[Laneco]

Something that should be mentioned about a home show. The person(s) running your booth can make or break your business. When I talk about "break" your business, I mean that they can actually cost you present and future work.

Case in point... A few years ago we had four houses that all needed paint. Three were rentals. I wanted to find a painting contractor because this was really more work than I felt like doing myself. There was a paint contractor at the home show. I filled out the contact info and patiently waited to talk to the estimator who was running the booth. Running the booth into the ground might be a more accurate description.

The estimator was a complete smartass. Sarcastic, not particularly knowlegeable and flat out rude. I left the booth. A few days later the company called me and had the gall to try and get work. I was so pissed off that I let them send estimator jerk to the locations and provide a hard estimate just so that I could turn them down. I deliberately chose to cost them money for their rudeness AND give the work to another contractor. When they called to follow up and schedule the job, I told them EXACTLY why I chose another company.

If you are going to exhibit at a home show, the person behind in the booth needs to be friendly, knowlegeable and enthusiastic. They need alot of energy to work a home show because it is exausting. If such a person is not at your disposal, I strongly recommend you skip this...

angela