Tips For Small Business Owners Part 5: Getting Through Your First Vendor Event

By Toni Hetrick

So you’ve booked your first vendor event.  Congratulations and welcome to the vendor family!  Now what?  The more prepared you are, the better off you’ll find yourself.  Confirm with the event coordinator the size of the space you’ll be provided, and whether or not a table(s) and chairs will be provided.  In an earlier blog post I covered what tables and table coverings I use.  If you missed it you can find it here.  You will also want to confirm the start and finish times of the event.  Many times if the event starts at 9AM for the public to enter, then vendors will be allowed to set up earlier, like 7AM for example to set up.  There are many times that early breakdown is prohibited so keep that in mind and confirm as well.  These are a few simple questions to ask that will help you prepare greatly for the day of the event. 

Often baskets or specific items are raffled off at such events and as a vendor; part of your fee is a donation for the raffle.  You may be responsible for a basket of items or just one item that meets at least a minimum value set by the coordinator.  Make sure you confirm this, as nothing is worse than getting to an event and realizing that you were supposed to bring a basket and you don’t have one.  Remember the item you provide is a great way to earn a new customer.  You’ll want to put something together that highlights your company and what you have to offer.

Is this event themed?  If so you may want to target the merchandise you have available at this event to go along with the theme.  If there is no particular theme, perhaps there is a holiday approaching that you could gear a few items towards to help gain some sales.  At times it’s nice to offer a sale, package deal or coupon for the day of the event as well. 

If you’re working on building a mailing list, this is an opportunity to grow that list.  There are multiple tactics that can be used to obtain client email addresses, but one that I find to be very successful is doing a giveaway at a vendor event.  Have your own personal giveaway in addition to whatever the event coordinator has planned.  This giveaway would be held specifically at your booth, and the items would be just from your company.  It doesn’t have to be anything significantly large, but something to draw attention, people love winning something.  In order to enter to win, part of the information people must provide is their email address.  I make sure to either explain or have it posted on the giveaway that they will be joining our mailing list. 

How will you take payment for the items you sell that day?  If you don’t already have a method of accepting credit/debit cards, I strongly suggest getting an account set up.  I used PayPal for years; however I recently switched to Square.  I was happy with PayPal, however my website host (SquareSpace) partnered with Square, and it was in my interest to make the transition to Square.  Naturally, there will be people who pay in cash, so make sure that you have money there to make change.  Bring plenty of ones.  The time you only have a few ones, you’ll have people paying you with bigger bills all day long and you definitely don’t want to lose a sale just because you couldn’t make change. 

Pack some snacks!  It’s possible that this is going to be a very long day.  Between loading your vehicle, driving to the event, setting up, lasting through the entire event, packing up and driving back home, you will more than likely be exhausted by the time the day is over.  Some events are large enough to have food and drinks, while others will not.  You want to make sure you have some snacks packed to keep you energized throughout the day.

As you can see there is a great deal that goes into presenting your business to the public at vendor events.  These are just a few of the things you will need to think about before your first event.  I hope to provide additional tips in future blog posts.  Until then, I hope you found this post helpful.  As always, thank you for visiting the website.  If you enjoyed this post be sure to click the little heart icon below, to show some love. 

Tips For Small Business Owners Part Three: How to Handle Disgruntled Customers

By Toni Hetrick

Have you ever met a person that says they absolutely LOVE working in customer service?  I’d be willing to bet it’s rare. Especially in this day and age where customers have several methods of contacting you regarding a service or product sold.  For me, it’s rare that I see a customer in person. Texts; emails; Facebook messaging; Instagram messaging; commenting on Facebook posts and website inquiries are all ways that I am regularly contacted by customers.  For whatever reason, many people take on a whole new level of confidence when they aren’t speaking to you in person, and therefore can be extra difficult. Don’t get me wrong, some people are extra difficult in person too, but removing an in-person experience creates many “telephone tough guys” (yes that’s a Lethal Weapon reference ;) ).  I also feel that removing direct communication from a transaction can open up room for misunderstandings.  

You can’t please everyone.  Let us make that clear from the start.  You can, however, do your very best to have amazing customer service, which to many people is a very important factor.  Personally, I will be a return customer and will make referrals to a company that I’ve had good experiences with. Especially if there was a problem somewhere along the way and they did their best to fix it.  With that being said, prepare yourself for the times where you try your best, but just can’t seem to come to a reasonable solution with your customer. It’s bound to happen at some point, so be prepared.  

When it comes to this topic, the first thing that enters my mind is doing everything that you can to avoid reaching the point where you have an upset customer.  For me, I try to communicate clearly with customers to lessen any confusion. Please don’t take this the wrong way, but I feel it’s safest to explain things in a manner where even a small child could understand.  We all communicate, listen and interpret things differently so it’s probably best to simplify things to a crystal clear point.  

Let’s dissect “communicate” a little further so that you have a good idea of what I’m referencing.  With my business, I take orders for several custom made items. When taking an order, I have a conversation with that customer to see what they are wanting.  During this conversation I ask many questions, attempting to get the best image of what that customer wants as an end result. I then summarize that order and have them confirm in a few different ways.  If at all possible, I create a mockup to give them an idea of what their item will look like. This gives the customer the opportunity to approve a proof. This is the ideal situation. It’s not possible for all orders, but I try my absolute best to create this situation.  

