a waste of time. You don’t wanna show up with like a table of two chairs and a trifold and expect to have people stop by, talk to you and become customers.

Amanda Joyce (05:58):

Yeah, that’s a way to feel really embarrassed because people really come and show up at those things and really find really visual ways to pull people in. Um, you know, there’s just, we’ll go through a whole list of different ways you can do that, but like Devin said, make sure you’re prepared, think ahead. It’s gonna, depending on the home show and your market, it can be a pretty sizable investment. So you’re not done spending, once you’ve written that check for the booth, it’s time to make sure that the booth is gonna be up to your standard, that’s gonna really reflect the, the brand that you’ve worked so hard to build, and that you’ve, you’re gonna have the collateral and everything that you need to make sure that you’re, you’re pulling people into your, your funnel and you’re not just losing them as they walk away from your booth. Unimpressed <laugh>.

Devon Hayes (06:42):

Yeah, absolutely. So, um, the first thing you wanna do once you sign up for the booth and you know where you’re gonna be if you haven’t done the home show before that you’re signing up for, um, corner spots are always great, and this sounds bad, but actually if you can get a booth space, like that’s by the restroom, like people will walk by because depending on the size of the home show, you kind of don’t wanna get lost in the shuffle. If you can talk to the planner and make sure you’re like, there’s always, there’s probably always like six roofers I think, at every single one of these home shows and probably seven landscapers. But if you can figure out how to like not be right next to one another, um, that’s ideal. So when I’m helping, um, customers kind of plan this out, we’re always looking for a spot that’s like, kind of by the main entrance is great.

(07:30):

Obviously those are more expensive, um, but kind of little known facts. If you find one by the bathroom, people are going to go buy your booth. And then you just kind of have a more, um, extroverted sales guy who’s willing to reach out or gal and reach out and talk to them and kind of pull them in when they’re on their way back out. Um, so kind of placement of the booth, not not getting lost in the shuffle, that would be when you’re planning it and making that booth purchase and committing to the home show, keep that in mind when you’re choosing, uh, where you wanna be. And they usually do a pretty good job not putting like all of your, you know, same competitors in the same row and, and trying to spread it out cuz they want you to get value out of it because they want you to come back.

(08:12):

Um, so step one, getting your booth space, finding the right spot within the home show. Um, but then phase two, like the design of your booth and your signage and the planning for that, that piece, um, you wanna start doing like three or four months in advance if you don’t already have, you know, beautiful kind of like backdrop and signage and maybe a TV to hang that will have a slide show of your work, um, or a video would be even better running. Um, and just all all of those things that it takes to set that up and get going. Most sign companies are where you order trade show booths from. They’re really, really helpful. They know kind of the latest trends on like rounded corners or straight corners or this easy thing, you know, they are really helpful, they have graphic designers there. Um, you’re gonna want to have already invested in some really great photography of your work because it’s, I mean, it’s, it’s a very visual thing when you’re walking by a booth.

(09:11):

If, like I said, if you just see like a black tablecloth around a six foot table versus this huge giant, you know, 12 foot display with all these beautiful images of this before and after landscaping job and things that you’ve done. Like, I mean, you know who somebody’s gonna be drawn to and and wanna speak with. So, um, so yeah, the designing, yeah, getting the booth ordered, the graphics designed, having those professional images taken, planning for a video to be running, like having, you know, a digital screen of some sort, um, kind of in the background that slides through more of your work is, um, one of those visually appealing things that helps customers kind of stay. They’ll, they’ll see like the before and then they’re gonna stand there and pause to see the after. And that’s when your sales guys have a chance to like whoop swoop in and start that conversation and talk about the project, talk about what they’re like staring at on the screen. We’re gonna get to kind of more how you draw people to your booth, but that’s like an easy kind of layup and you’ve, you’ve already done the work. Just you need to show everybody your beautiful work

Amanda Joyce (10:12):

When, you know, we recently ordered a booth for ourselves and, um, I was, we, we, I was really glad that we had the foresight to do it several months in advance so that we weren’t scrambling. We had time to practice putting the booth together before we ever were on site. Like those kind of things. It sounds a little silly, but a quick dry run to make sure that you’re not there day of with 30 minutes to set up and you’re like, realizing you don’t know what piece goes with what you, you just some, just having a little bit of that foresight planning ahead just a little bit will make you much more relaxed going into the actual event and probably enjoy it a little bit more.

