Italiano
Lietuvių
Polski
Español
ΕλληνικάHOW TO PLAN YOUR MEETING WITH AN EXHIBITOR
Going to a large international trade show as a young designer or up-and-coming brand with the specific purpose to find new suppliers can be quite intimidating, but there are a couple of tips and tricks that can make this task easier and more productive:
– Do you research: study the exhibitor list and decide which companies are the best match for what you are looking for. This means you will need to study their website, learn where they’re based, understand their line of products and decide if they could be interesting for you
– Organize your trip: while it is true that most suppliers go to a tradeshow to find new customers, many may also be less interested in working with smaller brands and smaller clients and might decide to focus their energy on the bigger clients, don’t let that scare you. Most suppliers are extremely busy during these tradeshow and if they don’t already know you they might not take the time to sit down with you, show you their newest collections and explain their policies to you as well as you would need.
– Make an appointment: there are some extra steps you can do to assure that your potential supplier will take the right amount of time to discuss your project and your relationship. The best way is to email the supplier a couple of weeks before the show presenting yourself, your activities or your future project, your ideas, your needs. This will allow the supplier to get to know you and allot you the best moment for a visit to their stand. Usually the last day of the fair is the least busy day and can be dedicated to younger designers, brands and even students.
Having an appointment will make you will feel much more comfortable when you’re at their stand and will allow you to get the most from the experience, but be aware, not all exhibitors work with appointments, if that is the answer you get to your email, you can still ask when they suggest you visit their stand.
– Have a professional appearance: this does not mean your brand need to be showing at Paris fashion week it just means you should be prepared with a professional email address and a phone number. If you wish to receive samples from the potential supplier also prepare a physical address that can accept packages, even if you do not yet have a headquarter. We you may not want to spend money on a business card, but at a fair it is great to always have your contact ready to hand out.
– Know what you are looking for: ask relevant questions and even more importantly write the answers down, possibly in a notebook where every page is dedicated to just one supplier so you are sure that you don’t get your information mixed up or that you don’t forget important details and feelings for the exhibitor. If you have the energy, make more extensive notes on the journey home or back at your hotel after each day. The fundamental questions, other than the ones regarding the product, are minimum order quantities, delivery times (consider that many suppliers only start production after you place your order and therefor the delivery could take months) and eventual contacts to a local agent in or near your city that you could talk to in the future.
– Finally don’t get discouraged: even if it may seem like you did not get what you were expecting from that exhibitor during this trade show visit. If you didn’T get an appointment and the stand is busy, take a card and contact the exhibitor later. Many suppliers like to help young start ups and young brands with stock fabrics which usually have lower minimum order quantities and free samples because they know that this is how they grow their future client base. If you don’t hear from them as expected get back to them via email
