Home Pros - Get Ready for Your 2019 Home Shows & Events

By Jenny Sylvers, Surefire Local

Exhibiting at a home show, industry conference or community event? Make the most of your investment by being well-prepared, engaging with attendees, capturing leads and following up to close sales.

When you’re planning your next home improvement show, here are a few tips to consider to make sure you get the most from the money you’re spending.

At the Show

Avoid being another one of the crowd with a boring booth display. Shots of the company van, stock art photos of beautiful houses, and a bulleted list of services provided is what every company around you will have on their displays.

• Give attendees a reason to care: Stand out with graphics at eye level that tell attendees what you have to offer and how you help address their needs. Offer candy & giveaways. Tell the team to put their phones away - work the room, smile and say hello to everyone.
• Give attendees a reason to remember you: Spark a conversation with a short elevator pitch that encourages questions. No buzzwords. No value proposition fluff. Just who you are and what you sell – plain and simple so the attendee “gets” what you do.
• Generate real leads: Close the sale or secure contact information… and commit to following up. Business cards are great, but take advantage of lead capture systems, raffles, and sign-in sheets to make it easy to collect contact information.

After The Show

This probably goes without saying for most home improvement pros, but don’t forget to reach out to all the qualified prospects you met at the home show. You’ve worked so hard to capture leads, now it’s time to convert them into sales!

• Establish a follow-up plan… and execute it! Contact each lead within one week, prioritizing hot or warm leads. Send personalized, individualized emails or make calls. Then, follow up again in a week to 10 days, and again after that. Set the timing for follow-ups based on your typical sales cycle.

To help you get ready for the upcoming home show season, tune into a special webinar, with expert Hillary Berman, on December 20th at 11 am Eastern. Hillary Berman has been working with small businesses and contractors for a very long time and she has some more ideas that might help you make your future home show or your next event even more successful. She’ll be expanding on these tips and showing examples of how contractors have been successful before. You can check out more information here!