We all want our booth to be successful, whether it is your hobby or business. A part of achieving that success is to create a good relationship with your fellow vendors, your mall owner, and your customers. Not only is it great business practice, but it’s nice to know someone’s “got your back” when you’re not at your booth and that people are supporting you at your store. Here’s a few tips to keep in mind when it comes to vendor etiquette.
vendor etiquette tips
- Make sure that you aren’t blocking another vendor’s booth when you’re adding items or changing up your booth, especially during set-up.
- Don’t invade your neighbor’s booth space with your items. Your booth needs to be self-contained.
- Be careful with heavily scented soaps and candles that you sell. It may cause an allergic reaction for scent-sensitive customers and vendors.
- Never “borrow” items from another vendor’s booth to stage your own. That vendor may see that this item is not in their booth and get excited that they made a sale only to find out that it didn’t sell when they look at their report. Then they’ll think the worst; it got stolen. So, please do not remove items from another vendor’s space. It’s hard enough when this happens when customers sit things down in the wrong booth.
- If you don’t have any walls in your space, but your vendor neighbor does, do not use their wall. Even if it’s just the back of their wall. Ask first. They may allow you to utilize it. If they happen to allow you to use their walls, use caution when hammering or screwing into the wall so as to not knock down your neighbor’s items.
- If you use pegboard for walls and so does your neighbor, do not “borrow” a pegboard hook from them without asking. Even if they have an unused hook or two or 10 just hanging there, don’t use it without asking.
- If you are working at your booth and need to take a break, do not go into your neighbor’s booth and sit on their furniture.
- Selling in a space with attached neighbors can sometimes be challenging. Being a good neighbor goes a long way in creating and maintaining good relationships with fellow vendors. If another vendor is in their booth, say hello and introduce yourself.
- Malls can have a great atmosphere with lots of friendships among vendors or they can have those jealous and petty types. A lot of this atmosphere is dictated by the mall leadership, but you can do your part as a vendor to not get caught up in rumors and gossip. Stay positive and excited about your business.
Remember – “Don’t let your ice cream melt while you are counting someone else’s sprinkles.”
How do you create good relationships in your store environment?