Market Stalls - Do They Really Work?

October 26, 2007 | By Monika Mundell |


This is a particular questions other MLMers asked whilst I was actively pursuing the MLM dream. Since I had great success with market stalls myself and sold a lot of produce, gained new customers and eventually got new distributors, others naturally took note.

The thing is, market stalls can work in direct sales, but only to a certain degree. The upsides of doing this is that you will most likely get more customers because people can get samples and test the produce first without having to buy upfront. The other thing that helps to pull them in as a customer is if your MLM company offers a 30 day money back guarantee should the customer not be happy.

This gives people assurance that they see a way out to get their money back.

Town Hall Stand 003 Lets look at the negative sides of setting up a market stall at your local fair first. One of the possible setbacks could be the cost associated with it. The first throwback for most distributors is the often huge and unaffordable insurance sum one has to commit to being insured against 3rd party. It is part of most set ups these days and this will most likely stop most, before they even start.

Some of these insurance contracts can cost hundreds of dollars/year which is simply too much for most MLM distributors. Unless they can share the contract (some insurances do allow for this) and therefore share the cost. In that case it can become affordable if the distributors do more. The more market stalls during the year, the lesser the cost of insurance in comparison.

What many distributors seem to forget is that there are other costs assimilated to market stalls. Depending on expected numbers of market attendees you will need to provide enough samples to deal with the influx of visitors. Also, you want to make sure that you have many different samples altogether and supporting brochures, pamphlets and more for people to take away.

And don’t forget your product order forms with price lists! This is often overlooked. Print a stack of them ahead and leave them on the table in a prominent position. Naturally all this will cost YOU money upfront without the guarantee that you will actually make any sales.

I found what drew in the most participants which then resulted into sales was when I provided a competition box of some kind. The prize was usually a program, or a single product if you may in return for people to fill out their contact details to go into the draw. This is a great method for lead generation but only works, if you are not afraid to follow up on the phone after the event.

Remember, follow up = sales!

On the upside, market stalls really can help you to put a lot of new customers into your business. It is a great way for people who are outgoing and not afraid to have fun. The more fun you provide on your stall, the more people you will attract.

Town Hall Stand 002 When my friend and I did market stalls, we used to provide games, we wore the same company branded outfit, laminated some bright info flyers, testimonials and lots more. Our stand was always the best looking amongst everyone else’s and we did have a lot of fun doing it.

In the end, we simply split all the cost and all the profits made.

 

If you do decide that this might be a viable option for you, then make sure you can 100% trust the person you are going to team up with. Yes, I do recommend you team up as it is so much easier when two people do shows and market stalls together.

And another thing, make sure your company gives permission to do this. Most often you cannot make up your won banners and signs. You will need to purchase them from corporate head office instead.

Have fun with your markets stalls and let us know here if you ever did them before too.

Cheers

Monika

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