Hostess Coaching - Your Roadway to Successful Home Shows

Many direct sales distributors rely heavily on home shows to market
their products. Unfortunately, this method of marketing seems to be a
bit more challenging than in previous decades.

While many of your
friends and family may have good intentions of opening up their homes,
the busy lifestyle that has swept the nation prevents many hostesses
from following through with their original intent. Sporting events,
school breaks, holidays, illnesses and weather conditions are only a
few of the factors leading to low party attendance or cancellations.

In
a world where shopping on the internet has become rather convenient, we
seem to have moved away from community entertainment in our homes. This
has created a difficult situation for those who have chosen to work
from home while relying on home shows as a primary source of income.

For
those who are motivated by a challenge, I encourage you to take a
closer look at your method of hostess coaching. You will find that your
contact with your hostess prior to your show will greatly
determine the outcome of both attendance and sales. If you are ready to
take the reigns of your success, the following steps will prove to be
beneficial in giving your business a financial face-lift.

Hostess coaching begins the moment you and your hostess agree on a date for your show.
At the time a date is determined, you will want to have a hostess
packet ready to hand over to your hostess so she can begin to make
arrangements with her friends to attend her party. This packet should
include the following:

• 3-4 catalogs
• 3-4 order forms for any outside orders
• A 'wish list' for her to begin working towards her goal of earning FREE products
• A guest list for her to document the name, address, phone number and email addresses
• A self addressed, stamped envelope

Give your hostess a deadline to have her wish list and guest list in the mail.
I recommend a postmark date of 3 days after she has received the
hostess packet. Reward her with a special gift item if she has both of
these lists to you by the specified date and offer an additional gift
item if she gives you a completed guest list of 30 names or more.

Personally mail the postcard invitations for your hostess.
You are kidding yourself if you think your hostesses are getting their
invitations out in a timely manner, if at all. This is your
responsibility and is simply a business expense. If done properly, your
party attendance and sales will far outweigh the additional cost of
postage.

Make personal contact with each guest 1-2 days prior to the event.
Remember to remind them to bring a friend and let them know of any
incentives you offer if they follow through. If you are unable to make
personal contact, by all means leave a message!

Host a drawing.
This is a great way to get more information from your guests. Be sure
to encourage each person to put down their email address for future
notification of specials and new seasonal catalogs. This is critical in
finding out who might be interested in joining your team or perhaps
hosting a show.

Display future openings for home shows.
With this method, you determine the dates and times you want to work.
Write the date and time down on a note card and display this on your
table for all to see. Make it available for the guests to pluck the
card from the display and bring it directly to you upon checkout. You
may want to offer an incentive for booking a show that will be
presented to your hostess at the time of the show.

Have ready-made hostess packets available.
You will want to go over all the information in the packet with your
hostess. This way she can begin making plans immediately after she
leaves the party.

Be sure to publicly thank your hostess.
You must show your appreciation for your hostess publicly. During this
time, inform her guests of free or ½ price items she has earned as a
result of hosting the show. Let them know her goal to earn free items
and remind the guests that this is a great time to purchase gifts for
birthdays, holidays, graduations and special occasions.

Finally, have a Hostess Appreciation Show immediately after the new catalog is introduced.
It is a lot of fun to open your home to recognize your hostesses. As a
special hostess incentive, you may want to offer a discounted price on
any inventory you have accumulated during the previous season or
present them with a gift certificate for any purchases made from the
new catalog. This is a wonderful opportunity to book new shows by
providing a special luncheon with thank you gifts for each hostess. It
may be wise to invite frequent buyers to your appreciation show as a
way of saying thank you for their support of your business.

It is
important to remember that while you are self employed and fortunate to
be able to work from your homes, you must be self-motivated and willing
to work the business. Direct sales requires you to get out in your
community and begin networking with others to be successful. Be excited
about your product and promote your business opportunity and product
line to everyone you meet to obtain maximum exposure. You business will
begin to flourish once you begin to take the reigns and reap the
benefits of being in the driver’s seat leading to financial success!

Sabrina
Coffin enjoys working exclusively from her home in the Pacific
Northwest on the Washington Coast. She has been in marketing for the
past 10 years and has enjoyed the home show aspect of the direct sales
career opportunity. If you are interested in learning more about her
home candle business and how she has learned to successfully work her
business from the internet, you may visit her website at http://www.oceansidescents.com/

For a complete product review you may visit http://www.scentme2heaven.scent-team.com/

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