Any tips for a new Pampered Chef consultant?

[rchamelin]

:chef:Im just about to order my kit. I am getting the bigger one because I feel the value is better. I am signing under my Aunt who over 6 years been in it. I am a stay at home mom with 4 children, Natalie just turn 5, Benjamin 3, Autumn Rose 2, and Ryan7mths. I need just a little time to myself especally since we are homeschooling as well. Busy busy. I am determined to make this work. I have been studying this site like I am having a huge exam. I already have 2 catalog shows and 4 cooking shows within 30 days of eachother so I am waiting to finish filling the paper work so I can get the most out of my first 30 days. I am excited and nervice all at the same time about it all. I did slumber parties over 5 years ago and slumped down failed because of lack of bookings and am extreemly scared I am going to do that again. My Aunt lives 2 hours away but we should be able to make something work out. I was possibly thinking about making an insentive for people that will book within my first 30 days from my party*any ideas*. One lady(who honestly I bought something from her in a yardsale site) we got talking and i mentioned to her that I was starting pampered chef and she booked me right away and said she has a few friends that they have a lot more friends who loves pc and would probually book for me. Scares me because that will be my first show but I didn't want to say no, good thing I am outgoing...I wanted to know where do you get car decals and how successful is the card holder on the car(looking into getting that when I order my kit from amazon). I was looking at the PYB and thought that is a great idea since when I went into the bank to set up a seprate account I told the teller and she wants a catalog because she loves the products but dosen't like hosting shows, should I bring the book to her and talk to her about pyb, or send a letter to the office, or bring them something stright then and there? I also wanted to know about the catalog parties between insentives like feb/march, which book should i give them? should i just give them the march ones since they will not close until march, or keep the winter since people can call me anytime with orders. How can I go about getting bookings from the ones participating in the calalog show, should I staple a flyer on each book?
Sorry for so many question, I have spend days on this site and countless hours, but these things are not too clear.
How would i look for vendor tables, I tried asking on a local website and the only person that responded told me that they already have a pushy rep and comented on my spelling(my computer didn't catch it) and said they didn't need anymore...how rude...I responded that I was sorry if I offended them, I am only human and please resort to my question I asked. I felt it was an approprate way of handling it since I knew it was a test to the community on how I will react to things.I am semi new here btw with no family but I am traveling to see my family and that is what 2 of the shows are from.
I think I am going to start a newsletter no matter how small with tidbits on different products starting after my website goes live...ideas or suggestion

Does anyone else have any advice or wisdom for me??? Thank you all in advance for all of your wonderful post that is on this site.



My computer is not catching spelling and I can't find the spell check...sorry:blushing:

 

[chefheidi2003]

Hello, welcome to the site. This is such a helpful site. Just remember we are all human and sometimes have a difference of opinion and you will enjoy this site.

As for some of your questions. I would suggest giving the Spring/Summer catalogs if the catalog show is ending in March. Especially because you only have until March 15 to submit Feb shows and that way you don't take the chance of it not closing for you to submit it on time.

Vendor tables are nice. But if it is sales that you are looking for they are not good. They are more of something to help you gain contacts.

Since the teller asked for a catalog I would see about PYB but I would make it a point to give her her own catalog since she asked for one. Maybe tell her that she can have the host benefits, then she will try to help get more orders.

 

[esavvymom]

