I Have Been Contiplating This Idea What Do You Think?

[smarteez2]

Ok here is the deal. I was using the sales receipts for the supply order form the ones that are 3 ply for shows. I give the host, the guest and of course I keep a copy. Then when I close out the show I print each guest out an PP official receipt as well along with a thank you letter. You can see where I am going with this..... SO much wasted paperwork!! So what I would like to do is just have a blank sheet of paper in the guests folders for them to write down what they would like to get and then tell the guests their total after I enter into PP (at the show of course) and then when I close the show I will continue to give the thank you letter with a PP reciept to the host so they can put them in the bags whith the merchandise. Do you think people would have a problem leaving a show without an official receipt? Did my question make sense?

 

[DebbieJ]

I do it all the time. I give them a "wish list"--just something I made up with a bunch of lines on it.

They write what they want, they star or circle what they want to order, then at check out we sit and I enter it right into PP on my laptop.

I do keep extra receipts with me in case anyone wants one, but not a single person has taken me up on it.

I go home and print receipts and thank yous via PP and mail them all to the host with her thank you letter when we close the show.

 

[beepampered]

I use my own version of the outside order form that I have copied or print off my computer. I then send the official receipt to the host. I think it looks more professional.

 

[pcchris]

I use both - sometimes I use the "official" write in forms, other times I use one that my director emailed me. I stopped using the homemade ones, because I thought that I heard somewhere that you had to give customers the official ones so they knew that they had 48 hours to change their minds and get a refund...........anyone heard that one yet??

 

[lisacb77]

I thought legally we are required to give them one at the show?

I use 3 pt at the shows. I give them the customer copy when they order, then tear off the host copy and send with pp reciepts for the outside orderse online to host for bags. That way if anyone lost the first, they have another.

That way, I'm only using PP for outside orders to save paper. HTH.

 

[Jennie4PC]

My guests never get a reciept until they get thier order mine have never had a problem

 

[gilliandanielle]

Legally we are supposed to supply them with a reciept with the legal mumbo jumbo on the back about cancelling their order. I hardly ever give people a reciept and have never had a problem.

 

[lizcooks4u]

YOu're right...

I use both - sometimes I use the "official" write in forms, other times I use one that my director emailed me. I stopped using the homemade ones, because I thought that I heard somewhere that you had to give customers the official ones so they knew that they had 48 hours to change their minds and get a refund...........anyone heard that one yet??

I didn't use to give receipts sometimes until their order came in and stuck it in the bag with their items. PC HO told me and I read somewhere where we have to give the guests a receipt upon payment and it has to have the printed info on the back of the receipt too

Liz

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

Legally we are supposed to supply them with a reciept with the legal mumbo jumbo on the back about cancelling their order. I hardly ever give people a reciept and have never had a problem.

Yet.

No one ever reads the prospectus, either, until they're in trouble.

I keep seeing this thread title as "I've been constipating this..." which seems appropriate for the whole world of, well, scat, we could get into with someone. The whole "Do you take your laptop to shows" idea, from people who use no paper at all, has bothered me for this very reason.

I always manage to screw up sales tax on at least one order for each show, it's become tradition. I haven't done a real Cooking Show yet this year, but I've got two coming up quickly. This year, I plan on using the three part order form as always, but enter everything into my laptop at the show - and enter the totals on the bottom of three part form. That way, I don't have to double-enter info into PPP and the customer has a take-home receipt.

 

[pkd09]

This is what I am doing until my laptop gets fixed. I use the OOF on CC for the guests at the show. After the show I go home and input the orders into the computer. When the show is closed I print up PC sales receipts and staple the OOF to the PC receipt for the guests. I send these to the host to put in with guests product. On the PC receipt I staple a Thank You note typed up reminding them to keep their receipt for warranty issues, has my consultant info including website, if they would like to have a show etc. When my laptop is working I take that to my shows using again the OOF, I input the order from the OOF to my laptop right at the show and give the OOF back to the guest telling them it is their temporary receipt.

 

[kearstin]

For those of you who take your laptop to shows, do you find that guests are waiting forever on you?

I always feel rushed when tallying their orders or even just checking their math! I would love to take my laptop and do everything right there, but I'm afraid the guests would get annoyed with the extra time it would take me to type in their info. Maybe I'm just super slow...

 

[lisacb77]

KG that is exactly what I do. I tell them don't worry about the bottom, will copy from the laptop!

Kearstin, to avoid the "waiting" feeling, I tell them I need them to call out their item numbers to me so I make sure the right things are coming up in the system. That way they are participating, plus I can offer tips and suggestions based on the items. I then take the time they are writing their check or fishing for their CC to fill in the bottom as KG describes. HTH.

Oh, and I don't type in their address etc. at the show, just their name. I do that when I get home. I have pretty much never had a show guest ask for direct shipping so that doesn't matter right then.

 

[gratergirl]

I put outside order forms in the host packet of course. At the show, I use them too (I print the cancellations thing on the back (with direct shipping) When I check them out, I usually only enter their name into my laptop and then later put their info in. I've never had someone ask for a reciept that night. If they wanted it, I would just enter their info right then and give them the receipt. I do stress the part of keeping the receipt but let them know that if need be, they are in my computer and I can print one out for them. I haven't had a problem with this system. It works for me and I dont' have any paperwork that way!

 

[ChefBeckyD]

For those of you who take your laptop to shows, do you find that guests are waiting forever on you?

I always feel rushed when tallying their orders or even just checking their math! I would love to take my laptop and do everything right there, but I'm afraid the guests would get annoyed with the extra time it would take me to type in their info. Maybe I'm just super slow...

