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There I see that you made it over to the new
Speaker:tips and talk portion of the podcast.
Speaker:These are bite-sized topics that I pull from community questions and
Speaker:things that I'm observing in the world of handmade small business.
Speaker:Welcome to the second part of the obstacles and challenges that
Speaker:come up when you're at a craft show.
Speaker:So at this point you have already registered for a show.
Speaker:The prior episode of tips and talk,
Speaker:we talked about the questions that come up once you've registered
Speaker:and then your planning and getting set up and thinking through
Speaker:what you're going to need at the show today,
Speaker:we're going to talk about the obstacles and challenges that can
Speaker:come up in real time when you're at the show,
Speaker:things that can occur at your booth and how to deal
Speaker:with them.
Speaker:During this episode,
Speaker:you'll hear me reference some point that I've discussed before.
Speaker:And those are in the prior episode of tips and talk,
Speaker:if you've already listened to that,
Speaker:you know that this portion went a lot longer than I
Speaker:was anticipating.
Speaker:So I've split it up into two.
Speaker:If you haven't already listened to tips and talk number seven,
Speaker:I encourage you to go back and start with that one.
Speaker:And then you can come back here.
Speaker:You'll still get the same value if you do it the
Speaker:reverse way.
Speaker:It's just,
Speaker:if you're doing it in chronological order,
Speaker:it might make more sense.
Speaker:All right,
Speaker:with that,
Speaker:let's go ahead and dive in.
Speaker:Okay. So now let's get into,
Speaker:on site.
Speaker:During the show,
Speaker:we were just talking about,
Speaker:if your checkout process is really slow,
Speaker:your booth can get overcrowded.
Speaker:What'll happen is either,
Speaker:there are so many people in front of your booth that
Speaker:other people will walk by and say,
Speaker:Oh my gosh,
Speaker:I'll come back later to the booth that there's too many
Speaker:people there good that your booth is crowded because that creates
Speaker:interest but bad.
Speaker:If people can't even get up to the table to look
Speaker:because truth is,
Speaker:if they walk away,
Speaker:they probably are not going to be coming back.
Speaker:They're just going to walk away and be gone.
Speaker:Here's how you handle this.
Speaker:If you are at a craft show and there are people
Speaker:huddled around the table,
Speaker:there are a bunch of people who are in line ready
Speaker:to buy.
Speaker:There are other people who are asking you questions.
Speaker:Oh, one thing that I did forget to mention earlier when
Speaker:we were talking about displays is make sure that your displays,
Speaker:all your products are either individually priced or you have some
Speaker:type of a chart that shows what the prices are.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:three for X number of dollars prices for different sizing,
Speaker:whatever it is,
Speaker:make sure it's very easy to see because that's one less
Speaker:question that they have to ask you.
Speaker:Let's say you have this situation.
Speaker:Your booth is crowded.
Speaker:You got a couple people who are in line to check
Speaker:out. You got some other people who are looking,
Speaker:asking questions.
Speaker:So have as much done in your booth where they don't
Speaker:have to ask you a question as possible.
Speaker:Because if there's only a few people at the booth,
Speaker:you can always engage in conversation.
Speaker:But if someone wants to ask you a question and they
Speaker:can't get an answer,
Speaker:they'll be frustrated and then they'll walk away.
Speaker:Here's what you can do.
Speaker:You've got your checkout process going.
Speaker:And if somebody else besides you knows how to manage checkout,
Speaker:let one person between,
Speaker:let's say you have two people working in your booth,
Speaker:have one person just be in charge of the checkout process.
Speaker:So they are doing the cash,
Speaker:running the cards,
Speaker:et cetera.
Speaker:So that you have a flow to your booth.
Speaker:People who are looking browsing,
Speaker:asking questions,
Speaker:you're just commenting with.
Speaker:And then another place where they can just go to checkout.
Speaker:Because once they're ready to buy,
Speaker:they're ready to buy.
Speaker:You want to make it fast.
Speaker:You want them to be able to move on.
Speaker:Okay? So it makes for a better customer experience when you
Speaker:do it that way.
Speaker:But if you have people waiting in both categories,
Speaker:so browsing category and the checkout category,
Speaker:here's some ideas for you.
Speaker:Remember, I was talking earlier about that QR code.
Speaker:If you have a QR code that leads to more information,
Speaker:maybe it's a YouTube video,
Speaker:maybe a behind the scenes of how you create products.
