Why do Some Hosts Make it Difficult to Get Bookings?

[jcwarr]

i feel like i am the queen of the odd questions - it just seems that the typical pc approach does not work in my area!!! i cannot use the host specials as a way to get bookings b/c most people don't care too much about the host benefits!! this is a quote from my host whom i did a show for - there were 10 moms, 15 babies or toddlers and i made a full out meal!!! not one order yet - but a few who said they want to!

"I think the more you push them the more they will think I only hosted the party for my own gain. That was truely not the intent. I never did this thinking I'd get anything out of it. The free gifts and discounts don't really matter to me. So I would really prefer that we don't keep asking/emailing my guests with regards to orders. I would like to do this again some time in the future and I want everyone to walk away with a pleasant experience. And while I know you are probably the last person on earth who would make others feel uncomfortable, I still think it's best this way."

this was a show i was counting on to help me get level one of the sellathon - now i am hoping it will make it to $150 so i can earn the 2 shows in june promo!!! i don't know what to say to her or her guests. i am a very un-pushy person but come on!!! and i did tell everyone that i would contact them again before we placed the order - they are all busy moms who need reminders which i can relate to and one of her guests even asked me to submit the show a week later as their finances were tight - so i am so confused!!!!

i am done accomodating!! i think i am very naive at times and just need to say no to hosts who ask for the moon!! by the way this host is very nice - she is not a nasty person who i am probably portraying her to be! she as at my first party when i joined pc - and it is b/c of my newsletter that she had a party over a year later - but with no sales so far!!!!!

thanks for any help!!

 

[JAE]

I was reading through other posts a few days ago, and consultants were saying that it is always good to let people know that this is your job and although it is "fun" you can't afford to work for free. Of course, say this in a very kind, non offensive way. Learn from this and move on. Hopefully, you will get enough sales for a show. Let us know how things go.

 

[pamperedgirl3]

I understand she would want to have fun & all, but this was a Pampered Chef show, not a casual get-together. So of course you are going to expect at least someone to order! You are not a caterer, which is what it seems she used you as if she doesn't even try to get orders!

 

[ChefBeckyD]

i feel like i am the queen of the odd questions - it just seems that the typical pc approach does not work in my area!!! i cannot use the host specials as a way to get bookings b/c most people don't care too much about the host benefits!! this is a quote from my host whom i did a show for - there were 10 moms, 15 babies or toddlers and i made a full out meal!!! not one order yet - but a few who said they want to!

"I think the more you push them the more they will think I only hosted the party for my own gain. That was truely not the intent. I never did this thinking I'd get anything out of it. The free gifts and discounts don't really matter to me. So I would really prefer that we don't keep asking/emailing my guests with regards to orders. I would like to do this again some time in the future and I want everyone to walk away with a pleasant experience. And while I know you are probably the last person on earth who would make others feel uncomfortable, I still think it's best this way."

this was a show i was counting on to help me get level one of the sellathon - now i am hoping it will make it to $150 so i can earn the 2 shows in june promo!!! i don't know what to say to her or her guests. i am a very un-pushy person but come on!!! and i did tell everyone that i would contact them again before we placed the order - they are all busy moms who need reminders which i can relate to and one of her guests even asked me to submit the show a week later as their finances were tight - so i am so confused!!!!

i am done accomodating!! i think i am very naive at times and just need to say no to hosts who ask for the moon!! by the way this host is very nice - she is not a nasty person who i am probably portraying her to be! she as at my first party when i joined pc - and it is b/c of my newsletter that she had a party over a year later - but with no sales so far!!!!!

thanks for any help!!

Does she realize that you are a PC consultant and make your money by selling products, and not by catering a meal for her friends? I definitely would not be doing another show with her in the future - and I would explain to her that this is a JOB, and it is your JOB to collect orders from those in attendance!

 

[finley1991]

I agree with pamperedgirl3...it sounds like she used you to cater a get-together with her friends. Move on from this group. If you don't, all of your shows will be like that... you make a MEAL and feed them with no orders. They clearly know that's not what you do and they used you. If you stay with this group, all of them will consider it a free catered meal and just have you go from house to house to house doing the same thing. It's not worth your time. I don't mean for this to sound harsh, but they are not the only customers our there. You'll find them.. and they will appreciate your hard work and place orders when you do. Good luck!