Devon Hayes (10:45):

<laugh>. Yeah, and they usually, I mean, they usually let you, cuz those home shows are so big, they usually let you come in a day or two like in advance. Um, but outside of like thinking of the graphics when we’re talking about preparing for the show, um, quantify what success looks like. If you, if you don’t quantify what that looks like, all like your all in costs, figure out what that is. Figure out your average cost of a project or revenue on a project and then see, see what that converts to in terms of leads. Like how many leads do you need to convert in order to break even or come out ahead. Because if you don’t have that goal set, um, you know, you might not, you might just say, oh, that was a waste of time, but realistically maybe you got five projects.

(11:29):

And while that’s not a ton, if you only invested, I don’t know, say it’s, you make two grand per project and it all in costs for the home shore or six grand, you really only, you need four leads to come out ahead. So that fifth, those fourth and fifth ones are great. Um, even though it doesn’t sound like, oh, I got 25 leads out of the home show and you very well could, but just having that quantifiable goal and that goal for, um, whoever’s gonna be working the show for you and for you as a business owner to know if it’s effective or not. I mean it’s usually pretty, it seems intuitive, it seems like most people would already do that and do the math ahead of time. But, um, you really have to think about like the all in costs in terms of like the booth rental, um, the like staffing, I don’t know, staffing the booth.

(12:14):

Um, what goes into like, the follow up in terms of like email marketing, lead capture, um, giveaways, just the the stuff at the booth. Like all kind of all those things. Figure out what your costs are and then, and then be able to quantify it in terms of how many leads you need to come out of the show with in order to make sure it’s worth it. Because you know, you’re, I’ve heard this a million times, like there’s, I don’t know, there are sales guys that are like, oh it’s great, you know, I got X amount of leads and then there’s some guys that just complain and it’s never enough. But when you back into the math, it actually, you really don’t need a lot outta these shows and you get a lot of great, um, brand awareness and brand exposure.

Amanda Joyce (12:55):

Absolutely. Just went on

Devon Hayes (12:55):

A tangent. Yeah, <laugh>. Okay, let’s get to the

Amanda Joyce (12:59):

Next point

Devon Hayes (12:59):

Here was important. Yeah. Yes it was. Thank you. My ever supportive partner. Um, okay, so the next point is designing an attractive booth and calling attention to it. So if you have a beautiful booth, but um, you’ve got a, your salespeople sitting back behind a table in chairs, that’s not gonna be a good job. Not Yeah, just waiting for people to

Amanda Joyce (13:23):

Come to them. Yeah, that’s, yeah, exactly. It’s you, you really do just have to think about it. Even just how you would wanna be approached as a consumer. So yeah, making sure that, and you can’t just assume the sales guys know that, don’t even have chairs in your booth to begin with and make sure that they understand that it’s like it’s time to be on, it’s gonna be, it can be exhausting to be on your feet all day and trying to be on, but like the end result, you’re all there for one reason and you might as well make the day worth it. If you’re giving up a Saturday with your family, make it worth it, <laugh>, let’s get some, let’s get some touch points out of it and make sure that people understand that you guys truly are, um, experts at what you do. It’s also really important to make sure that people you do choose to be in that booth are like your, your strongest, most shining bright stars of, of the sales team, of the team in general. Um, you know, it’s cuz at the end of the day they’re gonna be who people are gonna walk away and remember and associate with your company.

Devon Hayes (14:16):

Yep. That’s, that’s absolutely true. Um, and with that, I mean, we kind of covered, you know, the visuals of it, but something else we haven’t covered is the draw. Like what are you going to do to have people want to come to your booth? Um, there’s, there’s a ton of ideas, but I’ve, I’ve seen, I mean is there a drawing? Is there some giant giveaway that you have? Um, you know, there’s a lot of, a lot of ideas out there. Um, but something to where you can kind of capture their information so that you have like a up point. Um, there’s, you know, we’ve seen, I’ve, let’s like, uh, my husband’s roofing company, they have like this giant, you know, box of charcoal and it’s like, guess how many, you know, guess how many pounds of charcoal this is? And then people scan a QR code and they put their guests in there and it has their name, phone number and email and their guests and then the giveaway, if they get it right, it, I think this year they did like a giant, um, arcade game, which you walk by that and you see it and it’s like, enter to win this thing.

(15:22):

And people are like, oh, what is that? So whatever your giveaway is, it’s, if it can capture the eye and be really appealing, that’s gonna help draw people into, instead of your sales guys being like, Hey, come here. Hey, come here, hey, come talk to me. So having like this giant massive box of charcoal, people are like, what is that about? And it had to do with solar and, you know, energy savings, but that’s the tie-in. But anyways, it was a great, it was a great way to attract people to the booth with something interesting and a great way to start the conversation about solar. Um, so I think that, so that’s just an example of, you know, a, a drawing or an entry, um, you know, a draw to the booth, which was our original point <laugh>. Um, but that’s, that’s a great, you know, that’s a great way to do it. Um, absolutely.