Speaker:This allows for them to interact with you.
Speaker:Without them just sitting,
Speaker:standing, waiting.
Speaker:Another way to manage multiple people at your booth is to
Speaker:get people talking with each other.
Speaker:If you recognize somebody who's been a customer of yours before,
Speaker:and you recall what they bought say,
Speaker:Oh, Laurie,
Speaker:it's so good to see you here.
Speaker:And then you can say to everybody,
Speaker:Laurie loves my lemon candles.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:or recently Lori placed an order for the butter pecan sauce.
Speaker:What did you put it on Laurie?
Speaker:Then people start talking to each other in the line,
Speaker:making friends it's also helping reinforce your product and your kind
Speaker:of testimonials on the fly.
Speaker:If you will,
Speaker:that will keep people at the booth until you're able to
Speaker:talk with them.
Speaker:Barring both of those.
Speaker:If you have people there at the booth who are waiting
Speaker:to talk with you,
Speaker:acknowledge them.
Speaker:This is the very least you do is either with eyesight
Speaker:and smile.
Speaker:Just recognize their presence there or say,
Speaker:I'll be with you in a minute because what has that
Speaker:done? It's kind of like sealed the deal versus someone who's
Speaker:feeling, not recognized at all.
Speaker:First of all,
Speaker:they feel invisible,
Speaker:which is never a good feeling.
Speaker:Second. It's easier for them to walk away because they think,
Speaker:well, you know,
Speaker:they'll never even see that I was there,
Speaker:but once you've engaged with them,
Speaker:they're more likely to stay.
Speaker:So these are tactics that you can use on the browsing
Speaker:area. Now on the checkout area,
Speaker:if your checkout process is a little more complicated,
Speaker:let's say you have something that's customizable and there's a form
Speaker:that needs to be filled out.
Speaker:You can give the form to all the people who are
Speaker:already in line with pens,
Speaker:cause you're going to be prepared.
Speaker:So you'll have a pen handy so they can start filling
Speaker:out what they're going to buy.
Speaker:And again,
Speaker:that commits them more to the purchase because they've got the
Speaker:paper, they're filling it all out and then they're going to
Speaker:buy. And then you have your checkout process,
Speaker:easy, smooth.
Speaker:And it just carries on from there.
Speaker:It's important that you're the leader and the controller and tell
Speaker:people what to do,
Speaker:not in a bossy way,
Speaker:but you guide people through because then they feel like,
Speaker:okay, there's some pattern here.
Speaker:And I'm part of this process.
Speaker:Now I'm just moving through the system.
Speaker:And again,
Speaker:this is only if your booth becomes overcrowded,
Speaker:okay? But you want a plan for that because you don't
Speaker:want to lose the sales for sure.
Speaker:And you want to move people through the booth.
Speaker:So that then there'll be more people who are coming to
Speaker:the booth because they see it's popular until you have that
Speaker:consistent flow of traffic going through.
Speaker:The next thing that can happen.
Speaker:Big challenge and obstacle with shows is what if people are
Speaker:coming to this show and you're not getting any sales that's
Speaker:I think probably the worst fear that we all have.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:you make an investment in a show,
Speaker:you set up your booth,
Speaker:you've made all the product and nothing is selling.
Speaker:Here's the thing you guys.
Speaker:And this is one of the other things that is so
Speaker:great about face-to-face shows if for some reason your product isn't
Speaker:selling, this is a place to figure out why.
Speaker:And don't you want to know why before the next show
Speaker:that you would go to or why your stuff is sitting
Speaker:online and not selling.
Speaker:Okay. So two things could be happening.
Speaker:If people are walking the show,
Speaker:meaning there's traffic going through the shell,
Speaker:people are walking through.
Speaker:So you're seeing that there's a community of purchasers there,
Speaker:their attendees,
Speaker:that the show,
Speaker:but they're not stopping at your booth potentially.
Speaker:You haven't done enough to attract them into your both.
Speaker:There may be some other attention getting thing that you could
Speaker:do. Now,
Speaker:obviously, if you're in the middle of a show,
Speaker:you will be able to do that for a future show.
Speaker:But for the current situation,
Speaker:start saying hi to people who are walking by,
Speaker:not the salesy in front of your booth,
Speaker:dragging them in,
Speaker:but just stand in front of your table.
Speaker:And hi,
Speaker:how are you enjoying the show today?
