visionomics®

Planning for Trunk Show Success

Visionomics®, a series of COPE- and ABO-approved business-building courses, will be held at this year’s International Vision Expo West show. The courses focus on strategies for assessing and maximizing practice profitability. In this series of articles, Eyecare Business—the official trade media partner for Visionomics—will feature some of the program’s speakers. This month, Sylvia Bradby Christian, RO, ABOC, business manager of optical services at Virginia Eye Institute in Richmond, VA, discusses her course, “Engineering a $60,000 Frame Trunk Show,” to be presented at Vision Expo West.

I started organizing frame trunk shows at the Virginia Eye Institute in 2007. We now host an annual gala event that is anticipated by friends, family, and community members. And it makes the business a great profit. Here, I’ve laid out the groundwork for planning your own successful show. Though we use several frame vendors at a time, you can use one or many.

PLANNING

Design a floor plan to give a space to each of the vendors. Contact a caterer, photographer, and a rental service to provide speakers and a microphone. Make sure the vendors will provide tables, tablecloths, mirrors, and calculators. Designate a person to provide music (an iPod works great).

EXTRAS

The event is made more enticing and exciting by the little “extras” you should be planning for. Big discounts are going to be the draw, but things like raffles, music, hors d’oeuvres, and wine can push a regular sale event into an extravagant fashion fête that turns browsers into buyers.

STAFFING

It’s vital to have enough people staffing the event. Recruit associates from other departments within the organization if necessary.

Have greeters to welcome guests, help them sign in, hand out raffle tickets, and point out locations for the vendors, bar, and food. A traffic director roaming the floor helps with guest flow.

Be sure to have enough opticians on hand for measurements and Rx orders, and make sure they have all the tools and forms they need. And have someone at the front desk to manage paperwork, money, as well as appointments.

SHOW TIME

All vendors must arrive in time to get set up before the doors open. Smiles, excitement, fun, and sales are all that’s left to happen.

The secret is really the elegance of it all. The flavor is in the variety of frames to choose, the upbeat music sets a positive vibe, and the question becomes not “Which frame shall I buy?” but “How many?” EB