Why Booth Design Matters

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We have an exercise at Cleveland Flea called the "Best Experience Exercise" and it's where we define the most amazing possible experience we can provide for our dream clients (that's you all) and our dream customers (shoppers). 

When we run this exercise, it pulls us out of scarcity mode and into creativity. Into love for everyone that we love. And it helps us go that extra mile to deliver extraordinary service online (new vendor app this year), on-site (super organization, team flea hospitality crew, signage, upgraded experiences, etc) even when we're a small business with a tight budget.

It becomes pretty clear to us through this exercise that the way to make more money (and have more impact) is to deliver more value.

And one way to do that is with a designed experience that feels really creative to shoppers. There IS a difference between shopping at Aldi (which we totally love) and Whole Foods. I'm not saying you need to be one or the other. But you do know what I'm talking about. 

One is experience-focused and one is price-focused.

We think you can be both at Cleveland Flea. Deliver an exceptional experience while keeping prices affordable BUT we also think you can charge more if you provide more value. Better materials, better shopping experience, more thoughtful customer service. 

Today, we're talking Setting Up Shop, though, so we'll stick to that. 

Branded Setups have run themselves through that Best Experience Exercise. The small businesses who pause and take time to plan out their booth design from the moment a shopper sees you across the parking lot to the moment they check out have the most control over a shopper's experience and typically find ways to stand out and learn how to be exceptional.

If you're not spending a big chunk of time thinking about your customer's best experience and how that manifests inside your booth, you're leaving a lot of money on the table. 

We'll be helping you with this if you're interested. We know that not everyone has been in business long enough to consider this type of thing- and if it doesn't come naturally it can be harder to solve. 

Quick & Easy Ideas for Booth Upgrade:

  • rugs 

  • custom wall panels made from a natural fabric versus the typical side walls

  • handmade signage (that matches your brand) versus the stuff that you can get printed at big print / tent shops

  • customized displays versus standard / stock displays from display shops

  • vintage furniture for display as opposed to pop up tables

  • head to IKEA for easy to assemble & clean-looking booth furniture 


Look for us to announce à la carte workshops as well as a Season-long incubator program that will get you in tip-top shape by the end of September, so you can really kill it in #Holiday2019 and turn up the heat on your most impossible small business goals!    

xo,
Team Flea