Here is a scenario that you may find yourself facing at some point in your direct sales career: Brandi found one of your flyers on a local community board where you promoted the benefits of hosting a party with you. She is highly interested in the products that you offer and wants to try them. She is also really eager to be able to earn them for free as a party hostess. However, when she asks how a party works and you mention that she would have to host a live party, she becomes extremely reluctant. She says that she is not really interested in having a live party. She doesn’t have the time or space for a party and also knows that all of her friends are way too busy in the coming weeks to attend a party. She wants to take advantage of your hostess rewards program, but she doesn’t see how it will be possible. So what can you do to ensure that you don’t lose Brandi as a hostess and potential customer? Offer her the opportunity to host a catalog party! Although it is generally better to have a live party where people have the opportunity to see, touch, and taste the products, having a catalog party is definitely better than not having a party at all. Below you will find some tips to keep in mind when you are conducting catalog parties. Tip #1: Don’t forget to coach your hostess Hostess coaching is a critical part of having a successful home party. The same thing holds true for catalog parties. However, many direct sellers fail to realize that. They simply give the hostess a packet of catalogs and expect her to do the rest naturally. You need to take the time to explain to your hostess how everything will work throughout the entire process. Otherwise you may end up with a frustrated hostess and no sales. Explain to her how the hostess rewards work, how to calculate taxes on orders, and what kind of payment methods you accept. Tip #2: Offer her a hostess incentive Just because your hostess is not providing you with a room full of guests at a live party, does not mean that she is not entitled to the same rewards that any of your other hostesses would receive. Let her know what she is going to earn for taking the time to help you spread the word about your products and opportunity. Tip #3: Offer a booking incentive Your hostess may not have been interested in booking a live party, but that doesn’t mean that her friends and family would not be open to the idea. Just as you would offer a booking incentive to live party guests, extend the same offer to people who participate in your hostess’s catalog show. Tip #4: Give them sales tips When a hostess does a catalog party, it falls to her to presell people on the products. Show her how to point out her favorite products in the catalog as well as how to highlight any special promotions that you or the company are offering. Tip #5: Don’t hoard the catalogs I know that catalogs are a business expense and you may not want to hand out a lot of them, but if you don’t you will be shooting yourself in the foot. Be sure to give your hostess a lot of catalogs (with your contact info clearly labeled). Not everyone she encounters will have the time to flip through the catalog on the spot. Some of them will want to take one home to peruse at their leisure. Make sure they have the chance to do that. Tip #6: Track orders as they come in Call your hostess regularly to see how things are coming along. As she turns in orders to you, you can keep her updated on which rewards she has earned. This serves to motivate her to keep pushing for more. Tip #7: Set a deadline You don’t want the catalog party to run forever. Just as you would have an ending point for a live party, you want to have one for a catalog party. Generally one week is a good amount of time. It gives your hostess enough time to distribute the catalogs, have people peruse them, and collect the orders. Besides, it wouldn’t be fair to the people who placed their orders early to have to wait a long time to receive their products. Hopefully this has helped to give you a fresh perspective on how to host a successful catalog party. Have you ever hosted a catalog party? How did it go?
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AuthorMy name is Monica, and I am a Freelance artist & Archives
May 2019
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