1. The
Remarkable
Market
Stall
Jamey Coughlin
Business Development & Economics
coughljp@gov.ns.ca

2. What is remarkable?

11. If you saw a purple cow,
what would YOU do?
• Stop
• Take a second look
• Come back again
• Tell your friends
• Talk about it

12. Remarkable

14. The Remarkable Market Stall
• Effective Display Techniques
• The Right Signs
• Tells a Great Story
• Exceptional Customer Service

15. Ask yourself ONE question…
• How can I make things
EASIER for my customers?

16. and remember ONE thing…
• The right mix of strategy, product,
quality, display, merchandising
techniques, pricing and customer
service will make your market
sales sizzle, and increase your
profits and pleasure.

17. Today:
• Display, Signage, Story & Service
• Lots of information, ideas,
pictures and questions
• References:

18. Farmers' Markets are:
• Growing in popularity
• Lots of buzz in the press
• Locavore was word of the year
• More customers each season
• Offer a sense of community,
unique, fresh and quality
products, connection with
neighbours, shared civic
values and lots of hugs...

19. Why bother with remarkable?
Isn't pretty nice, best stall in
town, worked for 20 years OK?
Why is a constantly improving
display important?

20. Competition
is intense &
evolving

21. • Consumers bombarded with priorities,
messages, information and advertising

23. Customers are
stressed out!
• Time
• Money
• RRSPs
• Job
• Kids
• Health
• Planet
• Future

24. • New markets and vendors
• More people are NOT shopping at
markets than shopping at them
• Profitability / balance challenges
• Local Food Trend gets customers
to the market; but quality,
experience and ease bring them
back and coming to YOUR stall

25. Good News!
• Challenges common to all retail
• Lots of simple tips and tricks
• They work

26. Effective Display
Techniques

27. BASICS
• Layout
• Organization
• Appearance
• Cleanliness

28. Table Layout
• Shallow is better than deep
• Parallel to traffic flow is better than
aisles, alcoves or obstructions
• Product should be accessible
Make it Easy!

29. Increase customer reach with layers

30. Angle product towards the customer

31. Layers give illusion of abundance

32. No bending! Knee to shoulder height

33. Display similar products together…
`

34. Produce different varieties of the
same product

35. Offer a variety of sizes…

36. Is your stall clean?
• Garbage?
• Unattractive containers?
• Your own food and
purchases?
• Are storage containers in
good shape?

37. CLEAN & Organized?

38. ONLY NUMBER ONE QUALITY
• Freshness is why people shop at
farmers’ markets
• Product should be first quality,
anything less should be marked
• Keep it cool enroute and at market
• No amount of marketing or
merchandising will make up for
poor quality

39. Make it easy
• Easy to see while passing by
• Easy to see at the stall
• Easy to find what they want
• Easy to reach
• Easy to purchase

40. NEVER lose a sale because...
• A customer couldn't see what they were
seeking
• You left a 1/2 eaten lunch on the table
• You tried to sell product that you knew
you shouldn't bring to market
• A customer saw you treat unsold
product like compost the week before

41. To really kick it up a notch...
Appeal to your customer’s
SENSES!

42. Pile it high and watch it fly!

43. For eye appeal, mix up the color

44. Small details like tables
cloths and baskets matter

45. Be creative if your product cannot
be displayed

46. Use aroma to draw attention…
Smell Me!!!!
Smell Me!!!!

47. Activities &
Demo's are
awesome!

48. Sampling & freebees sell products

49. Don't forget the sense of humour

50. Additional Display Tips
• Leverage all the senses
• Change with the seasons
• Balance abundance with clutter
• Continuously restock displays
• As you run out, reduce display size

51. The
Right
Signs
“A display without a sign is a sign
of no display.”

52. • Placement
• Message

53. Every product needs a price sign…

54. Visible, Legible and EASY
• The vast majority of customers
will not ASK about prices
• If in doubt, they will keep
walking...

55. Visible, Legible and EASY

56. Will customers block your signs?

57. Don’t forget to tell them who you are!

58. Sign construction
• Avoid white background – it draws the
eye away from your products
• Best coloring is black on yellow OR
green, red or black on off-white
• Laminated signs!
• can be changed as needed
• Keep lettering neat
• NEVER be negative!

59. FONT SIZE

60. Make it Easy!

61. Beyond price...
• Using signs to
communicate a
meaningful message

62. What kind of information?
• Why are you special?
• What's in it for the
customer?
• Why should they
believe you?
Make it Easy!

