I heard a story (I presume it is true?) years ago about a scruffy gentleman wandering on to the Sunseeker stand clutching a large bag. He made a beeline for a particular large yacht and said "I will have it please".
I’m sure the buzz of having the most popular boat at the show more thsn compensates.
Years ago at Earl's Court my parents looked at a new snapdragon yacht, possibly a 26 footer. Quite large back then over 50 years ago.
It’s irrelevant if you pass my sniff test - as I’m not there selling yachts! But I expect if you look close enough to retirement and talk about buying when you retire you’ll get attention. Perhaps not as much attention as the next customer who appears to be in buying mode. Of course, if you haven’t done any research of your own and are talking to someone hired just to man the booth or a sales guy paid on commission you’ll do less well than if you’ve bothered to make an appointment with someone who is vested in future customers not just show sales targets. I don’t know why people get upset about not being treated like real customers if they either aren’t customers or acting like it!
It's a boat show, not just a boat sales gig.
Who said we didn't sort the wheat from the chafe - very easy to do whilst still be courteous and letting plenty of people through the boat. Three quick questions to a viewer decided whether I would spend more time on them or move onto the next potential. I was one of 3 salesman and sold the same number of boats as the other two combined. They were generally built to order and could be personalised.
Ah, there's your mistake. The exhibitors have paid a fortune for the privilege of showing you their wares. The only reason they are there is to get sales, now or in the future.
'Whether you’re a family looking for a fun day out or a serious boating enthusiast, you’ll find hundreds of boats, hands-on water activities, expert advice, and live entertainment, all in one incredible marine event.'
See you there, can’t wait.
Aaaah! I wondered what that was that arrived in the inbox this morning...
You are confusing the purpose of the organiser (to extract as much cash from everyone possible) and the purpose of the exhibitor (to extract enough cash from actual customers to cover the massive amount they’ve paid the organiser!). The only person who comes away from a modern boat show saying “that was definitely worthwhile, let’s do it again next year” is the organizer! Attendees often seem to grumble and exhibitors all go away and count up how much each lead cost before someone next year says “it’s important to be seen to be at the show, otherwise people would think we are struggling!”.
