Lessons from Pulse London - Part 2: During the Show
This article is part two of a three-part series on what we learnt attending Pulse London. To read the first part, click here.
We showed up for the first day of the show looking forward to meeting some people! It was very exciting for us to share our products. We also treated it as an excellent opportunity to learn and get feedback about our brand. Here are our key lessons from the three days of the show:
1. If you can arrange for someone to either be at the stand with you, or at least cover you for some of the time, it is extremely valuable. The days go quickly but there is a lot of standing up time. It’s nice to be able to take a short break to go to the restroom and grab a drink or a bite to eat. It's also a clever idea to bring a few snacks so you can keep your energy levels up.
If you are alone, be friendly to your neighbours and offer to cover them if they need a break. Most will be more than happy to do the same for you.
2. Stay off your phone as much as possible. Nothing looks worse to a potential visitor than someone glued to their phone. You never know who is wandering past your stand whilst you are checking your Facebook updates.
I don’t want to be patronising, but this piece of advice was given to me by one of our current stockists and I totally agree with him. Of course, you will need to check your phone from time to time but do it discretely or on your break if you have one.
3. Have a little storage area that blends in with your stand to keep extra things that you might need during the show (e.g. lookbooks, business cards, products). Also keep some key tools that you might need for running repairs – you never know!
If you read part one, you will know that we had a lot of issues with our signage. We kept a stock of superglue and made repairs after the show had closed for visitors.
4. Treat every visitor equally, you should be honoured that they are interested in your products.
5. Be nice to your neighbours, it will make your time so much more enjoyable. We were very lucky to have wonderful people in our section and it was nice to form a little community over the course of the show.
Your neighbours are usually going through the same challenges that you are (or have been through them recently), so it is also a fantastic opportunity to gain (and share) some knowledge.
6. Don’t be afraid to give away products. This might be scary but the people visiting Pulse can really make a difference to your success. A buyer could fall in love with your products, someone from the press could mention you, or at least someone from the public could have a positive interaction with your brand.
One motto I live by is: “The more you give, the more you receive.” Try it and I promise you will start seeing good things flowing back to you.
7. Finally, smile – you are your brand and you are representing it always.
If you have any questions about attending an event like Pulse London, please drop us a line at contact@ramapublishing.com, we would love to help.