“Congratulations! You are my next Hostess!”

Have you ever heard that? Yes, I know, you were at a party, a shopping/buying party, and for whatever reason — a free product, you liked the consultant, your friend needed you to book a party or you just wanted to — you did. Good for you! Now what?

My name is Mary Jane Humes and for 10 years I was in direct sales. I sold jewelry via the “party plan.” I had both good hostesses and not so good hostesses. So I will tell you from a consultant’s point of view how to make your party a success and help both you and your consultant to come out as winners.

Listen to your Consultant

Your consultant will coach you. I know you have own ideas, but part of your consultant’s job is to help you have the best party ever. She will teach you how to do you job as a hostess. You pick your show date and work closely with her until your party is closed. She will be both your friend and ally, so listen to her. Don’t be afraid to call and ask her questions.

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Her job is to help you so use her.

Invite Your Friends the RIGHT Way

There is a way of doing this right and a way that is wrong. Set a goal as to how many people you want to be at your party to buy. You don’t just want bodies, you want a certain number of buying customers.

Your consultant may give you fliers, mini-catalogs or postcards to hand out or snail mail to your guests or she may ask for a list of names so she can send out the invitations. Whatever she decides to do, you need to make a list of people and personally invite them. The very best way to invite is to actually see them and ask them the pointed question: “I am having a _______ party at my home next Saturday night. Can I count on you coming over?”

Do not post your invitation on Facebook or send a mass e-mail and expect to have a houseful of people. Now you can use social media such as Facebook or Twitter to remind your guests and to build excitement. In fact, you should. You can and should send out reminder e-mails and post reminders on Facebook every day. This is in addition to PERSONALLY-VERBALLY asking your guests. If invitations were mailed out, then call the people and ask if they are coming. Don’t even leave a message on their answering machine and don’t text them. If you only depend on Facebook or e-mail or even texting to ask your people about coming it is far easier for them to say “no,” and you don’t want that to happen; you want plenty of “yes” answers. So make it a point to see your friends in person and talk with them to make sure that they are coming. Tell them that you need an accurate head count to give to your consultant. You do, so that your consultant needs to know how to prepare. Hey, we consultants are very flexible, but an accurate head could does help us do our job a whole lot better.

Stay Tuned next Thursday for Part 2!

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• Why do Direct Sales consultants do hostess coaching? (directsalesbusiness.com)