Happy New Year everyone

Every year my January message is “ How To Work A Show”.

I was taught how to work a trade show effectively by some of the best retailers in the world and I like to pass along that information to the independent retailers.

Remember , what works for the major stores will work for the independents too.

Now Here’s some tips on how to work a trade show .

The CHA Winter Show in Anaheim is just a few weeks away. The first day is Saturday January 12, 2013.

I urge every independent retailer to attend this show.

This show is where you will get information on new products, new vendors and much more that will make your business more productive and profitable in 2013.

You can get complete information about the CHA Show by Googling CHA Show and going to the CHA Website.

Working a Show

We're all making our plans for the upcoming CHA Show in  Anaheim. I'm of the certain opinion that the success of any trip to a Show is dependent on the preparation we do prior to going to the show.

Here's what you need to do to prepare for a show.

1.Analyze your business

What categories are contributing what share of your business? You must know where your business  is coming from to plan for future growth.

What categories do you consider growth categories and which are stagnant or in  decline?

Plan how much money you intend to allocate to each of these categories and in what month you plan to receive that merchandise.

Plan what promotions or special events you have to buy for .

2..Analyze your vendor base

Which vendors contribute what share of your business? I firmly believe in the 80-20 rule in business. You do at least 80% of your business with 20% of your vendors. Every time I check this out I find it to be true. Be sure to have appointments scheduled with the Reps who sell you these key lines.

Have plans to meet with your current vendors in those categories?. As a buyer, I had to have specific appointments scheduled with the Representatives of my key vendors. Not just I'll stop by your booth, but SPECIFIC times to meet. And be sure to take advantage of the early appointment hours.

3..What do I want from these vendors?

Visiting a vendor's booth with your Rep should have specific goals to accomplish..

What's new??

What's hot??  Don't overlook hot sellers from a vendor. A product doesn't have to be new to be hot.

What's your show special??. Take advantage of the specials offered at the show. And don’t forget free freight specials.

Do you have any special events planned for the future? Shows are a good time to line up things for your special events.

4.First Things First

Your first appointments at the show should be with the Reps and Vendors that you do most of your business with. If I told my management at Macys that the first morning I was just going to walk the show and see what's there I would be sent back to my office to redo my plan. I was expected to use the first days of the show to work with those key Reps and vendors where I did most of my business. There will be time later to see other vendors.

5.Put it in writing

You need to put all of your plans down on paper.. Don't trust to memory.

Have a buying plan done by month with dollars allocated by month. You know that all the new merchandise doesn't ship right away . Your Rep can tell you when each vendor expects to ship . Then write your purchases in the month it's expected to ship. Compare those to your planned purchases for that month. If necessary ask the vendor to ship in a later month. But be aware that you might miss getting new merchandise in a timely fashion if you do this .But, knowing how much you've spent and when to expect the merchandise is critical. You should review this at the end of every day.

6..Save some Fun Money

Your primary reason for being at the show is to purchase that merchandise that you know will contribute most to your business. But we all want to buy some new merchandise that will spice up our assortments. You definitely want to do this  but it should be the last thing you do, not the first. Don't run out of money for important purchases because you spent too much money on new introductions.

This is how I was taught to work a show by some of the most successful retailers in the world.

But the most important thing to remember about working a show is

BE PREPARED 

 Sandy