When it comes to being a successful Direct Sales consultant, one of your biggest business assets is to invest your time in coaching your party host/hostess. If you are not investing your time to properly coach your host, you are doing yourself and your party host a disservice.

Let’s take a look at the benefits of hostess coaching.

1. When you are in proper contact with your party hosts and coaching them before the show date, they will be more excited about their upcoming party. This excitement will encourage them to work harder to make the party a complete success.

2. Working closely with your host reduces the risk of cancellation or rescheduling of party dates.

3. Hosts who are properly coached have higher guest attendance at their home shows. The more guests there are…the more sales you will make. In addition to the sales you make, your hostess will be satisfied because he/she will earn more free and half-priced products.

4. The more attendees that you have at the party, the more bookings you will receive. Keeping your booking calendar full equals a steady paycheck.

5. A big part of a Direct Sales business is building a team. Again, the more attendees at the party, means you can generate more recruit leads.

When you invest your time coaching your host towards a successful home party, you reap the rewards. Studies have shown that when you coach your hosts, they have higher party attendance which means higher party sales. Those higher party sales equals more commission for you.

If a host/hostess is completely satisfied with their home party experience, they are more apt to rebook parties from you in the future or refer others to your business. Do yourself and your business a favor…Take the time to properly coach your party hosts and you both will benefit.

Shelly Hill
Tupperware Manager
http://www.classybusinesswomen.com
http://wahmshelly.blogspot.com

When it comes to Direct Sales and demonstrating your business products at home parties, it is important to take time out to explain your company’s warranty, returns and exchange policy to all of your home party guests.

Customers who attend your home parties have the right to know your business policy up front before they place an order. There are a few ways you can approach this but I feel its best to do it at the beginning of the ordering process, in other words…before your customer starts filling out the order form.

You can go over your company’s policy several different ways, However, I like to do a combination of ways to ensure that my customers know the policy. Here is how I handle it.

1. After talking about my products and before I have the guests fill out the order forms, I like to spend 5 minutes talking about my particular company’s policy and I do this in a group setting…near the end of my demonstration time period.

2. My company has the policy printed in the catalog so I tab that particular page with tab-type stickers.

3. My company has the policy imprinted on the back of our order forms so when each customer hands me their order form, I like to ask them if they have any questions about my company’s policy.

By spending a few minutes at your home parties explaining your company’s policy to all of your party guests, you will save yourself time, money and a headache down the road. Customers have the right to know your business policy before they give you an order so its in your best business interest to spend time explaining it to them.

Shelly Hill has been working in Direct Sales since 1989 and enjoys teaching other women how to be successful with a Direct Sales home business. Shelly Owns the online home business site, Work At Home Business Options at http://www.workathomebusinessoptions.com where you can get home business tips, business articles and other home business resources for free.

Online parties are quickly becoming the better alternative to the traditional “In Home Party”. Online parties can be more accommodating for the company rep and the hostess for various reasons. There’s no driving to another persons home, getting the snacks ready, loading and unloading all your products, cleaning your house and best of all no dressing up!

So many times I’ve heard the questions, “How do I have and online party?” “What do you do at an online party?” or the ever popular “What kind of games do I play?” Hopefully this article will answer some of the burning questions out there. The following are just a few ideas of things that can happen. Things may have to be altered depending on where the party is and rules that may be applied there. For example some places may require you to have a hostess and some places don’t require this allowing the reps to do the parties themselves. So, please take in all considerations and apply changes as needed.

First decide if you will be finding a hostess or doing the party yourself. If you decide that you do want a hostess then let everyone you know that you are now in business for yourself and what you do. Be sure to let them now that you have parties online and are always looking for hostesses. Friends and family are often your best start. Another idea is to find a rep from another company and set up to exchange parties. You agree to be a hostess for them and in return they hostess a party for you. Some email groups and discussion forums allow you to request hostesses.

Please be sure to follow all rules and regulations for these boards and don’t spam. If all else fails and you can’t find another hostess, mystery hostess parties are always a great option. Mystery hostess parties can put a unique twist on the entire party itself piquing the interest of your guests. Basically, the idea behind this is that there is no “official hostess” until the end of the party. Once the party is over, take the names of all the guests and randomly pick one guest to be the “Mystery Hostess” and they receive the hostess rewards.

