If you participate in an off-site event like a home show or state fair, carefully consider your setup and how you will make your business stand out. Every hot tub needs a sign on or right next to each unit. The repetition of your name and logo is essential for customers’ memory.
Getting noticed and remembered requires some creativity. Imagine an expo center with over 100 hot tubs and swim spas of all sizes, types and lengths lined up under fluorescent lights with bare concrete aisles covered by industrial carpet. When you enter this world, you forget that nature even exists.
But for some people, one of the major pleasures of owning a hot tub is to get out and experience nature while relaxing in water. If you’re given a choice of carpet color, a green carpet says “nature.” Green helps people relax and browse more slowly as they lose track of time, which works for you and your sales.
One RV dealer at a recent expo I attended incorporated several creative and immersive areas into its setup. Outside of each unit, there were fake pine trees, wood signs and fake forest creatures made of wood and straw. At the end of each aisle hung large photos of nature that drew people down the walkways. There were “experiential zones” where customers could roast fake hotdogs over a fire and take selfies. In another focal area, picnic tables were set up with games for kids to play while their parents toured the RVs.
Hot tub dealers could adapt this by encouraging customers to climb into empty tubs to test them out and take photos. Adding a grill or other outdoor products could also create a more complete scene that entices customers.
If you have a wall in your exhibition space, a mural of the outdoors will add natural beauty to the overwhelmingly artificial expo setting. Adding touches like fake trees or cut-outs of pets or other animals like squirrels and deer can make the area all the more relaxing and immersive.
Continuity of props and signage makes a difference and adds a sense of fun. At the RV expo, one dealership had two signs showing photos of their employees from each location. It honored them and helped potential customers recognize them.
If you choose to be part of an off-site event, go the extra mile and start collecting decorative accessories now. Focus on a theme and then start shopping. For indoor trees, try Wayfair and The Home Depot.
Whatever you do, add floor-standing banner signs at either end of your aisles and a sign inside each unit reminding people who is selling the hot tub.
Last tip: When you attend these events, either as an exhibitor or if you’re just checking out the competition, make sure to walk the side aisles where the independent vendors show their wares. There are some interesting products you can add to your merchandise assortment that no one else may have.