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:engaging people in conversation shows that you have you're friendly and
Speaker:then you can welcome them into your booth.
Speaker:Another thing that could happen is sometimes people don't know what
Speaker:your product does now,
Speaker:obviously with a candle.
Speaker:They do.
Speaker:But if you have some type of an interesting accessory,
Speaker:I'm thinking now about pins,
Speaker:it pins.
Speaker:It is a,
Speaker:it's like a two-sided pin that,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:when you have either shawls or cardigans that don't have button
Speaker:fronts, it's a closure.
Speaker:If I saw that without no,
Speaker:in fact it actually happened.
Speaker:I walked by the booth.
Speaker:I'm like,
Speaker:what is this?
Speaker:I'm not even sure what it is.
Speaker:Even though they had a display,
Speaker:I thought she was selling knitted shawls.
Speaker:She really makes pins it's.
Speaker:So I didn't know what it was For.
Speaker:There was another Product that I remember in terms of not
Speaker:understanding exactly what it is.
Speaker:I thought it was lip balm.
Speaker:It was kind of in like a chapstick type of a
Speaker:tube, but it was really any essential oil mixture that you
Speaker:put on your temples for helping with mood,
Speaker:like to fall asleep or to make you happier or that
Speaker:type of thing.
Speaker:So if you have a product that may be a little
Speaker:more creative,
Speaker:that isn't obvious,
Speaker:you want to make sure to tell people what's on your
Speaker:table. You know,
Speaker:just explaining it in a very fun,
Speaker:nice way.
Speaker:I make pins that allow you to keep your shawls on
Speaker:so they don't fall off,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:or whatever the case might be.
Speaker:That could also be a reason why people aren't coming to
Speaker:your table.
Speaker:They're not understanding what your product Does,
Speaker:but let's say That's not the situation.
Speaker:People are coming to your table,
Speaker:looking at the products,
Speaker:thinking browsing,
Speaker:you might even talk with them a little bit,
Speaker:but they start to walk away.
Speaker:This is a point where you want to understand what's going
Speaker:on. See if you're going to have conversation with them as
Speaker:they're considering and make comments like,
Speaker:well, which flavor do you like the best or with mother's
Speaker:day coming up?
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:which one would you think like your mother would like,
Speaker:or you might say,
Speaker:you know what?
Speaker:I was thinking of two different,
Speaker:I'm going to do candles candle sense for mother's day.
Speaker:And I was between this one and this one,
Speaker:I ended up doing both of them,
Speaker:but which one would you have liked the best?
Speaker:Like you can do some market research.
Speaker:You could also say,
Speaker:if you're thinking about doing smaller or bigger candles,
Speaker:just say,
Speaker:Hey, could you help me out?
Speaker:Is there a size that you don't see here that you
Speaker:would have liked to purchase?
Speaker:You see what I mean?
Speaker:You're drawing them in and you might find a hole in
Speaker:your product line.
Speaker:That is exactly what people would be wanting.
Speaker:They might say,
Speaker:you know what?
Speaker:I have a little window sill in my kitchen that,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:I've just been looking for a pot for my little plant.
Speaker:And I just can't find the size that I'm looking for.
Speaker:Whoa. You know,
Speaker:if You make planters bingo.
Speaker:So of course you want to be making sales at craft
Speaker:shows, but if you're not,
Speaker:here's the time to figure out why through all that.
Speaker:I was just talking about.
Speaker:It's valuable research time.
Speaker:The thing not to do is to start discounting your price,
Speaker:totally to just make them sell.
Speaker:You want to get the information that's going to make the
Speaker:next show better.
Speaker:You don't want to lose money on the show because of
Speaker:the products that you made in your selling below cost.
Speaker:The other thing I don't want you to do is stop
Speaker:interacting and stop talking and just be so upset and feel
Speaker:like you're defeated or something,
Speaker:because this is the time again,
Speaker:that you can gain the best information for moving forward.
Speaker:The third challenge that can happen,
Speaker:right? When you're live at shows is something that nobody can
Speaker:control. And that's whether the weekend,
Speaker:normally every time of year is set up to be perfect.
Speaker:Whether it's,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:based on where you live in the country,
Speaker:it's like the best,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:stacking the odds in your favor.
Speaker:But then all of a sudden,
Speaker:the clouds open up and it is pouring.
Speaker:What's going to happen.
Speaker:People are going to go running for the cars and you
Speaker:can't sell when no one's at the show.