Amanda Joyce (16:09):

And I, and to, yeah, and to kind of underscore that too, I, if you have the one singular reason for people to come, that’s really important too. You don’t wanna overwhelm people with too much messaging. You wanna figure out what that draw’s gonna be. Get them to come to the booth, have the QR code, driving to a dedicated landing page for that very call to action and make, just keep things really simple. But you know, on target, just like the example you just gave, it very much ties into their business. So, you know, you’re, you’re thinking holistically and strategically about, you know, the messaging that you’re gonna be delivering at the home show, but also making sure that it’s easy and digestible and you’re gonna capture someone’s attention when you might have four or five seconds as they’re just moseying past your booth to, to really pull them in.

Devon Hayes (16:52):

Yes. And pro tip with that, while you are sitting there talking to someone about, you know, in this example solar roofing, nine times, I would say maybe seven outta 10 times, um, folks have kids with them and the kids are gonna be the ones pulling them away from the conversation. So having something for the kids to kind of do is ideal. Um, as a mom, I can tell you that when my kid can mess around on a corn cornhole board at your booth and there’s like, I don’t know, some fruit snacks or something for them to eat while I talk to you, I, I will come to your booth to get them the fruit snacks, like <laugh> over someone that’s, you know, over someone that doesn’t have anything that kind of distracts my kids while you sell to me. Um, so that’s kind of a pro tip.

(17:37):

Always think about that cuz home shows, there’s always a ton of kids there too. There’s homeowners and, um, if you have targeted that demographic that you know is homeowners with children, then think of that, um, don’t overlook the little people because again, as a mom, I can tell you, if you can keep my kid distracted and happy, I will gladly engage with you. <laugh>, uh, let’s see here. Absolutely. Oh yeah. Um, and we do, and we kind of talked about this a little bit, but capturing the leads while we’re there, like using a QR code or even if it’s a short kind of paper form for them to enter a contest, enter a drawing to win something, some I would, I would invest in whatever the giveaway is. Like nobody cares unfortunately about like TVs anymore, but what’s the trend? Is it, um, a Yeti cooler? Is it a portable like boat, soft side, Yeti cooler? I don’t know, is it an arcade game? Like whatever it is, something unfor? Yeah, just kind of, I would, I would invest in whatever the giveaway is, um, and, and just look at, look at that as kind of a sunk cost, but it’ll be part of the draw, you know?

Amanda Joyce (18:45):

Yeah. And it makes, and it’s exciting too when you do have the cool thing on the, on the, the showroom floor that you’ve got the cool thing that people are like, did you see what they’re offering over there? Like, it, your sales guys will really appreciate it and it suddenly makes your booth like the place to be <laugh>, um, without you having to be out there like performing and doing acrobatics to get people into the booth. It’ll, it’ll really do some, a lot of the work, the legwork and the work for you.

Devon Hayes (19:10):

Yeah, we actually, I did, um, I did a home show like, I don’t know, years and years ago, but we had a giant board that just had cash, like money hanging off of it, and it was under, there was like two $10 bills under each number, like one through 50. And what you had to do, we were giving away reusable bags and each one had, we had two bags with the same number. If you found your matching bag partner at the home show and you both came to the booth, then you each got like a 10 or $20 bill, whatever I think we were doing, maybe it was five or 10 bucks. But in any case, like people walk by and they just see this giant board with cash and they’re like, how, how do I get cash? What do I, what’s the game board?

(19:55):

Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And then people end up like talking to other people and, and then they come. So it’s, I mean, there’s all kinds of ways, but um, just, just what’s something that’s like eye-catching as they walk by a giant arcade game. Definitely eye-catching, a cash board, eye-catching. So keep that in mind catching. Yeah. Because you just have, you know, those quick seconds before they’re like ignoring your sales guy and pretending they don’t see them. And I keep saying guy, but it can obviously be they’re sales gals too. Um, so I feel bad I keep catching myself saying that and then I wanna correct it, but then I draw attention to it when I correct it. <laugh>, sorry, world <laugh>, I’m working on it. <laugh>. Um, anyways. Okay, so, and then, and then we definitely talked about how to capture the leads. So QR codes, paper entries.

