Rev Up Recruiting & Sales
with Booth Events
By Becky Dean, Senior Executive Supervisor
Presented at the 2007 UBAH National Convention

Please follow UBAH’s booth policies.  Re-read pages 94-95 in your consultant manual:

1. When calling to obtain a booth, you must first ask if an Usborne Books at Home representative held it the previous year or time.   If so, then you need to call the UBAH rep to see if they are doing the booth this time – if they are, you may NOT proceed any further on obtaining that particular booth as it is “theirs”!
    

2. When calling on last-minute booth space at an event (less then 60 days), if the previous consultant has not yet registered you can proceed on obtaining the booth, as they should have registered on time.
    

3. You must live within a 60-mile drive of the booth location at the time the booth is reserved to be able to keep it as “yours”.  You may do long-distance booths until local consultants in that area want to do it.  Then you must graciously let them have it if time allows.  If the event changes location from year to year, however, the original consultant keeps the booth.
    

4. You must register the booth under the name Usborne Books at Home and cannot represent or recruit for another company.  You may only sell Usborne products at your UBAH booth.  Source: July 2001 HO newsletter – Vol. 3, Issue 7 
    

5. The final decision is up to the committee or person in charge of the booth.  If they do not like the way someone acted, spoke or conducted themselves, they have the right to not invite them back.  They have the final say on who does the booth and represents them.  If questions arise, please contact your upline supervisor.

 

Types of Booth Events 

Craft Sales - Home, Garden, Sport, Travel Shows - Women’s Expos - Childcare Conferences - Educational Conferences - Library Conferences - County Fairs - Home Parties Extravaganzas - Flea Markets - Christmas Bazaars - Local Festivals - Watery type of Events - Local Farm Fairs - Realtor Trade Shows - Living History Events…

 

How to Find Booth Events
 

• Contact your Chamber of Commerce for local events.
• Watch your local paper for different events ideas with Usborne in mind.
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Ideas of Ways to Split and/or Share a Booth:

1. Take the booth fee and divide it by the number of hours of the event and the number of people working the booth.  Charge consultants for each hour that they work - which then pays for the booth fee.  Keep track of what each consultant sells and “pay them back” the commission from what they sold.  This works best for booths split between different consultants on different teams. 
    

2. All consultants involved set up/tear-down the booth together, all work together or have the hours split evenly between them, and all pay for the booth fee evenly.  The commission from all sales is split evenly, regardless of who sold what individually.  Profit and loss is split evenly.  Sales credit is also split evenly when reordering or closing out inventory order.  Works best for booths shared by “sister” team members and who you work well with.
    

3. One person pays for the entire booth and allows their downline to come work the booth for FREE leads and training.  Booth holder gets all commission from sales to pay towards the booth fee/expenses.  Booth holder absorbs all losses – any profits are applied towards other booth losses - so hopefully it will even out.  The main intention is to provide an opportunity for their downline to gain FREE hands-on training and leads.  This works best for supervisors that have booths so they can offer team members leads, training and practice – w/less paperwork!

 

How to Share Leads 

1.      Put all the leads in a “pot”, then distribute equally according to hours worked. 

2.      People get the leads they talked to when they worked.  The extra are split evenly. 
An easy way to sort leads is to have different color lead slips for each person working –
or consultant writes their name on top of lead slip for those they talked to –
or have a different color pen for each person.

 

Working a Booth with Someone Else 

COMMUNICATE your expectations before hand!

1.      State sales goals you expect to be sold each hour.

2.      State booking goals up front as a challenge to meet.

3.      State how people should help in set-up/tear-down.

4.      Decide beforehand how you will split leads/sales.

5.      Discuss how people should conduct themselves while working for leads.

 

Be willing to share!  Don’t be overly competitive/pushy or customers will sense this and RUN AWAY!  If Sheila first talked to them, I know they are “hers” but if the prospect is on my side of the booth I should try to book/recruit her for Sheila!! 

 

Before Doing Booths - Keep in Mind...

"Why should you pay to do a booth
when you can do a book fair for free?”

 

“If you spent the same amount of hours on the phone
calling leads/asking for referrals,
you probably could sell/recruit more
than what you can at booth!”

