Taste of Home Cooking Show: Boost Your Sales with These Tips and Tricks

[Chef Kearns]

Unlike NGoodTaste, I choose not to do a drawing at this booth. I choose not to because like she mentioned people swarm the booth looking for DPDS just to win a prize. You do not get authentic leads just a bunch of people wanting to win something.

I said that to say...For this event I would wear my apron or have a secret stash of mini-cats or flyers. This way you control how many and to whom you are passing them out. The last time I worked one I made the mistake of making my stash too visible and within 15 minutes over 200 recipe/coupon cards had disappeared!! Did anyone ever call me? Nope! I like to make as much of a connection as possible with the people then ask them to fill out the information slip (my own DPDS) so that I can follow up with them at a later time then I hand them the mini-cat or recipe/coupon.

Okay, you were looking for specific numbers. I would have about 50. I say that because I don't give one to everybody, just those I've spoken to. Or someone who is very deliberate about wanting one.

 

[Evelynt]

at the TOH show I did 2 years ago, we did not have any choice. All vendors were required to put something in the bags and contribute a door prize. I put a flyer with a recipe and a coupon (for what, I dont remember)...I got no phone calls, no emails, nothing from this.

I did do a drawing at my booth for a $25 gift certificate and the person that won this used it towards an order that was around $90. I got a couple bookings, one which lead to a guest who had a $600 show and signed up. She has since gone inactive but shows from this original show keep going.....

It was worth it - it was fun and I especially enjoyed seeing the TOH show live. I'd do it again with sharing booth space (it was $225). It has been here or in Jacksonville everyyear but not this year!

So cindy I just have to ask...do you ever run into Nicholas Sparks????

 

[pamperedgirl3]

Unlike NGoodTaste, I choose not to do a drawing at this booth. I choose not to because like she mentioned people swarm the booth looking for DPDS just to win a prize. You do not get authentic leads just a bunch of people wanting to win something.

I said that to say...For this event I would wear my apron or have a secret stash of mini-cats or flyers. This way you control how many and to whom you are passing them out. The last time I worked one I made the mistake of making my stash too visible and within 15 minutes over 200 recipe/coupon cards had disappeared!! Did anyone ever call me? Nope! I like to make as much of a connection as possible with the people then ask them to fill out the information slip (my own DPDS) so that I can follow up with them at a later time then I hand them the mini-cat or recipe/coupon.

Okay, you were looking for specific numbers. I would have about 50. I say that because I don't give one to everybody, just those I've spoken to. Or someone who is very deliberate about wanting one.

Thanks. When I did a bridal fair earlier this year, we did have a drawing, but they could only get the drawing slips by talking to us. So I didn't have a ton of people fill them out, but those I did were more accurate leads.

 

[pamperedgirl3]

Wow! Thank you jenniferlynn & pampchefrondab for your great ideas & info about this event! I just got home from my city's show tonight & just looking through the drawing slips, I have a lot of leads! I had one of the other vendors come up when we were packing up & tell me she was interested in joining! I can't wait to call her tomorrow--my only recruit so far was a kitnapper in February! I have 5 people who checked they want shows--one after Thanksgiving, one for January, one for March or April & one who didn't check anything. The last one is actually a referral for a friend. The friend told her she wanted to have a show but didn't know a consultant! I need to think of a referral gift for the friend. I also had 4 who wanted a bridal registry or shower--I think they all wanted showers. Plus I had over 200 other slips that either wanted to put on my monthly newsletter, a catalog or didn't check anything. Wow!!

My table was pretty much what pampchefrondab did for her event recently. Just about everything was from our holiday mini catalog. I had a lot of Simple Additions out & told people that they were on special this month. Many people LOVED the dots plates & bowls! I had the trifle bowl with ornaments in it, the three tiered stand had pretzel wreaths in it, & several gift sets from the mini. I had a piece of ss & exec cookware, a couple of stones, the coating tools set.

