Increase Direct Sales Through Happy Hostesses
Whether you’re a full time or part-time direct sales professional, you’re in business to make money. Direct sales professionals know that more customers mean more sales. One of the best ways to more customers and more sales is through hostess programs and home parties.
Hostess programs reward your hostesses with incentives such as discounts or free merchandise when the party sales level reaches a certain amount. In addition to a great rewards program, do your best to ensure your hostess has a terrific party experience all the way around.
Share your enthusiasm about the party with your hostess. A happy hostess is an excited one. Show her all the impressive items she can receive for hosting a great party. An enthusiastic hostess will spread her excitement to her guests which can mean a larger turnout and more sales for you. Her enthusiasm will also help her stay focused on her goals of having a successful party.
Set goals with your hostess so she can take advantage of the best that your rewards program has to offer. Help her set manageable goals so she doesn’t set herself up for failure. Too large an amount may be unachievable, but help her set a large enough goal that it’s a challenge she can reach.
Go over the party plan and contact her at periodic intervals to make sure she’s on track with her goals. A prepared hostess is a happy one. Create a party plan that outlines the steps you both will take for a successful event. Go over any activities you have planned and any questions your hostess may have.
Coach your hostess. Create an easy-to-follow checklist that you can give her to ensure she has a successful party. Review the checklist often and answer any questions your hostess may have. It’s best that the checklist is short so it won’t seem overwhelming to your hostess and dampen her excitement.
Be flexible. If your hostess has her eye on a certain product that isn’t part of the rewards offered create a way for her to receive that item through her party anyway. She’ll love the fact that you went out of your way to help her. And be sure she’ll tell others what a great consultant you are!
Before the party, review the goals you and your hostess have set. Contact guests to remind them about the party and invite them to come be a part of the fun and games you and your hostess have planned for the evening. Encourage them to bring a friend to make the time even more enjoyable.
If your hostess has invited people who can’t attend, offer them the opportunity to order online or provide her with a catalog to gather outside sales. Your hostess will appreciate you going the extra mile to help her reach her desired sales level.
During the party emphasize how your product fits the needs of your hostess and how it will fit the needs of the party guests as well. Treat the hostess’s guests with respect. Listen to the questions they ask and answer them politely. Remember they are the friends, relatives, and coworkers of the hostess. Consider a party game that allows guests to win discounts or free merchandise in addition to what the hostess earns.
Direct sales professionals want happy hostesses for a number of reasons. Happy hostesses tell their friends about their great party experiences. Other party attendants are more likely to host a party with you because they see how much fun their hostess had and the great rewards she received. Word of mouth will spread about your products, but more importantly about your rewards and the great experience you offer your hostesses.
After the party ends, it’s vital that you follow up with your hostess. Within three days of the party, send her a personal note thanking her for hosting a party and remind her of her gifts for being a hostess. You can also send a little reminder that if she has any friends interested in hosting to pass your information along to them. Following up with your hostess shows her you care about her, not just your sales, and it gives you a chance to see how she and her friends likes their products.
The key to a happy hostess is great rewards, outstanding customer service, easy and efficient party set up, dynamic follow-up, and of course great products backed by a terrific money back guarantee. Work with your hostess and provide her with one on one personal service tailored to her needs for a successful home party for your direct sales business.
Four Keys to a Successful Home Party
With some direct sales businesses, home parties are the fastest way to success. When you have three or more people who come to a home party, you’ll get a lot more orders than if you contacted prospective customers individually.
With your presentation, charm, and ability to answer questions, people will feel more comfortable placing an order at a home party and they’ll continue to order from you in the future. Trust is a huge factor in direct sales.
Remember, too, that you probably wouldn’t have contacted these particular people had it not been for the party your hostess set up for you. You could end up with a new recruit or a valued customer from a successful home party.
An important question comes to mind, when you think about home parties, is how do you make a home party successful? Here are some things to consider.
1. Book the Right Day
Consider the time and date you plan for your party. You don’t want to host a party in the middle of the afternoon on a weekday unless the people who will attend are free during the day. Also consider holidays and the time of year you hold your parties. You might think a weekend best, but that isn’t always the case. Sometimes a Tuesday or Thursday evening is better because people like to have their weekends free to relax and do family things.
2. Send Invitation Letters or Postcards
After you set the date and time for your party, offer to help your hostess invite her friends and family. When you offer your hostess letters or postcard invitations to send or hand out, she will have better results in getting people to attend. Some people have a hard time calling people to invite them, so giving them a letter or postcard might be exactly what they need.
You can send another postcard three or four days prior to the party as a reminder. People are busy so they can use every reminder possible! You can even offer to call your hostess’s guests yourself if you feel comfortable doing that. The second reminder really does make a difference.
3. Use a Hostess Checklist
Create a checklist that helps your hostess remember everything she needs to do prior to her party so she’ll be successful. A successful hostess means a successful direct sales consultant!
