Okay, I know what you’re thinking if attending craft shows isn’t about selling crafts then what is it about?
It is
about selling crafts but it’s also about many other things. For
instance attending craft show is about knowing who your customer is,
building a relationship with a them, it’s about collecting your
customers contact information and later following up with them, and it’s
about getting feedback about your product.
If you base the success of a craft show solely on the number of
customers you saw, the number of sales or the dollars you made there,
you are missing the boat. Attending a craft show means so much more to
your business.
Let’s start with market research. A local craft festival can be a good
place to try out your new product idea without a large investment of
your time or resources. You can create just enough of a product to fill
a booth and create a nice display. Create a few signs stating the
benefits of the product to the customer. Rent an inexpensive booth at a
show where the type of person who would buy your product would be in
attendance. Now pay close attention to who comes into your booth:
- what
age are they?
- are they men or women?
- are they well educated?
- what seems
to be their income level?
- do they have children?
Make notes about your
observations and soon a pattern will emerge. You now know what kind of
person to market your product to. The type of person who enters your
booth most often will probably be the type of person to buy your product
most often so pay close attention.
Now that you know who you customer is you will always want to focus
on that type of person with all of you advertising and marketing
dollars.
People want to buy from companies that they trust. They want to know
if they have customer service issues that someone will resolve them.
Attending craft shows is your opportunity to show customers what level
of customer service they will receive when they buy your product. Treat
every customer like your best customer and they just might become,
“Your Best Customer.” Get to know the customer and establish a
relationship with them. Find out their name and say it a few times
during the conversation. Try to remember it the next time you see them,
they will be impressed when you remember their name.
Your best customer is the person who just bought from you, so you
need to devise a way to contact them. A simple way to do this is to use
a duplicate receipt book and include their name, address, phone, and
email on the receipt. Ask their permission to add them to your mailing
list and write that on the receipt. Include your contact information on
the receipt and they have everything they need in one place to contact
you if they have a problem or need to make another purchase.
Having a customers contact information doesn’t do you any good if you
never contact them again. Send out a birthday discount (be sure and
collect this info if they will tell you on the receipt), special
occasion and holiday discounts, notices of where they can find your
product, and relevant merchandise information. Tell them to bring your
mailing and a friend to see you at craft shows to receive a small gift.
AutoWebBusiness.com is an inexpensive way to
follow up with your customers through automated email series a.k.a.
autoresponders.
The best part of attending a craft show is getting feedback on your
product. This is all about your attitude. You can be offended by
criticism or you can see it as market research. Anyone who comes close
enough to criticize your product was probably interested in it.
Criticism can help you improve your product and make more sales. If
many of your customers would want what was suggested it is worth it to
try to implement the changes suggested. So instead of getting down
about criticism enjoy the compliment that they were interested enough in
you and your product to try to help out.
Smile genuinely and thank complaining
customers for their advice, write it down and consider the benefits and
risks of implementing them when you have more time and energy to deal
with them. Write down the compliments as well and remember you don’t
want to change these things unless you can improve on them.
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Art and
Craft Show Expert Shasta McLaughlin provides articles, hints and tips,
checklists and more for artists and crafters that sell handcrafted
products who want to save time looking for shows, packing for fairs, and
get more sales at festivals. Now she is revealing how to collect your
customers contact information, follow up with them and make more money
while working less. Go to http://www.extravaganzacrafts.com
to get her newsletter, The Extravaganza Craft News, that will help you avoid
mistakes, save time and money when preparing your craft show booth.