63. Understand what you do great!
• Emphasize one or two key ideas:
• “The apple pie guy”
• “The heirloom tomato people”
• Any more and customers get confused
CONFUSION DOES NOT EQUAL EASY

64. What is in it for the customer?
Features are the
• Facts
• Figures
• Practices
• Details
“So What?”

65. Features Benefits
Slippery Peel “So What” Creates great laughs
Soft & Mushy “So What” Easy for kids to eat
Potassium “So What” Reduce cramping

66. Overt Benefit
You TRIPLE the effectiveness of
your marketing efforts by OVERTLY
communicating your customer benefit
What they will
Receive, Enjoy, Experience
In exchange for their
Time, Trouble, Trust and Money

67. Be crystal clear:
NEVER let a customer say
NO because they don’t
understand what you’re
offering

68. Reasons to Believe?
• Farmers' Markets have a head start
• Wavering confidence in the food system
• Listeriosis, Melamine, E.Coli, Salmonella
• Food Miles, Climate, Efficiency
• Michael Pollan Factor
• People don't know what to believe

69. What is a remarkable RTB for your
product, stall & business?
1. Common Sense Argument
2. Personal Experience
3. Verification/Pedigree
4. Customer Testimonials
5. Guarantee

70. Ideas
• Empirical Data - 3 out of 4 think....
• Contests – Winner of ______ Award
• Stories – our baker trained in France at...
• Wall of Testimonials
• Cred by association – served at Bistro
• Cred by association – studies and research
• Demonstrations – cooked weight of meat
vs. frozen burgers

71. Message
• Why are you special?
• What's in it for the customer?
• Why should they believe you?
• Position yourself above the
crowd, and be remarkable!

72. Tell a
Great Story

73. Stories
• Who we are, Who others are
• We crave stories / oral tradition and
human connections
• Plot, Characters & Emotions
• Good stories are passed on
• The material value will lessen, the story
value will increase

74. Tell YOUR story
• Help customers
get to know you
• Put a face on food
• Pictures, family,
visits, videos,
website
Make it Easy!

75. Storylines
• Adventures for Sale
• Togetherness, Friendship & Love
• The Market for Care
• The Who-Am-I Market
• The Market for Peace of Mind
• The Market for Convictions

76. Market for Convictions

77. • Great stories and
REAL meaning are
the small, sustainable
operation’s UNFAIR
COMPETITIVE
ADVANTAGES!
Can a locally grown, certified organic
blueberry, home-baked pie…

78. be traded for 2 backstage passes to see
the Rolling Stones?

79. Stories
• Stories are the ultimate marketing
and authenticity tool
• Humans are hard wired for stories
• When we hear a great story, we
retell it
• Stories connect your customers to
you and your products to your
customers lives

80. Exceptional
Customer
Service

81. Top 5 FM customer annoyances:
• Vendor can not make change
• Vendor fails to acknowledge customers
• Long, slow line forms at the stand
• Vendor is chatting with friends, other
vendors or other customers, long wait
• Vendor talks on cell phone while serving
customers!

82. Body Language is CRITICAL!
•57%
of Communication is
visual
• Smiling? Arms
crossed? Sitting?
Making Eye contact?
Eating? Distracted?

83. Tips
• Pay attention to your appearance
• Engage customers ASAP
• Give them 100% attention
• Be reliable
• Share your knowledge
• Go the extra mile
• EXPRESS GRATITUDE

84. Are you actively promoting?
• What is coming in future weeks? (make
sure they come back!)
• Provide or ask for meal ideas using
ingredients (participation)
• Make suggestions and WANT the sale
• Are you using your regulars to influence
new customers?

85. Seek and Measure Satisfaction
• A satisfied customer tells fewer than 5 people
• An unsatisfied customer tells more than 10
• Ask questions, do surveys, do taste tests,
document results and make changes
• Raise the bar
• A sales drop shouldn't be the first sign of a
problem!

86. Understand and Anticipate
Customer Demands
• How are they using your products?
• When? Entertaining?
• WANT or a NEED?
• Are they eating right away?
• Where are they shopping mid-week?
• What are they doing after market?

87. Find Your Niche
Mostly
Satisfied
Somewhat
Unsatisfied

88. The New Rules
• The old rule was this: Create safe
products and combine them with great
marketing.
• Average products for average people.
Commodities...
• The new rule is: Create remarkable
products that the right people seek out.

89. Affordable Indulgence Participation
Calm Powerlessness
Dignity Price
Celebration Environment
Quality
Children Experience
Safety
Climate Guilt
Health Skills
Collaboration Hope Social Justice
Community Importance Status
Complication Income Time
Local Farm Viability

90. Important Questions
• What are their stresses?
• What are their values?
• What are they doing with your product?
• How can you serve them better than their
current options?

91. How?
• Talk, Talk, Talk!!!!
• Get contact info
• Do a survey
• Build a group of trusted advisors
• Read magazines, go to restaurants

92. Make changes...

93. Selling Strategies for Local Producers : http://extension.missouri.edu/explore/agguides/hort/g06222.htm

94. Selling Strategies for Local Producers : http://extension.missouri.edu/explore/agguides/hort/g06222.htm

95. The Remarkable Market Stall
• Effective Display Techniques
• The Right Signs
• Tells a Great Story
• Exceptional Customer Service

96. It goes back to ONE question
• How can I make things
EASIER for my customers?
So Make it Easy!

97. and ONE thing…
• The right mix of strategy, product,
quality, display, merchandising
techniques, pricing and customer
service will make your market
sales sizzle, and increase your
profits and pleasure.

99. Resources
• NSDA Business Development & Economics
• www.gov.ns.ca/agri/bde/
• Sales Strategies for Local Food Producers
• http://extension.missouri.edu/explore/agguides/hort/g0
6222.htm
• Growing for Market; F.M. Sample Issue
• http://growingformarket.com/categories/20071227