For me, it's actually faster to do it on my laptop.....I just enter their name(and fill in the rest of their info later at home) - and key in their order - doesn't take long at all - and because I was ALWAYS making mistakes (even w/ a calculator) on peoples order totals - this has worked out much better
From the feedback I've received, people like the fact that I enter everything into the computer, which automtically figures their tax and total for them.
When I did it all by hand - because I was chatting w/ them while I was trying to total up their order, I would end up having to do it 2, 3, or more times to get a total - and then that wasn't always correct!
I use the 3-part write-in forms, and always give them a receipt at the show.

 

[raebates]

I don't do a PP receipt unless it's an outside order (or if it's a catalog show).

I use the 3-part write-in forms at shows. Yes, I sometimes mess up a bit on math. If it's in their favor, I eat the cost. If it's in my favor, I refund the difference (unless it's covered by a round-up donation).

 

[kearstin]

I guess I wasn't thinking about going back and filling in their addy once you got home. If you are just entering their name and order, that wouldn't take so long.

I really like the idea of getting the total from the pc - I often forget to add tax (somehow I seem to skip right over that) and then I am scratching out and refiguring and I look stupid! I might try taking it to a smaller show and see how it works out before committing to it for all shows.

Thanks for the tips!

 

[DebbieJ]

For those of you who take your laptop to shows, do you find that guests are waiting forever on you?

I always feel rushed when tallying their orders or even just checking their math! I would love to take my laptop and do everything right there, but I'm afraid the guests would get annoyed with the extra time it would take me to type in their info. Maybe I'm just super slow...

The laptop is faster because it does all the math for you! I love it! And I DO take the time to enter in name, address, phone, and email. I have them just tell it to me and I enter it in as they speak. It takes about 30 seconds and then I know it's all correct and I don't have to decipher bad handwriting when I get home. And then I also have everyone's phone and email, which they are sometimes hesistant to write down.

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

It probably depends on how fast you can type.Not to meniton, hwo acurrately you cna tpye whne you'er in a hruray.

 

[BethCooks4U]

I use the 3 part write in forms at the show and tell them that the PC program will do the math for them.

At checkout I put in the item numbers and then write the totals on the receipt. They take the customer copy with them and I either give the host her copy that night or give her all the copies at once upon closing the show. If the show is shipped to me I keep the host copy and put it with the orders when I sort them.

I use the PP order forms for the host and any outside orders and all orders in a catalog show.

As far as guests waiting while I enter it in the laptop is concerned: I am MUCH slower with a calculator and make WAY too many mistakes - in fact I say that I am calculator illiterate! They all LOVE how quick it is with the program - and it's a recruiting opportunity. When they are WOW'd by the program I tell them that PC gives us the program and updates it as necessary for free.

 

[DebbieJ]

As far as guests waiting while I enter it in the laptop is concerned: I am MUCH slower with a calculator and make WAY too many mistakes - in fact I say that I am calculator illiterate! They all LOVE how quick it is with the program - and it's a recruiting opportunity. When they are WOW'd by the program I tell them that PC gives us the program and updates it as necessary for free.

I totally agree, Beth! People are astonished when I tell them that PC gives us the computer program.

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

I like to carry along my HP-12C financial calculator. If someone picks it up and tries to use it, and they don't know Reverse Pollish Notation, they're a lot of fun to watch.

 

[chefann]

It probably depends on how fast you can type.

Not to meniton, hwo acurrately you cna tpye whne you'er in a hruray.

HA!

That's how my posts usually end up when I'm using my laptop - stupid keyboard. And that's why DH and I purposely refer to it as "Teh Intarweb".

 

[ChefBeckyD]

I like to carry along my HP-12C financial calculator. If someone picks it up and tries to use it, and they don't know Reverse Pollish Notation, they're a lot of fun to watch.

Since I have no idea what that is, and I have a hard time w/ a simple calculator - I'd probably be a barrel of laughs!

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

RPN>Algebraic. It's not easy to explain, but I'll give it a shot.Reverse Polish Notation was developed by Dr. Jan Lukasiewicz, at the Univeristy of Warsaw, in the 1920's. (His son, also Jan Lukasiewicz, used to teach math at OSU.) Anyway, it's a logic system that evaluates nested parenthesis in a more logical fashion. It's much like the way you learned to add as a kid:25
62 +
----
87You'd write down 25, then write down 62 and add ( + ) them together to arrive at 87. Done in three steps - four if you include writing the answer. With an RPN calculator, you'd touch 25, Enter, 62 + and see the result. Four steps.With an algebraic calculator, you'd press 25, +, 62, = which is also four steps. In a simple example like this one, it's not readily seen that Reverse Polish takes fewer steps to evaluate a formula, but it does. Not everyone sees it that way. Where it really shines is in evaluating a formula with lots of intermediate steps. With an algebraic calculator, you have to keep manipulating memory registers (M+ and the like) where with RPN, the intermediate answers are kept right at your fingertips as part of the formula evaluation.I speak Reverse Polish and don't really know what to do with a calculator that has an = key on it. And if you have no clue what any of this means, don't fret, you're never going to buy an HP calculator, anyway.

 

[kearstin]

And if you have no clue what any of this means, don't fret, you're never going to buy an HP calculator, anyway.

KG, thank goodness I'll never be using one, all that went right over my head

 

[smarteez2]

Thank you all!!From everything I have read from your replies I am going with the no receipt at parties. I will use a blank piece of paper for them to write down what they want input into my laptop at the show and print out and official receipt with and thank you letter and give to the host to hand out with the orders. It just seemed crazy how much paper work I was using!! I will also continue to use OO form for the host packets as well as catalog shows but still print out a PP receipt for the guests. Thanks all you are the greatest!!