Friday, March 19, 2010

Where's Your Commitment?

Making your mark on the world is hard. If it were easy, everybody would do it. But it's not. It takes patience, it takes commitment, and it comes with plenty of failure along the way. The real test is not whether you avoid this failure, because you won't. it's whether you let it harden or shame you into inaction, or whether you learn from it; whether you choose to persevere.
~ Barack Obama

PartyLite is about to begin the 3 months of challenges that lead us into National Conference 2010.Whether you are an active consultant right now or not, I want to ask you a simple question: where's your commitment?

First, make the commitment to attend. Conference is fun, exciting, motivational, amazing, a great boost to your business in the lead up to Christmas, and something you really should experience. It is absolutely worth your effort and your investment to go. You don't need to pay for it all now; just $50 will hold your place.

Second, make it worth your while. Read the brochure that will be in our next Reflections and get to know the criteria for earning tickets. The targets will be shows, sponsoring, and leadership development. Set your own goals for achievement.

Third, plan yourself for your trip and prepare others for your absence. 
Planning for you:

Flights are very inexpensive if you book early - travel up on Thursday morning and back on Sunday. Carpooling with other conference attendees makes transfers to the hotel inexpensive. Bringing your breakfast makes your mornings inexpensive and hassle-free ( I eat cereal and juice in my room). Finding a buddy (or 2) to share a room with will save you money and get you a new friend. It's all very affordable if you plan ahead.

Preparing others for your absence:

Put in a request at work for the Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday off. Organise for childcare, babysitters, or pet-sitters. Call in some favours and/or offer some in return. Tell your family why you are going and how important it is to you that they support you as you go to learn more about the candle business. Share your personal goals (holiday, debt-free Christmas, new pool, new car, whatever). Let them know that when you go to conference, you'll come back knowing how to make more money and they all will benefit. It's absolutely true.

And finally, make it happen. Now is the best time to make this commitment to your business, to your family, and to yourself. Now is the best time to get your registration form in, your budget prepared, your targets in mind, and your excitement inside. Now is the time.

Conference will change your life.Where's your commitment? Make it happen.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Did You Know?

Did you know that PartyLite Australia does not send informational emails to Consultants? It just doesn't. So you need resources to get information about your business. That's easy....

Unit Leader

One role of the Unit Leader in PartyLite is to communicate all important information to the Consultants in her Unit. So when your Unit Leader writes to you... you probably need to read the email. In fact, when your Unit Leader writes to you, the information is probably incredibly important and time critical.

Consultant Business Centre (CBC) - my.partylite.com

The CBC is another really important source of information. It seems almost everyday something changes on the home page of the CBC. Today, for example, Jenny Messenger posted an update on the Children's Hospital Foundation. Yesterday, PartyLite announced a great promotion to help motivate your hosts to have 10 guests at each show. And everyday, the Product Hotline is updated.

Only active consultants can log into the CBC. If you have been inactive and can't log in, just call your Unit Leader.

Your Consultant Guide

Obviously a guide won't have "timely" information in it, but it does have enormous amounts of information critical to your business. The disk comes in your Starter Kit. Pop it into your computer and poke around for awhile. If you prefer to read it in paper form, buy a hard copy in your next Consultant order. The $30 fee gets you every page, double sided, and a nice, branded binder. I use mine every week to answer a question or to motivate myself. Buy some dividers, get out some Post-it notes and use it. Don't try to keep it tidy - get it dirty!

I think the printed Consultant Guide is so important that, starting this year, I will give all new Rainbows who invest in the printed guide their $30 investment back if they qualify in their first business month ($2000 in sales).

Your Unit Leader, the CBC and your Consultant Guide... three keys to your success.

Wendy Lloyd Curley - Independent PartyLite Consultant and Senior Unit Leader
www.rainbowsandcandles.com
Check out my other blog: www.profitablepartyplan.com

Monday, March 1, 2010

Simple Things to Improve Show Attendance

So you had a show last Friday where only four guests came. Funny, because the show on Thursday only had five. Neither show got to $400 in sales. You mentioned to the hosts that 8-12 people would be ideal. So what happened?

Not every show will have great attendance. So don't fret if a percentage of your shows are small. But you can improve your results with some disciplined hostess coaching.

