It never ceases to amaze me!

An Artisan will  take the time to submit great photos of their work, prepare their items for sale, drive to the show and meticulously set up their booth.  The show opens, and what do they do?  They sit in a chair on the outside of their booth reading a book!  This drives me crazy!!  Potential customers walk into their booth and they do not greet them, they just keep reading  their book until they make the first move to ask YOU a question!  It sounds crazy, but I see this all the time – why just this past weekend at the Paradise City Arts Festival in  Northampton, MA I saw 3 vendors sitting on the outside of their booths reading a book.  I asked one vender why they don’t engage their customers and they said they don’t want to be too pushy – they would rather have the customer ask questions first!  If you do not engage your potential customers they will be just that – potentials and not sales!
And for heavens’ sake they need to put the cell phone away! They are probably thinking “Oh, I am just going to take a quick look”, and before they know it they are texting their  friend or family member and their potential customer just walked back out of their booth!

Please take a minute and to review these points – they may seem like common sense but I can assure you other vendors do not do all of them – don’t you be the lazy one!

• When greeting your customer, stand up to greet them – don’t sit in a chair like you are too lazy to stand!
• Greet your customer with some kind words, a smile – make eye contact with them!
• Ask them if you can help them.  If they say no, then back off, but stay close to show them something else.
• Show them how your product works – explain how you made it – the more you can get them interested, the better the chance for a sale.
• Put the pen in their hand and have them write with it!
• Have good writing paper on hand for them to try out their new pen.
• If you have any fountain pens make sure you have some bottled ink to try the fountain pen (and make sure you have something to clean the nib afterwards in case they did not buy it)
• Ask for the sale – would you prefer the refill to have blue or black ink?  You are allowed to ask for the sale – after all that is why you are there!
• I also have gift boxes right there as they are checking out and I ask them if they need a gift box.

Finally be courteous at all times and they will have a pleasant buying experience and I tell them to recommend me to all their friends who want a “Fine Writing Instrument!”
Happy Selling – Barry