We are two weeks away from the National Lawn & Garden Show. We had Rick Pontz give some great tips about the event and now we turn to the Founder and President of NLGS for his two cents. With the event fast approaching, this is a good checklist to be sure you are AT LEAST thinking about these things in prepping for your appointments; appointments that could make a big difference in this year’s sales.
1. Be prepared to discuss product: pricing, volume, discounts (such as early order discounts), drop shipping, distribution, and palatalization.
2. Know your sales presentation in 1-3 minutes. Any more than that, and you’ve lost me. Give a strong and personal intro and get down to it. Buyers should know why they want your product with plenty of time left to converse about the details. Practice this! P.S. stories are better than announcements. ie. “Last fall I was raking leaves with my daughter and she thought of a way to make it better”… versus “we are launching a new rake this year with smaller grips.”
3. Prepare to display product. Bring a laptop for visuals of products in use, bring small hand carried samples, catalogs, fabric or material samples for buyers to touch and feel.
4. Be organized. Having systems for notes, follow up tasks, and action items is a must in the NLGS fast paced format.
5. Know your competitors. Know who you are currently selling to. If you are in with the big guys be aware that other buyers may not want your product due to box margins being smaller. They often can’t compete.
6. Let buyer ask questions. Listen to the buyer and what they want to hear, don’t find yourself talking the entire time.
7. Follow up after the event. A verbal at the event will require follow up. The hard work comes in the months after June!
8. Ask for a specific response. Eliminate hours of back and forth and try to get a firm answer in person – face to face sales have an extremely high conversion rate.
9. Do not rely on sales reps to follow up on your behalf. You met the buyer, you made the connection, you seal the deal.
10. Be on time. Ten minutes is enough time, but just keep to the schedule and rehearse selling in under 10 minutes.