Don't do it like this guy! :)

Hostess coaching is probably the most important thing to your PartyLite business. Learn how to do it well. Coaching is a skill that you should really work on. You want to know how I think about hostess coaching? I consider it like calling a friend to see if she needs any help getting ready for a party I'm attending. Do you want to know what it really is? It's calling a friend to see if she needs any help getting ready for a party I'm attending. It really is that simple. Don't yell... guide them through the process.

When You Book the Show

Whether you meet the host at a party, on the phone, or out and about, here's what you do when she books:
  • Show her your diary and select a date. If she isn't sure, select a tentative date, and use a pencil.
  • In your diary, write down her address, phone number and the start time for the party.
  • Give her a filled out $50 Bonus Hostess Voucher. In case the date changes, make the expiration date the end of the month for the party.
  • If you have it with you (at a show), give her a hostess pack with the invitations, the hostess envelope, and the Discover PartyLite brochure.
  • If she agrees, let other people at the party know that she has booked a show. Suggest that they put the date into their diaries.
Total time: 5 minutes

After You Book the Show

Send a note in the mail (or a hostess pack if you didn't already give her one) to thank her for the booking and to confirm the date and time. I include a letter with some hints and tips for a successful show.

Total time: 5 minutes

After You Send the Confirmation Note

Two days later, call the host to make sure she received the pack. Ask her if she has 5 minutes to talk. Review the contents of the pack with her. Here's what I include and say:
  • I included a  hostess envelope so you can make a long list of people to invite. There are some great tips and hints on the envelope, so have a look at it and use it to keep all of your show related paperwork.
  • I suggest that you give or post the reminder cards to people who accept your invitation via text, email, or (best) phone call. I also suggest that you have 10 cards in your purse to give to people who you see as the show date approaches. A personal invitation, with a handwritten reminder card will give you great results.
  • I included three order forms for people who cannot make it but who want to order.
  • I also included a yellow brochure called Discover PartyLite. This brochure outlines all of the benefits you'll receive as a host. The key is to have 8-12 people at the show and you will be very likely to qualify for all of those benefits. That brochure also covers the benefits of becoming a consultant. This is a great job and your show could qualify as a starter show. If you're interested in learning more, let me know and we can set up a time to talk about it.
Review the hostess and guest specials if you have sent them. Or send them via email and discuss them. Make sure she understands the guest specials so she can promote them or take outside orders. Ask her to let you know if she needs more catalogues or reminder cards. Tell her you'll call her again to see if she needs anything.

Total time: 5 minutes

At the End of the Month

I always review my monthly bookings at the end of the month and I send another note to let the host know that I'm looking forward to her show. I do this especially for hosts who booked more than one month in advance. It's a nice reminder.

Total time: sometimes 20 minutes - but that covers all shows for the month

One Week Before the Show

I call the host to ask her if there is anything she needs from me as the date approaches. I also ask her if she wants me to bring any specific products in my kit. Most of the time, this call is a very timely reminder that I'm coming and that she needs to get people revved up to attend. Sometimes the host will comment about how many people are coming. Whether the number is high or low, I have the same advice: keep inviting new people who you think of, don't underestimate the power of a reminder call or SMS the day before the show, and always let people know that they can bring friends ("party crashers").

Total time: less than 5 minutes

The Day Before the Show

Call the host to confirm how many people she expects to come. Tell her you want to make sure you bring enough catalogues. If her numbers look good, remind her to send reminders. If her numbers look low, suggest that she calls the people who are coming and see if they would like to bring a friend. Tell her that you will give free candles to people who do bring friends to the show (give both the friend and the invited guest a nicely wrapped tealight).

Total time: less than 5 minutes

Do you have other tips and suggestions for hostess coaching? You are in this together. Hostess coaching helps the host get what she deserves for having a show. It will make her feel great to have a successful show.  Hostess coaching deepens your relationship with your host, too. And it helps you make the most of your time and effort in preparing for, driving to, setting up, presenting, taking orders, tearing down, driving home, and putting the order into the system.

I promise you, the 25 minutes you put into hostess coaching for each show will pay off in spades when you increase the number of guests at each show.

Wendy Lloyd Curley - Independent PartyLite Consultant and Senior Unit Leader
www.rainbowsandcandles.com
Check out my other blog: www.profitablepartyplan.com