One Thing Leads to Another

February 16, 2016 If you've been following this blog since it began in 2011, you know I have an endless list of reasons exhibiting in shows is a good idea.  Here's another, and it comes from long-time Southern Spring Home & Garden Show exhibitor Darren Mulholland, owner of Today's Audio Video. 
Darren is meticulous about keeping up with how his sales are generated.  If it's a referral, which many of his sales are, he looks back to see how the person who referred the new customer found out about him.  He keeps doing this until he gets back to a non-referral sale - in other words, a sale created by his marketing efforts.
By doing this, he has created what he refers to as a "tree of customers" with branches forking out from the trunk.  Each show he has exhibited in - and each other type of marketing he has done - represents a new branch starting at the trunk. 
Darren says his goal is to continually start new branches.   That's because while he understands shows are already a good investment based on direct business created, what he also knows is that months or years later, when he looks at  how large that branch of referrals started at a show has grown, that shows can be amazingly profitable.
David J Zimmerman
Southern Shows Inc.