Wow. What a week. We're just back from a cracking few days in Birmingham where Yomdel had its full commercial launch at the Internet Retailing Expo 2013 (known as IRX13). It's always going to be a little nail-biting before any major event, but we got there, and bar a few mishaps along the way, the stand looked fantastic and we had loads of people coming to say "Hi" and enquire about how Yomdel could help them.
So before going any further, to everyone we met at the IRX13, either at the stand or elsewhere, thank you for taking the time to find out about Yomdel. We were overwhelmed by the level of interest shown in Yomdel's "The Complete Live Chat Service". From large national chains to small independent online retailers; from topiary to DIY; from car parts and fancy dress to insurance, we had some great conversations with some really innovative and switched on business people and ecommerce entrepreneurs.
Myself, Tim and Dan had prepared for a busy couple of days at the show and we weren't disappointed. We knew there would be lots of standing up and for that reason made sure we got an extra large van so we would be able to load in the tables and chairs. These, we thought, would come in handy to rest our aching legs and backs.
There we are zooming along the M40, heading north to Birmingham and the NEC and a 100 miles away from Yomdelhurst when Tim mutters some obscenities and says:
"I know what we've forgotten."
"What's that?" I say
"Don't you know? Can't you remember?" he replied. "The table and chairs!"
But at least we had everything else. The new pop-up display stand and banners looked great. Designed by Yomdel's fantastic creative partners at Yellow Digital, our fun and happy branding really stood out from the crowd. And another highlight for me was speaking as part of a panel on advanced selling techniques in the eSeller theatre. It was packed, and people even stayed to the end!
And as for the aching legs and backs, they were soon forgotten as we counted the fantastic leads coming in. A couple of pints of fine ale in the evenings worked wonders in washing away any possible fatigue. And the really good thing about IRX13 is that we have pledged to charity 10% of any revenues from new business won at the show. New happy customers, and some contributions to great causes as well. Fantastic.