Games & Giveaways: Do They Really Increase Your Business?
Everyone loves playing games and winning free stuff. Depending on how they’re used, games and giveaways can benefit your business or they can hurt your business.
The types of games we’re talking about here are the ones you play at your shows. For example, some consultants play games or offer giveaways at their shows for the person who drove the farthest, brought the most friends, is the oldest, youngest, married the longest, has the most kids, etc. While those games are fun, do they really benefit your business? Do they increase sales or entice people to host a show or even more importantly encourage potential new recruits to join the business?
A lot of getting to the right answer depends on your company, what product you’re selling, and how you go about it. If you are selling skin care products, then giving product away to the person who is the oldest may be a great way to gain her as a new customer because she will love it and return to you to purchase more of the wonderful product you gave her. So make sure the gifts are age appropriate and something they will actually use (you wouldn’t want to give her something for teens for example). Try not to give away something that is being discontinued. However, if you’re going to be offering drawings & prizes then use what you have. The idea of a giveaway is to get product in the hands of someone so they will return to you to purchase again and again. Don’t forget to put a sticker with your contact information on the item so they know how to contact you when they’re ready to order more. Another idea – ask for permission to contact the winner to get their comments about the product. Use that information to improve your sales “pitch”.
On the flip side of this is when you are selling home interior products or organizational items. Giving away an item that is being discontinued can be a great way to get customers back to see the new items that are coming out. Some people like the idea of getting something that is rare and unique, that everyone else doesn’t have. The idea is to think through what you’re giving away. Think of the benefits it will have to your business. If you’re spending more money on giveaways than you’re making in profit, then you probably need to re-think how much you giveaway.
Also, if you give away a gift to the person who brings the most friends, make sure your hostess informs their friends of this. Add a note to their invitation. Let them know what the item is or what it’s worth. This is a great way to get more people to a show. Also, make the gift worthwhile. You want them to really want it so they will truly work for it.
Some companies encourage their consultants to give gifts to people to entice them to listen to the business opportunity. While this can be a good idea, it can also be a bad idea. Again you want to think through who you are trying to recruit. You want to recruit people who really love the product, who are interested in making more money, who need to start a new career and who are motivated and excited. In other words, don’t give your business away to just any one who is only looking for free product. A good way to gauge true interest is by playing a game that includes having guests ask questions about your business. The person that asks the most questions just might be someone to talk to.
Be choosy about who you’re giving gifts to and what you’re giving away. Games and giveaways can help your business when they are well thought out and targeted at a specific audience and used appropriately. But they can hurt your business (read: eat into your profit) if you’re just giving away to give something away.
Home Party Games
photo credit: flinchbaughj
While you are planning your direct sales party, remember to keep it fun so the guest’s attention will not start to wonder other places. Here are 5 fun home party games that will put jive into your party plan.
5 Fun Party Games for Direct Sales That Will Boost Your Business
If you are in direct sales, the money is all in the parties you do. You want your hostess and her guests to have as much fun as possible, but at the same time, you need to educate them on and interest them in your products. You may also want to plant the idea of one of them becoming a consultant. Party games can accomplish all of this while providing entertainment to the guests. Here are a few of our favorite games. Give them a try and watch your business grow.
1) Bingo
This is an easy all-time favorite and an easy way to introduce a wide variety of products to the group.
Create some bingo cards by drawing a 4 by 4 box grid on a piece of paper. Write “Free” on the center box. Then write the names of your products on the remaining boxes in random order on each of the bingo cards and make yourself a set of cards with just one of the products on each card. You will use this set of cards to draw the bingo “numbers”. You may want to have a sample of each of the products with you and show it and talk about it when the product is drawn during the bingo game. As in ordinary bingo, the first person who has a row of items checked off wins a prize.
2) Get To Know Each Other Game
This game makes for a nice icebreaker, especially if most of the guests don’t know each other. It can also provide you some clues about who may be a potential prospect.
Pass around a bag of M&Ms. Tell everyone to take as many as they would like. Quickly ask them to count the number of candies in their hand. Each person then takes a turn standing up and telling as many things about themselves and their family as they have M&M’s. Of course no one is allowed to eat their M&Ms until they have had their turn.
3) How Well Do You Know Your Hostess?
Give a piece of paper to each of your guests and have them number it from 1 to 10. Then ask them to answer the following questions.
1) What is your hostess’s favorite color?
2) If she could have any vehicle, what would it be?
3) How many kids does she have?
4) What is her favorite hobby?
5) Who is her favorite actor?
6) What is her favorite animal?
7) What is her favorite TV show?
8) What is her favorite food?
9) What is her favorite scent or smell?
10) If you were in need of something, would your hostess give it to you if she can?
After everyone writes down their answers (including the hostess), read the questions again and have the hostess tell everyone her answers. The other guests mark on their papers if they got it right or wrong. The person with the most write answers wins a small prize or discount on their purchase.
You can change and rearrange any of the questions, but leave the last one in place. It provides a nice lead- in to mention that the hostess will get free product if they purchase a certain amount, and/or book their own parties.
4) Left Right Game
This game is a great way to start a party, right before you go into your presentation. Pass out one or two small gifts. Tell your guests that you will read them a story and that they should pass the gift to the person to the right when they hear the word “right” and to the left when you mention “left. The person holding the gift at the end of the story gets to keep it.
Here is the story:
I left my house and was on my way to (insert hostess’s name) house. But I soon discovered that I had left my directions at home, right by the phone! Well, I knew right away that I needed to have the right directions to (insert hostess’s name) house, so I turned left and I turned left and I turned right and made my way back to my house for the right directions. Sure enough, there they were, right where I had left them, right next to the phone.
Finally, I was on the right track. I arrived right on time and set up my (insert your company name) presentation right over here. You all arrived and sat down. I’m going to get right down to work and tell you about (name of company). I hope nothing will be left out. In a moment I’ll show you our new line of (insert your type of products) products. If you left home with the intention of shopping for gifts tonight, you’ll find we have the right gift for everyone. Think about upcoming birthdays and holidays, we don’t want anyone left out. I’d be happy to help you find the right gift for that special someone.
(Insert name of company) has a (insert number of days) –day return policy. When your merchandise comes in please check it right away. If something is not right please call me right away and you can be sure I will take care of it right away. You don’t want to be left with something you are not 100% satisfied with, right? If you’d like to be a hostess and earn free and discounted merchandise, this is the right time for you to explore hosting a party.
I’m enjoying being here with all of you tonight and I hope you are having fun, too. I know you can’t wait to see if we have that special item you have been looking for, so without further delay I will get right to the point of this party, which is showing you our great products! So, there is really nothing left for me to do except congratulate the winner, right?
5) Ask Me About My Job
This game is a great way to get your guests thinking about joining your company.
Get or make up some tickets.
Tell your guests that for the next 3 minutes you are going to play “ Ask Me About My Job”. The first person to come up with a question will get 3 tickets, the second person will get 2 and every question after that earns one ticket.
You will hear questions like “How long have you been doing this?” and “How many hours a week do you work?” Answer them as positively as possible. Good answers to the questions above would be “I’ve been doing this for 12 months and I’ve never had so much fun” and “ I only work evenings and weekends because I want to be home with my kids”.
After the three minutes are up, tell you guests to hang on to their tickets. You will have another short Q&A session towards the end of the party (your guests will have thought of some additional questions by then). After that have a drawing for a small prize.
This game is a great opportunity for you to teach your guests about your business and they may see how could benefit them.
Give a few of these games a try and put your own spin on them. All of these can easily be adapted and modified to work for you and the particular direct sales company that you represent. Go out there and have fun!