Include sending out invitations, phone call reminders, getting catalog orders in advance to boost her sales, and a wishlist of products she wants to earn. Your hostess may be a little nervous about having people in her home, so offering her all the help you can will make her feel more at ease. Create a simple list that can be printed and given to her at the time her party is scheduled.
4. Call Your Hostess to Confirm and Remind Her
A confirmation call a week before the party and a reminder call one or two days prior will be helpful to both you and your hostess. Confirm that she’s still planning for the party, verify the invitations and reminders have been sent, and ask about any questions or concerns. Address anything that may have come up with your hostess and ask if there is anything you can do to make her planning easier.
Home parties are a great way to build your direct sales business. They off you a room full of prospective customers regardless of the type of direct sales business you have. Home parties can be very successful for your business if you follow these tips.
Successful Strategies for Making Your Next Show a Hit
Want to succeed in direct sales through home parties and shows? Then make sure your hostess and her guests have a great time! Build a reputation for hosting fun, entertaining and informative shows and you’ll keep your booking calendar full all year long.
Here are some things you can do to ensure the best home parties possible for your direct sales business. Mix them up and use the ones you’re comfortable and the ones that get a good response from your circle of customers and hostesses for the best results.
• Play 2-3 Games
There are hundreds of possible games you can play. Consider Custom Bingo (using words related to your direct sales business), warm-up and get acquainted games, and many others.
Ask other direct sales consultants for ones they use. Search online for “direct sales games” or go to the library and check out a book on indoor games. Adapt as needed and offer lots of prizes!
• Hold a Door Prize Drawing
Create a simple drawing slip with the contact’s full name, address, phone number and email along with a couple of simple checkboxes like “I’d love to book a show in my home” or “I’m interested in owning a business of my own.” Have every guest fill out a form and draw a winner at the end for a nice (inexpensive) prize.
• Let Your Hostess Do the Demonstration
Ask your hostess if she has ever used your products before. If not, select a guest who has and have her to help with your demonstration. If you sell make-up, have her put it on herself or a guest. If you sell home decor, have her make an arrangement for you. If you sell candles, have her select her favorite scent and describe the mood it creates. And so on…
• Make a Custom Word Find Game
Use words associated with your direct sales business and make a word find game. Word finds are simple to make and fun to solve. Use the free online tool at Armored Penguin to create a custom puzzle that you can print and copy for your shows. Be sure to give a prize to the first one to find all the words.
• Provide Child Care
Many women would love to host or attend a home party, but often find it difficult to find a babysitter. If you have a teenager or two in your life, hire them to care for the kids in another room, a basement or the back yard while your show is going on. You can bet that the next time your hostess wants to book a home party, she’ll think of you and your excellent customer service!
• Host a Theme Party
Go for a summer barbecue, a pampering spa party, an upbeat dance party, even a modified costume party! Whatever you choose, get your hostess involved in the planning and make it an all out event focused on fun. It’s sure to be a success.
Whichever strategies you use at your home parties, have fun yourself. You’ll become known as the direct sales representative who hosts the best parties, which will ensure your direct sales business is a raging success!
Create Desire At Your Show
Sell The Benefit Not The Feature
In order to create desire at your home party you must focus on the benefits. You will improve your party plan presentation with these quick tips.
Benefits sell products, features do not. When you are talking about your products at a show, be sure that you are creating pictures for your guests using the benefits of a product.
What is the difference between a feature and a benefit?
A Feature Is About The Product
- The ball is orange.
- The whisk is stainless steel.
- The lip balm is petroleum free.
- The vest is a polyester/cotton blend.
A Benefit Is About The Person
- Lots of kids came up to Johnny to play because of his bright orange ball.
- The ball was easy to find when Johnny kicked it into the woods.
- You can put this stainless steel whisk in the dishwasher.
- This whisk will last a lifetime because it will never rust.
- The lip balm does not dry out your lips even more.
- This lip balm will stop the lip balm addiction, as it actually soothes your skin instead of drying it out more.
- You can put this vest in the dryer because it is a poly blend.
- You will never worry about this vest shrinking.
Relates to all products
This feature and benefit comparison will work with any product or service. Just sit down and list the features of all of your products, offers or services, and then write a list of benefits to the person next to the feature.
People Buy Emotionally
The next step is to create an emotionally charged statement with each feature and benefit on your list. People shop and purchase emotionally, so create and memorize statements that draw out the emotional benefits of a product.
- Johnny is so excited with all the new friends he made at the park today while playing with his orange ball.
- I can’t believe I will never have to buy another wire whisk in my whole entire life! And it goes in the dishwasher too!
- Ever since I started using this lip balm, my husband has commented on how soft my lips are.
- Today I was rushing around and just pulled this vest straight out of the dryer and threw it on. Wash, dry and wear. It is so simple!
