When it comes to your direct sales business, how many things are you doing the hard way when there might be an easier way? Some ideas to ponder:

* Are you scrambling to make up a hostess packet or lead packet at the last minute every time someone requests one, when you could spend an evening each month assembling 10-12 packs that you would then have ready to go at a moment’s notice?

* Are you wasting 20 minutes deciding what to wear for every party, when you could have two standard party outfits that you always wear so you can get out the door quickly?

* Are you begging the same few people over and over again to host a party or join your team, when you could get a table at a fair in a town 30-60 minutes away and get bookings and recruits in a whole new area?

* After a fair or event, are you sad because no-one calls you to book or order? Or are you getting their information (not just handing out yours) so you can follow up with people in a timely manner, and adding people to your database so they receive emails about sales and hostess specials?

* Are you missing out on awards or bonuses by a few dollars and then kicking yourself afterwards? Or are you staying on top of your personal and team sales and any company incentives for the month, so you can maximize the rewards you can achieve?

Take the time to analyze your business and you might just find that there’s an easier way of doing things!

He makes some very valid points. Most newcomers to direct selling start by asking their family and friends to help them out by hosting a party. But I always urge my new team members to try and make those bookings in diverse groups of people. You want to encourage the hostesses to invite as many people as they can that you don’t know. Your business has more chance of being successful if you can move quickly past the people who are just hosting a party as a favor to you, and find those people who actually really want and need what you have to offer. Provide exemplary customer service and a fun party experience (two recurring themes in this blog!) and word will spread.

After a few years in this business, I can now look at my calendar and see that 95% of my bookings are with people I do not know outside of my parties. I have a sustainable business and I’m no longer reliant on close personal friends to host as a favor or do my marketing for me.

Great blog I stumbled over here after searching for tips on how to be a good hostess for my friend, who is in direct sales. If you’ve got any great ideas on how I can create a fun experience for my guests so it will (hopefully) be a successful party for my friend, I’d appreciate it!

So I thought I’d write a post to give some suggestions on how Jen and any other hostesses out there can create a great party for their guests, as well as making their direct sales consultant very happy!

1. Over-invite. Only about 1/4 to 1/3 of the people you invite to a direct sales party will typically come. I’ve had the occasional party with 20+ guests, but it’s a rarity. Far better to have that problem than the far more common scenario where the hostess only invites 10 people and ends up with 3 guests. You and the consultant are doing all this work – let’s make it worth your while. 8-10 guests makes a great party.

2. Answer your phone and email. A good consultant will want to check in with you at least two or three times before the party. Have people received their invites? How many people are you expecting? Did you know about the extra hostess special this month? Do us a favor and return our phone calls or answer our emails. It’s very hard to prepare for a party when you have no clue whether you need to bring 5 catalogs or 20.

3. Collect outside orders in advance. There is nothing better than arriving at a party to discover that a hostess already has $100 in outside orders and a booking waiting for you. We’ll love you forever! A good consultant will give you extra catalogs in your hostess packet to pass around to friends and colleagues who can’t attend the party. Share your excitement and you should get orders and even bookings, all of which means more free stuff for you.

4. Farm out the kids. Pick a time to host when your husband is around and he can get the kids out of the way, or put them to bed. There’s nothing worse than whiny overtired kids who want to “help” me with my display, or who talk through the presentation, or who constantly interrupt and distract the guests.

5. Lock up the pets. Please put them outside or in another room. I don’t need to have an 80lb dog hurling itself at the front door as I try to carry in my boxes. I don’t want a cat brushing up against my display or a dog slobbering on all the products. Many consultants and guests are allergic to animals. Just because they are a beloved member of your family doesn’t mean we want them rubbing all over us.

6. Don’t overdo the food. Most direct sales parties take place at 7 or 7.30pm. Most guests will have already eaten dinner and will only want a light snack or something to nibble on. My heart sinks when I see the hostess taking tray after tray of hot food out of the oven. Either it won’t get eaten, or the party will end up in the kitchen and nobody will be looking at the products or catalogs! Stick to some chips and dip, a few veggies or a fruit salad for the health conscious, and a plate of brownies. It’s less work for you and less of a distraction for the guests.

7. Alcohol in moderation. It’s fine to offer your guests a glass of wine. Themed Margarita parties can even be fun. A little alcohol helps to loosen everyone up. But this is not the time to be offering 12 different kinds of cocktails, or getting people drunk. They won’t want to sit and listen to me, and they’ll end up talking loudly over everything. Worst case scenario, they’ll order something and then want to return it because they don’t recall choosing it.

8. Use your hostess benefits and share with your friends what you got. I have parties where the hostess qualifies for hundreds of dollars in free and discounted merchandise, but only uses a fraction of it. I like to see the hostess make the most of her benefits – after all, why are you having the party in the first place if you don’t like the stuff? Also, share with your friends how much you enjoyed the experience and how much you earned for free. It gets other people excited enough that they want to book their own party. There should be an extra benefit for you as the hostess for securing bookings; and they are the lifeblood of a consultant’s business, so we’ll be grateful too!

