This is the first of nine articles written by Matt Michel. This article can be read in its entirety on the Service Roundtable website (www.serviceroundtable.com/freebies). The article gives advice of what to do and what not to do at home shows.

Home shows represent great selling opportunities for all sorts of companies, but are especially attractive for home service companies. Yet, few companies take advantage of the shows like they should. This is a quick primer on ways to maximize your home show potential.

Most service companies take a haphazard approach to home shows. They set up and staff the booth with salespeople or whoever is available. There’s little planning, little training, poor lead collection, and worse follow up. As a result, their results are less than optimum.

With only slightly more effort and expense, a home show’s productivity can be boosted dramatically.

One big mistake is to assume that setting up and manning the booth is the bulk of the activity. It’s only the tip of the iceberg. The bulk of the activity is below the water.

1.Select The Right Show.
Not all home shows are created equal. You should select the show based on the cost and opportunity. The cost includes booth space cost, the cost to man the booth, and so on. The opportunity is the number of legitimate prospects from your service area that will be at the show. This may mean a smaller show could yield better results than a larger show if the smaller show costs less and is more closely aligned with your territory.

Unfortunately, you might not be able to get much information about some shows. Here are a few questions you can ask before exhibiting:

What is the attendance? Be careful. Take any response with a grain of salt. Home show organizers tend to include exhibitors in the attendance figures. They also count each person while you only care about owner occupied households. Surprisingly, the show may not be able to break down this figure. You should still ask for it. If you only get a breakdown of exhibitors and non-exhibitors, cut the non-exhibitor figure in half.

What is the demographic profile of attendees? Again, some home shows collect this information, but most do not. Still, it helps you to understand if you are reaching a mature market or young professionals.

Where do the attendees live? This is one of the more critical questions. You only care about people from your service territory. The number of owner-occupied households from your service territory represents your target potential.

How many exhibitors? Large shows with lots of traffic will have lots of exhibitors. These can be great opportunities, yet you might also get lost. Compare past attendance with the number of exhibitors. The higher the ratio of attendees to exhibitors, the better.

Who are the ten largest exhibitors? This gives you an idea of the show theme. If the largest exhibitors are all interior design related, this gives you an idea about the nature of the show. It still might be a good opportunity, but it likely changes the themes you push at the show.

What is the cost per square foot? This balances some of the other considerations. A low cost show may be worth a try, even though the target potential is light.

What are the show dates and times? Weekend dates are best. Longer shows are more wearing, but generally give you more opportunities if the show is well attended. Divide the target potential by the number of show hours for the traffic. A short show might be attractive if the traffic levels are strong.

What is the show doing for promotion? This is obvious. The more money spent on promotion, the better the likely attendance.

What booth locations are available? Should you pan a show because you cannot get the booth location you want? Probably not. However, the availability of a great booth location might make a show more attractive.

2. Don’t Overlook Non-Traditional Shows.
Not all home shows are “home shows,” per se. Church bazaars, civic events, street fairs, farmers markets, flea markets, craft shows, and county fairs might all represent good opportunities. This is especially true if your competitors overlook these shows.

3.Set Clear Objectives.
Know what you want to achieve. The mere presence of a goal helps you stay focused and increases the likelihood you will achieve your desired outcome. The objectives should be straightforward and quantitative. Some possible objectives include:

• Number of leads generated
• Number of appointments set
• Number of service agreements sold
• Number of resulting sales
• Number of prospects added to your mail list
• Number of potential employees recruited