So now what?
This is not a case of ‘build it and they will come.’ You’ve scheduled your designer’s visit and planned the special event, but now you have to get your clients in the door. This is really where the work begins. When it comes to the invitations, I always tell people to remove every obstacle. If your clients are responsive to e-mails, send an invitation electronically. If they never open their e-mail, send a printed invitation and always, no matter how you initially invite them, follow-up with individual phone calls to your key clients inviting them to stop in. And while you may not want to invite the general public to your special event, I strongly encourage you to use social media to promote the trunk show. Post an announcement about it, and in the days leading up to your event, do a countdown. This is also a good time to leverage the brand or designer’s social media by tagging them in your posts and providing them with your creative to push through their own social media channels.
Another key part of your preparation is communicating with the brand or designer. What are your expectations of them regarding the product, displays, boxes, catalogues, etc., you’d like them to bring? What about their attire, arrival and departure times, and are they providing you with access to high-resolution images? These are areas where, as they say, common sense isn’t always so common, so be sure to communicate your needs. If you host trunk shows frequently, you could create a form document to send out before every event. Remember to allow enough time for the brand representative or designer to meet your expectations.
