These are my notes from last night's conference call. I missed a few things because I was on a vodka/oj run- sorry! I did find the call extremely helpful and am looking forward to incorporating the tips into my future coaching.
Thank you to Jessica Brooks-Fleming for taking the time to do the conference calls. I'm sorry I've missed all the others but after just one, I'm hooked!!
These are sort of in random order- you should see the lovely scraps of paper I was using. Next time I'll have an actual pad of paper handy!
Jessica uses a hostess sheet that may be somewhere in the documents on the Elite team page. There's a TON of useful tips in there and when I finish this I'm going to print them out.
Ok, here we go!
Ask your hostess what she wants. If she comes up with $75 in product, tell her you're going to work to get her $100. Try to have the products on her wish list on hand for the night of the party- place an order if you need to.
If she says 15 guests are coming, encourage her to get it up to 30. Let her know you'll offer a *free gift to the guest who brings the most non-invited girls. Let her know she'll benefit greatly with more people and to aim for at least 10 buying guests.
Ask your hostess if it would be easier for you to create a Facebook event or to send out the invitations. If she's having trouble getting people to confirm, ask her for their phone numbers or emails and contact them yourself. I loved this tip that Jessica does- she puts a label on the invitations offering a *free gift if the guests RSVP to her. When she's at the party she calls out the names of those who RSVP'd to her and has them pick an item out of the Sugar Sack.
4 weeks before the party- Send out hostess packets if they don't already have them. Call and confirm the dates (or text, Facebook, email). Remind her of any incentives you offered. Place a sticky note inside the packet asking her to please call you to let you know she received the it.
3 weeks- This is when I was paying for my OJ so don't remember. Sorry!!
2 weeks- Use the Customer Connection Cards for hostess coaching for items she didn't get on her wish list. I know there was more to this, too, but I didn't do a great job at taking notes (no, I hadn't been drinking....yet! haha).
1 week- Confirm outside orders. If she doesn't have any encourage her to get some. Offer $3 or $5 off for each outside order she gets before the party. How great would it be to start the party with $100 in sales!?
Day of- Check your GPS to see how long it will take you to get there (totally forgot to do this once and didn't realize the party was 45 minutes away! Made it just in time!). Call your hostess and let her know you're leaving and what time to expect you. This way you'll make sure she'll be there and she knows to keep an eye out for you. Hopefully she'll call and check on you if you don't show up on time. Remind her to toss the hubs and kids out before you arrive (my words not Jessica's LOL).
*Free gifts- these don't have to be anything big. Don't break the bank! Use a Sugar Sack (or bag, cup, bowl, whatever) and place coupons ($1, $3, $5 off any product or 1/2 off shipping), condoms, or foil packs and let guests reach in and choose one.
After we finished discussing Hostess Coaching we discussed whether or not to accept checks. Some consultants opt to not accept them at all. Your policy should be discussed during hostess coaching, in your opening speech and in closing. If you do accept a check make sure you collect the following information- SS#, DL#, DOB, and 2 phone #'s. Let the guest know that you'll mail their product as soon as their check clears. You may also want to mention that there is a $45 return check fee (I highlight this on the order forms- as well as the "All sales final" and shipping cost) plus whatever fees your bank charges. If you have a returned check and collect the fee, this is yours to keep- but they don't have to know that. ;)
That's about it!! BTW, this was my first conference call. I had a weird sense of fear about them but wish I'd chimed in on the others. I found out they're very simple. Here's what to expect- you dial the number,Then follow the directions (if I can figure it out, anyone can). When the call connects it announces your name so others know you're there. I wondered if there was a hot mess of a bunch of people talking but it was 98% Jessica going over her points. Once in a while she'd ask if there were any questions or if we understood. If you miss the beginning see if she'll let you know who was there from the start so they can fill you in later. The next call is on November 12th. Put it on your calendar now so you can try to be available to call in. Even after just listening to one call I know that these will really help my business and I'm going to make every effort to catch all the future calls.
