This past weekend I vended at the huge San Francisco Renegade Holiday Craft Fair. I knew it would be a great show but I wanted to see if I couldn’t employ a few strategies to double my earnings of my best show to date. It meant constant tweaking to my booth but you know what…I did it! I literally doubled my sales over the two days thanks to these 10 tips.
1. Put your most vibrant/striking/best-selling items on the sides of your space nearest the aisle. You want to make sure you grab people’s attention no matter which way they’re walking past you and studies show people only look into the first two feet of your booth. So make sure you’re making the most of those two feet!
2. Make use of the back sides of your booth. If you have a crate system or board, hang a second banner on the back so people can see it when they’re in a neighboring booth or are walking up to yours.
3. Know the tagline or hook for each of your products. You don’t have much time so know what simple sentence you can say about each item that will help make a sale.
4. Put things in the customer’s hand. Once they hold it, it’s much harder to put it down.
5. If you run out of something, make sure you have an easy way to let people order it. Let them know when you’ll mail it out. Go above and beyond and nix the shipping to increase the changes they’ll buy it. And always, if possible, have them pay there at the fair.
6. Change your display as the day goes on. Never feel like you can’t move things around during a show. I changed my booth three times in two days and each time, my sales increased. You start to see how people move in the booth and interact with your displays.
7. Make maximum signage. I had signs everywhere saying how much things were, who they were ideal for (writers, travelers, knitters, etc).
8. Say hello to everyone. It’s so simple but it really works. People are more likely to buy from a friendly person.
9. If a customer is having trouble deciding on something, ask who it’s for. You know your product best and they love getting the extra help picking out the perfect gift.
10. Never count your money till the end of the day. This is perhaps just me being superstitious but I find that if I’m constantly adding up my sales in my head, I’m not focusing on the people in my booth. Plus, this way I’m always pleasantly surprised (or as in this fair – floored!) when I finally get to count the sales.
Got tips of your own that you’ve used to blow your sales out of the water this holiday season? I’d love to hear them! (That way we can all make our next event even better.)
If you’re selling anything wearable wear one yourself and make sure you have a mirror handy.
Yes! Definitely yes! I saw some people using the reverse camera function on their iPad instead of a mirror in their booths.
I’ve been in different types of sales for a good portion of my life and have been vending my designs at shows for about 14 years. I use every suggestion given here at every show. I’ve been consistently complimented on my booth AND on my sales techniques. These are valuable suggestions, Megan. Thanks.
Do a ‘market only special’ like a group discount…
I usually do a $7.50 each or three for $20 for my greeting card range…just make sure the discount is attractive enough, and consider having popular combinations pre packaged.
Ooh, I love that one! I forgot to mention it. Drat. I’m glad you remembered!
Just signed up for my first craft show. This is soooo helpful. I feel like I was told a huge secret! Thank you so much for this. This has given me more confidence for that big jump.
I sell funky bold jewelry. In front on one side I place amid height table. On it I place a large basket of stretch bracelets from extra beads really for little girls but I vary the size. I will buy cheap or sale beads in pink and light purple 6 year olds love that color. I sell them for $1.00 . Any one can buy them. Moms buy for daughters then always enter booth and buy. I can do at least 75 a show. Bead them while watching TV.