Party on Saturday night: 4 guests, $83 in orders.

Sometimes, there is no rhyme or reason to this business!

What are some stratgeies you’ve employed to get people to “book in close”? Here are some I’ve tried:
* offering an additional or especially generous hostess gift, but only for bookings in the next 4 weeks. Helps if you actually bring the product with you for the guests to “ooh” and “ah” over.
* having a knowledge of what your company typically offers for promotions at different times of the year. If you’re a newer consultant, ask your upline what to expect in terms of special offers in upcoming months. An experienced consultant should have a good idea of when the company typically offers sales, bonus hostess dollars, anniversary specials or other deals that you can use as booking incentives.
* open date cards – many direct sales experts advocate only listing your next few available dates on a card, rather than opening your calendar wide when somebody wants to book.

I’d love to hear other ideas! Do share in the comments.

However, at times you are truly going to encounter that stubborn person who is just not budging from that date they had in mind in three months’ time. At that point I usually smile graciously, figuring that an October booking is better than nothing, and then seek to fill in the blanks.

Firstly, I participated in a focus group. For two hours I got to give my good, bad and sometimes ugly opinions about one of the local big-box stores. I had many things to praise about their operation, but several ongoing concerns as well. It struck me how useful this information could be to them, assuming they were able to get past the natural desire to get offended at the criticism and instead see it as an opportunity to review their practices. Especially if they heard the same concern from several respondents, it might be time to consider a change.

Secondly, a friend of mine recently attended an in-home party. Upon returning home, she got straight in touch with me to tell me about how awful the presentation was! The company shall remain nameless – however, I will say that it was a cooking demonstration, and leave you to fill in the blanks. The consultant was, to put it nicely, lacking in charisma. She suffers from severe food allergies and as a result hasn’t tasted any of her company’s food products and couldn’t provide feedback on them to the guests. She kept pushing a dish made with chicken broth on a vegetarian, even when it was politely and repeatedly declined. When anyone expressed the slightest interest in any of the products, she jumped on them to ask for a booking. My friend said the consultant seemed simultaneously desperate and disinterested – an odd combination. She ended her rant with a lovely compliment to me: “Now I’ve been to a few of your parties, I know what makes a good one!

I got me thinking: What if the consultant knew how people were really feeling after her presentation? What would she do with that information? Has she ever asked anyone for feedback? Would she go on the defensive, or be able to take a good look at what was working and what wasn’t? Something to internalize and ponder….

* I have a repeat customer with a shopping compulsion that she hides from her husband. She refused to give me her credit card number over the phone the other night, because her husband was in the vicinity and would overhear her. I can’t imagine keeping secrets like that from my spouse. I feel a bit guilty that I’m somehow enabling her…

* When I do booths at fairs, I often put out some crackers and dip as a way to entice people to stop and check out my display and engage them in conversation. At a recent fair, a Board of Health inspector came along and told me that was illegal and I had to throw it out. I understood his position and happily complied, but I thought it was strange that I’ve done this at 30+ fairs before without anybody ever commenting on it.

* I was unloading my car in the rain before a recent party. I opened my trunk to grab the next round of products, and a cat leaped out! I would have got a shock if I’d been driving home and had suddenly discovered I had a live stowaway souvenir from my hostess…

* At another recent party, the glass screen door slammed behind me as I had my hands full of products, hard enough to knock some tchotchkes off a shelf in the next room. Everyone came running to see if I was OK. Fortunately the damaged teapot and photo frame didn’t appear to be of great monetary or sentimental value, but I felt awful! I am meant to be leaving the hostess with additional items, not breaking them!

She was excited to find me and began filling out an order form; then, after very little persuasion on my part, she changed her mind and decided to host a party with me instead. I love these repeat hostesses, because they know what the deal is and how hosting works. Typically they have a circle of friends who also like the items and keep asking when the next party is going to be!

It got me thinking about what happens when a consultant quits. Usually when that happens, it’s because they feel they have exhausted their pool of leads. It’s rare to find someone who resigns with a calendar full of bookings! However, even with nothing scheduled, they presumably still have a database of past customers and hostesses. Those people liked the product enough to purchase it or be a hostess in the past (they weren’t all just doing the consultant a favor!). When their source decides to leave the business, are they left high and dry?

A couple of local women who were formerly with my company actually came to me and passed over their customer contact lists when they left the business due to changing circumstances. They sent a message to their customers explaining why they were leaving, and introducing me as the person their customers should now contact for products. I thought this was a very responsible decision, and I felt honored to be chosen (especially as I was not the consultant’s direct upline in either case, but just someone they felt would be reliable and provide good service). If you ever quit your direct sales position, I highly encourage you to “Think of the customers!” and do the same.

This is also a prime example of why you should try to stay in your fellow consultants’ good books. It doesn’t cost anything to be helpful and supportive of others in your wider team or company family, and you never know when they might quit and send business your way!

This article by Al Pittampalli entitled “7 tips for leaving great sales voicemails” has some great suggestions. I plan on using it to come up with a script specifically for when I get an answering machine. Then I’m going to hit those phones and see what results I get!