What are hostess rewards? Hostess rewards are used to entice people to be a hostess. First thing you should give them is a free gift. This is just a small token of thanks for having the party to begin with. Always be sure to announce at the party what the free gift and other rewards are. This may help with getting other guests interested in becoming a hostess at a later party. Other ideas for hostess rewards can include a gift certificate, percentage of sales in free products and free products for a certain amount of sales made. Gift certificates make excellent rewards because the hostess can choose what they want.

Games are always important and bring a lot of fun to your online parties. How many games to play generally depends on the amount of time allotted for your party. I personally recommend two games. The games played don’t always have to be about your products or business. If you do opt for a game that is just for fun and not for the business I recommend that you play one that is and one that isn’t. The ideas for games can be endless and sometimes just needs a little imagination. It is a little more difficult to play some of the traditional games online but with a little thought put into it can be just as fun.

Next thing to think about would be invitations and announcing your online party. There a few things that you want to make sure you include on your invites. Make sure you have the business that you are having the party for and a brief description of the products that you carry. You may also consider listing the games, prizes, and specials if any. Make sure you list the date, time and a clickable link to the party room. Keeping in mind that guests may be coming from all over the country you may consider making a list of the different time zones. This helps void off any confusion right from the beginning. “Leaving the party open” for maybe an additional day might be a good idea for those guests that cannot make it to the party but, would like to “cash in” on party specials.

If you go for this option, make note in your invitations for alternative ordering information. For example, you may want them to email you their order. Invitations should be sent out a few days prior to the party and maybe send out reminders an hour or so before the start of the party. You can create invitations for free at Evite.com

Announcing your party should be done basically in the same procedure. You can either announce your party in free or paid advertising. Purchasing solo ads in ezines with your target guests in mind is an excellent idea too. Some discussion forums and email groups allow you to announce your party too. Once again keeping in mind the “rules and regulations” to each of these groups.

Some groups even have special days that you can advertise your online parties. Check out your groups to see if these days are available.

The following are some tips and ideas to help keep things flowing nicely at the party. First you want to show up a little early. You want to make sure you are there before the guests. Don’t start the party right away. Be sure to allow a little extra time for some guests that might be running a little late and gives a little time for some general chit-chat. Make sure you greet each guest as they arrive. Once you feel confident that most of the guests have arrived, give a short description about yourself, your business and thank everyone for coming.

Next you will want to announce your specials for the party and give them the URL to your website. If you have any “special ordering info” you may want to let guests know this. Give your guests a few moments to browse around your site and ask any questions that they may have. After guests have had sufficient amount of time to browse, let them know that you will be playing a game shortly. You may want to tell them a little about the game especially if it has to do with things found on your website. After a few moments you will want to start the game, making sure that all the guests are “still with you” and not looking over your site. After the first game allow a few more moments for general chit chat and questions about your site or products. Announce the next game and repeat the steps above. Guests will probably be leaving at different times. Be sure to thank each of them as they leave, hope they had a good time and ask them if they’d like to be added to a guest list for future parties.

Hopefully this article will help you become more comfortable about having an online party. No matter how much information you get from this article or any other source online, it’s still not as good as being there yourself. The best way to learn about online parties is to attend a few yourself. This will allow you to see the whole picture.

Article contributed by:
Anita DeFrank

NOTE:  Keep an eye out on the Sales MOMS Network.  We will be adding our Online Party Rooms back to our featured services in the upcoming months!

Whether it be Tupperware, Pampered Chef, PartyLite, or Lingerie – home parties come in many forms. Home parties are a great way to have fun, make new friends and make a lot of money while you’re at it. Throwing a good home party involves following a few key steps. Follow these steps and you’ll be well on your way to profitably selling from your own home.

Create a Great Impression of Your Home – Before you have anyone over, you should make sure that your house is meticulously clean. Remember – your home is a reflection of you and therefore a reflection of your products. Having any kind of messiness in your home will indirectly detract from the credibility of your products.