First- WELCOME. I am a home-school mom also (2 boys).I tried to answer your questions as best I know- from my own experience and what I've learned over the last few years. Hope it helps!!I was possibly thinking about making an incentive for people that will book within my first 30 days from my party*any ideas*.
You choose. You could offer your first hosts a free Pantry Rub of their choice. Back in the day when PC did it, they offered a pantry item. One of those items would be the easiest, in my opinion. But you dno't have to offer anything! It's up to you.I wanted to know where do you get car decals and how successful is the card holder on the car(looking into getting that when I order my kit from amazon). Our vendor for stuff like that is "Merrill". Go to Consultant's Corner", then PROMOTING & BUILDING BUSINESS--> Licensed Merchandise Vendor. Scroll to the bottom of the page, and you'll see the very last link is "marketing impressions". That takes you to Merrill's site. The car decals are under "Promote your business".I was looking at the PYB and thought that is a great idea since when I went into the bank to set up a separate account I told the teller and she wants a catalog because she loves the products but doesn't like hosting shows, should I bring the book to her and talk to her about pyb, or send a letter to the office, or bring them something straight then and there?I would take her in a couple of catalogs and order forms- the things she'd need for a catalog show. Ask her if she'd like to pass aroudn the catalog to collect orders. Be sure to include a print-out of the Host and Guest special for February and tell her that the UNGLAZED Stones and Metal Bakeware are on sale for Guests, and that she as the host will be entitled to 2 items (including the glazed) for 60% - she can get the Deep Covered Baker for $34!!! Then you can tell her that you'll come in to collect the orders on a set date (you guys figure that out- I would target 10 days), and when you come back, you'll bring her a plate of goodies to share in the office! I also wanted to know about the catalog parties between incentives like feb/march, which book should i give them? should i just give them the march ones since they will not close until march, or keep the winter since people can call me anytime with orders. If you need FEB bookings- use the FEB Catalog. Don't talk about the March catalog yet. But if this is a March show, or you need March bookings, then use the new catalog. When the show closes isn't as important. You can close a February show up until March 15th, and it will count as a February show for the Guest/Host specials....being in March won't matter (if you read the fine print at the bottom of the specials flyers, you'll find info like that.) Just know that if you have a Feb show close in March, is won't count towards the Consultant incentives....so our "double points" and our "2 shows for HWC bags" - it won't count towards that. It counts towards your commission - you'd get paid for it in March, and it would count towards having you active the month the show closes, but for Feb OR MArch bonus incentives as consultants, it would do nothing. That's why most people try to close out shows by the end of the calendar month if at all possible. Again though, not a requirement though....just up to you.How can I go about getting bookings from the ones participating in the catalog show, should I staple a flyer on each book?CALL THEM. Followup for customer care. The best way is to call them after they receive their products (or should have)- preferably within the 30-day mark. You are calling to make sure they received their order, are happy with it, and if they have any questions. You can then use that call to talk more about PC, etc.How would i look for vendor tables? Sorry the one lady was rude, but bless and release and move on from her sour-face. Here is a thread with all sorts of ideas on how to find vendor shows. http://www.chefsuccess.com/f52/looking-do-booth-here-ideas-where-find-them-43599/[/I]

 

[babywings76]

Hi! Welcome to PC and CS!You sure do have a lot of questions!! Most of us do when we first start, so you're perfectly normal. One thing you may want to do when you have lots of questions is to put them in different threads. So your questions regarding Pamper a Business could be answered and people can find it later to refer to more easily since it would be listed in a category more appropriate. Same thing with the vendor questions. There's lots of different threads that discuss them and you can do a "search" on this site to read up on them. Feel free to start a new thread to ask your questions, though. It's okay to ask.Also, you might want to check out this: http://www.chefsuccess.com/f18/hitc...ss-unofficial-new-users-guide-list-faq-32274/So to answer a few of your questions:If you have someone doing a Feb. show then you have to go by the F/W catalog. If you want to take advantage of the Feb. consultant incentive, then you need to get those shows closed and submitted by the Feb. 29th deadline. If you aren't concerned with the consultant incentive and are just wanting the shows for qualifying and the commission and PC$ New Consultant incentives, then you have until March 15th to submit a Feb. show.If you know for sure that someone isn't closing their show until March, then you can just have them do a March show with the March host & guest specials. Then it will count for the March consultant incentive. Again though, if you don't care about the regular consultant incentive, then you can offer your hosts a choice between the Feb & March specials, but remember that a Feb. show would have to be submitted by March 15th the latest.I have a hard time getting bookings from catalog shows, but others might have some good advice there. What I try to do is encourage my host to ask their friends, especially the friends who say they love PC but can't buy anything right now. I've offered incentives, but even they don't always get catalog hosts to do it. There's just something different about catalog shows. A lot of them don't do that great because the host puts it off. When they have a party, they get more sales and then they are motivated to get the outside orders because they had fun and saw lots of products they want. If your aunt is too far away for you to attend meetings, see if she can find you a local group for "hospitality". It's nice to get together with other consultants for monthly meetings. It really does help.Side note: there might be a way to edit your settings to get your spell checker to work. You might also want to just hit enter a couple times to make a space in between your paragraphs. It can be hard to read sometimes with long paragraphs, we might miss something. Hope that helps! Hope you find this site helpful! Good luck and have fun!!

 

[ShellBeach]

Welcome! Sounds like you are doing great on making contacts outside of your friends & family circle.
My main advice is when those folks say they want a party, SET A DATE!

 

[rchamelin]

Thank you ladies for all of your help and kind words...