Women's Fair at a Casino: Advice Needed!

[n8vtxn]

I am planning on doing a Women's Fair at a casino near my home in May. It's $140 (we are splitting the booth 8 ways) but I'm not sure whether it is worth it. I have only done a handful of fairs and I don't know what to say to people when they walk up to the booth or as they are passing by and I feel like my inexperience is a problem. Especially when its $140 and its difficult to tell whether its worth it.

The last fair I did, I feel like I got significantly fewer leads than the other consultants and so far I've gotten ONE catalog show out of it.

Those of you who do really well at fairs, can you give me some advice? What do you say? How do you approach people? What if they seem uncertain about PC? What if they seem open to it? And how do you follow up?

I NEED more leads and more contacts, my calendar is DYING, but at $140, I also need to get my money's worth if I do it.

Thanks so much,

 

[catson]

i just did a shift at the southern women's show in savannah and i did pretty well for my shift, but not as well as i would have liked. it's definately worth it for your business to go out and meet new people in areas you might not already be in. for less than $20 (your share) i think it's definately worth it.

i got a bunch of the recipie cards you can order on the supply list and put my name and number on those and just simply asked people if they wanted a free recipie. we were raffling off a roasting pan, so i then asked if they wanted to enter the raffle, and they filled out the survey slips that we get in our kits. i then had leads to call and follow up on and they had checked their interest.

i probably got 100 leads that day (feb 9th) and i am *still* making calls and following up on people. i booked three shows and will be signing one of the hosts in april. i paid $50 for my shift, and it was worth it, escpecially with all the people i still haven't reached.

i'd go for it if i were you!! hope that helped a little!

cat

 

[pamperedbecky]

If 8 of you are splitting it, how do the shifts get divided up? Is the booth for more than one day? Would there only be two consultants at the booth at a time? That's what I find works best if you can't afford to do it just by yourself. Obviously, the more people, the more you'll have to split the leads. If you have more than two consultants in the booth at a time, that may be overwhelming for people and they may not bother to stop by. That's just a thought. Also, as has been mentioned in similar threads, stand up and be approachable! Don't sit behind the table. Although you don't want to "glom" onto people as they approach, you do want to try to strike up conversations with them. Even just saying "Hi, how are you doing today?" could be enough to get that started. Keep your display simple. That's always the part that is tough for me. I think we have SO much I want to show/share that it's hard to narrow it down.

I hope it's a great success!!

Oops, I'm adding a few more thoughts. If possible, do a drawing at your table for something small and a free Cooking Show. That's a little harder to do when you're splitting the booth with someone, however. You'd need to figure out a way to split them up fairly. Call those who don't win the main drawing and tell them they won a free cooking show, then you'd supply the ingredients for the recipe(s). When people are walking by and if you can get their attention, ask if they're familiar with PC. If not, have a QUICK/15-30 second commercial you can naturally spout off to give them some highlights. If you're looking for bookings, definitely talk about the host benefits. If you have a booking binder, bring it with incase you want to use any visuals to show her like the specials, etc. Obviously you don't want to overwhelm them and throw up all kinds of information on them. Just be relaxed and fun and they'll likely want to keep talking to you. Invite them to come browse the products. Ask if they'd like a current catalog. If you have any outdated catalogs or recipe cards, bring those, put a label with your info/website on them and tell them you ran out of the current catalog to hand out, but you can send it to them. That way, you're getting their contact information. Otherwise if you're giving out current catalogs, they really have no reason to give you their info unless they're filling out the drawing slips.

Those are just some thoughts. Be prepared with a recruiting packet or two just incase because you never know who may be interested in that. Oh and some host packets already made up!! Good luck!

 

[beepampered]

how muchIf it's $140, I wouldn't do it since you've had back luck in the past. I think so people don't mind being a bit more assertive and meeting people but you might not be the one. Now, if it's only $20 for your share - go for it. You can't lose.

I've done two shows. One show I didn't get many leads. I had just started and it was a slow craft fair. It has been five months and I just did my second and last show off that fair and I've got two bookings and a possible wedding registry off that show - that's worth $20.

The other show I got 34 leads and probably 5 solid bookings (still in progress). The booth shared a $50 prize that was on display and we had folks sign up to win the prize. That helped a lot. I made eye contact with everyone and asked if they wanted to win a prize (smiling). Then, with the contacts I called and said they won one of the prizes at the booth - a free cooking show. Since they won something, they were more than happy to talk with me. Some didn't book but I got their e-mail address so maybe they'll buy off my website one day.

I think it's much easier to ask a complete stranger to book a show then to make a family member feel obligated and drag them through host coaching. Good luck whatever you decide...BEE

 

[ltkacz]

I love doing fairsEach and every time I've bought a time slot (anywhere from $18 to $55 for a 4 hour time slot and the one time I got a slot for FREE) I have booked at least 1 party, that has lead to more parties, in addition to getting individual orders.

From my experience, if it's possible to set up your booth so that people actually have to come into it - it's better. Have a drawing for a "free kitchen show" (yes I know the shows are free - but people just see the word FREE and want to enter) and/or a free cookbook (season's best). Simply use the Pampered Chef show drawing slips for this. HAve them put their slips in a Pampered Chef Product.

Have a sign that says - book a show today and I'll bring the ingredients to your show. Obviously have your calander at the event to book in the show as well as host packages.

Have recipes (either cards you can buy) or make up recipe slips to hand out. I usually bring a bunch of recipe cards, so that way people have to stop and look at them, which gets them talking, which in turn can lead to a show.

After the time slot, I first call everyone who marked yes for a free show and tell them they've won, then I call the maybes and tell them they've one. Finally, for the no responses, I put them on my monthly newsletter list (providing they gave me their e-mail) - you never know - down the line they might say yes.

Hope this helps - and good luck!

 

[AmyjonesPC]

This is what you say to people.

Hi, are you familar with The Pampered Chef?

If they say YES, ask them if they have seen the new catalog?

If they say No, tell them what you do (30 second commercial)

Give everyone a recipe card with your information and ask them to enter your raffle for a free cookbook (SB) or Free Kitchen show

 

[monica_sweetconsultant]

i love doing fairs and stuff. i do one every month. when people walk up I say have you heard of PC or familiar with PC. if they say yes i ask them what they like about it and just start a conversation wtih them while they look at the products on display. if they say no i do a short summary of my job and ask them if they would be interested in being pampered for a day/night. I always ask if they would like to enter the drawing (free show, product, etc.) and always follow up with them. my booth runs about 70 dollars a month for a whole weekend but i usually leave sat. night so i dont miss church sun. i think its worth it even if you only get one show out of it. more than likely you will make up that difference at your show! good luck!

 

[j.phetty]

Thanks!I just did my first craft fair/flea market today and thanks to this lovely board I got two bookings and one sale in three hours! I split a $25 table with another consultant, who took over in the afternoon.

I think the book to look thing really hooked them.

Thanks all!