Farmers market season is upon us again, so it is a good time for market vendors to brush up on what I like to call “vending best practices.”  (By the way, market managers can learn a thing or two here, too, and then advise their vendors for success.)

When it comes to teaching vending best practices, I often feel like a high school football coach, because I find myself using one cliché after another.  But these clichés, I hope, will help you employ or pass along the advice that follows.  For instance, market vending is like rock n roll – the best modern market vendors are looking at what other vendors, past and present, do, and then they steal the best ideas and incorporate them into their own vending style.  Sure, every vendor wants to be unique, but that does not mean to the point of not doing what works.  Next, a rising tide floats all boats. That means that market vendors and managers should work together as best they can to see that everyone at the market succeeds.  Successful vendors bring more foot traffic, and more foot traffic means more sales for everyone.  Remember, your market neighbor is not your competition.  Wal-Mart and the other big grocers are.

That said, let’s look at some specific vending best practices:
Vendor demeanor
“Vendors should be clean with clean clothes,” said Don Wambles, director of the Alabama Farmers Market Authority.  “They should smile, no matter how their day is going.  They should arrive early and be ready to go when the market opens.”

“After the sale, say, ‘Thank you, and I’ll see you next week,’” Wambles continued.  “Then they will think you are expecting them next week, so they will be sure to come.  And for your regular customers, remember the ‘farmers market dozen.’  Reward their loyalty by adding a little extra to their bag.”

“Maintain a continuity of salespeople,” Wambles recommends.  Customers develop relationships with them.  Discontinuity impacts customer trust.  “Always acknowledge waiting customers, and no eating or smoking at your stall.”

“Vendors should engage customers,” said Larry Johnson, manager of the Dane County Farmers Market in Madison, Wisconsin.  “Some of our vendors wear costumes representing what they sell.  The egg guy wears a chicken hat, the honey person wears a beehive shirt, and the plant lady wears a shirt covered with leaves.”

“Vendors should have respect for themselves, for what they are doing, and for their customers,” said Sally Haines, executive director of the Colorado Farmers Market Association.  “Respect includes how you interact with customers.  Be friendly, open, and willing to answer questions.  The grower should be there, because the grower shows pride in ownership – passion and faith.  And when it comes to what is being sold, the grower knows what it is, how it was grown, and what to do with it.”

“And keep busy,” said Wambles.  Someone working hard draws in customers.  And it will ensure that you are keeping your display well stocked.

Finally, ask yourself what would your grandmother think?  If you would be embarrassed if your grandmother saw you look or behave a certain way, don’t look or behave that way at the market.

Vendor knowledge
Know what you sell.  Just knowing what is on your table can make the difference between making a sale and not.  Be ready for any question, and offer answers even without a question.  If you have something unusual, point it out to people.  Get them to try something new.  Tell them its history.

“I had a longtime vendor who brought the most beautiful squash blossoms to market,” Haines said.  “One day, I asked her how to use them, and she said, ‘I don’t know,’”

Have recipes at the ready, be they on paper or in your head.  Keep them simple.  For instance, tender young collard greens can be sautéed with bacon and a little garlic in olive oil, and it is highly nutritious and delicious.  These simple words could get one of your regular customers to try collard greens for the first time, increasing how much they buy from you.  If you are selling it, know what it is and how to cook and store it.

“Offer samples and recipes,” said Wambles.  Of course, be aware of your local health department regulations regarding sampling.

Stall appearance
“Your stall should have a beautiful display,” said Johnson.  “It should be appealing to the eye, colorful, and laid out logically for people to get through it.  Use attention-getters, like a 3-foot high pile of radishes.  Do not use boxes from Dole, or other corporate agribusiness firms that will cause customers to question whether you grew what you are selling.”

“Also, if you are part of a large, extended family with multiple farms selling at the market, try to make your display unique,” Johnson added.  “Too many times all the families’ stalls look the same.  Be creative and distinctive.”

“Present a variety of crops,” said Wambles.  A variety is more attractive to customers than just one or two crops, unless you have strawberries, of course.  “Showcase your products with pride, and appear ready for business, even if you are not.  Keep your goods up off the ground, using tables, baskets, crates and wooden boxes, but do not use cardboard boxes in your display.  Always use tablecloths.  They make your display look better, and more professional.”

Finally, avoid dark colored canopies.  “I like white canopies,” said Wambles.  “They are cooler, brighter, and customers can see what you are selling easily.”  While I like to see some diversity in canopy and umbrella styles and colors in a market, as it lends to a more festive atmosphere, dark canopies create a dark display.  I have seen vendors using dark green canopies that end up housing the darkest display in the market.  Darkness is just not welcoming to customers.

The right signs
“Prices need to be visible,” said Jack Potter, president of the New Hampshire Farmers Market Association.  “While it is a good idea to have a white or black board at the front of your stall listing all that you have that day and what you are charging for them, you should also have individual price signs for each item with that item.  People should not have to look around for your board that is now behind them, and they should not have to ask you the price.”  Try making pricing signs that are laminated.  That way, you can write on them with wax pencils and easily change prices from week to week.

“Have a good sign, with your name or the farm’s name, its location, and if you are organic,” said Wambles.  Vendor signs should be colorful, beautiful and easy to understand.  Consider it to be your logo.  Make it memorable for customers.  And having your town on the sign will legitimize you as local.

Abundance and quality
“Quality is of the utmost importance,” said Wambles.  “And presentation.  You only get one shot at making a first impression.  Your display must be immaculate.  And remember, you are growing food, not crops, from seed to sale.  If you are ashamed to put your name on it, don’t bring it to market.”

“I like flowers sold by the stem,” said Johnson.  “By the stem is all about quality.  Some flower vendors put big bunches of flowers together for cheap, but the quality is not as good.  We refer to them as selling flowers by the pound.”

