Category Archives: Bookings

Overcome objections to booking parties

Have you ever been in a situation where you offered party guests a booking with you, but they had all kinds of reasons to turn you down?

Let me teach you some strategies to turn those objections into parties! Then, next time someone brings up why they can’t have a party, you’ll be ready to help them find a solution!

Many people are busy and worry that hosting a party would take too much time. To this person, I say something like: “Parties only take a couple of hours and are perfect for busy people who don’t want the hassle of going to the store! And besides, you get to catch up with friends at the same time.”

You can also offer an “express” party at the office during lunch or a Facebook party.

You can help this busy host to have a fun and successful party by making everything super easy for her!

Understandably, people don’t want to ‘double up’ on party plan parties! This is why you want to offer some different themes and have plenty of other games in your stash. That way, you can offer something fresh and new to repeat guests.

So you can say something like: “When you invite people, ask them to bring a friend. That way, the group is a little different, with some new people in the mix. We’ll also choose one of these fun themes that your friends haven’t seen before!”

In my many years in business, I’ve never found this a problem! So when I hear this objection, I say something like: “I prefer it that way! So many of my best parties are in small homes and offices. It seems more intimate.”

I then offer a ‘workshop style’ party and limit attendance to 5 or 6 people to ensure everybody gets personal attention and makes the most of the workshop.

Make sure you also help the hostess collect some orders before the party from people who can’t make it, so she has an excellent chance to earn host rewards.

The last objection I want to mention is this one that I sometimes hear: “I loved this party, but my friends may not be interested in something like this!”

I reassure this person that she only needs a few people to have a successful party. You can offer the same type of workshop-style party as above.

I say something like: “That’s fine, you only need a handful of people at your party. I like to keep my parties small, so I can give each guest personalized attention.”

Now that you have some solutions for these common objections, I’m sure you’ll book more parties! And if they don’t book with you, don’t take it personally. They may be all partied out.

Are you ready for direct sales success?

Take the next step and learn what to say at your parties, what to display, games to play, conversion strategies, follow-ups, and more!

Get even more bookings from parties

The better you become at securing bookings from parties, the faster your business will grow and the easier it will be.

And suppose you don’t have wild dreams of becoming a hugely successful businesswoman, but you want your direct selling business to supplement your family’s income consistently. In that case, it’s super helpful to keep your business ticking over efficiently by securing new bookings at every party.

Why am I giving you so many ideas?

Different strategies work for different personality types. You don’t always know what will work for you (with your personality, company, and products). So keep trying out new ideas until you find a few techniques that work well for you. Then get really good at those!

Don’t stop once you’ve found one thing that works for you. For example, you want to mix it up so that guests who’ve seen you at one party won’t get bored with you. If you work through the same “script” every time, you’ll bore the pants of people who’ve seen you at multiple parties. Also, when you present the hosting opportunity in a new way, you may resonate with someone who didn’t respond before.

So that’s why I like to give you as many ideas to try as I can.

Bribery Basket

This method is a fun and exciting way to entice guests to book a party. I take a pretty basket with a good range of different products (wine, chocolates, candles, etc.). Anyone who books a party within the next few weeks can choose a product from the basket. This is one of my most popular booking enticements. Some of my regular hosts actually ask me to bring the basket to their party.

Deal or No Deal

This method is a great way to turn the subject of bookings into a game. I use two different versions:

  • Put six pretty boxes on display. Three contain an instant gift, and 3 include a gift AND a party booking. So they have a 50% chance of getting a booking with their prize. Anyone who’d like to can pick a box and open it.

This game is a lot of fun, and I find that anyone willing to try their luck on an envelope or box usually goes ahead to book a party whether they “win” one or not.

The trick to making this game work well for you is to pay a lot of attention to the presentation. The prettier the boxes or envelopes are, the more guests want to open them.

Pay the Date

This strategy will front-load your month with plenty of parties. People who book a party can are offered a special price.
For example, you can offer them a special product at the price of the calendar date. So if they book on the 1st of the month, they pay $1. Booking on the 10th will cost them $10.

Many of my booking strategies or recruitment strategies use product incentives. The way I make this work for me is by using every opportunity at my disposal for free or cheap products.

