Hostess Coaching Checklist Printable

All this week on our Facebook business page, we have been going LIVE and talking about hostess coaching, so I put together this Hostess Coaching Checklist that you can use when you're coaching your direct sales hostesses. If you're not sure what I mean by the post cards referenced in the chart below, take a look at the post I shared to our group yesterday - there is a video I made explaining the hostess postcard system I developed a few years ago - it's done AMAZING things for my business!

Get the PDF version here on our Facebook Group.

Retired Inventory = BOOKINGS!

If there is one thing direct sales companies LOVE to do, it's to come out with new products for their line. But to do that, they often need to retire existing product, and then direct sellers all throughout the lands are trying to sell off their retired inventory through flash sales, vendor events, online auction sites, etc. I'm here to tell you to S.T.O.P. (Sort, Take pics, Offer it free, Party). 

Alright, I might have lost some of you on the whole "Offer it free" part. But just stick with me here. Let's just say that you work for a jewelry company and they just came out with their spring line, and have discontinued 15 of the items that you've been displaying at your fall and winter parties (a conservative estimate for many direct sellers who like to have a TON of items on hand to demo to their customers). And let's just say that those items range in retail value from $45-90 each. Now, you could go ahead and offer them up for sale in your customer group, or at a vendor event, but I'm going to guess that if you do that, you're going to discount them at least 25%, because they are retired, they have been displayed (as opposed to brand new in package) and that 25% you're discounting them might just be most if not all of your commission rate. So for simplicity's sake, because I'm no math guru, let's suppose 10 of those 15 items you list were all retail valued at $50 each and you sold them at a discount for $37 each, making a total of $370. Not bad, right? Heck, who doesn't want an extra $370 in their pocket!

But...what if, instead, you gave those away as a booking bonus to people who booked parties with you in the next two months? Suppose your party average is $500 and those same ten $50 retail value items got you ten bookings. At that same 25% commission rate, you've now made $1250 instead of $370, AND you've gotten in front of customers (either live or virtually), AND you've likely booked more additional parties off those initial ten. BAM! Win!!

So, let's break it down: S.T.O.P.

Sort: go through your retired items and decide which ten you're going to offer up. I don't care if you have thirty items to choose from, JUST DO 10. This is exclusivity. There are limited choices, these peeps better hurry up and book if they want in on the action. People who are on the fence will do it, because they do not want to miss out!!

Take pics: don't just use pics from the catalog, take your own. You clearly have the item on hand, so there is no reason you can't stage it nice on a black or white or cork background and snap a pic of it. Each item individually. Once you do this with all ten items, you're going to pull them into Canva or PicMonkey or wherever it is you like to edit graphics, and you're going to make each one all pretty in a cute frame with the item name, a letter A-J, the retail price, and the word FREE underneath that. I've included some frames in various colors below if you want to save out your fave and pull it into your graphics editing software to start creating your images.

Offer it free: take those ten images and write up a little blub about what the heck it is you're doing. Something along the lines of "Hey, the new spring catalog is out and OMG it's amazing!! I have some adorable pieces that are retiring from fall and YOU have the chance to pick your fave for free. First come first served, just reply back with the date you'd like to book a party, and your first, second and third choice of free gift." Then include those 10 pics below your blurb. You can post this in your customer group, message it out to your past hostesses, send it in an email to all of your customers...however it is that you prefer to communicate with your tribe.

Party: go party it up, girl!!! All these bookings will receive their free item AT their party (for home parties) or mailed to them after they hold their show (for online parties).

Look at you, you just made 70% more than you would have just selling those pieces outright. And you're no longer hoarding stuff you don't really need. #soproudofyou

Here are some various colored frames, all ready for you to put your gorgeous inventory items in using your favorite image editor:

Pink Frame

White Frame

Grey Frame

Green Frame

Green Frame

New Catalog Coming Out? Read on!

Most companies come out with a new catalog sometime in the first quarter of the year. If this is you, here are a few quick tips to make sure you’re getting those catalogs in the hands of your customers and potential hostesses for the season, and building the excitement of the new products your company has come out with.

Spread the Excitement – think about going live on your customer group with your new products (if you have them in hand) or with your favorite parts of the actual catalog itself if you don’t. This is going to help let your own excitement for the new stuff shine through. If your company offers amazing hostess exclusive items, these are FABULOUS to highlight, as well.

Share pics – once you get that stuff in hand, create some artful displays around your home with your items, if you sell home décor. Or some cute styles you can pair with the new jewelry, if you sell jewelry. Or some fresh new looks with the make-up if that’s your industry. You get the idea. Show items in use, not just photos straight off your website. Let people envision your items in a real-world scenario, not on a closed set. Life isn’t a catalog!!

Have you done a Google form in the past, whether in your Facebook parties, your closed group, in a customer email, etc? Go back through your previous responses of who wanted a catalog last time around and go ahead and send them a new one along with a short handwritten note to check out what’s new and text you with their favorite item for a chance to be entered in your monthly customer drawing.

Haven’t done a Google form? DO IT NOW!!! Create one and post the link to it in your customer group (super easy, I promise, and one of the things Kelly and I walk you through step-by-step in our Facebook Party Course). Give people the opportunity to fill that out and let you know they would like a catalog, and enter all them in your monthly customer drawing. 

If you get home office leads from your company, go back through those leads and reach out to people who had expressed interest in the past – whether for a catalog, hosting, or the business, and let them know about the new catalog, and of course offer to send them one. 

Newness is exciting, and you need to capitalize on that! Yes, I realize catalogs cost you money, but they are hands-down your best marketing piece to get in people’s hands. I know they can see things online, but there is something about sitting on the couch looking at a catalog and dog-earing those pages that makes people want your stuff even more!