(20:39):

If there’s older folks that are like, ah, I don’t know, I don’t know how to do QR codes, have your sales team offer to help say, oh, well I got you. What’s your name? What’s your email? Like, okay, what’s your, what’s your guess? Um, all right, got your entry here and then that’s it. You know, now you’re even, you’re being even more helpful and more friendly and they’re gonna remember your kindness and, and patience too. So, um, just all around a great way to interact and engage with folks, um, even if, you know, they don’t have the technology or asking them to, or they’re like, I don’t know how to do that. Anyways. Absolutely. With the drop, like of whatever it is to the booth, like when you choose a winner after the home show, make a big show of it, like you’re gonna deliver the arcade, like go to the their house, you know, like take, you know, do the photo and then you have another marketing channel, you have more, you know, that kind of organic, genuine, exciting content, um, that actually gets engaged with on social media. So don’t forget to, um, capture those ones on video photo. There we go, didn’t it?

Amanda Joyce (21:39):

Yeah. And make, yeah, exactly. And, and in most cases, someone’s gonna be so stoked you just did that, they’re gonna more than happily comment and share and they’re, they’re, it’s, it’s, it can very organically have a positive impact on your business socially. So that’s that’s a great

Devon Hayes (21:53):

Point. Do you put it in your, put it in your newsletter like, you know, it’s nice to show a real winner. So, and not that you’re just like saying that you’re giving it away, you know, and you’re just really demonstrating and building trust within the community there. Uh, okay. I didn’t lose it. All right. Um, <laugh>, uh, we’ve talked about showcasing your work. We’ve talked about displaying it, you know, having it on like a TV screen, those before and afters, um, making them part of the booth background. Um, those big, yeah, those big visuals are, um, they’re, they’re great selling points. They show your quality of work.

Amanda Joyce (22:31):

Absolutely. And even if you feel like maybe, you know, if you are, if your service offering isn’t as exciting as a pool, as a pool builder or something, it still doesn’t mean you can’t come up with ways to really, to show that kind of your example earlier too, when you were even talking about the big old rusty hot water heater and then the nice, um, small, why am I tankless water heater and all the space it suddenly created for a beautiful laundry room. You know, just think about that. Like what, what’s at the end of the day, what’s a homeowner gonna see that they’re gonna be drawn in and, you know, suddenly make, make plumbing and water heaters exciting <laugh>.

Devon Hayes (23:08):

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Um, and then, okay, so we’ve kind of talked the show itself into the ground. Our next point here is, okay, uh, what to do after the show because just cuz the show is over, um, doesn’t mean your opportunity for conversions is over. So

Amanda Joyce (23:26):

It’s really just beginning at that point honestly. So yeah. Um, you know, yeah, first of all, you’re gonna, ideally with that QR code and whatever people have submitted, you’re gonna have a litany of new emails. Even if maybe they weren’t all warm leads, maybe they just stopped by cuz they wanted to enter to win the giant prize. Make sure you’re immediately adding them to your newsletter so that they’re gonna continue to hear from you moving forward. That’s, that’s gonna be a really big one for you. Um, and you know, the sales guys in general need to be following up with absolutely everyone that they spoke with, especially anyone that seemed like they were a warm lead. And another thing that I always like to remind people of as well is we wanna make sure that, um, if you do, you know, for that landing page, have a remarketing pixel on that moving into the show so you can run ads as well to just continue to keep your brand top of mind to anyone that hit that page. Then you can get in front of them over the next few weeks with, with some ad creative to remind them of your brand, remind them of maybe another offer, a downloadable something to pull them back in. That’s a really great way to continue to like, uh, take advantage of that momentum that you created at the, at the home show.

Devon Hayes (24:32):

Yes. And when you, um, are capturing emails and you’re, say, say you go through with the idea of like, QR code takes ’em to a landing page where they submit their guests for a contest. Um, on there you can have a dropdown of like services they’re interested in and, and then you can segment them and target them very specifically if they answer it. And you can have say, you know, nothing at this time, you’re not gonna force them into saying they’re interested in something that they’re not interested in, but then you can segment them and you know, the follow-up email that first one after the show that shows the winner of the contest. Well the first one that says, you know, well, I guess yeah, that would just be it. Emailing, you know, the winner and letting everyone else know who entered who the winner is.

