Health Fairs and Community Events

If you’re sitting in your store waiting for customers to walk through the front door, you aren’t making the most of your knowledge, experience and assets. Get out there and show them what you got.

Health Fairs and Community Events
Every community has its own special events. Fall fairs, in-store health checks, free holiday health programs and so on. These are ideal opportunities to get out into your sales region and (1) start branding your business’ name, (2) develop a list of new clients and (3) help the members of the community.

In many cases, the organizers of health fairs and other events are looking for people just like you – companies and local businesses that can set up a booth, draw in visitors and create a sense of community belonging while providing a valuable service.

Making Contact
You can’t just show up. You have to either be invited or get yourself invited by talking to the event organizer. Health fairs and these types of events are advertised heavily in the local media. Track down the individual in charge of participants, wrangle an invitation and find out whether to bring your own table or not.

Follow your local newspaper and local TV for upcoming events and volunteer to participate.

Health Fair Signage
You want a completely professional, sharp, clean look so don’t write your store’s name on a piece of paper and attach it to your table. Pay to have professional signage made. And here’s a tip – have the signs created on vinyl to they roll up for easy movement, set-up and take down.

Be sure to have one sign to indicate that you’re performing free hearing evaluations.

Product Literature
Don’t expect too many sign ups when you participate in a health fair. A hearing aid purchase is not an impulse buy. So, be sure to provide marketing materials for all of the brands you carry in your store. If you don’t have any of these brochures and other marketing “collaterals,” contact the marketing department of the brand. They’ll provide the sell sheets, brochures and other collaterals.

Be sure to “personalize” these company promotional products either by taking them to your local print shop or just get a rubber stamp that includes all contact information. Most collaterals include a blank area for this kind of personalization.

Business Cards and URL Cards
Keep a stack of business cards on the table. If you maintain a website print up some URL cards – a business card-sized promotional tool that simply displays your store’s web address, i.e. http://www.hearingtutor.com/. That’ll drive site traffic where you can provide all the positives and benefits to purchasing a hearing aid from you.

Props
Some hearing aid technologists use a large replica of the human ear to explain to prospects how the hearing process works. It’s very useful in pointing out the numerous and complex components that comprise the hearing mechanism.

I also find a display of units always attracts attention – especially with the brightly colored hearing aids that many companies now manufacture. People are truly amazed at today’s hearing aid tech and when they see something smaller than a postage stamp that can improve life’s quality, interest is piqued.

Finally, one more tip. Fill a large glass bowl with mixed candies. It draws in visitors like nothing you’ve ever seen. Stop by for the Snickers, stay for the hearing evaluation. It’s a great draw.

It’s important that you move your skills and knowledge outside the confines of the four walls of your retail outlet. In future posts I’ll introduce several opportunities to help others while you help your business.