Craft show booth pizzazz-how you can do it!
Once the traffic gets there, how can you make the sale? Well, for one, some people looking to buy crafts just know what they want when they see it… so any kind of attention-seeking technique is probably not going to work. But, for many others, the key to the sale might lie in the ‘extras' that you have in your booth.
Following are 4 things you can do in your booth to add a little touch of perceived value to your crafts, and attract a little bit of attention to your booth in the process.
1.) Lesson time – Let's say you have a crochet booth. You want to bring traffic into your booth, and you want them to get the knack of how your craft might work, or how they might be a part of the type of craft you are making. So, why not have a 15 minute lesson 3 times during the day to get people active in your booth. If you have the room, show them a few loops and it might just push a few people over the top to purchase something from your store. You build a rapport with potential customers (and future customers) and build your business for the future.
2.) Demonstration – You've probably seen those demonstrations where the gregarious salesperson is builds a large crowd with flashy words and dazzling displays of what the newest carpet cleaner can actually do. In reality, the demonstrations work. Often times people need to see something in order to believe it. If you have one of those crafts that people have to see in action, or if they need to see how it is made, then why not set up a 10-minute demonstration?
3.) Interactive staff – If there is more than just yourself in the booth, then you need to teach your staffers to be extroverted. The more they interact with the customers (in most cases), providing friendly help, advice, and maybe a little bit of humor along the way, the more people are going to feel inclined to buy. Consumers tend to buy from people they feel they have developed a bond with.
4.) TV Demo – If you don't have the time or the manpower to do the on-the-spot demonstration, then another great idea is to provide a recorded version of the demonstration for people to watch. The one major benefit of pre-recorded demos is the ability to cut out any mistakes.
5.) BONUS! – Interactive displays – Now, there is no need to go crazy and have a huge multimedia production made up, but you can achieve a lot, and answer a lot of customers questions if you put together a simple Powerpoint presentation for a laptop, and then leave the lap top running (or wire the picture to a television screen) so people can view the information on the computer. This is an effective booth tool that will give people another reason to purchase products from your booth.
It really pays to put some effort into giving the customers a little bit more in their craft show experience than just browsing. Make it interesting; make it fun! You will start to notice the difference in your bottom line in no time.