 

[MissChef]

I agree with everyone else. And I would definetely come up with a way to express to her that though you understand that you want her friends to not feel pressure, it is still your JOB. Another thing to point out is that you do have her send out lots of invites so that lots of people do come and so that the pressure will be low. But at the same time, people do understand that home shows are where they spend some money, even if not much. I always spend some money at my friend's shows, even if it's only 20.00 it's still something! It was wrong of her to expect you to cater her gathering. And I have done shows where there are more kids than adults in attendance and I'm sorry for you, cause I'm SURE you worked your tail off!
Good luck, hun! I will say a prayer for you!
Oh and I wouldn't worry about scheduling another show with her. If she had any friends who booked, make sure that you are very clear that this is not a catered party that this IS YOUR BUSINESS!

 

[pchefjenn]

I know how you feel. I did a show with 2 guests + host, was at the home for 3 hours & had a $60.00 show. I was more upset when I calculated that with my commission I had just worked for $4.00/hr.

I get the same feeling from people in my area too. They would rather have the "free" door prizes & "free" food at the show then caring at all about ordering.

 

[rennea]

I agree as well, let this host know that this is your job. I hope it works out for you.

 

[Kathytnt]

Did she pay for all the food that you provided?? In the future limite the recipes too. This will help with the catering feeling

I recently had a host who says she wants to be consultant. She had two people at her show. One person purchased about 26 dollars in product and the host purchased $50 is items - I had to combine it with my show to be able to submit the show. She wants to do another show next month and I am thinking WHY Wants to try it again before deciding to become a consultant. Well she is a friend of my sister and when my siste rhad her show her credit card was declined and again with my show her card was declined. Would you do another show for her and count on her being a consultant????? I didn't think so

 

[Kitchen2u]

Here's what I think I would say to her:

"I appreciate your comments about not emailing/calling your guests. However, this IS my job and I depend on the income I make by doing parties like yours. I'm a little confused as to why you held a party to begin with since you're not interested in the free and discounted benefits host receive from the company. People have Pampered Chef parties to get these awesome benefits."

As far as preparing a full meal ~ I HIGHLY recommend all consultants to only demo ONE recipe. You are setting a standard for all your future bookings if you're preparing a full meal. When I started my biz, I did 2 recipes. I cut down to 1 recipe about 6 months into the biz...there was NO difference in sales if I did 2 recipes or 1...so why should I go through the trouble of doing 2? Beats me, so I stopped. If a host tells me, "well when I went to Suzy's party, they had 2 (or 3, or more) recipes." Here's my response to that:

"I value you and your guests' time that's why I only demo 1 recipe. Guests want to come and see a short demonstration, eat and have fun by socializing with everyone here. If you'd like to prepare other Pampered Chef recipes, I'd gladly provide you recipes to do so."

I have never had a host get upset over this. They do end up asking for recipes to prepare....all's GOODDDDDDDDDDDDD!!!

Ginny

 

[scottcooks]

BACK TO BASICS...

Go to what Doris did: the soft sell - works wonders!

"The first thing I'd like you all to do tonight, is to put away your checkbooks and forget about wallets and credit cards - I'm not here to sell you on anything. I am here to share with you some fast cooking techniques and some truly fabulous cooking tools that can make you a kitchen whiz, or get you out of the kitchen quicker, if it is not something you especially enjoy. Of course as anyone who has purchased from TPC knows, we have a phenomenal guarantee - everything in the catalog for 1 year, most items for 2 years, and some like our cookware and new forged cutlery for lifetime, but set all that aside and just enjoy tonight. I'm doing something I truly love, and sharing with you the best - the best in food, the best in cooking techniques, tips and tricks, and the best in products available on the market. And remind me to tell you about the 'best for last'. (opportunity) Of course, if you DO want to purchase something, I am more than happy to help you with that, but that is not my primary purpose for being here tonight - I am here to share what has worked so well for me and for (moms/people) across the country. Together, we all want to say, welcome to The Pampered Chef!

Our hosts know we take such good care of them, and I want to start pampering our host SUZIE tonight with her very own free copy of our current Season's Best recipe collection..."

The other thing that happens when you 'take it away from them' at the very beginning, is it makes them want it more. What do people want the most? The thing they cannot have... Its is some psychological thing, but - my show average has gone up (737 in May where I was inches from a 2,500 month) as a result, and it has worked, for me!

 

[cheferikab]

I agree with others. Although PC is fun, it is your job. The host was very direct with you and I think that you, in turn, can be very direct with her and explain that this is your job and you are depending on the profitability of her show. Maybe you could ask her for alternatives that she would deem appropriate to encourage her friends to buy to make the party a win-win for EVERYONE involved (not just the host and guests).