With custom made items, I require payment upfront (heads up, there will be a blog post about this in the future).  I add their order to my website and send them the link to review their order and make payment. I ask the customer to review the proof carefully, check the spelling and the design, as once the proof is approved, that is the design that will be used to make their custom item.  By the time the customer has paid for their order, they have had the opportunity to review the description of their order multiple times. In the event that this person claims their order is wrong once it’s complete, you can show them all of the opportunities they had to review the order before it was custom made. 

At this stage, you also have the opportunity to insert some of your company’s policies such as return policies, turnaround times, shipping methods, etc.  Not only does this provide some additional comfort to new customers that you are a more grounded, legit business, but it may clear up questions that they may have instead of them having to ask you.  If you don’t have such policies in place, this may be a good time to sit and develop some. The few minutes that it takes to create a policy may save you some headaches in the future. Take some time, do a little research and develop simple clear policies.

Since implementing such things to my business, I have had far fewer issues than I had in the past.  You will still come across people that simply don’t read or pay much attention to detail and then later come back to say that their order is wrong.  My initial tactic in such situations is being as nice as possible to them from the very start. Apologize that they are unhappy with their order and then take the time to review the documentation to support the way their order was placed.  If you were the one to make the mistake, then, by all means, own up to that mistake and make it right. Yes, you may lose money by replacing the product, but it was your mistake and if you want a return customer, good reviews and word of mouth referrals, you want to make sure you do the right thing.  If the mistake was theirs then try breaking that to them nicely. Show them the order details, mockup and whatever else they had the opportunity to review before placing the order. Perhaps, express sympathies for the error but that your policy states……. You could then offer them a discount to place another order with the correct information.  If I were the customer, I would be upset with myself for making the mistake and would be happy to get a discount even though the error was not on behalf of the business. Again this may not satisfy everyone, but I have found that it works a very large percentage of the time.  

To summarize, cover your butt!  Provide detailed product descriptions.  Take good pictures, from multiple angles if possible.  Create mockups as much as possible. Keep your customer informed.  All of these things will help you run a successful business with happy customers.  Happy customers equal return customers. I hope you found this blog post helpful. If you did, please click the heart button below to show some love.  Please refer your friends and family to this blog if you feel they may enjoy it. As always, thank you for visiting the website.

Tips For Small Business Owners Part Two: Greeting & Communication

By Toni Hetrick

In the last blog post, I covered some helpful tips to make you look like a pro at vendor events.  I hope you enjoyed it. If you missed that post, you can find it here.  While writing that particular post, I felt like I could go on for a while with one specific topic.  I then decided to make a separate post for that topic alone, to provide more detail as I feel it’s been a prevalent part of my business growth.  What I’d like to discuss further is greeting and communicating with your potential customers.

This is a small setup for my Frugal Fashionista, however this was our first time attending Wine Down Weekend in Huntingon, PA. Next year will be much bigger.

In the event that you are new to my page, I’d like to give you a little background on myself.   I am Toni Hetrick, aka The Frugal Fashionista. I have had my own business for close to 14 years.  I do not have a brick and mortar storefront. The majority of my years in business, my sales have been, from what I refer to as “vendor events”.  These are small local events, most often held at churches, community centers, fairgrounds, convention centers, etc. I wish I would have kept count over the years as to how many I’ve attended but unfortunately, I didn’t. 

I would, however, consider myself a seasoned veteran of such events. I have attended SO many, and have taken away a great deal of knowledge and observations. Over the years my business has grown to now include a website, social media accounts, and a blog, all while continuing to attend vendor events.  Not that this is a detailed background, but I feel a little better sharing that with you so that I have less chances of someone saying, “who does this lady think she is???”, and “how does she know???”. 

Now onto the topic at hand…..  I have found that simply greeting an approaching customer and finishing with a smile makes a world of difference.  For the longest time, I didn’t want to jump on a customer as soon as they approached my area, fearing that I would make them uncomfortable and they wouldn’t want to stop at my booth.  I’m sure many of you have encountered a very pushy salesperson at one point or another. You might as well spray some sort of repellent on me with those tactics. Nope, nope, nope! Instead, I found that there are people who are comfortable asking questions and then there are people who aren’t.  You just need to create a friendly environment where people know they won’t be attacked.

 I experimented at one event where it seemed to be a common thread that people were just milling around.  Not really shopping. I decided to try to talk to every person that passed my table in a non-aggressive way.  I would say, “Hello, how are you today”. From this, people would look up, make eye contact and usually respond with, “Fine and you?”  My response was usually, “I’m great. Let me know if you have any questions”. I’m pretty sure the conversation could not be any more simplistic.  This approach made a significant difference. I greeted them, but also allowed them to not be bothered and pressured into purchasing something. I could not believe the number of people that then stopped, looked at my merchandise and continued to carry on a conversation.  

