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glort Offline [X]
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thebmrust wrote:
We do have space to do onsite sales at all the venues, but I'm not sure setting up a sales pit for a single football (basketball, cheer, volleyball, swim, dance....) game would have enough returns to justify the time & expense EXCEPT it would put us into the realm of exclusivity.
I still don't get why everyone ( who hasn't done it) seems to think that setting up for onsite sales is such a big expensive drama. It's really not a big deal. You don't need up to date computers, anything that runs win xp and has a USB or network connection will do and thats every machine made in the last 10+ years.
Even if you only put 5 stations in to trial, you'd soon see the lineup of customers you'd get and realise the potential. If online is working for you, onsite will be 10 times as good.
If you are not sure if it would work, Try it a few times!
Not once because the first time it's likley your problems that may not let it work to it's full potential and you would need to educate the clients as well as yourselves.
You would also need to make sure you had signage, announcements and a good spot to set up, not just any old location. It needs to be in a high traffic area like near toilets, canteen, place they all have to register etc.
No need to do onsite printing, it's the orders and the money you want so just stick to that.
I used Jalbum and paper order pads I printed myself and that worked fine for us.
Knowing how you all have worked in the past (onsite sales), I know the drill (so to speak). That being said, a sales trailer would be great... but we aren't there yet (but it's planned for our future).
I loved my event trailer. It was hard work but having sold the thing, I miss having it around even though I would have no use for it. Yeah, I never said I was sane!
Are you doing mainly indoor or outdoor work? I got the impression a lot of it was indoor and if that is the case, I would say don't bother with a trailer. You need to be right in front of the people.
If you are doing outdoor then you'll be right and they are a great assett.
A few random thoughts based on 3.5 years of running a trailer:
DON'T put all the Vstations in the trailer windows or inside the trailer. I know you can get big trailers in the states cheap but it's still not the right way to go in my opinion. You can never get a trailer big enough to fit you and the clients or enough vstations.
I had a ( too) small trailer but got a pop up shelter/ gazebo/ tent and put at the back opening window. The tent was 6x3m and I could easily get 20 Laptop Vstations in there.
had I the need, I could have put another tent, 20 Laptops and 3 folding tables in the trailer to transport and had 40 Vstations cheaply and easily and without having the problems of pulling a huge trailer round and parking/ reversing it etc.
the laptops were on folding tables with some extended legs I welded up to get them up to height. I made cabling to fit for power and ethernet connections and bundled that in conduit so it was only one thick cable. The cable just had to be run out and hooked up to the tent with the in place elastic straps and then everything plugged in which was right where it had to be. Running 20 separate power leads and ethernet cables every time is a joke. The idea is to pre set everything up so it is exactly where you want it and falls into place every time.
The biggest problem with having screens in windows in the trailer or mounted on shelves along side is you can't see the screens in daylight. I got a black tent and there was no problem with glare and reflections. You will also need a good fan for warmer days. I put an axial type aircon booster fan UNDER the trailer blowing the cooler air into the tent which made a huge difference. I also had a fan mounted in a top corner of the trailer.
The servers made the trailer very cosy in winter but I nearly gave my poor Son heatstroke the first time out with the heat and lack of air even though the thing was completely open on 2 sides and had a door on the 3rd. Fan made all the difference.
Being in the US I spose most people with event trailers ( are there any left?) would have a 3 ton AC unit on the top. :0)
Put a shelf on the outside of the trailer where you can put a laptop or a keyboard and mouse with the computer and screen inside. I found it really handy to be able to stand outside with people and look at orders etc instead of everyone being jammed in the trailer and falling over themselves. also being able to stand next to someone and not have that window barrier is great for rapport and relationship building.
I had those cliplock type brackets on the outside of the trailer that you just clipped the support brackets on then sat the white melamine board on. When taken off, the brackets stick out less than an inch so are no problem to have on the side of the trailer. The shelves were great for people to sit their handbags on when rummaging for credit cards etc and for a place to write/ modify orders.
You won't get 20 Vstations on any trailer short of a semi and the tents are a cheap, lightweight and easily expandable way to go. We did some distant weekend events and shoved all the tables to one end of the tent and slept in the thing over night and had room for cooking, food prep etc. Having power we could also run a heater to keep up warm in winter.
Get a decent size trailer, I'd say 12ft minimum and make sure you can stand up in the thing.
Also make sure it looks the part. You can get that car wrap Vinyl cheap as now and you can cover the things in that and do some funky graphics etc.
Invest in Signage.