Make sure your bathroom and kitchen are spotless as well. A lot of a home’s impressions are formed in these two rooms. Finally, guests form their opinion of your home before they even step into your house. They form this impression the moment they first lay eyes on your home. Make sure the exterior of your home looks good. This could be as easy putting the garbage containers back on the side of the house, sweeping the front walk, and then putting a nice plant on your porch.

Preparing for a Fun, Profitable Party – Know your material like the back of your hand. Before your home party, rehearse your whole sales speech several times. If possible, get a friend or two to give you their critique.

Remember that you want to sound natural and don’t want to sound like you’re reading lines. You should be in the moment when you’re presenting, but don’t just wing it. A combination of knowing what you’re going to say without confining yourself to exact lines tends to work best. Make sure you know which are the main benefits you need to emphasize. If you need visual aids, make sure those are all prepared. It helps to have back-ups of anything that might break just in case something happens.

Every good presentation needs to include a demonstration. The demonstration should be one that really “WOW”s people. If you can involve your audience in the demonstration, so much the better. Cutco Knives for example, do in-home sales presentations where they ask a member of their household for a knife. They take a piece of leather and ask them to cut it with the knife. It takes a lot of sawing to get the knife through. Then they take a Cutco knife and slice through the leather like butter. They have the customer try it for themselves. A demonstration like that is infinitely more powerful than words.

Connect First, Then Sell – Nobody likes being sold. But everyone loves it when a friend recommends a great product. Before you get down to the selling, spend some time catching up with everyone. How are they doing? What’s new in their lives? Reignite the trust and rebuild those connections. Then and only then do you start selling your products.

It’s trust and connection that sells more than anything. Even if you give a really great sales presentation to someone who doesn’t like you very much, you won’t sell a lot. On the other hand, good friends will often buy your products even if they’re just moderately sold.

Discover a simple, yet powerful system that will help you increase your sales, increase your referrals, stop you from losing prospects and customers, and allow you to to stand out from the competition all at the same time: http://www.cardscreatesales.com

Click here for more direct sales ideas that can help explode your business!

So You Are Going To Start a Home Party Plan Endeavor

It is the end of the night and you are sitting at a friends home placing an order from her home party and you find yourself thinking, "I really like this product and if I sign up to sell it I can help out my friend and also buy at a discount for personal use!" Great! You just signed up on an impulse. Do you really know what it takes to do home parties? Do you have time for this business? Are you ready?
These are just a few questions one should ask oneself before signing on the dotted line and handing over a chunk of money for your starter kit!

Beginning a home party biz can be a little bit overwhelming. The first thing to do is look to your up-line (your recruiter or a manager or team leader etc.) for support and guidance. If they aren’t going to be there for you now is the time to learn this. There are many web sites, yahoo groups, and networking sites dedicated to home businesses so don’t panic!

Sit down and make a list of people you know who will help you start off your business. I suggest your first party be your own! Ask these people to help you out and pin them down to a date and time if you can. Now check out and see if you have all your supplies you need in your kit. Read and learn and KNOW your product. Be prepared to answer questions. No one expects you to be an immediate expert but basic information is important to know.

Now it’s party time! Here are some do’s and dont’s for your party. Don’t serve alcohol at the party as it is not that kind of party! DO NOT set up an elaborate table full of Hor Dourves as a potential hostesses may think that would also be expected of her. The simpler the better when it comes to snacks.

You are ready to start. You need to take control of the room. It is hard your first few times but it will get easier! Stand up and announce you are ready to start your presentation. Hopefully the room will get quiet for you. If not, kindly let those talking that you are ready and would like to get started as you promised your hostess it would only take a certain amount of time to do presentation and get done as everyone’s time is valuable.

Now you have finished your presentation. Find a quiet area where you can help each guest go over their order. You may be able to offer suggestions and do some up-selling when one on one with the guest. Ask this guest what they thought of the items and if they would help their friend out by booking a party. Also feel them out on having a home business, as they just may be your next recruit. Let the guest know you enjoyed meeting them and give them approximate time frame to expect order.

You are now done with all the guests and it is time to close out the party. The hostess says she has a few more catalog orders coming in. Be stern and let her know you need those by such and such a date to close out party. Total up sales and let hostess know where she stands. You may be able to get her to add to her orders more to get her hostess gift of choice!