Many direct sales companies offer opportunities to win products or get extra discounts on products. I use these opportunities to get some high-value items for Pay the Date, and I also get a range of low-to-medium value items for Deal or No Deal.

Keep your incentives in mind when you have an opportunity to get free or cheap products.

Have fun with these strategies. I’d love to hear which you have tried!

Learn more!

Mother’s Day Magic for Your Direct Sales Business

Mother’s Day is a lovely celebration and a beautiful way to inject some magic into your party plan or direct sales business.

And I have some ideas for you that you can adapt to your particular business.

Mommy and Me Parties

This type of party works with lots of different products. For example, you could offer a handful of special “Mommy and Me Party” dates in your diary around Mother’s Day to encourage bookings on those dates.

  • Skincare Companies: Offer Mommy and Me Facials or provide training to the daughters on how to pamper Mom.
  • Make-up Companies: Offer Mommy and Me Make Overs. Great for teens, but little girls love their lip gloss, too.
  • Food/Kitchen Companies: Offer Mommy and Me Cooking Sessions, cupcake decorating sessions, tasting sessions, etc.
  • Clothing/Accessories Companies: You can offer Mommy and Me Styling Sessions if you have a children’s range. If you don’t offer children’s clothing, perhaps a Kids Style Mom Session where the kids are encouraged to help style their Mom – this lends itself to fun pictures and videos for your social media!

Retreats

The opposite of “Mommy and Me” – you offer adults only ‘retreats’. So bring out the bubbly and offer a grown-up evening with you! Market it as a “Mommy Me-Time” theme. You can use this theme with any product. It’s all about presentation and marketing.

Gift Packs

Make the most of Mother's Day in your direct sales business with these tips and ideas. Don't forget to grab the free social media images! #directsales #directselling

If your products lend themselves to creating gift packs or hampers, now’s the time! Add some chocolates, wine or luxury teas and wrap it up with a pretty bow.

To make this strategy work for you, create a couple of sample gift packs well before Mother’s Day and take them to your in-home events. You can allow people to customize their gift packs with you as they order.

Bonus tip: take your gift packs to workplaces dominated by guys such as car mechanics or construction companies. They’ll love a pre-prepared gift for Mum!

Don’t forget to take some great photos of your hampers and promote them in your customer Facebook group as last-minute gifts (if you have stock on hand or sell your sample packs)

Social Media

Remember to add some Mother’s Day theming to your Facebook parties, customer groups and business pages. Check this article on how to maximize your Facebook page.

To help you, I’ve created a couple of Mother’s Day tiles (including a Facebook game) that you can download and use straight away.

I hope these ideas help you to have a magical Mother’s Day in your party plan or direct sales business.

Direct Sales Parties with a Difference

Direct Sales Parties with a Difference

Direct sales events are critical to your business’s success. Don’t believe me? Check this article, where I discuss why parties and events matter so much.

However, the word ‘party’ can be limited, and for some newer consultants, it sounds old-fashioned. It evokes images of a ’50s-style Tupperware party; many people don’t relate to that. So, perhaps you want to reinvent parties to something different and more up-to-date!

Different Direct Sales Parties

Workshop. Whatever you sell, there’s probably a way that you could market your product via an educational workshop.

I’ve always found that workshops are very popular. People expect to learn something and get some in-depth knowledge. I market workshops as small events where we dive deeper into the products and how to use them.

Bonus Tip: when you ask for bookings, and someone says, “I don’t have that many friends for a party”, a workshop is the perfect event to offer them because they work much better with smaller numbers!

Tutorial or Class. A tutorial-style event is similar to a workshop in many ways in that it focuses on educating guests about a particular product line or range. The key difference is that these styles of events are more educational and less hands-on.

Tutorials lend themselves to a product or range that is quite detailed and is the perfect event for people who want to learn how something works and how to make the most of it, not just what a product does.

Fundraising Fiesta. Any party, event, or theme can easily be turned into a fundraiser. You just need to add a few fundraising games and perhaps a raffle – depending on the rules and regulations in your area.

You will most likely be donating a percentage of your profits. A fundraising fiesta can be used for any cause, company, or month, but doesn’t a February Fundraising Fiesta sound wonderful?

