Strategy critical for maximizing your time - Outdoor Marketplace

Shooting Industry, Jan, 2003 by Mark Diss

A good show floor strategy is essential for dealers. Shooting Industry has provided extensive information on the show in this and the December issues. You will find schedules, exhibitor booth listings and the invaluable show-floor map. With this information, you can begin planning. (Tip: if you need an additional map once you get to the show, pick one up at the Firearm Marketing Group Booth, #5051.)

"The old adage that you plan your work and work your plan is one that we really believe in," said Gene Marrs, of M&J Outfitters in Justin, Texas. "It makes the show much easier to handle."

No matter how much you'd like to see the entire show, it's, frankly, impossible. However, with some careful planning you can accomplish more than you thought possible.

Most dealers use one of two approaches to visiting manufacturers. Those dealers, who believe they must sit down with their major vendors, arrange their show appointments weeks in advance. Other dealers prefer a more casual schedule.

If you make appointments, use the Shooting Industry floor map, to locate the booths you want to visit. As much as possible, group your appointments so they occur in one section of the show. Always allow enough time between appointments so you are not running to the next booth.

Once you make appointments, keep them. Hold small talk to a minimum, and take care of business. While most vendors enjoy visiting with old customers, they also have other appointments.

If your prefer casually walking the show and visiting your vendors as you can, you still need to do some planning.

"For 12 of the last 14 years we set and kept appointments at the Shot Show," said Jim McClain, president of Jim's Firearms in Baton Rouge, La. "But in the last two years, we realized the vendors from whom we buy the majority of our inventory call on us either before the show or right after the show anyway. So, we decided to simply go to the show and sit with the vendors we could, and concentrate on seeing the show and looking at new or improved product lines."

If this is your approach, it's still important to keep your "spot appointments" grouped in the same section of thc show, if possible. It's not fun running back and forth across the 500,000 square feet of the SHOT Show.

If employees accompany you to the show, divide appointments by product category, floor location, an employee's expertise, etc. Each evening, review information gathered and discuss the strategy for the next day. Over breakfast, refine the schedule.