Home Shows

[WoernerLawnCare]

spring home shows

I am going to be an exhibitor at an upcoming show in April. My company performs basic lawn maintenence. Mowing, trimming, edging, mulching, fertilizer and snow removal. No landscaping.

Some background on the show. Last year's attendance numbers were 43,000 over the two days. My target marketing group was well represented, ages 44-75 made up 61% of the attendees.

I want to have a registration/ door prize drawing of my own at the booth. That way I can gather essential data on prospective clients.( and weed out the bad ones)

My questions are:

What giveaway goodies do/would you giveaway?
Pens, pads of paper with company logo, etc.?

How would you set up your booths given the above info on my company?

If you were approached to give a door prize for the entire show amounting to $25 or more, what would you provide?
I had thought about giving away up to $50 of lawn service.

Any ideas that you Pros who have been there done that would be great. Also any pitfalls to avoid. Anything constructive welcome.

I used the search function and came up with some good ideas. I felt that with spring being right around the corner that there would be some fresh ideas.


Thanks,

Marc


__________________
Scag Tiger Cub 48"
48" Bobcat WB
Stihl BG 65 Handheld Blower,
FS 85 Stihl Straight Shaft Trimmer
FC 75 Stick Edger
22" Honda Trim mower


__________________

[lilyrose]

For a prize you could give a gift basket containing coffee, a Coffee Mug with your logo, a business book or best selling novel and some cookies and crackers.

[VALLEYWIDE]

woer

i do the same thing you do. i did an auction on wvia44 its a pbs station that has auctions once a year i gave away 15 lawn care jobs valued at $100 a peace. needless to say this one family bought them all and the head of household worked for the station needless to say i lost out. so yes give away a $50 cert.

[Phillip Baker]

I used to do these shows for a different Co. a couple of yrs ago. we would approach businesses in the community for door prizes, and give them recognition for being a sponser of our Co. and we would put thier name on Our banner as a sponser. This will not only get you the giveways for free but also establish your Co. as a large operation with community support. Most of the Co. we approached would give something with thier logo on it along with a gift cert. to a nice place to eat, Chili's, On The Border, or what ever. Those prizes only went to the people who were present at the time of the drawing, but remember you will have all thier info if they register just have a spot inquiring about lawn care potential on the card so you can weed out the non lawn care friendly......just a thought

[WoernerLawnCare]

Thanks for the responses!

Keep them coming.

What about the giveaway goodies? Pens, Pads, etc.?

Thanks,

Marc

[Elwood]

This WORKS!

As you mentioned, you need a give away to harness more people.

You should have "first", "second" and "third" place prizes.

First or the Grand Prize: $150 worth of FREE lawn care services.

Second Prize: $100 worth of FREE lawn care services.

Third Prize: $50 worth of FREE lawn care services.

Whatever $$$ amount you feel is right, but it has to be worth them signing up for!!

On your table, you need business cards, company pens, entry forms and plenty of litterature to send home with the person.


Your entry form:

Name, address, phone number, e-mail addy.
Also these VERY important questions: "Do you currently hire a lawn care service?" and "Would you like a FREE estimate for lawn care or landscape maint. service?"

Just a simple "yes" or "no" for them to circle.


Back to the give away. When you draw your winners, this is what you will do. Go look at their property. Give them an estimate for ALL the services you provide and let them choose what they want. Odds are, this will lead to more work from them or possibly them becoming a full time, repeat client.

Your booth. Depends on how fancy you want to be. You need a backdrop of some sort to display your company name and number. I would wax that Scag and set it on some sod if you can get it. If not, green putting carpet. Set a bag of fertilizer and a set of hedge shears there with it. All this depends on how big your booth is, and how much room you have, but the key it to look very professional. If you can get your hands on some flowers or plants of color, that would be great too. You need to grab their attention from passing by. If you mower has a bit of age on it, get a new one from your dealer for your booth.
The big thing is to have plenty of information to send home with the people and talk to as many as possible. Network with other businesses while you are there too. Networking is the best thing in business.