I run two to three fiestas yearly to raise funds for causes close to my heart…I’m also booked regularly to help other people raise funds too. I find that a fundraising event often attracts a different type of host and guest than any other event, so it’s a great way to expand into new networks. For more ideas for fundraisers, check this article.

You Plus 2. This is a super easy alternative for any host or rep who doesn’t want a full party or showing. The idea is that all the host has to do is find 2 friends for an hour.

You then do a quick, personalized chat or demonstration. It’s less daunting for a host who is worried that they won’t be able to get a big crowd for a party or for a host who is time-poor.

I often have great success with a You Plus 2. I advise the host to invite a couple of extra people, just to ensure there are 2 guests – and if everybody does come, that’s fine too. I also help the host gather a few pre-party orders. Because this event is small and personal, I often have sales similar to my average parties.

Direct Selling Events with a Difference

Girls’ Night Out. It doesn’t matter what you sell. There’s bound to be a way to market it by focusing on a fun night out. Let’s face it. This is just a party but with a fun spin. I tend to do an extra game or two and a couple of giveaways.

Stop n’ Shop or Express Shop. This is the perfect event for anyone who doesn’t have time for a full party. I offer to set up a display at their home or workplace for just an hour. People can drop in and get help with their shopping. This is a popular event in the leadup to Christmas.

Event. If you don’t want to use the word ‘party’, you could just call it an ‘event’. If you use it well, it can sound very exciting. For example, a ‘skincare event’ is something I’d attend as a guest!

Bonus tip: Use an online registration system (Trybooking, for example) to market your event as something special and more exclusive. It also looks professional and more official!

In the end, it doesn’t matter what it’s called….as long as you get people together with you and your products! Have fun experimenting with these different formats. I’d like to hear what works for you in the comments below.

Want effective game ideas for your next event?

Overcoming (more) booking objections in your direct sales business

Title: Overcoming (more) booking objections in your direct sales biz

Hosting a direct sales party is amazing: you earn free or discounted products, you get to have a fun catch-up with friends or family and you get to shop leisurely.

I certainly can’t imagine walking into a normal retail store with eight friends and three bottles of bubbly and expect a staff member to spend two hours exclusively with us. Can you imagine the response if we demanded to sample as many products as we wanted and then expect free and discounted products at the end? I suspect we’d be invited never to return…

What we have to offer in our industry is very special. The best way to overcome booking objections is to be confident with the fact that you are in fact offering something fabulous. If you anticipate objections and are prepared with an answer, you’ll have a full diary!

I’ve written about common booking objections such as no time, house too small, and the worry that friends aren’t interested. You can read about that here.

Below I’ve listed 3 more common objections to hosting a party with suggestions on how to respond.

“My husband won’t like the idea”

Perhaps their husband is tired and just wants to watch television and decompress in the evening. Perhaps their husband likes peace and quiet when at home because he sees enough people through their work. Either way, there are several things you can offer this person.

First of all, you can offer to work around the husband’s schedule. Perhaps you can offer a party or workshop on a morning or afternoon when the husband is not home.

Remember that you can also offer different party formats. Perhaps this host is more comfortable with a couple of friends around the kitchen table, or perhaps she would actually love to have 10 of her friends over. Make sure she knows you can accommodate her.

If your company offers men’s products, it might be nice for this host to shop for a few things for her husband so he gets something out of it too.

“We are tired of parties”

Oh dear, your potential hostess is all partied out! Again, make sure she knows you can offer different party formats and different themes to accommodate her tastes.

Also explain that a direct sales party isn’t just a party, it’s an interactive and fun shopping experience. Tell her you are her boutique retailer and you bring the shop to her and some friends. Sometimes reframing what it is that you offer will make all the difference.

My friends don’t have extra money

Explain the different payment methods you accept. You can also point out that hosting a party is the best way to get free or discounted products. If you have any guest offers going as well, make sure to mention them.

Direct Sales Tip: How to overcome booking objections and fill your diary with direct sales parties.

Remember that practice is key. The more you attempt to overcome objections, the easier it will be become and the more confidence you gain.

I’m curious to hear if you’ve come across any other objections to booking an in-home party. Be sure to leave a comment below to share your experiences with the community.

Ready to unlock the secrets to overcoming objections?

Across 8 modules, you’ll learn how to spark interest at your parties, find new team members and overcome objections. 

