by Danielle Andrews Sunkel
We’ve had a lot of questions lately about what is and is not acceptable business behaviour at Wedding Shows. I personally think this is where common sense comes in to play: if you have to ask, you know it is wrong.
If you did not pay to have a booth at the show, leave your cards at home! Whenever a vendor brings us their business card at a wedding show, the first thing we ask is, “Do you have a booth here?” If the answer is no, we rip up their card. An opportunistic and sneaky person, is not the type of person we want to do business with.
An average Wedding Show booth costs $1800 to rent, it must then be furnished and decorated. You need signage, displays, handout material and the booth must be staffed. An exhibiting vendor puts out about $3000 per wedding show. They did not spend thousands of dollars to be in a wedding show just to be harrassed by other vendors trying to get their business. They spent thousands of dollars to invest in their company to potentially get business. Speaking to you takes them away from potential business.
So, “how shall I meet the vendors then?” you ask. You take their information and contact them after the show.
Approaching wedding couples at a show you are not exhibiting in, to solicit business, is beyond inappropriate. The couples will see you as opportunistic, akin to the proverbial ambulance-chaser (and let’s face it, that is what you are.) Every show has a rule about this behaviour and for good reason. The exhibiting vendors who paid to be there, paid for the chance to advertise and pitch their businesses to the couples, you did not. You have absolutely no right to speak with or distribute your card to the couples in attendance .
If you feel the need to visit a Wedding Show, then treat it as the information-gathering opportunity it is. The chance to see what is being offered in your area, see vendors you would like to research and learn more about, not the chance to shoot fish in a barrel on the dime of your competitors.
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