Today is a Success If . . .

We all have high hopes that we'll sell more than ever before. We'll have a great event and walk away able to restock all of our inventory, pay some bills, put away some savings, and maybe have some left over for investing in additional advertising or something.

It's fine to have super great goals. You have to have dreams to ever be able to realize your dreams. And who knows? Maybe you will get your super great day that will solve all your problems. But probably not.

In addition to having your super great goals, have a minimally acceptable goal. Determine it ahead of time so you don't reach the small goal and then get disappointed when you don't meet the super great one. I usually determine my goal by taking the cost of signing up for the show, the number of days of the show, and the amount I need to order to replace the inventory that sold. Then I usually add in a bit more for profit. If the weather is bad, I allow myself to reduce that minimum. If I make a particular contact that is beneficial in another way, then I allow myself to count that as valuable so I can reduce my minimum goal. But I only find ways to reduce that minimum if I don't get there. If I exceed my minimum, then I have a realistic goal that I work to reach. That's my real goal, but I wait to hit minimum first before getting excited about the next level.

Goals are very important. Set them beforehand. Evaluate them afterwards. If you didn't reach what you wanted to, try to think of reasons why. Try to figure out what you need to do better next time to meet the goal. Keep in mind that it's not always you or your product. Sometimes it's the event. If you determine that it's the event, figure out why that particular event didn't work out for you. Try to figure out a way to determine ways to keep from choosing other events that would fall within the same standards that kept you from succeeding this time.

Making Customers Comfortable

There's a delicate balance to keeping your customers comfortable. No one likes to be watched while they're shopping. But if they have a question, they want immediate attention. Learning body language becomes very important. Typically I will bring along some busy work. A book, a crossword puzzle, my cell phone to play games, something. Something I can do, and at important moments, only pretend to do. I can happily be reading a book when I'm alone. If a customer steps up to my booth, I'll look up and smile and go back to my book. But at that point, I'm only half reading. And half watching the customer. So long as they're looking down, they're just looking. As soon as they look up, you look up, "realize they need help," and then jump up to answer any questions.

Then of course, if they start to walk away, catch them first and point out the good reasons to purchase your products. If they walk away and ignore you, no harm, no foul. You don't know them anyway and will never see them again. Don't feel stupid or rejected. And if you're able to get a business card in their hand before they walk away regardless of anything else, at least count it as a small success.

3 Types of Customers

Just Looking - these customers probably don't have any intent to buy. They may not even actually be interested in your product but are just killing time. Don't spend too much of your time on them. Give them a couple minutes to "just look." If they're still hanging out, start asking questions to guage if there is a real interest or not. If not, be polite, but just back off and let them be.

I'm Sold - these customers already intend to buy your product, they are just looking around to figure out which one they want to buy. So just be friendly, and offer help if they seem to need it. Point out specifics to help them make a choice if necessary. Find reasons to get them to buy more. Offer discounts for additional purchases, ask if they need to purchase gifts for anyone while they're at it. Point out that you take credit cards (if you do.)

Give Me a Reason - these are the people you really need to work. They are interested in your product. They want to buy. They just need a little push to make the actual decision. It's your job to give them that push. Point out why they need your product. How they can use it. If they don't need it, the kind of people it would make a good gift for. Any holidays or events coming up that it could be useful for. Tell them why they want it, and keep working that angle until they either buy or walk away. If they do walk away, be sure they at least take a card. Shameless Self Promotion.