Four Tips for Onboarding Vendors to Your Event

Your event or festival hinges on great vendors and exhibitors. In this blog we discuss tips for adding vendors to events. Whether it's for food and drink, big name or local vendors, these ideas will help. Adding vendors to festivals, with a little patience, can be done well.

Here are four areas you will want to focus on.

1. Have a thoughtful application process

You only get to make one first impression; for your vendors, artists, and exhibitors, that’s the application. If your application is clear and concise, it can lay the groundwork for good communication. You will also set professional expectations that you may never get a second chance to establish.

It will also alleviate how stressful the process will be! Some parts of planning your application will be obvious but don’t underestimate any information you require. Here are some questions you’ll want to consider for all applicants in the early stages. 

• What type of vendor are they? Vendor type will be particular to your event and crucial if you want to build a unique experience for your audience. It also helps you ensure you have the right balance of vendors. You don’t want to end up with more food vendors than actual exhibitors that align with your vision and goals. 
• Have you made clear requests so your vendors know what you need? You may not need all the information immediately, but it’s good to let them know the expectations. It will inform them if they are prepared to participate in the event. This is a good example of professionalism and shows that you are well-prepared.
• List needed paperwork and business information in the application. Also, get their branding. You can use it for display in marketing materials.
• Have you been clear about what their costs are to be in the event? Any serious group involved will appreciate your transparency. They understand that this fee is an investment in their business. 

If you get these steps right, you’re more likely to have vendors who stick around and are reliable. Unfortunately, cutting those who aren’t ready is an essential step toward success and is valuable in your set of skills.

2. Be clear about where your vendors are going

Once the vendor commits, it’s time to make the process as clear as possible. Knowing what they need will ensure that they look the best they can, and when your vendors look good, your event looks good. Here are a few items that should come up.

• Start Early: Early communication is key. As soon as vendors sign up for your event, send them a welcome packet or email that outlines important logistics. This packet should include details about load-in and load-out times, booth locations, and any specific requirements or restrictions.

• Utilize Maps: Maps are invaluable tools for vendors. Provide detailed maps of the event space, clearly marking load-in and load-out zones, vendor booth locations, restroom facilities, and food services. You can create digital maps or, for larger events, physical copies that can be distributed on-site. Here’s a great resource for all your mapping needs. It even connects vendors to their assigned booths.

• Booth Assignments: Clearly indicate booth locations, booth numbers, and any specific layout requirements. Provide a floor plan with all booths marked and assign these well in advance. This ensures that vendors can prepare their displays accordingly. See the last note for how to make your map work for your vendors.

• Assign a Contact Person: Assign specific event organizers or volunteers as points of contact for vendors. This dedicated support can answer questions and provide assistance on the day of the event. Ensure that vendors have contact information for these individuals.

• Pre-Event Meetings: Try hosting a vendor event or webinar for vendors to address any questions and concerns. This also provides an opportunity for vendors to network and collaborate, fostering a sense of community within your event.
  
  
  

3. Make the event process easy for your vendors

Vendors aren’t there just to have a pretty spot to be seen. They’re paying you to ensure they get as many eyes as possible on their hard work. If you want vendors to love being a part of your event, you’ll need to maximize your opportunities to make things as easy and profitable as possible for them. 

Consider what you can give to your vendors. One way to quickly make your vendors feel appreciated is with food vouchers. These are great to announce a few days before the event, making it feel like a surprise bonus but not so late in their planning that you throw off any plans they have already made for meals. You can partner with food vendors to get these tickets and get good word of mouth for their tasty treats. 

Another excellent way to reward festival vendors is by offering them a limited number of discount codes to get into ticketed events. The vendors can then give those out to their previous customers. Giving these out makes the vendor look good and gets you extra foot traffic that may not have come out otherwise.

4. Keep communication easy

From the start, you’ll want to set up a standard for communication between you and all your vendors. The very easiest way to go about this is the most simple. Using an in-platform communication system works well in a number of ways. 

• It’s professional. There’s no doubt for anyone why messages are coming through an in-platform channel, it’s for the event. There are no mix-ups with personal messages or worries about spam.
• It’s centralized. All the communication you have with your vendors is in one place. If you know you got the information from a vendor then you know where that information is stored. No one likes searching through emails, text messages, and other messaging systems, least of all in the middle of an event.
• It’s variably intrusive. When you know where your event communications are it’s easy to stay up-to-date on all your vendor's needs. Also, when you need to step away you don’t have to fear your phone. That text isn’t from a vendor, because you were already clear about how to be in touch. 
• It isn't social media. Don't rely on social media as your communication. This keeps communication more clear and lets your vendors keep clients in one place and you in another.

Communication can be the most stressful part of managing your event, so having everything in one place will reduce your stress if you’re being productive or taking important time to step away.

As you move forward, keep all of this in mind. Even if you don’t use all of these items, any one of them can keep your vendors, artists, and exhibitors feeling valued. When you make your event work for your vendors, you’ll find that great new vendors will want to join you. Over time you can build up a group that will make your event a continuing success.