(25:13):

Um, you know, that’s a first touchpoint because they’re gonna open that email so then, you know, it’s a good email address, it’s verified cuz they wanna know if they won. So, um, so anyway, you have that initial email that goes out, but then again, like Amanda was talking about, just kind of segmenting the audience and um, really, really keeping that contact like in your newsletter list so that they have that top of mind awareness month over month when you’re sending out a newsletter. Um, and if they checked a box that said they’re interested in, you know, I don’t know, like pavers specifically, then when you have a maybe a blog or I don’t know, something specific about that, you can email them and know that that would be an engaged, um, user.

Amanda Joyce (25:57):

Absolutely.

Devon Hayes (25:59):

All right. Um, la not last. Common mistakes to avoid. All right, yes, we’ve run down what you should do so you can probably kind of figure out what you should not do, but these ones are like quick and easy bullet points. Um, Amanda sitting

Amanda Joyce (26:17):

Down, abso absolutely not, no sitting down. I know we hit on that earlier. No sitting down, um, not having a draw to your booth of any sort. Um, not having something to engage the kids. Uh, not having enough staff or knowledgeable staff on hand. You definitely don’t wanna line to people wanting to chat about your offer or about your services. You need to make sure that there’s, there’s, there’s man on man defense plus, plus an extra at all times. <laugh>, um, having that professional look, which we talked about with, you know, getting that that booth created well in advance and making sure that it really reflects your brand, um, not capturing customer’s information. Do not waste that opportunity to get those people to complete that, you know, to follow the QR code or provide you information one way or the other. Um, not having, um, enough of whatever you are offering.

(27:07):

If you do have, you know, if you do have some treats on the table for kids or, you know, anything like that, make sure you have more than enough. You do not want to be, be running out towards the end of the day and not maximizing that, that time on the, on the floor. Make sure that your booth is set up well in advance of, of the beginning of the show. Make sure that you, you’re staying there until the bitter end. Even if things are really thinning out, you don’t want to miss that last person that’s maybe been looking for you on the show, the, the showroom floor all day and they finally found your booth and find that you guys aren’t there anymore. Um, and

Devon Hayes (27:34):

I, and I was gonna say, I don’t think I have it on here, but something else is, um, you know, having a great handout. Not if you don’t have a great handout and you have someone who’s like running out the door because maybe their kid is screaming and they, and they’ve gotta go, maybe they are looking for your services, but they need, you know, they need something to take with them. Tangible. Yeah, yeah. So whether that is, you know, like a postcard or a trifold or a handout, um, something attractive that has your brand, you know, big and loud and an easy way for them to contact you. Um, if it had the, you know, landing page specifically generated for the home show even better. Um, but yeah, having something they can take with them in case they don’t have time to talk to you, they’re flying out the door, but they do, they do wanna learn about your services or maybe they go through their, the reusable bag that everybody gets when they walk through the home show door. You know, maybe they start going through their flyers and then they look at you and even if they don’t call you again, you’ve got that brand exposure. And, um, if you’ve done your job in marketing, you have some really good visual images that maybe will stick out, um, to them and, and remind them of you when they are ready to purchase.

Amanda Joyce (28:40):

Absolutely. Okay. Let’s talk about our actionable takeaways, um, from, from today. So

Devon Hayes (28:49):

Yes,

Amanda Joyce (28:51):

Absolutely. First, do the math. Quantify what success looks like before you ever set, before you even start on this whole venture <laugh>. Um, have a clear fund, singular call to action, whatever it may be. Um, that doesn’t include, you know, you can have the, the on the side call to action for the kids, but the, the one clear call to action for the people that are gonna be spending money with you. Make sure that it’s, that you’ve selected something that’s really enticing, man, the booth with knowledgeable, um, personable sales staff. Um, don’t put those chairs in the booth. Um, yeah. And don’t forget the kids.

Devon Hayes (29:26):

Don’t forget the kids and don’t forget the pets. You can do like little, little, little, little treats. Um,

Amanda Joyce (29:31):

Yeah. Love it.

Devon Hayes (29:33):

Little pro tip. I don’t know. Okay. Uh, so that’s it. So, um, as always, thank you so much for listening and if you know anyone that might be interested, feel free to share our podcast with them. Um, yeah, we appreciate and if you have

Amanda Joyce (29:47):

Any pro tips about what you’ve done at a trade show that, that you found really successful, we’d love to hear from you. Throw us a comment. <laugh>.

Devon Hayes (29:55):

Yes. All right, thank you. That is it for this edition of Trade Secrets.

Amanda Joyce (30:01):

That was today’s trade secret. Thanks for listening.

Devon Hayes (30:04):

Did you find this helpful? We’re just getting started,

Amanda Joyce (30:09):

Subscribe, and don’t miss our next reveal.

Devon Hayes (30:13):

Until next time.