The Ultimate Guide & Checklist for Attending Community Events (as a Vendor).
We have all been to various community events whether celebrating a local or national holiday, farmers market’s or a seasonal festival. You know how to attend, but do you know how to make the most out of attending a community event as a vendor? Here are our tips to make your attendance as successful as possible!
We know that these events and their checklists may be different for a service company looking for leads compared to a maker selling their products. For the purpose of this list any bold item is for product sellers only.
Before the Event
Ensure your have enough promotional materials and order more if needed at least 2 weeks before the event. - Ensure you have all your promotional materials, this includes signage, business cards, flyers, giveaways. If more are needed order them from your supplier well in advance.
Know what you need to bring. - Confirm with the event organizer what you will need to bring and what will be provided. You may need to bring everything including tables, chairs, a canopy tent.
Make a plan for layout. - How will you layout your space? Know how big your space will be and plan out where everything is going. it may be a good idea to have a few options for different types of space such as a 10x10 space or just a table as events will vary in the space provided
Collecting emails. - Community events are great opportunities to grow your audience. Create a way for people to leave their emails and opt into email marketing. You can also run a contest to incentivize people to leave their email. At events we use a locked box people can drop business cards or blank cards they have written their info on. This is a more secure option so that people don’t easily see others contact information. We regularly empty the box into an envelope we keep under our table. Since our focus is supporting the local businesses that are our client base, our incentive is a $25 gift card from the local business of the winners choice or 10% off their first project with us.
Ensure you have enough product made. - There is nothing worse than running out of product before the event is over. Ensure you have more product than you think you will sell at the event. Keep in mind that customers may buy 2 or 3 or more of your products.
Figure out who’s going. - How are you going to staff your booth throughout the day, are you going to have helpers in the form of friends or family or staff. People, including yourself, will need washroom and food breaks. Who will cover the booth? Also think about personality, who will best represent your brand? Lastly, who has the right knowledge to answer customer questions about your product or service.
Role-play. - Role play potential questions customers might have about your product with any staff or family helping you on the day of to ensure they are accurately able to answer any frequently asked questions.
How are you getting there? - Ensure you can fit all you need into your transportation method of choice.
The Day of the Event
Pre-Event Checklist
Hot Tip: We have attached NFC cards, with my contact information programmed into them, to our table that hide nicely under our table cloth. We can then tell people with NFC enabled phones to scan the front of the table and they get a link to all my contact info with the option to save that contact info right into their phone, no business card to loose!
Product
Business Cards
Brochures/Flyers
Tent with weights or spikes to secure against wind
Signage
Chairs, for you and booth visitors if possible
Table(s)/Display Racks
Table Cloths
Fully charged Point of Sale Machine (eg. Stripe Card Reader)
Cash float
Apron for keeping your float and cash
Price stickers
Fully charged phone or iPad
Water & Snacks
Bags - This applies both to those selling products and those looking to generate leads for a service. Lots of vendors don’t remember this crucial item so if you have them it is a good way to draw people to your booth. In the case of service businesses, they can even be branded to say “Bag provided by XYZ Inc.” with your company logo, giving you more recognition around the event.
Optional: Water bowl for furry friends. Especially for events outdoors in the summer. People will bring their furry friends and the dogs will appreciate a quick drink of water, hopefully causing the owner to stop for a moment giving you the chance to talk with them.
During the Event
Arrive as early as possible for setup. - Setup will always take longer than you think. Arrive as early as you can to ensure you are set up for the start of the event.
Talk to everyone. - Interact with everyone, even if you don’t think that they are the right fit for your product or service. Give them your card or other promotional materials. You never know who they might know or when they might need you in the future!
Be prepared to handle complaints. - Whether they are about the prices of your products or a past customer who wasn’t happy with your service. Make sure to remain professional at all times and address their concerns as much as possible.
Remember to eat and drink. - It can be exciting at an event and time can go by quickly, next think you know its 3pm and you haven’t eaten or drank anything since breakfast. Make sure to stay fed and hydrated, especially at outdoor summer events!
Promote your newsletter signup and any related contest. - Invite people who seem interested in knowing more about your product or service to sign up for your newsletter.
Have a way attendees can request more information. - Especially for service vendors such as those in the trades. You may not be able to get them a quote then and there but have them fill out a form with their details and follow up with them after the event.
Know your schedule for the next week or two after the event. - Again for service vendors, make sure you have your schedule for a week or two after the event, maybe you can set up consultation meetings with a potential customer on the spot!
Don’t tear down too early. - Always be looking for that final sale, even near the end of the event. If there are still attendees around bring some your products up to the front of your booth and keep them there as the last thing you put away, even after your tent and other products. Always pack-up your cash box last because you never know when you may get a sale!
After the Event
Debrief with yourself and any helpers you may have had that day.
What would you do differently if you attended the event again?
Will you attend the event again?
Did you run out of a specific product early in the day?
Did you run out of any giveaways that seemed popular?
Did you bring enough promotional materials?
Did you hear any recurring comments, positive or negative?
Did you need anything you didn’t bring?
Follow up with any contacts you may have made who requested more information.
Add your new newsletter contacts to your list. Make sure you keep the original signup media for legal purposes as proof they did agree to be added to your list
Whether your event was successfull in your mind or not, congratulate yourself on a good day in your community!
Do you attend events often as a vendor? Did we miss anything? Let us know by sending us an email and we may update this article with your advice! At OmniWorx Design we are always happy to help clients prepare for upcoming events and designing any promotional materials