So thanks again for those of you who gave advice for these types of shows! So far I'm feeling very positive about the experience! I had at least 10 people in my booth at a time the entire evening--and most waited a pretty long time to sign up for the drawing.

 

[sburnside]

So if someone is stepping on my toes, should I proceed with a Taste of Home booth? It's a local show for me and I made the initial call last fall for a TOH show this spring. There were no other PC consultants signed up and it was to be exclusive. Since this is a first, they didn't have details just a running list. They were to send something out in January.

I called this week after hearing that another PC consultant would be having a booth at the show. Apparently the lady who initially was in charge no longer works there. They still had my contact information and details are to be in the mail by the end of this month. However, now there will be another PC consultant there and the booths are no longer exclusive. The other consultant lives about an hour away but this show is in my county, just 20 minutes away where I do the majority of my shows.

So my question... do I do an ad, join the booth with the other consultant, get my own booth, put flyers in the bags?

I'm frustrated with the situation but want to build more clientele in my local area.

 

[pamperedposey]

So if someone is stepping on my toes, should I proceed with a Taste of Home booth? It's a local show for me and I made the initial call last fall for a TOH show this spring. There were no other PC consultants signed up and it was to be exclusive. Since this is a first, they didn't have details just a running list. They were to send something out in January.

I called this week after hearing that another PC consultant would be having a booth at the show. Apparently the lady who initially was in charge no longer works there. They still had my contact information and details are to be in the mail by the end of this month. However, now there will be another PC consultant there and the booths are no longer exclusive. The other consultant lives about an hour away but this show is in my county, just 20 minutes away where I do the majority of my shows.

So my question... do I do an ad, join the booth with the other consultant, get my own booth, put flyers in the bags?

I'm frustrated with the situation but want to build more clientele in my local area.

I would try to split shifts with her, especially if it's expensive. If she doesn't want to share the space with you, just let her know that your other option is to get your own. She would probably rather work with you than against you. Just explain the situation.

 

[sburnside]

I don't think shifts would work since it's just a couple hours. Most people stop by the booth while waiting for the TOH show to start. What have others done who have shared a booth? Does it work well? Do you keep the contacts given directly to you? Do you do another drawing within the booth? If so, how do you split those contacts? Any advice would be helpful.
TIA

 

[cmdtrgd]

I did a booth today for 8 hours. 6 of those hours were with one other person. Basically we traded off who would talk to the next person. However, if I was still talking to a person when it was my "turn" she would get the next one(s) until I was done with that person. Does this make sense?

 

[pamperedposey]

I don't think shifts would work since it's just a couple hours. Most people stop by the booth while waiting for the TOH show to start. What have others done who have shared a booth? Does it work well? Do you keep the contacts given directly to you? Do you do another drawing within the booth? If so, how do you split those contacts? Any advice would be helpful.
TIA

We have always used different colored door prize drawing slips. So at the end of the shift if you were giving out yellow those were the ones you took with you.

 

[sburnside]

I like the idea of colored door prize slips! Why didn't I think of that? Some solutions are so easy when someone else mentions it.

 

[RebelChef]

We use little colored dot or star stickers on back. Just pick your color and stick them on. The colored slips sound easier though. Alot faster to separate them than having to look at each one and find a little sticker.

 

[peggyscookin]

Good point! This fair sounds interesting. I've done several "festivals" with dreadful results as far as booking and recruiting. Like you gave out tons of catalogs for nothing!

These festival and craft show are the perfect place to get rid of old catalogs!! Just put on a sticker that says: "Although this catalog may be old, Look inside and you'll be sold! Take a look, if you like what you see, give me a call and let me show you how to get it for FREE!" or something like that! Stick in some recipe cards and the specials for that month or next month. I also have the mini-catalogs handy for someone who's really interested. If someone says they want to have a show, they get a current catalog, as long as I get all of their contact info!! Sometimes I hand out packets at craft shows, but sometimes they don't want to carry them around since they are heavy. Just make sure that everything you hand out has your info on it!!