Finding and Choosing a Sales Event That's Right For You

After decades of working Events I gladly succumbed to the prodding and urging of friends and family. I have written my first non-fiction book to pass on the wisdom I've gleaned over the years.
Here is an excerpt from Chapter One from Killer Sales Events.

Finding and Choosing an Event:

There are many places to find scheduled events:

-Social Media (chapter 4)

-Newspapers – online newspapers

-Ads

-Billboards

-Word of Mouth

My favorite is word of mouth. If someone you know does events, ask them which ones they attend. Though I trust people who have been there I still ask some key questions.

3 – What is the average traffic count, approximately?

                One person may consider 100 people through the building great and happy with that. Unfortunately, most people can’t achieve high sales from low numbers. Conversely, another person may consider anything under 30,000 a failure.

2 – How easy was it to work with the staff?

                Most event planners that do the same event year after year have a well trained staff and are quick to help you. If it’s a smaller event executed by a couple of people who have booths of their own to set up and man, they may not be able to be as quick to get to you. It doesn’t mean the event won’t be a success, but the knowledge will prepare your expectations.

                If this person says the staff was no help at all, and you know he or she isn’t a complainer, then you may not want to work this venue. If in doubt refer to question #1.

1 - *#1 Question* How were your sales?

                If the person you ask sells cemetery plots there may not have been any sales. They were probably there to get their name out to the public. In this case the amount of informational material handed out is almost equal to money in.

1a – The next question is attached to the previous one. “How did the sales compare to other events you’ve been to?”

If this person says it was his/her best one or it was on par with other good events, it’s time to get more information. Research the event’s website or Facebook page.

-Important- Check the local calendar of events for the area where the event will be held. Make sure there are no bigger events scheduled, such as university football games.

Last Fall my daughter, Sabrina and I worked a small craft fair in Grand Island, Nebraska. The event planner did a great job advertising and all the vendors were pumped for the large crowd our planner usually drew. We made the rookie mistake of not checking what time the University of Nebraska football game started and if it was being televised. Also being new to the Grand Island area we didn’t realize this city of 49,000 shrinks considerably on UNL home game Saturdays. Like ants charging after a dropped ice cream cone fans fled the area for Lincoln and the Husker’s stadium. This was also the same weekend of the Grand Island Harvest Parade. In the past when the parade ended at noon the crowds came in droves. This particular Saturday the parade was delayed almost an hour.  In that hour the temps dropped. By the time the last horse dropped its calling card, the parade goers were cold and worn down by the weather. They went home. 20 vendors were left staring at each other. Depressing, yes, but the silver lining was we met some great people and made contacts for other craft fairs. I did sell a book to a delightful 31 Bags sales rep. And like many of the vendors I walked out with more merchandise than I sold.

Summery

• Check Social media, newspapers, billboards, and word of mouth for good sales venues

• Ask questions

•   Research the events you find

• Check local event calendar

I hope this gives you a good start into the wonderful world of Sales Events.

Did I leave anything out or is there something you disagree on? Please give feedback. I value my readers' wisdom.

The book, Killer Sales Events, is in the last edit stage and is due out the end of June 2017.