With the outdoor market season upon us, we checked in with a few MORTAR alumni to get pointers on how to make the most of these fair weather opportunities and maximize revenue. Special thanks to Erikka from District 78, Donny from Good Co. Apparel and Christina Davis from Davis Cookie collection for sharing their insights!
1. Attend the same or similar event in advance to see how other vendors set up. If you can’t do that, look online and get some ideas.
2. Promote the event to your social networks – if all of the vendors get their supporters to come out, they’ll find additional businesses to support, so everyone wins!
3. Have plenty of samples of your product if you are promoting a food/baking business. If not, have an example of your product visible for customers to see.
4. Make sure you are branding your business to the fullest, and wear a tee shirt that has your logo on it! When people get to your booth, they should not only know who you are, but they should also be able to tell what you do.
5. Stand and greet every single person with a smile and pleasant demeanor. Sitting or not acknowledging potential customers may send the message that you’re not interested in being there to assist them (or getting their money).
6. Make sure that your presentation table is well organized and neat (and uncluttered) with a nice table cloth, business cards, brochures, promotional items, flyers etc. to give to everyone who crosses your path – even if they aren’t shopping with you on that day, that doesn’t mean that they won’t purchase from your website or the next time that they see you.
7. Have plenty of inventory. People come to these events ready to spend money, don’t leave them hanging!
8. Have help! It’s a long day and you will need to eat and use the restroom at some point. Ensure your help is knowledgeable about your business while you’re away. In addition they should know how to use your payment system.
9. Speaking of payment systems, make sure that your phone is fully charged and ready to use the credit card processing app of your choice. Also, have change! Cash is still king, and not having change for people who come with cash will definitely lose you a few sales.
10. Have customers join your email list – you’ll definitely want to stay in touch with them.