When you gather all those entry forms, you should have basically three lists. First, those who want an estimate. Target the ones closest to your current clients first. Second, you have a list of people who are already paying someone for lawn care. You need to make them YOUR clients. Last are people who just wanted to sign up. Send them a few letters or a company news letter, Don't let them slip away, one day they may be interested and they need to remember YOU.


Good Luck, I hope your show is a success!

[VALLEYWIDE]

elwood: would it be safe to add a line for "how much are you currently paying for lawns service" just so you can try to beat your competitors price

[WoernerLawnCare]

Elwood,

The booth size is 10ft wide x 8ft deep. I had thought about putting the Scag in the booth on some indoor outdoor carpet. I'm not sure if they will allow it as the show is inside a mall. I will try though. My wife is going to place the flowers and apply a "woman's touch" as well. What about helium filled balloons for the kids. That would positively have the company name around the show area.

Where would be a good place to get info? I will have info brochures with company info, etc. on them, but I thought about lawn care tips, etc.

I will have biz cards, company info, registration box for the giveaway, pens, etc.

Thanks for the great ideas.
Marc

[Elwood]

Valleywide, NO! Sell the client on YOUR quality at YOUR price. They may not be paying much, but they may not be getting much either. That may be why they are at YOUR booth?!?! Forget other companies, home shows are about YOU!

Marc,
I like the balloon idea. Go for it!

If they won't allow the mower inside, be creative. If you have pictures of your work, set a few on the table as well and I DO like the "womans touch" idea.

As for literature, put into print, "30 reasons to hire Woerner Lawn Care". Pass that out with your standard brochure.

Print is great, but a lasting impression for them will be a hand shake and a good conversation. Always boost yourself up, but don't tear down your competition. Some may be offended by it.

The key to a home show is network, network, network!

Good Luck!

[tulsa lawn guy]

Elwood and others...

What kind of success have you guys had from these shows in the past? It sounds like a really good idea as a way to get your name out into the community...

I think I'm too late to sign up for the one this year, but I'll plan on it for next year.

[mellowjohny]

What about giving out some t-shirts, maybe t those who fill out questionare. Balloons are good ( and cheaper ) but they pop or fly away, meanwhile harry homeowner is wearing your shirt to the local grocery store. More people could see your name out there for longer. Just a thought, I have never done a home show, although ive done dozens of food shows over the years . I do think all the suggestions above re right on, especialy displaying a new mower in your booth if at all possible.

[VALLEYWIDE]

have any of you done a homeshow and had your own raffle and charged $1 or $2 to enter a chance to win a yr free of lawn mowing, weed trimming, bush wacking and blowing. even if you had 50k walk thru the door and only 5k bought tickets then u have made your money thats 5 or 10 grand just on tickets. is it possible

[Phillip Baker]

Legal?

Thats a good idea indeed charging for a raffle but is it legal? Has anyone ever done that, if so let us know because we have a home show in May and I'd like to try that also.

[Elwood]

I don't think charging for the raffle is a good idea at all.

Your main goals of a home show:

Network with others, potential clients as well as other business people.

Get a list of people's names and addresses. Find out who would like a free estimate and who is already a client of someone else.

The "give away" is nothing more than "bait" to get this list. Yes, you are giving away a few hundred dollars worth of service, BUT it is a small price to pay for this list. Odds are, one of your winners will end up being a repeat client!



Charging people will drastically reduce the number of people on your list. The few bucks you make by charging for the list will NOT offset the work gained from a larger number of names on that list. The LIST is a MAIN goal for the show!




As far as what your are giving away, are you ready to give away 100, 500, or 1000 T-shirts?? Give away a smaller amount of $$ in YOUR service. Show them what you can do. Pens and pads are fine and cost a lot less. They need to take home literature about your company, not a T-shirt.

[Phillip Baker]

Raffle

Elwood, I guess i wasn't thinking like that I see your point, charging for the information would limit the amount of contacts, I was thinking of the quick buck and not the long term dollar!!!!! Good advice.....although i would like to see everyone in town wearing my shirts.....wouldn't that be great!!!!!Well mabey i can get the Mayor to wear one. Ha Ha lol