Stay tuned next week when I’ll be giving you guys my absolute favorite idea of what to do with all those products you have that are retired from your display (yeah, hoarder, I’m talking to you – time to get it GONE!!!)

Three Ways to Stand Out at Your Holiday Vendor Events

I spent some time the other day thinking about the upcoming holidays and how I can maximize this month and share idea's with others to help them maximize the month while bringing enormous value to our customers. This month's cheque is our holiday cheque and typically the highest cheque of the year. So what's a direct seller to do? Do the things that other's don't, so you can have a business that other's won't.

IDEA 1: Bring a tree to decorate with your products, use your products as gifts under the tree and stuff some stockings with our products INSTEAD of setting up a table display. Ensure the decorations, gifts and stockings are ready for sale. Don't follow the crowd, bring the fun factor and enjoy the festive season!

IDEA 2: Use your table as a gift wrapping station! Bring gift wrap, bows, tags, ribbon, confetti, and stickers, and let people wrap their purchases at your table, play some Christmas music, serve some cocoa and cookies. Put a jar on the table for donations to your favorite charity and ensure your finger is ready to help them tie the perfect bow! Providing a service invites people to your booth and gives you a chance to start some conversations; we are in the relationship marketing business after all! Have a sheet for them to fill out their contact information so you can send a thank you card and forward to the charity for tax donation receipts.

IDEA 3: Expand your Social Media following by sharing the fun of your booth with your audience. You are going to be announcing on your social media channels the amount raised for your charity, so ask them to follow you (it's easy they have their phone with them, after all). Create a contest around the day by offering a special drawing for those that share a selfie (with their fabulously wrapped gift) on your business page, and let them know they will get a second chance of winning by liking your page! Remember to follow through, comment on their pictures, and ensure that you have a strong content plan for after the event.

Now go out and ROCK your vendor events and remember to take some time to brainstorm some ideas of your own.

5 Ideas to Increase Your November Sales (Without Leaving Your House)

If you've been in direct sales for any length of time you know that RIGHT NOW is the busiest time of the year for our industry. But what if your calendar isn't quite where you want it to be? Try one of these easy ideas to get some extra sales in (and some extra cash in your pocket before the holidays!)

1. Hold a turkey trot. You may have heard this term before. Basically, you get a number of people (generally 6 or 12) to agree to collect $100 in orders, and in return they receive a portion of the hostess rewards. So, let's say for example that with a $600 party, your company offers 3 half price items and $100 in free product. You would take those rewards and divide them up between the six people who collected orders, so one person receives $50 free, two people receive $25 free, and three people receive a half price item each. This is a fabulous choice for those that want to reap the rewards of your company without hosting an entire party themselves. Set a deadline by which the orders need to be in, and then draw for who receives which rewards. Boom - an extra $600 or $1200 in sales for you!
2. Create a product bundle and have your hostesses market JUST that bundle to her friends. When she sells a set amount of them, she gets her bundle for free. Let's say you sell make-up. Assemble a bundle with a mascara, an eyeliner, and two eye shadows and figure out how many of that bundle would need to sell in order to accumulate that amount in hostess rewards - that's how many bundles the hostess will need to sell in order to receive her bundle free. The beauty in this is, you're able to reach people who are turned off by the "idea" of hosting. They're not "hosting" per se, they're not earning "hostess rewards", they are just sharing this great bundle set with friends and getting one for free. They get product, you get sales, it's a win-win.
3. Host a holiday theme party inside your Facebook closed customer group. Theme parties are great any time of year, but this time of year is particularly fun, because there are so many fun themes you can come up with, depending on the industry your company falls into. One theme that works well across most any industry would be a "Stocking Stuffers Party". Showcase your less expensive items ($30 and under generally) and encourage people to think about shopping for teachers, aunts, cousins, neighbors, nieces, etc. Turn it into a mystery hostess party and give the rewards away, with guests earning tickets for purchasing, booking their own party, sharing ideas, and commenting on  your posts. 
4. Have a texting party. Give your hostess a graphic to send to her friends asking them if they are interested in participating in a texting party (check out RedStamp.com for creating awesome text able images). Those that respond yes, you will text each of those people once a day for five days with the party link and a product or bundle image. People are busy busy busy, so this can be a great way to pick up some extra sales without a lot of time spent on your party or your customers.
5. Hold a Christmas Stop & Shop cocktail hour on Black Friday in your home. People can come by after hitting the mall and have a couple drinks while shopping either your catalog or your in-stock inventory. Pick up some cute wrapping paper from the Dollar Store and set up a couple wrapping tables, too, so that people can get their essentials wrapped before they take them home (think about how much easier it is on mom to not have to sneak the toys into the house and hide them from the kids after Black Friday shopping - this alone is a HUGE draw!!)

Try one or all of these ideas to give yourself a sales boost this season. Have other ideas? We would love to hear them below!

Free Q&A Happening Tomrorow

Who's joining us tomorrow? We've got a LIVE Zoom training and Q&A on "Customer Facebook Groups that Thrive Not Die." Two times to register:

Daytime - Thursday, September 28th

10:30 am PT/11:30 am MT/12:30 pm CT/1:30 pm ET

Evening - Thursday, September 28th

5:30 pm PT/6:30 pm MT/7:30 pm CT/8:30 pm ET

Go here to sign up for the Q&A and receive the free 3 part series: https://social.lifelinecoaches.com/bonus-qa/

We've just launched our "Social Media Communities that WORK" ecourse - your step-by-step program for building a community of customers that increases your income! Visit the library and click on the button that reads ‘Social Media Communities that WORK!