I welded up a frame for my trailer and hinged it which went up like a hoarding. I attached the laminated sign and then 2 of us slid the thing up the runners I made and locked it into place. When traveling it sat along side the outside of the trailer. I got some telescoping tent poles and I could also stretch a cover across the thing and prop it up like an awning in the summer to keep the glaring light and heat out of the trailer.
Also have sandwich boards, plenty of them to put around the venue. You'll be amazed how people can walk right by and not " see" you. Multi reminders jogs people memories.
Put a good UPS in the trailer. This is important.
When it comes time to go home, people are more keen to get out of the place than worry about who is connected to the power when they flick the switch off. Breakers and things trip through the day as well.
You will want all your sever computers in the trailer on UPS backup as well as some of your V stations. I got a used and high output UPS and rather than use the internal batteries which were shot and would have been a fortune to replace, I got some starter cables and hooked up some car batteries. While not ideal for the application, they were more than fine for the occasional need I had and gave over an hours power backup so we could finish whatever we working on without loosing it.
A solar panel up on top with a small charge controller just to keep the UPS batteries zapped up when the trailer wasn't being used.
It is also a real good idea to have a generator for places where power isn't available or you may get flack for running long leads etc. Get one a little over size for your needs. That way you can run lights, chargers etc. as well as computers. I would also be putting as many solar panels on the roof as I could get up there now because for the majority of the day you'll be doing nothing but shooting and could run just a few V stations with the days and last events pics. People don't tend to come to the end so If I could get away with not having a generator running all day that would be great. a KW of solar would go a long way I reckon especially if your vstations were laptops.
Lights on the outside of the trailer powered by an internal battery will make life 100 times easier.
When you are trying to pack up after dark, nothing is worse than not being able to see what you are doing or trying to hold a torch while you are doing it. LED worklights are cheap as chips now and you can put one on every side of the trailer and internally to make things so much better for those late packups.
Get a trailer with brakes.
Don't matter if the thing dosen't need them by law or you are under rating. Brakes make towing a trailer so much less stressful. When I got my trailer the axle was stuffed so I had to get a new one and fabricate and weld in the brackets. I paid the extra and got a mechanically braked axle and always was very happy with that decision. Going down tight mountain roads to get to some of the horse events was never a problem no matter how much crap I had loaded in the thing which will always be more than you anticipate. Instead of the vehicle trying to hold back the trailer, I could set it up so the trailer was holding back the vehicle.
Very comforting.
Wire the trailer.
Set up everything the way you want it then wire the thing up so all the power outlets are where you want them as well as network cabling etc. Put in switches and lights as and where you need them so everything is right where you want it comfortably.
I also mounted all my printers, servers, routers, wifi aerials etc to the trailer and custom cut all the power cords etc so they were the right length and to stop the excess hanging round. Things move a LOT in a trailer so make them all as permanent as you can.
To tie a lot of stuff down, all I did was make simple angle brackets where they say and drilled holes so I could put ocky straps over the top. Was simple, cheap, lightweights and worked perfectly in keeping things put.
Add in creature comforts.
I put a tank under mine for drinking water, hand washing etc. Also had a small fridge to keep the milk for the coffee and tea from spoiling and have cold cans of drink. Had a Kettle for tea and coffee and a drawer with beverage provisions and things like soup, noodles the kids loved, Biscuits etc. A small microwave is also a great extra to have.
I made a frame on the front of the trailer that lifted up and I could put a tarp over for a rest and junk area. I covered in teh drawbar so we could sit or put junk on it and witht eh cover was like a little verandah. We could put folding chairs and a table in there for us to sit and eat or have a rest at and leave boxes or packaging and general mess we didn't want cluttering up the trailer when we were working. Was also good for storage for overnight trips to give us room in the tent for living and sleeping.
If you are doing long trips, you could also add in a spare fuel tank under the trailer. Being I made my own fuel and didn't want to buy it, I put a tank and a pump under the trailer so I could carry extra fuel and just pump it into the truck as needed. Saved space elsewhere which was in short supply that I would have needed for Jerry cans etc.
Make sure you have a good, easy to get at spare or 2 for the trailer.
Have a good lockbox or safe in the trailer. Obviously for cash but for equipment is good too especially if you might want to leave the trailer and go into town for a feed etc.
Have plenty of counter space at your windows and internally. There is never enough along with built in cupboards and drawers.
Trailers are great to use, give you a lot of presence and professionalism but ARE hard work. If you think that doing an Indoor onsite setup is going to be too much work and effort, don't even think about a trailer.
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May 15, 2016 at 10:12 PM |
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