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6/1/99

LOOKING AHEAD!

We all have heard the saying, "People that fail to plan, plan to fail!"   For those of you that are new to [company] this year I would like to point out a few things you might want to be thinking about. 
Now is the time to be

1)Call everyone you know that might be interested in [company] and push hard for June starter shows!  The " You're in Business" contest will give you AND your new sponsor outstanding tools you both will need!

2) Order holiday scented candles NOW.  I use a lot of the red- cranberry, green- balsam pine, and ivory-vanilla.  Ordering them now will get them to you in July.   STOCK UP!  ( after a close look at the June mailing and the tease that they sent us, I'm ordering the Calypso Gold Peglite that is in our everyday catalog to go with my Calypso Gold Tealight holder!  The peglite was in last years holiday catalog. ENOUGH SAID!)

3) Take out all your past holiday candle holders and clean them up.  Check them for damages you might not have known about.  Have them ready in case they are brought back this year.

4) Look in past [company] holiday catalogs for candle holders that we now have in our everyday catalog.  See how you can show them as a holiday piece this year.

5)Address catalog size envelopes to all your Hostesses as well as your family and friends.   Order a lot of the new holiday catalogs when they are offered to us! (When you get home from conference you will be too busy and will want to get your new catalogs right out!)

6)Make a chart up listing how many paydays left till Christmas. (NEVER USE DAYS, USE PAYDAYS!!! ) 
August 1 = 145 days left to shop!
August 1 = 20 PAYDAYS left to shop if your paid weekly!
August 1 = 9 PAYDAYS left to shop if paid twice a month!
August 1 = 4 PAYDAYS left to shop if your paid monthly!

It makes them think!  Change it each week so that it is updated.  Use this chart when booking parties as well.

7) Plan an open house at your home to show off the new catalog one night from August 2-8!  
This is what I do.

HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE

In June-July I go through all of my past parties from the past year and look for all parties that were over $350 in sales. I make a list up of the hostesses and there addresses. I take Christmas cards, place an invitation inside to my holiday preview party and send them out to the hostesses. I also do not book any parties for the month of August past the first week unless the person had a $350+ party from me in the past. The first weekend in August, I have MY party.

I pull out my Christmas decorations and do my home up for a Christmas party, lights, music and all; with a Christmas lunch spread of ham, turkey

I do a on time drawing and give out a Christmas tin filled with a mix of votives wrapped in red and green tissue paper. I point out that it was easy to make and is a great gift for them to make for there friends!  (You will sell a lot of Votives with this one!)

At the party I preview all of the candle holders that I have from the holiday catalog  and give everyone 10% off on all sales at the party. One year I sold $830 at the party! ( I use my hostess credit to order NEW items to show at my parties)

NEXT is the fun part, GET BOOKING! I remind everyone that they get to book the FIRST parties from me with the holiday catalogs. They have EARNED the right by being a great hostess in the past. I offer them a $25 gift certificate for booking 2 parties and a $50 for booking 3. I list the
bookings on my party and only pay booking credit price!  It's honest and legal.

3 Parties are easy to book!
1 party in August to preview the catalog, party 2 in early October when people start thinking more about Christmas , party 3 in late November as a "LAST CHANCE" party. One year I got 27 bookings for the 4 months, at my party; and only 4 of them backed out! (REMEMBER that all of the guest had a $350+ party in the past)

When you get home from conference, you NEED TO BE READY!  You won't want to be waiting on catalogs and holiday scented candles. I hope that I have passed along a thought or two that will get you thinking about

Best wishes for a happy and BUSY holiday season,  Hank

This page last updated July 06, 2005