 

Why You Should Do Booths
 

• To gain fresh leads for home shows and recruits.
• To get extra sales.
• To break into a new geographical area.
• To practice selling and recruiting.
• Hands-on advertising.
• To show business stability.
• Booths can be a family activity - make them FUN!!
   

 

Booth Location Strategies
 

• In main flow of traffic or outside ring as people walk around to the right - not too close to entrances - open aisles.
• Consider cost vs. people – some spaces are more expensive than others but might be worth it.
• Check out the event the year before to prevent dead events.

 

 

Booth Layout Strategies
 

• Layout is determined by booth size, # of tables/books you own: 
  
  L-shaped
  
  
  Straight Across
  
  
  U-Shaped
  
  
  
  an Inverted V-Shape
  (Buy 2x4 card tables or folding banquet tables vs. $10-$20 table rental fee per event)
   
• Don’t squeeze the front of your booth too narrow or block it off!  Minimum 5 feet entrance.
   
• Don’t stand in middle of booth - leave someplace for yourself to stand/sit – behind a narrow/short stand is best.
   
• For long events a bar stool is a nice alternative to a chair as then you are eye-level.
   
• "Kid-Stoppers" are great on ends to stop kids (parents) - to increase your sales.
  
   

  Hire your kids to do "games" to involve them in your business.  You need to spend your time talking with adults - not too distracted with putzy games.		The T-Rex Excavation Kid Kit sells the best!
  	Kid Kit rack available for purchase from Home Office's Business Supply Store.	Duck stickers are the easiest "Kid Stopper". They can be purchased at the Business Supply Store.  Just check with event rules to make sure stickers are not prohibited.

   

• Leave space for recruiting information!!  Use Recruiting Board.  Leave space for people to sign up in your drawing.

 

A Professional Display is a MUST!
 

• Blue tablecloths from Home Office are excellent!  They can take the place of a banner if there is no back wall.  The blue color is relaxing-inviting for browsing. 
   
• Make sure tablecloths are on straight!  And ironed!!
   

• Carpet is nice for long events – indoor/outdoor or 2 - 5x7 pieces. Or foam floor squares.
   
• Consider getting a customer banner made instead of using the current Home Office banner.  Can you see why in the picture below?  The HO banner is on the left.
  
  
   
• Arrange books by ages, subjects, or themes.
   
• Have “feature” mini-displays within your booth: castles, pirates, princess/fairy, farm…
          
   
• Books need to be color-coordinated – switch colors back and forth on racks.
   
• Do NOT “fan” titles!  Have a full-cover showing.
  
  
   
• Prevent titles curling by overlapping them slightly or rotate titles from behind.
   
• Rotate titles around during the event to have a fresh display.
   

• Have extra matching fabric to drape over boxes, bottom of KK rack, line baskets…
   
• Use crates on top of table for “bookshelves” and add height with fabric covered boxes.
  
   
• Put books under table in crates on end like a bookshelf for easy access to extra titles.
   
• Find cheap racks/displays at garage sales, going out-of-business sales, dumpsters…

  This display was found in the dumpster, modified a bit and then repainted for use. Look behind department stores as they sometimes throw out displays.

• Be creative and make your own.
  
   
• Get table-top racks from: www.fixturecraft.com  (though honestly, things don't sell off of rack as well - use easels for full face displays instead)
   
• Get inexpensive book easels at:  www.thelibrarystore.com  (search for “hinged easels” – we recommend the 3-wire w/lip to hold thick books or multiple titles)
  
   
• Have space for a “check-out” area – use safety pin to pin bags on rack near checkout.
   

• Wear your cash in fanny pack or use a cash register – have cash secure.
   
• Use a cash register or cash & carry order forms or plastic portable registers w/forms.

 

Kid-Stoppers (and thus parent-stoppers)

“Make a bookmark” using duck stamps - Duck game in blue marbles - Disappearing scarf trick from Magic Kid Kit – Plane flying around from Batteries and Magnets Kid Kit - Train sitting in booth – Pirate flag hanging up - Kid’s picnic table w/slot books or coloring sheets…  
EASIEST?  Duck Stickers