How to lock in a date for a party in your direct sales biz

Title: How to lock in a date for a party booking

Have you ever had people wanting a party with you but not locking in the date? They’ll say something like “I will ask my friends and get back to you” or “I need to double check with my husband before setting a date.”

I used to just leave it at that and say something like “No worries, I’ll chat to you soon” and hope to hear from them again. But they rarely got back to me with an actual date. When I followed-up with them they wouldn’t have checked with their friends or husband yet and they still couldn’t lock in a date.

It was so frustrating so I had to come up with a strategy that stopped this. Now I’m so much better at getting actual dates locked in and no more vague promises of a booking.

Let me walk you through my strategy.

The ‘lock in’ strategy for party bookings

This strategy helps you to direct the conversation, to get an actual date for your party and to keep control of your diary. So here’s how it starts:

Potential Host: I will ask my friends and get back to you
You: That’s okay lovely, but when you ask your friends if they’d like to come to a [company] party, the first thing your friends will ask is “When is it?” So let’s pencil in a date that suits you and see how you go. We can always move it if necessary.

Direct Sales Tip: How to lock in a date for a party booking

Then you move straight into what I call the ‘choice of 2 yesses process’. This will also help you to keep the party close in your diary (the further into the future they book parties, the higher the chance of cancellations).

When you ask a question, don’t ask an open question just offer 2 options (either is a ‘yes’ for you – they don’t get offered an option to say ‘no’). So you would ask “Would you prefer a weekday or weekend?” Rather than “What’s a good time for you?“

Below is an example of how such a conversation would go:

QuestionAnswer
Would you prefer next week or the week after? Week after
Would you prefer a day time or a night time?Night time
Great, would you prefer the beginning or the end of the week?End of the week
Would you like Thursday or Friday night?Friday night
What suits you better, 7pm or 8pm?7pm
Great Mary, let’s pencil in Friday the 24th at 7pm!

It goes without saying that you want this conversation to be friendly and natural, not like an interrogation!

Once the date is ‘penciled in’ I recommend you host coach them as though the date is already confirmed. Start by posting a thank-you note in the mail.

Here’s an example of a thank-you note:

Mary,
It was great to meet you last night. Thank you for booking a [company] party on Friday 24 June at 7pm – I am really looking forward to meeting your friends and an evening of fun.
Kind regards,
Christine

Once you make this strategy your own, you’ll see that it’s easier to firm up bookings and not get vague promises that don’t actually eventuate.

If you want to read a bit more on host coaching, check out these articles:

The Magic of Themes for your Direct Sales Business

Title: The Magic of Themes in your Direct Sales Biz

If you’re not offering themes in your direct sales business, you might be missing out on lots of bookings. If you don’t offer a variety of different parties, why would someone book their own party? Been to one party, been to them all….right?

Themes help you to cater to more people

But when you offer themes, you’ve always got something different and new to offer. Themes also allow you to cater to a variety of different interests and personality types. Different people, after all, like different things!

When I first started running all my parties as themed events, I noticed that my bookings skyrocketed. Guests would work out among themselves who would host the next party so they could try another theme! It was also easier to re-book the same host because I could entice them with an entirely new party.

I put a lot of effort into making sure all my parties are distinctly different because I don’t want people to think they are going to get the ‘same old’ party with me because that will dry up bookings fast!

You can find an example of how to run a themed party in the Choctober article. You don’t have to wait until October to do this themed party, call it the “Chocoholics” party and away you go. This particular theme is suitable for almost all party plans too, you don’t have to sell chocolate!

The Devil is in the details

Wherever possible try to match your games to the theme you’re running. I take it even further and make sure my display, my towels and ribbons, etc. to match my 5 most popular themes. I store each set with relevant products – creating a little theme kit that’s easy to grab.

You also want to think about the prizes you might be using at your party and the booking incentive, if you’re using one. Make sure it all matches your theme!

As they say, the devil is in the details. If you theme your parties and make sure the details are also appropriately matched, you’ll see that guests have a whole new experience even if they’ve been to a party with you before.

Make sure you have an eye catching display to advertise your other themes. Create a list of all your themes to make it easy for people to choose from. I sometimes display my list in a frame and sometimes I pass around a laminated copy. I’ve also attached a printed list with the order form at parties.