Keep your display piled high.  Customers are drawn to abundance.  And remember to bring enough product with you for the whole day.  While you may think you are being frugal by finishing the day with just one head of lettuce left on your table, you might ultimately sell more lettuce if you have ten heads leftover.  That is because few people want to buy the last one.  Figure leftovers into your market plan, and give them to a food bank.

Have what you need
Scales, calculators, change, bags, canopy weights, pens and pencils, cash boxes, etc: If you think you will need it, you will.  Bring it with you.  Don’t lose sales wasting time looking for a pen or getting quarters or singles from another vendor.  Have enough bags.  Either make your prices easy to calculate in your head, or bring a calculator.  While farmers market shoppers can be very forgiving, they have places to go and things to do.  Your goal is to make their experience shopping with you a positive one, and if you don’t seem to have your act together, you may lose their confidence.

Get off the phone
Again, you are there to sell lettuce to the people right in front of you, not to talk to someone someplace else.  Cell phones should be used for emergencies only.  Think about how you feel when you are waiting for service and the person behind the counter is on the phone.  And more important, if you are not engaging your would-be customers, they may become your won’t-be customers.

Be there
Nature calls all of us from time to time, but make it quick.  If you will need to do shopping in the market yourself, or to take a lunch break, have someone with you who can cover for you.  Do not count on your neighbor to cover your stall.  They have their own business to tend.  While they may say they are willing to watch your stand, they won’t know your products as well, or your prices, and they are likely to be distracted by their own customers.

Eye on the cash box
One of the biggest mistakes market vendors make is to be too casual about the security of their cash boxes.  Farmers markets are high-value cash economies with large crowds, lots of distractions, and easy access.  They can be magnets for thieves.  Therefore, you should never leave your cash box in plain sight, or where anyone can quickly snatch it while you are distracted — and you will be distracted.  Thieves working in teams can be talking to you about potatoes while simultaneously making off with your cash.  Also, keep nothing larger than a ten-dollar bill in your box.  Keep the big bills and any checks on your person.  Do not leave your cash box in your vehicle.  Thieves have scoped out market vehicles and know you are putting your cash in there.  And watch out for your neighbors, too.  Now, I know many may think I am being alarmist, but I regularly hear about vendors having their cash boxes robbed or stolen.  Simple, preventative measures can keep you from becoming a victim.

Canopy safety
Expect surprise wind gusts, especially at the end of the day, when market customers have gone home and market vendors are packing up.  For whatever reason, this is when wind seems to pick up, and without vendor displays and people to mitigate it, end-of-the-day winds become that much more hazardous.  The bottom line is that there is no such thing as a “freak” gust of wind.  Surprise is the very nature of wind.  Be prepared.  Safely secure weights to every leg of your canopy – 24 pounds per leg is the current standard – from the moment you erect your canopy to the moment before you take it down.  Don’t set up your canopy and then do something else before weighting it, and don’t take the weights off and then do something else before taking your canopy down.  That is when your canopy is most likely to blow over.  And blowing canopies are a major cause of insurance claims at farmers markets.  Another is the canopy weight itself.  Beware of using concrete blocks and other hard, bulky objects as weights, as they pose tripping and injury hazards.  Watch out for anchor cords that can catch people by the neck or trip them.  Suspended sandbags or weighted pipe can be very effective, and they are soft to those brushing against them.

Post licenses
“Vendors selling products requiring licenses and permits, like jams and jellies, baked goods, prepared foods, organically certified, etc., should keep those licenses and permits conspicuously displayed at their stall,” said Jack Potter, president of the New Hampshire Farmers Market Association.  “My rule of thumb is, if you would have to post it at your permanent place of business – your commercial kitchen, your storefront, etc. – then you should post a copy of it at your market stall, too.”

What to charge
“Growers need to know their cost of production and price their products accordingly,” Johnson said.  Too many farmers undervalue themselves at the market.  After all, farmers markets are retail grocery stores, so farmers should be charging retail prices.  Many farmers that have been selling their harvests to packing sheds and wholesalers are used to receiving such low prices that they are happy to accept lower-than-retail prices at the market, because they are still getting five times what they were from the packing shed.  The problem is that the average retail price might be ten times what they are used to.  Farmers should not feel greedy or apologetic about charging the value of their crops.  After all, their customers aren’t buying crops, they are buying food, and if they didn’t get it from you at the farmers market, they would be going to a grocery store and paying retail.  And what’s more is that what they are getting from you at the farmers market is superior in quality to what they get at the grocery store, so if anything, feel free to charge more than retail.

Another issue about pricing comes up when a farmer tries to eke out every last penny of their harvest.  In so doing, they may keep trying to sell aging produce at lower and lower prices.  This is counterproductive.  A farmer that sells only top-quality produce all day long, and who maintains the same price all day long, will end up with more money in the end than the one who is trying to squeeze every last dime out.  The cliché for this is, “penny wise, pound foolish.”  No one will want to buy the aged stuff, the other vendors will get annoyed with you for undercutting their price and bringing quality standards down, and you will make less money.  If you have leftovers at the end of the day, donate them to a food bank.

Reviewing these seemingly commonsense tips for farmers market vending best practices can go a long way to making your market vending experience a positive, profitable one.  Said Alabama’s Don Wambles, “I don’t see it so much as vending ‘best practices’ as it is what vendors need to do to be successful.” ï ¹

Zachary D. Lyons is a freelance food and agriculture writer based in Seattle.  He served as Executive Director of the Washington State Farmers Market Association from 1999-2005, and he served on the board of the National Association of Farmers Market Nutrition Programs. He can be reached at zach@cowswithguns.com.