Have you ever been to a Home Improvement Show as a visitor?

They’re usually held in the spring. And all kinds of vendors grab booths hoping to capitalize on the Spring time weather and most folk’s need and desire to spruce up their home.

This is a perfect, perfect venue to get your window washing company name and service out there in front of thousands and thousands of people who live right in your area. And they’re obviously homeowners, right? Many of them are your prime market. I can’t think of a better way to get in front of that many people at one time.

I know someone up in Montana who is participating in a home show up there and he sent me an email asking for ideas on how best to present his business, so that’s what I’d like to do here today with you.

But first, I’d like to mention that the booth is costing Tony $500. $500! What a great investment. A couple of jobs gained from the show pays for the booth. But when all is said and done, you should gain a whole lot more jobs then that and gain valuable exposure at the same time.

So maybe before you continue reading, you may want to hop on the phone and see if any convention centers are holding a home improvement show in your area or close to your area. Call the Chamber of Commerce. They’ll be the ones "in the know".

If so, then pony up some dollars and invest in a spot. It’ll be soooooo worth it.

But in terms of your booth and how it should be displayed…

Obviously image is the name of the game as it is when presenting your services to prospects. We have to grab the eye of the prospect as they’re walking past our booth.

There are actually companies out there that specialize in shows like this when it comes to the display materials. I personally wouldn’t spend the money on these kinds of fancy displays though because I just don’t think they’re needed for what we’re trying to do. Some of that stuff can run in the thousands of dollars for fancy custom made banners, booths, etc. So let’s leave that for the big companies with the big budgets, thank you very much. )

What I would do is rent a long table from a rental company. Buy a nice looking tablecloth for the table, and then maybe buy a banner to hang over the booth. You can get one made at any local sign shop in town. Not expensive and will add a nice touch of professionalism to our booth.

Now…here’s where it gets interesting. What goes on the table?

What I would do is have a brochure made that you can stick in a "Take one" box. You can buy take one boxes fairly inexpensive. They are just plastic brochure holders. You can search for them locally by calling some sign shops or you can hop online and search for "take one boxes", "brochure holders", etc.

I would stick 2 or 3 of these "Take One" boxes on the table so folks walking by can grab a brochure if interested. Make sure to paperclip your business card to the front of the brochure.

I would also create two or three 3-Ring binder notebooks so people can browse through the notebook. Inside should be a few things…
–a cover letter (on your letterhead) explaining your services
–plenty of references (with phone numbers)
–letters from satisfied customers. The more the better.
–photographs of some of your customer’s homes. I would even have
before and after photos of some of the windows you’ve cleaned.

Then to top it off I would set up my laptop and navigate to my website. If you don’t have a website, then get hooked up with The Customer Factor so you can get the freebie website that comes with the program. That’s what Tony is going to do. As folks walk by, he’s going to encourage them to check out his site.

Last but not least, and this is very important…Set two clear fish bowls or large clear glass containers on the table. You want to offer the Home Show visitors an opportunity to win a free window cleaning.

All they have to do is fill in their name, address, and phone number on a little piece of paper and drop it in the fish bowl. You can buy name/address/phone pads of paper at any office supply store.

Set up a Poster Board behind each fish bowl. Write something like "FREE Window Cleaning" in red marker. Then draw an arrow down to the fish bowl. Underneath the arrow and in smaller type, print: "Fill in your name and address for a chance to win a professional window cleaning"

You want to give away one free window cleaning per day, so for a 2 day show you’re giving away a measly two jobs.

Not a bad deal gaining a few hundred names and addresses in return for giving away a couple of freebies, huh? If you’re a ‘Factor member, insert their name and address information into the program. Then through the personalization feature found in ‘Factor, you can proceed to send them follow up letters on occasion. Do you think you’ll snag additional jobs from this effort? Absolutely without question.

A little trick…to get the ball rolling in terms of getting visitors to fill out their name and address, make sure that you fill out a few dozen address slips yourself and stick ‘em in the fish bowls.

I learned this when I was younger working at a country club golf shop. I’d bring in fresh donuts and take a few bucks out of my pocket and stick ‘em by the donuts to psychologically get the members thinking that they need to leave a tip every time they grab a donut. And lo and behold, member after member would get a donut and I’d get a tip. Cool!

Human nature being what it is, they just follow what’s already been done. If there was no money there to begin with, they wouldn’t know what to do so therefore they’d do nothing except grab a donut. 

Sorry for the donut interruption. )

So by you having a few dozen address slips already filled out and in the fish bowls, visitors walking by will see the activity and wonder what they’re missing out on. It’ll encourage them to take part in your giveaway.

So the bottom line to having successful results from a Home Improvement Show is to not just focus on the traffic at the show. No. You want to get those fish bowls filled up with juicy names and addresses so you can follow up with them and make sales long after the show is over.

In addition, through repeat mailings, you’ll increase the exposure your company gets which is invaluable when it comes to closing even more jobs. In other words, the next time you do a flyer distribution or postcard mailing, prospects may recognize you and decide to use your services at that time.  

Your total outlay may be a few hundred dollars. You’ll have expenses like the cost of the booth, "Take One" boxes, a classy tablecloth (in your company colors), company sign/banner, brochures, etc. But your return on investment will be huge. There are thousands of people who visit these Home Shows every single year. And since these shows are
held in the Spring, people are primed to "improve" their home’s look after the cold and possible snow of the winter months. That’s where you come in. )

Have Fun!

Best Wishes,

Steve