The Magic of Themes for your Direct Sales Biz

You don’t have to create a massive list of theme options – in fact it’s better if you don’t so people don’t get overwhelmed. I recommend choosing 5 or 6 themes that you put a lot of thought into to make them awesome and really different from each other.

To add some variety to your themes, you can add seasonal themes. Make sure you advertise themes on your social media (do a Live and talk up your seasonal theme) and display it at your parties.

To help you brainstorm themes, I’ve got a big list you can download. It’s got theme ideas and some notes on how to implement them.

Want more party theme ideas?

Check out the Ultimate Party Games Bundle!

How to coach teamies on getting bookings

If you’ve sponsored any team members into your direct sales business, you will definitely hear this: “I can’t get any bookings!” or “I’ve asked everyone and no one wants a party….“

It can be tricky to respond well to these types of concerns from your team members. But I’ve got you covered today with some ideas and a cheat sheet that you can use when coaching your teamies.

Who and How to Ask

Sometimes people new to direct sales assume that one Facebook post is enough to get parties rolling in. You’ll have to break the news to them that putting up a post saying “I’ve started with XYZ company, let me know if you want a party” isn’t the same as ‘asking everyone’.

Perhaps you can guide them to use the FRANK worksheet to make a list of who to ask. Then help them to find some wording they can use to actually ask people personally, which can be face-to-face, phone, text message, or a personal Facebook message.

Another common problem lies in the way people ask for a booking. Newbies, when they mention their new direct sales business, often say something like “Let me know if you’d like a party or want me to send you the catalog…” And then they’re disappointed with the lack of interest in their biz.

Instead, teach them this clever strategy to get those early bookings:

Keep their business rolling

Once your team member has a couple of parties booked, the next step is to help them to get more bookings from those parties. Because that will keep their business rolling.

And I’ve got 2 great articles packed full of ideas on how to do that:

What to ask in your coaching calls

When you talk to your new team members, concerns about bookings (or lack thereof) will be very common. So it’s helpful for you to have a few questions ready to help you to coach them.

Here are a couple of helpful questions and statements, grab the complete Cheat Sheet by filling in the form below.

Coach your direct sales team on getting bookings
  • What have you tried this week?
  • Tell me what you are doing to get bookings?
  • Who exactly have you asked so far?
  • How do you ask? What words do you use?
  • What did they say when you asked them?
  • How many parties are you aiming for per week?
  • How would you rate the amount of fun your guests are having on a scale from 1-10?

By asking these questions you don’t just drill down to what the problem is so you can be of better help to them. You are also teaching them to evaluate their performance and adjust what they are doing if it isn’t working. You can then help them to brainstorm new things to try!

Grab the complete Cheat Sheet below with even more questions and teaching points you can use with your team members.

How to have a massive Black Friday in your Direct Sales Biz

Title: How to have a massive Black Friday in your direct sales biz

Black Friday is coming! This is a massive opportunity for your direct sales biz, especially combined with Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday.

Although Black Friday started as a US tradition following Thanksgiving, it has spread around the world and is now a global opportunity for us all. But as always, you’ve got to prepare to take advantage of it!

Don’t make this mistake…

I’ve observed many direct sellers making this mistake: focusing entirely on sales during this special weekend. Although Black Friday is a massive sales opportunity, you want to make sure you focus on future business growth too by collecting bookings and encouraging joining.

This is the time to use whatever stock supplies you’ve been able to gather throughout the year and invest them back into your biz this weekend. Offer prizes for everyone who books a December or January event and also put together ‘Lucky Friday’ bundles for everyone who joins your business.

Remember that a new team member is worth the most to your business long-term! Bookings help your business to continue to roll forward while sales are your income right now. Don’t make the mistake of only focusing on your income today – also work to grow your biz for tomorrow!

As very few direct sales companies add joining or booking incentives to their promotions, you’ll have to plan ahead and create your own!

Your Social Media Strategy

The more time you invest throughout the year into developing great online relationships, the better your results will be when it comes to promotions like this.

People don’t like to be sold to constantly, so you want to be adding value or entertainment in your social presence and your VIP groups.