I felt as though I had discovered magical powers.  In just a few seconds’ time, I was able to make a person feel comfortable and relaxed enough to stick around for a while.  Even if they don’t purchase anything you now have the opportunity to introduce yourself, your company and everything that you offer.  This is huge! Marketing is expensive, so why not do as much as you can with words and in-person interaction for FREE?? I believe that this impression lasts longer than a Facebook Ad that you scroll past, wondering how in the world that got into your feed.  A greeting costs nothing. You have nothing to lose but perhaps an awkward moment once in a while when someone doesn’t respond to your greeting. Perhaps give this 10-second tactic a try at your next event and let me know what you experience. As always thank you for visiting the blog.  Comment below if you would be interested in more blog posting such as this one, with helpful tips for a new business.

Tips For Small Business Owners Part One: How To Look Like A Pro At Vendor Events

By Toni Hetrick

Do you set up at local events?  There’s definitely a potential for some great sales, marketing and business growth IF you present yourself correctly.  A professional display is KEY! For most events, you will be confined to a small space.   Many times a 6 or 8ft table is all that you will have. At most you may have a 10x10 space, so summon your inner OCD and find ways to organize/maximize the area that you have.

Let us start with the basics…..

Invest in some quality folding tables.  Most often I use two 6ft tables and one 5ft table.  You can find folding tables at many stores, but if you are an Amazon shopper you can find them here. These may seem expensive at first, but they can take a beating and you’ll use them over and over again.  If I had to guess, I’d estimate that I purchased mine 10 years ago and they are still in perfect working condition. Another plus is that they can always be used for non-business related things too.  Ex: Family Picnics, group gatherings, etc. I have used my tables for so many purposes and since they fold they store rather easily.  

**VERY IMPORTANT TIP FOR BEGINNERS**

Tables most often are not provided.  Make sure you confirm this when booking.  There’s nothing worse than getting to an event and discovering you don’t have something as vital as a table.  Be prepared!

Invest in professional looking table cloths.  There are multiple options out there, such as these.  You can always have them made, or if you sew to make your own.  Whatever you decide to keep in mind you will want to hide the items stored under your table.  It’s also a plus to have something that is easily washable. For years, I went to the cheap/convenient route and purchased disposable ones from Dollar Tree.  Don’t get me wrong, they get the job done, however they are wrinkly from the start and rip very easily. Sometimes convenience takes over and you just go with that option.  Looking back at the money that I spent on those cheap table covers, I could have bought a nice table cloth 5x’s over.

Depending on what you sell, your setup may vary greatly from other businesses.  I carry an array of items, 90% of which is cash & carry. Because of this, the more I have on hand, the more I have available to sell on-site that day.  My tables are usually filled to the max but are organized kind of by categories if you will. An organized table helps attract customer’s eyes. Most people don’t want to have to root through a pile of stuff to see what you have.  Remember this is a reflection of your business. You don’t want people to feel like they are at a yard sale. Also don’t expect that your setup will be exactly the same each and every time. You’ll have to adapt.  Below is a video from a recent holiday event. As you can see I don’t have my fancy tablecloths at this set-up as the tables were provided and they were BIG tables. I adjusted and used my holiday ones.

One thing I have noticed over the years is that people seem intimidated to ask questions, especially about prices.  They will just walk right by if they can’t see prices. Having said that, make sure all your merchandise is priced and that those prices are easily visible.  If you’re selling a product that some may not know exactly what it is just from glancing at it, consider signage that explains what the product is used for. This is a task that you can accomplish easily, quickly and without breaking the bank.  I always have index cards and sharpies with me and will make extra little signs. Ex: Cutting Boards $25. When I implemented this, I could not believe the immediate difference in sales and customer interaction. I noticed customers looking at an item, seemingly interested but then walking away.  I started to verbally tell people what the price of the item was and found that people just naturally assumed that the item was expensive. My sales were increasing by this step, so I decided to take it further and make sure that EVERYTHING had a price tag that was facing outward and/or a sign with the price as well.

Say hello to everyone who enters or approaches your area.  I don’t care for pushy salespersons. Everyone has their own tactics, but I feel simple, polite conversation works wonders for keeping a person in your booth long enough to shop.  This also leaves an impression on your customers. I have found that a simple, “Hello, how are you today?” is more than enough to get a conversation started. You’d more than likely be a return customer to someone who is a delight, right?  I’ve paid a great deal of attention to people as they approach my booth. Most have their eyes down as they approach you. They are glancing down at the table, and I think are avoiding eye contact because they don’t want someone trying to sell them something in an aggressive way.  

Hand out business cards!!!!  This is a HUGE opportunity for you to make a connection.  I make sure that with every sale, a business card goes into their bag.  Anyone with whom I have a conversation with, I ask if I can give them a business card.  I’ve never been told no. With companies like Vistaprint, you can purchase business cards at very inexpensive prices.  Have those marketing materials ready! This is an opportunity to let customers and potential customers know everything and anything you offer.  If your business is anything like mine, I offer such a vast array of services/products that there’s no way for me to showcase all of that on just a 6ft table. 

I hope that these tips helped to some degree. If you have any questions please feel free to comment below. If you liked this post please click on the little heart to show some love. As always, thank you for visiting the website.