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The below article, written by Elizabeth Anne Bonanno (aka Beth Anne) of The EAB Project, first appeared in the December issue of Jewellery Business Magazine. Full bio for Beth Anne is below. 

Trunk shows are fun, unique ways to generate excitement surrounding your store, and most importantly, drive traffic through your doors. Making these events successful however, requires more than just putting some extra jewelry in your cases. Proper planning and preparation is crucial to making the difference between your trunk show working for you, and simply giving yourself extra work. Here are some guidelines that have helped me rock many successful trunk shows in the past.

Proper Preparation…

First things first, what does your trunk show “look” like?

I always think it’s best to have a 2 or 3 day trunk show, with a celebratory party to kick off the event, or an event held on the 2nd night of a 3 day show. This not only gives your clients an opportunity to spend some social time with the brand representative or artist and form a more personal connection with him or her, but it also gives you more time to sell!

Let’s plan a party! 

Are you serving champagne cocktails and passed hors d’oeuvres? Beer and pretzels? Cupcakes and coffee? Is this a daytime event or an evening event? Is it tied to a charitable organization that’s near and dear to your heart? The best way to figure out what works for you, is to reflect on what’s worked (or not worked) in the past. What are your winning formulas? Is it easier for you to invite your clients as couples, or to offer an event that caters to a “girl’s day” or “ladies’ night?” Do you get a lot of weekday traffic, or are your clients more inclined to come in over the weekend? Carefully thinking through how you want to form the event is your first step to success.

Whatever you decide to do, make sure that all touch points of the plan and execution are in keeping with your brand, and aligned as best as possible with the brand or artist who will be showcasing their work. Also, whenever possible, make sure you give yourself enough time to properly plan and build buzz surrounding the trunk show and event. While you can make things happen with a quicker turnaround time, I usually advise having something planned 1 to 2 months in advance.

So now what?

This is not a case of “build it and they will come.” Now you have to get to work! So you’ve scheduled your designer’s visit, scheduled the special event, now you have to get your clients in. In terms of the type of invitations that work best, I always tell people to remove all of the obstacles. If your clients are responsive to emails, send an invitation via email. If they never open their email, send a printed piece 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 (you don’t have Instagram or Facebook?! Get on it NOW!). Post an announcement about the trunk show and then in the days leading up to your scheduled date, 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 post on their own social media outlets.

Another key part of your preparation is communicating with the brand or designer. What are your expectations of them in terms of product and collateral you’d like them to bring, what are your expectations for their attire, their arrival and departure times, providing you with access to high resolution images? These are areas where, as they say, common sense isn’t always so common, so just communicate your needs. If you have trunk shows frequently, you could create a form document that you send out in advance before every show. Just make sure you allow time for the brand representative or designer to be able to meet your expectations.

It’s Show Time!

While the designer or brand representative is in your store to generate interest and excitement, it is still your job as the store owner or sales associate to close the sale. Play off the designer, let him/her tell their story, the inspiration behind a collection or piece, and share your own passion for the brand with your clients before trying to close the sale. Make sure you’re creating a “yes” environment. I never ask “Would you like to see something?” Rather, I pose the question as “We have so many beautiful things that I’d love to show you that are here for a limited time, let me know what you’d like to see…” This “yes” environment also extends to the hospitality you show and starts the moment a client walks through the door. I don’t ask, “Would you like something to drink?” Rather, I say, “It’s so hot outside! I have ice tea or cold sparkling water, what can I bring you?”

As one would do in any sales environment, read your client and his/her interests. All clients have “tells” and it’s important to know how to read them. Notice the items they show an interest in, what do they have in common? What are they responding to in particular? Are they more interested in the information behind the materials used, the technological components of a gemstone, or are they excited by the inspiration behind the design? Whatever it is, I like to suggest that you “speak to them where they live.”

It’s also important to continually check your own energy. Are you too hyper? Too mellow? Too familiar? Too stand-offish? It’s important that you make your client comfortable so that they don’t leave the store without first having a meaningful interaction of some sort.

Throughout the trunk show, make sure you’re taking careful notes on the piece(s) your clients show an interest in, and follow up with images and information on the piece(s) via email or text (ask them their preference on communication mode). You should also take advantage of the event by continually taking photographs for use on social media. Get your clients to play dress up with the jewelry and then get their permission to post images on social media. You don’t have to include their name or even their face, but seeing jewelry “in action” is a great way to get others to feel comfortable walking into your store. The images you don’t post in “real time” can be used at a later date. Speaking of later dates…

It’s not over ‘till it’s over…

You can continue to build excitement for a brand or designer long after they’ve left the store. Posting images on social media re-living all of the excitement of the trunk show is a sure way of getting people to look forward to your next event. You can also follow up directly with key clients who were unable to stop in by sending images of pieces you feel confident they’ll like and use the opportunity to start building excitement for your next event. It’s a challenging environment out there in the consumer world, and frequently we bombard our clients with too many events, make sure what your presenting to your clientele is thoughtful, interesting and an experience not easily forgotten.