But even if your VIP group is new or you haven’t been posting valuable content throughout the year, there are still some things you can do to promote your awesome Black Friday offers:

  1. Go Live in your customer group. This is a great strategy for a few reasons: Facebook prioritizes live video content in people’s newsfeeds. This means you’ll get great reach with a Facebook Live. Second of all, live videos resonate with people as they can see the real you and catch your enthusiasm and excitement about the offers.
  2. Use every available means to reach your customers. Use emails, text messages or messenger bots to promote your offers. I like to build up text groups and email lists as they are lists that I own and I don’t have to worry about Facebook or Instagram making changes to their platform.
  3. Amplify features and benefits. Make your offers awesome and irresistible to your customers. Here are some ways doing that:
    • Bundle Deals: if your company offers special bundle deals they’ll sell better if you explain the benefits of each product in the bundle and add suggestions who might like to receive these products as a gift.
    • Discount: In the lead-up to Black Friday, encourage your customers to prepare a wishlist and tease them with ‘something exciting coming’ type posts. To make the most of discount offers you can create your own bundles and add a freebie to up the value. This helps to increase the average spend per customer.
    • Build Excitement: Add to the momentum of the weekend by adding your own giveaways. As I mentioned above, it’s a good idea to have some incentives for bookings and joining your team, but you can also use gifts to encourage orders placed by a certain time, the first 20 orders, a draw from all Black Friday orders, orders over a certain amount, etc.
    • In-home Event: Host your own in-home shopping event. There’s nothing better than the excitement of a group of people shopping together. You could even do a Live from the event into an online party or your customer group to share the excitement.

Takeaways:

Pin: Prepare for a MASSIVE Black Friday in your direct sales business.
  • Plan ahead to be ready to make the most of the Black Friday weekend.
  • Don’t just focus on sales. Encourage bookings and joining with special offers.
  • Share your Black Friday offers through text, email, and social media to maximize your customer reach.

I’d really love to hear what you’re planning to do for the Black Friday weekend. Let us know in the comments below!

Learn more!

How to double your bookings

Title: How to double your bookings in your direct sales biz

Bookings, bookings, bookings! In direct sales or party plan it’s all about the bookings. So, would you like to double your bookings? Of course you would!

You can seriously increase your bookings by starting a ‘Host Club’. Even if you already run a club or group for customers, add a Host Club to your tool box as well.

What is a ‘Host Club’?

The Host Club is for people who book a number of parties with you throughout the year. How many parties someone needs to book before they’re invited to the host club is up to you.

It depends on how many catalogs per year your company launches and on what your average party value is. So you need to carefully think this through but for most consultants 2 parties in a year is a good number.

Why does a host want to be in a Host Club?

To make people want to join your Host Club, you have to make it extra special for them to be a club member.

Here are some ideas to get you thinking:

  • Invite them to a special function at the end of the year.
  • Offer awards such as “Host of the Quarter” or “Host of the Year” or “Host with Highest Party Sales” or most “Host with Most Outside Orders”. You can create a “Hall of Fame” for your hosts!
  • They are the first to know about special offers, new products, new catalogs, or discounts.
  • They are given the first opportunity to book with you for special releases or seasonal dates.
  • Offer a special gift when they book a second and third party in the year. Depending on what you sell you could offer them to collect a range of products that go together.
  • Offer ‘party points’ to hosts. Points could be awarded for number of parties, sales, bookings, outside orders, etc. At the end of the year you can announce the top three and give them some special prize.

The investment of your time will pay off massively if you make them love your host club with all the special opportunities and recognition.

Shout it from the roof tops

Make sure you ‘advertise’ the existence of your host club. Mention it in any newsletter that you send out, in your customer group on Facebook and mention it at your in-home parties.

When you call past hosts make sure you mention that they could join the host club if they book another party with you.

The better you look after your hosts, the stronger your business will be and you’ll easily double the number of parties you’re holding.

Kick start January with your Host Club

PIN: Double your bookings with a host club

To kick start your year in January, heavily ‘advertise’ your host club in the peak trade season before Christmas. Give everybody who parties with you during that time an opportunity to join the host club if they also book a party in January – even if that means lowering your requirements a bit. It’ll be worth it to start your year with a full diary.

I’m curious to hear from those of you that already run a host club! Let us know in the comments what you do and what you offer in the club.

Learn more!