Speaker:So that is something that you need to think about with
Speaker:Results of the show,
Speaker:because weather absolutely positively affects Results.
Speaker:And if it pours like that all weekend,
Speaker:you almost can't say the show.
Speaker:Even you were even able to give it a shot.
Speaker:However, let's have a plan.
Speaker:Okay? If that happens,
Speaker:you still invested in the show.
Speaker:So how do you try and make back your money?
Speaker:Why not do a pop-up shopping show on Facebook or Instagram
Speaker:live and say,
Speaker:you're not going to believe this.
Speaker:I am at X and X show.
Speaker:Look, what's happening.
Speaker:You can show your table.
Speaker:You can show the rain coming down because of this.
Speaker:I decided I am going to sell from here.
Speaker:So let me show you what I have and do a
Speaker:live show and capture sales.
Speaker:That way people who already follow you,
Speaker:who might not be even in the area of that show
Speaker:can play some orders.
Speaker:And then the show isn't a bust,
Speaker:right? The other thing to consider is if it does start
Speaker:raining, but it's not torrential rains.
Speaker:Like I was just describing where not everyone's leaving,
Speaker:but they're being a little bit faster,
Speaker:pack up some of your products.
Speaker:So they're ready to go.
Speaker:So if someone's interested in buying your soaps,
Speaker:for example,
Speaker:you can have them all ready to go and say,
Speaker:Hey, you know what?
Speaker:We're bundling things together because of the rain,
Speaker:we're making it easy and faster for you.
Speaker:I'm doing sets of three soaps.
Speaker:You've got citrus scent Muskie,
Speaker:and you're like more for men,
Speaker:you know?
Speaker:And you've bundled a few things together and you can sell
Speaker:them really quickly.
Speaker:What's happening.
Speaker:You're making more money per sale,
Speaker:bundling them.
Speaker:You're making the checkout faster because you've already packed them so
Speaker:they can go.
Speaker:All they have to do is make the payment.
Speaker:And that will also help you get as much out of
Speaker:the sales as you possibly can.
Speaker:During a time of inclement weather during the show,
Speaker:the issues that come up,
Speaker:overcrowded booth,
Speaker:how do you handle that?
Speaker:So you can run people through the booth in a smooth
Speaker:way and get them on their way.
Speaker:So you don't lose sales.
Speaker:And you also open up opportunities for more people to come
Speaker:to your booth again so that they can look at your
Speaker:products and purchase.
Speaker:What happens if there's people in the show,
Speaker:but you're just not selling at your table,
Speaker:research, learning,
Speaker:identifying, and then you can adjust to move forward.
Speaker:And then the third,
Speaker:what about whether something you can't control,
Speaker:always a risk at shows.
Speaker:When you have a plan,
Speaker:it doesn't have to be so bad.
Speaker:Okay? So these are the challenges that I have seen come
Speaker:up. Maybe it's you,
Speaker:you decide you're not even going to go to a show
Speaker:because you have no idea how to handle all this.
Speaker:If you need to go back with pen and paper,
Speaker:take down notes of what we've talked about.
Speaker:I've covered the biggest obstacles and then provided solutions for ways
Speaker:that you can make these in-person shows,
Speaker:whether it's a craft show,
Speaker:farmer's market,
Speaker:flea market,
Speaker:even all different types of shows are available.
Speaker:The end,
Speaker:honestly, they can be the best investment for you.
Speaker:You're able to talk one-on-one with your customers.
Speaker:You're able to interact with your local community as a handmade
Speaker:creator. I highly encourage you to try your local shows.
Speaker:I know that you'll be pleasantly surprised with the results and
Speaker:between these last two episodes.
Speaker:You know how to select a show,
Speaker:how to prepare and avoid some of the challenges that might
Speaker:come your way.
Speaker:And then judge the results to determine if it's a repeat
Speaker:or if you should move on and do a different show.
Speaker:Preparation leads to confidence which leads to strong performance,
Speaker:which leads to brand new customers who discover you and purchase
Speaker:from you at the show and brand new prospects who will
Speaker:buy from you in the future and make sure to tune
Speaker:in next week where we'll be talking about social media's role
Speaker:at your craft shows,
Speaker:that's a ramp to get to the point kind of girl.
Speaker:And this is what you can expect from these quick midweek
Speaker:sessions. Now it's your turn go out and fulfill that dream
Speaker:of yours.
Speaker:Share your handmade products with us.
