View From the Trade Show Floor

Bill McCurry

“I don’t get it!” says the young unmarried woman, reading a banner that says: “The Marriage Saver.” Puzzled, she leaves without asking what it means. Meanwhile married buyers chuckle as they stop to chat in the Omega Christmas Tree Stands booth. Omega knows couples often disagree while they’re putting up the holiday tree. Unfortunately, the unmarried gal who walked away didn’t understand the benefit— and she was responsible for buying her garden center’s Christmas products.

The pricey Omega stand is designed to last a long time, appealing to those who invest just a bit above average on their home and garden needs—the target market for most garden centers. Yet this single buyer couldn’t understand the mindset of her customer. When I tell this story, manufacturers talk about buyers in largely Jewish areas who promote Christmas without understanding Hanukkah. Or the buyer who doesn’t understand Ramadan despite two mosques in his trading area. A buyer’s job is to know and represent their customers. The buyer’s job isn’t to buy what they like, but to buy what the target customer will love.

The IGC show in Philly was fun. I’m invigorated by spending time with retailers. On day two, I snuck into the show early using my press badge. Walking along I tried not to interrupt those who were setting up. When people called “good morning” to me I stopped. “How was yesterday’s show?” I asked. Each said something similar to “Fantastic! We’re expecting great sales today, too!”

Once the show opened I made it a point to stop at each and every booth down one aisle. Halfway along, I realized the stories had changed. Some still said “fantastic,” but others said “lousy” or its equivalent. How could my “research” yield such different results? Looking back at those booths I’d just polled I saw a pattern. Those who had a bad day yesterday were sitting down looking at their phones today. Those who had a great day were standing, greeting people with a smile. Could it be that simple? Walking on, I deliberately tried to engage the texters in their booths. More than half didn’t stand when I approached. Some never looked up. They were right. The show sucked for them.

Grandpa said, “If you want a helping hand, look at the end of your arm.” The 100% correlation between engaged booth staff and trade show success was obvious. Do your own “research” at your next trade show or in any large store, like a garden center. Do you see smiling interested faces or tops of heads focused on their screens?

While I don’t usually shop at big box garden center departments, I do try to visit them to see what they do. I watch seemingly intelligent customers defeat the purpose of “idiot-proof” designs. One large retailer had pallets of planting mix. The pallet had been shrink-wrapped for the delivery, ensuring the bags stayed in place. Still wrapped, the pallet was out where the customers could easily access it. They started to help themselves, ripping, yanking and tugging through the shrink-wrap to get bags off the pallet. The wrap is designed to prevent that happening, but now ripped bags of planting material were spewing soil all over the retail area. This mess was well established before I arrived and 45 minutes later the dirt was still being tracked deep into the store. Most fascinating to me, the employees stepped around the mess while texting on their phones.

Whether at a trade show, in a buying office or on the retail floor at the customers’ level, mental engagement is a critical component of success. As you observe these miscues in others, ask yourself if the same symptom might be playing havoc with your staff and customer relationships. GP

Bill would love to hear from you with questions, comments or ideas for future columns. Please contact him at wmccurry@mccurryassoc.com or (609) 688-1169.