It does sound like she used you to cater her get-together. I have been on information overload, so I do not remember where I read/heard this, but did the host pay for the ingredients? I read somewhere that, when the host does not pay for ingredients, she has no vested interest in the success of her show. If she earns no benefits and she did not put any money out for the food, then she loses nothing if the show total is $0. If she did make that investment, then earning those benefits would be more meaningful.

Sorry this is long. Just the ramblings of a newbie!

Erika

 

[PCJenni]

I had a show on Sunday for a Mary Kay consultant. There were 14 people at the show and only 4 people bought anything... for a whooping total of $296!!! The hostess is a consultant so I know everyone there "knew the gig" by coming to the show. They were all VERY interesting in the Celebration cookbook I was giving away as the prize for the game though! Someone stole the Season's Best I passed around. Then 4 people wanted to book shows! It was the strangest show ever. I think we have to take these as life/business lessons and move on. I would contact the guests even if the host asked me not to. Perhaps by email and/or phone.... if they are busy moms I find email works great for me because they can respond when it is convenient for them. Then explain to the Hostess that this is a BUSINESS for you and your family relies on the income you bring in. She might feel guilty and actually help you get some orders.

 

[tpchefrebecca]

I agree that this is your business and if you said you will contact the guests later then that is what you should do. This is you keeping your word. What you want to do is turn that call around and start asking questions about the guest and what she feels she needs to help her out in the kitchen. I have attached a script that I got from here with a call with Nancy Jo Ryan. It was an eye opener call. I took a ton of notes and used the wording, by tweaking a little, I went from a potential sale and to a potential host.

Make it about the customer and things should turn around. It also sounds like the guests may need quick easy recipes if this was a mommy group? I got a lot of recipes from Gillian on here for the freezer. Just cook and freeze. Offer to email these to the moms. They may appreciate it. You just never know.

 

[chefann]

I had a show on Sunday for a Mary Kay consultant. There were 14 people at the show and only 4 people bought anything... for a whooping total of $296!!! The hostess is a consultant so I know everyone there "knew the gig" by coming to the show. They were all VERY interesting in the Celebration cookbook I was giving away as the prize for the game though! Someone stole the Season's Best I passed around. Then 4 people wanted to book shows! It was the strangest show ever. I think we have to take these as life/business lessons and move on. I would contact the guests even if the host asked me not to. Perhaps by email and/or phone.... if they are busy moms I find email works great for me because they can respond when it is convenient for them. Then explain to the Hostess that this is a BUSINESS for you and your family relies on the income you bring in. She might feel guilty and actually help you get some orders.

Jenni, I've found that MK consultants can be tricky as hosts because their shows are better when there are fewer people there, so they can give each guest some individual attention. So you're lucky that she had 14 there. I'm sorry that you lost your SBRC. Isn't it amazing what people do?

 

[PCJenni]

Everyone in my cluster told... after I had already agreed to a show swap... that MK consultants are the worst hosts. This woman is just starting out with MK and I was trying to help her out. She had more sales with 3 people at the MK show than I had with 14 at the PC show! The funniest part is she wanted me to reschedule the MK show (after seeing my Evite with 48 invitations and 5 yes RSVPS) because she felt there would not be enough people attending!!! Too funny.. oh well... live and learn.... I'm $296 closer to my $3000 goal for sell a thon... always looking on the bright side... and perhaps the booking will work out... slow and steady like a turtle to "win" the race!

 

[missi.robbins]

I feel your painI had a host who volunteered to be one of my firsts! I was so excited. On May 3rd she booked for May 20th. Then on May 17th - she told me she needed to reschedule because no one could make it. So - against my suggestion of not booking on a holiday weekend - we moved the party to the 27th (Memorial Day weekend). I talked to her Thursday the 24th - to find out she had 2 people who could come - but they might not be there until 7 pm - when her party was booked at 4 pm!! Evidently they could only come together. So after hearing that - I asked her if she would rather switch to a catalog show - since she didn't know when her 2 guests could be there. Keep in mind I needed her as a 4th show in my first 30 days. So I finally got her show closed out - on June 5th after having to "nag" her about orders, she got 2 hers and a friends – thank goodness I had gotten other orders. Then she gave me back my host packet I had given her and she didn't even use ANY of the invites or labels to put on them with her info date and time etc. I was sooooo peeved! Of course no one is going to come when you don't invite anyone!! She kept saying "I don't care about the hostess benefits; I just want to get my friends together." I don't think people realize - that we spend a lot of time putting a party together - and some don't have any respect for our time. Then she told me – that she needed more time to get people together. She had at least 2 ½ weeks – she was talking about having a show in the fall – but I think I’d rather not follow that lead – since I’m sure she’ll repeat the same pattern. I feel your pain – some hostesses are WAY better than others!