Home Show

Looking for all ideas great and small!

We are gearing up for the St Louis Home Show in Feb.
I am taking a two pronged approach. I want to promote the service side of the business (primarily wood and concrete restoration) but I also want to let people know about our retail location.

We have a 6000 square foot service and retail facility. We handle all the warrantee work for Lowes, Home Depot, Campbell Hausfeld, Devilbiss, Karcher, etc., etc. We also cater to restoration contractors in and around St Louis providing equipment sales and service along with a full line of stock parts and accessories.

Trouble is, I am not quite sure how to get the message across to the attendees. I am looking for any tips any of you have. Any thing that may have tried in a similar situation. I would appreciate ideas on both promoting the Service and the retail end.

Any help will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Russ

hey Russ,

first my question: how did you get info on the home show?? i have been trying to find info on our local show, could you tell me where to start?? didnt find anything on c of c website.

my ideas:

raffle for a free deck and driveway cleaning (not sealing), all info must be provided on note card----name, #, and address

would a demo be possible?? i doubt it

how about build a little 6x6 cedar home and seal it, put that by your booth

a TV with video playing (edited) to show restoration in progress





Do you need to advertise your service end of the business??? If you are like our local service center that takes care of hd and lowes machines, you are swamped. I swear, i've never been there when they didn't have 100 machines they were working on.

Would there be a market at a home show for pw repair service?? i wouldn't think so. If you are wanting to sell your chems i think i would do that with the people interested in your restoration service, but appear to be DIYers.


I hope this may be of some help,

Best Regards,

Jon Fife

Jon-

I called the venue that hosts the home show and asked them for a schedule of events. Then I took information from that schedule and contacted the coordinator for the home show. Trust me, after you get in touch with the actual person in charge of filling the booths you will have no problem getting information.

As far as service. . .Yes I have seen more of those little blue devils this year than I can stomach. They are still rolling in everyday. We do plenty of warrantee work. I was thinking more about the contractors who are walking around there.

We work on Generators, Air Compressors, Paint Sprayers and the such as well.

I am always trying to increase foot traffic through the door. We have a lot of specialty cleaners available (We are putting out a catalog in the spring). I also have a strong alliance with a couple other restoration contractors in the area that I try to book jobs for. I guess what I am getting at is I am trying to get as much exposure as possible.

I think the raffle is a good idea, I am also going to build a tiny cedar house out of old fence pickets and restore half of it like you suggested.

Anyone have ideas for pre-show marketing? Something that will make people want to come by my booth? I don't have one of those water-skiing squirrels so I need some ideas.

I really appreciate any help!

Thanks in advance,

Russ

NEW BUSINESS

I HAVE JUST HIRED A NEW SALESMAN AND AM ALSO LOOKING FOR NEW WAYS TO PROMOTE PRESSURE WASHING.I DID A BOTH THING ONCE AT A HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION FUNCTION. I USED A 13" TV/VCR UNIT AND KEPT REPLAYING MY 30 MINUTES OF MISC CLEANING I HAD TAKEN (VIDEO). I FOUND IT SLOWED PEOPLE DOWN TO WHERE THERE WERE LOT OF QUESTIONS AND LEADS. I HAVE YET TO SEE A PW CO AT A HOME AND GARDEN SHOW.I'M CONSIDERING.....ANY GOLDEN NUGGET PROMOTIONS OUT THERE ? DAN COSGROVE

AT MY AGE I WOULD "EVERTHING" TO BE A LITTLE LARGER. DAN