Canadian Music Trade - December/January 2018 | Page 33

Schedule appointments strategically: ”Schedule appointments with key and new accounts
and not with everybody. Also, line up your appointments so that you minimize the walking time.
Strategically plan it out so that you’re not running 15 or 20 minutes between appointments, because
there goes your day.”
Book rental vehicles: “Pre-book rental vehicles well in advance. Those things get booked up
really fast, especially if you need a van or two.”
At the Show
Purchase special items immediately:
“We know certain companies will introduce
limited pieces. Whether it’s only one in
Canada or 25, we try and get that kind of
information from the reps ahead of time.
If not, then we try and visit those vendors
on the first morning. If you know some key
vendors have been known to release limit-
ed pieces, then you hit those first. It’s very
important because if you go the second or
third day, they’re going to be sold out.”
Meet the right people: “While you’re
there, speak with and get to know the
marketing VP and CEOs, etc., so you can
put a face to the email or phone call you
have back home. This will come in handy
once you return because now you know
who you’re communicating with and if you
need to pull some strings or ask for that
other deal or marketing strategies, you
know who to communicate with rather
than just the rep.”
Ask for NAMM Show specials: “There
are always show specials. For some unique
products, sometimes they’ll say, “This partic-
ular item is only for NAMM attendees,” and
sometimes it’s in the back room and they
don’t even show it on the main floor. So al-
ways ask for that and make sure your rep is
in the know. If you don’t ask, you don’t get.”
Have someone taking photos & videos:
“Have a video or camera person or crew
that takes still photos and videos that you
can upload right there while you’re at
NAMM and also bring back with you. They
could coordinate that with somebody back
at the store so when the information comes
in, they can upload it right away to your site
and now you’ve got instant information [for
customers] right away.”
Meet regularly with your team: “[At
the show] we meet regularly with the group
and see what they found. If some of us
need to go back to that brand, then we will
so that we can negotiate whatever deal that
needs to be done.”
Spend the appropriate amount of
time with suppliers: “Say I want to see
this new account, which we’ve never dealt
with and it’s a large account, then I’ll give
them a good hour because it’s going to
be about discovery. They want to know
who we are, we want to tell them who we
are, and there might be five of us trying
to persuade that client. It might be one
of those ones that needs convincing why
we should open you up and there are a lot
more parameters involved.
If it’s a string line, no problem. It could
be 10 minutes. Like, ‘Hey, how are you doing?
My name is Jerry and I’m from Cosmo.
Here’s my card.’ If it’s not a franchise line,
I wouldn’t spend too much time on that.
Quite often, if it’s something I am passing
by and I see a nice product, I’ll just pick up
the card and contact information, ask for
the discounts, and then go on my way.”
Get a good Breakfast (of Champions):
“As a group, we go to the Breakfast of
Champions at the Hilton. We get there early,
like 7 a.m., we all get a seat, and we have a
good breakfast… Of course, it’s also quite
informative. [At least] have some kind of
nutrients to keep you going. Some people
skip breakfast, but I think having a good
breakfast is important.”
Leave extra time on Sunday: “We
always leave extra time on Sunday. That
way, anybody we need to go back to revisit,
rehash, and also follow up on the Best in
Show items that we missed, then we go
back and hit those.”
After the Show
Follow up: “When we come back, all the guys will give me their
business card contacts that they have and any catalogs or brochures.
Anything that they think is a must-have, they’ll put a little extra
sticker on for me. Everything is done within the two to three weeks
[after the show].”
Share with your staff: “When we come back – this is really crucial
– we review what we saw at the show. What we do here at Cosmo is
what we call a “post-NAMM preview” at the store for all employees,
including cashiers, receptionists, office staff, warehouse staff – any-
body is invited to this event. We put together a slide show of maybe
the five top items that we saw at the show and new lines that we’re
bringing in. We give them a slide presentation recapping the show,
as well as ETAs and pricing of what’s to come.”
Michael Raine is the Senior Editor of
Canadian Music Trade
CANADIAN MUSIC TRADE
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