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It is silly to ignore hostess coaching. If you struggle to get bookings, ask yourself this: Now you have a booking in your diary, what are you going to do to make sure it actually happens? How good do you want this party to be? If you can’t stand the idea of another cancellation and if you’d like bumper sales, then it makes sense to put some effort into making sure that the event is a success. For us, the consultant, purposes of hostess coaching are two-fold: to make sure the party goes ahead and to maximise the number of guests and orders From the hostess’s point of view coaching is encouragement, support and helpful suggestions. If you are feeling ‘pushy’ then you are doing it wrong. There is a middle way between leaving the hostess completely on her own until the very last minute expecting her to produce a successful party with no help, and being overbearing. Adapt the following steps to suit your host, the amount of time available to coach and the lead time until the party. Assuming the party is happening in 4 weeks: Get her a written host package with a letter outlining your host benefits and what you expect from her, catalogues, samples, order forms, guest list, etc. You may want to give her a sample folder. Ideally you have one or two of these prepared and gave it to her at a party when she booked. Send her a brief card saying thanks for booking, really appreciate you welcoming me into your home, looking forward to it. This confirms in her mind that you are expecting the party to go ahead! Week 4: guest list call. In this call you ask her to invite two or three times the number of people she would like to attend (ie invite 30 if you want 10 on the day). Explain that although her coffee’n’cards is a priority for you and her, some of her friends won’t feel the same way and other activities will take precedence. Tell her not to limit the invitations to one group as you will be there as a focal point and it won't matter if the guests do not know each other. You may like to give her a few prompts: Family, school friends, neighbours, work friends, bookclub friends, church friends etc. Encourage her to do PERSONAL invitation calls - these make all the difference. Ask her to flip through the catalogue and put a yellow sticky on any item that reminders her of one of her friends and then she can say: “Sandra, there are some pirate party favours that would be super for Jack's party”, “Anna, I know you'll love the cute doggie mugs in the range.” Her guests will be intrigued to see the items that she ear-marked for them and it feel like a proper invite, not a scattergun approach. Week 3: reminder call. Check that all her invitations have gone out. Offer to mail them for her if appropriate. Send her a email invitation (remind her to put all the addresses in the blind cc box so that people don't get the impression they are one of 40 people being invited.) Go through the hostess benefits and what she needs to do to get them. Tell her that she can easily achieve them and more: if she gets the people in the door, then they will enjoy browsing and buying. Week 2: Pre-orders call. By now, she’ll have a few people saying they definitely can’t make it. Coach her in lending out the catalogues/sample folders: she should ask for them back the next day, as they’ll get lost in the mountain of paperwork on the kitchen island unless she makes getting it back to her a priority. She could say that she needs to loan it to someone else to make sure that the borrowers return it (and their order!) quickly. Does she have any out-of-town friends who’d love the products but live unfeasibly far away? Offer to mail them a catalogue with a cover letter saying that if they get their order and payment back by the date of the party, it will count towards the hostess’s total. Make sure she is clear on any postage and handling fees you impose on party orders and deliveries. Ask her to get credit card details or cash/cheque payments for all orders. It's a hassle chasing these afterwards. Week 1: how the party will run call. Make her promise not to go overboard on the catering; Simple is good. You don’t want her to run herself ragged with elaborate catering arrangements. Check whether she has a suitable space for you to do your display: you may need to bring along a table or curtail the amount of kit you bring. Will there be children present? Are they going to watch TV in another room (ideal) or wander through the room bashing each other whilst you try to give your presentation? Tactfully suggest that an activity to keep them occupied for 30 mins would be very useful. 3 days before: her turn to call. Reminder calls are the second most important job a hostess has. The party is a priority for the consultant and host, but not necessarily for everyone else. Husbands are late home, children spring ear infections, stuff crops up. Nothing is more annoying than hearing a friend say “Was that yesterday? Ooh I wish you'd reminded me, I would have loved to come” ARGH!! Hope this is of use!
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