Once you have her orders all in get the order in to the company as soon as possible so the orders will arrive quickly. Either deliver to hostess or if direct ships to her give her a call to make sure all is OK and see if there is anything you can do to help! Also let her know you would like to call her again in 6 months to see how she is doing!

These few tidbits will hopefully help you get on with your business and start out a success!

Joan Penfold
Owner
http://joansproductreviewsandgiveaways.blogspot.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5703083

This morning I was thinking about two very cool rings I ordered from a friend’s home party catalog jewelry party. I was super excited about these rings when I placed my order about two weeks ago. I haven’t heard anything since and now I’m starting to get a little annoyed. I’m wondering if the party’s been closed, and if I’m ever getting my rings. And I sure don’t feel very valued by this direct sales consultant at the moment.

It got me thinking about my own direct sales business and how I conducted my catalog parties. Then I realized that this is a topic I’ve actually never written about before. It’s not even really a part of any of my training materials. That sort of surprised me. It’s probably because I didn’t do a lot of catalog parties as a rule in my own business.

I knew that I was in business to do three things:

• Sell my products
• Book parties
• Share my opportunity

Since home party plan catalog parties only cover one of those three objectives (and really the least important one to the overall growth of a direct sales business, in my opinion), they really shouldn’t be taking up much of your time.

That being said, there is a time and place for them. And I’m sure it won’t surprise you to learn that I had a systematic way of working my catalog parties. So I thought I’d lay out when I offered these and the systems I put into place to make sure the customers from these parties felt as valued as possible by me.

When is It Appropriate to Offer A Catalog Party?

In my opinion, only when it’s crystal clear that the person you’re offering it to has no interest in hosting a party. Now, wait a second. I said CRYSTAL CLEAR. That means, you’ve used all of the great booking techniques you’ve learned, you’ve identified their objection and attempted to overcome it, and they’re just positive that they have no interest in booking a party. Please don’t give up easily on this option. Physical parties are so much more valuable than catalog parties in every way. That’s why I always considered my catalog parties “gravy.” I didn’t count on the income, but it was very nice if a few catalog parties happened to put a couple extra bucks in my pocket every month.

My 3 Tips for Home Party Plan Catalog Party Success

1. Coach Your Host – First of all, you MUST coach your catalog party hosts. This is actually as important (if not more important) with this type of host as with a regular host. You have to educate them about how to:

• Get the word out about their party (how will they “announce the fact that they’re having this party?)
• Accurately fill out an order form, get payment information, etc.
• Use your catalog to sell (and upsell) your products (this is important and it’s pretty easy to teach as long as you’re good at it yourself)

2. Go For a Goal – Make sure you have your host set a goal for herself so she’s shooting for something. That will motivate her toward a successful party. Without it, most catalog parties are doomed to failure.

• She can choose an item or a few items she wants to earn
• She can choose a total sales goal for her party
• She can choose a number of orders she’s going to get
• She can choose all of the above

3. (This is the most important) Set A Closing Date – This one would have eliminated my current frustration. It’s tempting with a catalog party to simply turn your host loose and say “Let me know when you’re ready to close.” This is a bad idea for a couple of reasons:

• It makes for a lazy host. Most of us are natural procrastinators. If she thinks she has as much time as she wants, she’ll put it off as long as possible.
• You end up having to chase your host around trying to get her to close her party
• Your customers end up getting frustrated and their feelings about you and your company reflect that (I’m living proof of this last point).

Hopefully these tips will give you a little structure the next time you agree to a catalog party (even if you’re hosting one yourself for a direct sales representative who doesn’t happen to read this blog. LOL). As I said, I’ve got fairly limited experience with this part of the direct sales pie, so if you have any other tips to add, I’d love it if you posted them below.

Julie Anne Jones is direct sales corporate consultant, keynote speaker, and trainer, and the CEO of Julie Anne Jones, Inc. She is known for her authentic and easy-to-use scripting and specializes in specific language and tools for success in direct sales. To learn more about Julie Anne and her products and services and to read more blog posts, visit her at http://www.julieannejones.com.