What's in a Hostess Packet?
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Most seasoned consultants, leaders, and RVP's will confirm that LESS IS MORE when it comes to filling a hostess packet. Most people look at their envelope the night they receive it, then it gets piled on a kitchen table, coffee table, under the seat of a car, bottom of a tote bag, etc....until the night of the party when they frantically try to remember where they put it before you, the consultant, arrive at their home for the show!

The key to an effective packet is not so much what goes inside it, as what comes out of it and when. My leader really ingrained in me how to have an effective hostess packet right in the beginning of my start at my kit issue. We role-played effective hostess coaching right there at the table, pulling out each piece of paper from the hostess packet, explaining it quickly but thoroughly while placing the particular items right in my hands as she talked. By doing this with your prospective hostesses right away on the night they book their show, they are more likely to understand what is expected of them, and more likely to hold their show on the original date.

My packets consist of the following:

SASE with 1-2 NCR invitation lists.
I use brightly colored envelopes, and usually have a sticker on them. They look less like a throw-away than a plain white envelope, and I sure know what they are when I get them in the mail! Try some card shops in your town - they probably have extra left-over greeting card envelopes that they bundle and sell separate from the greeting cards. In my hometown "dime-store", they bundle them in 25's and sell for $.88. A terrific bargain and visually appealing in the hostess packets!

1 each of the current catalogs
Of course make sure your name and phone number are on every piece of paper you hand out! Advise your host/hostess to use the catalogs to collect outside orders before the show.

Order forms
This is a personal preference, but I have shrunk the regular order form to half its size, and
This is a personal preference, but I have shrunk the regular order form to half its size, and Xeroxed it (2 to a page, printed on both sides). I cut them in half so that the "outside order form" is basically the same size as the catalog, staple 5 of them together (remember they are double sided so that makes 10 prospective outside orders), and stick that inside the center of the regular catalog. After years of working in a corporate environment, it just seems like it's easier to keep the forms and catalog going from desk to desk if it's small & compact and TOGETHER! The only downside to this is that you obviously must re-copy the outside orders on a regular form before sending it to PL for processing, but that allows you a good chance to check the accuracy of the order. Also - if you are mailing a hostess packet, these miniature order forms weigh a lot less than 10 4-part guest order forms to mail!

Hostess Specials
Again - personal preference - I shrink down the current hostess special flyer to half its size, so that it also fits neatly inside the catalog, with the order forms. I do print it in color, but since that's 2 to a page, it's relatively inexpensive to get the color copies made at a copy store if you don't happen to own a scanner & printer.

YCHIA Brochure (You Can Have It All)
The easiest possible place to sponsor is at a show, and the most obvious choice is your hostess! Hopefully he/she will be glancing at it before the show, so that by the time you drop your sponsoring seeds, the idea is already planted!

A Tale of Two Hostesses (full size sheet - on brightly colored paper, with the Have/Get chart on the reverse side)
This is the only other piece of paper I put in. Full-size, so that it stands out from the rest of the packet. Brightly colored, again, so that it stands out. Hopefully, you can cover whichever type of host/hostess you end up with by using this single sheet of paper. If they are the creative, cutesy kind of person, the poem appeals to them. If they are the analytical, step by step, show-me-how type of person, the Have/Get chart spells out the opportunity in no-nonsense, easily understood terms.

Remember, as you are hostess coaching at the end of your party, pull each of the items out of the packet and explain them clearly and concisely. Be sure to remind them of each piece as you are doing your follow-up calls before the party too. For example:

Hey Susie, have you mailed your invitation list back yet? You know, that bright yellow envelope in your hostess packet?

or

Hey Tom, did you take a look at the back of that bright red piece of paper in the host packet? What do you think of the opportunity? 

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This page last updated  August 09, 2003