Making a strong impression in person

For an in-person event, creating desire starts right at the beginning. The fun begins the minute the guests walk in the door, so it’s extremely important for you to have your entire display and all your paperwork set up and ready to go before the first doorbell rings. You’re creating the fun environment, so meet and greet your host’s guests. Don’t miss this part of the event because it will set the tone for the rest of evening. Let your host focus on entertaining.

When the guests are mingling is the perfect time for you to walk around and get to know everyone. Tell them what they can expect from the evening and find out their experience with the product.

As you approach people, make good eye contact and smile. A conversation like the following will work for any type of event:

• You: Hi my name is Maria, and you are?
• Melissa: I’m Melissa.
• You: Melissa, is this your first time at a spa party?
• Melissa: Yes, I’ve never been to one before.
• You: Well, thank you so much for coming. Tonight we’re going to pamper you, and I can’t wait to show you our all-natural spa and bath products. How does that sound?
• Melissa: Sounds great!
• You: We’re going to start shortly. Feel free to take a peek at the table.

If they have been to an event before, you could say something like this:

• You: Well, Melissa, you’ll be happy to know we’ve just launched our new catalog and have some amazing new products. I have them with me tonight, and you’ll be one of the first to preview them. I know you’re going to love it.
• Melissa: Okay, great!

Remember to focus on your host. You might also ask Melissa how she knows her.

For an open-house format, you may say something like the following:

“Hi, Sarah. Is this your first time at a jewelry show? Wonderful! What I would love you to do is start making your way around the table to check out some of these beautiful pieces of jewelry. I suggest going around about three times because it can be hard to see everything the first time. Please feel free to try on anything you want because it will look better on you than it does on the table. I’ll be here mingling if you have any questions. How does that sound?”

Engaging when an online event starts

For an online event, you also want to create engagement right from the beginning. There are many ways to do an online event, and one of the most popular spans over a five-day period. The meet and greet begins with posts, the purpose of which is to create engagement. Your posting schedule can look like this:

• Post 1: “I’m Belinda and I’m from Michigan. Tell me where you’re from!”
• Post 2: “Tell me how you know the host and where did you meet?”
• Post 3: “Have you ever been to an event before (either in person or online)?”
• Post 4: “Do you own any of our products and, if so, what is your favorite?”
• Post 5: A video of you explaining what to expect over the next few days (this is your opening, which I discuss in the next section).

With a five-day event, you want the first two days to be the meet and greet as well as your opening. You also want to consider hosting multiple short (60 to 90 seconds) product videos, which helps increase orders, as well as attendance, to the live portion of your event.

Developing a powerful opening talk

Here are some tips for developing a powerful opening:

• Practice your name. Practice saying your name before the event. You want to sound confident when you’re introducing yourself.
• Give positive affirmation. Depending on your product line, you may say things like, “You’re in for a real treat,” or “You’re going to be so glad you came,” or “We’re going to have so much fun tonight.” This sets the tone for how your guests are going to enjoy the rest of the night.

• Share what you’re going to do for them. Punch it with at least three things they’re going to learn, such as

  • “I’m going to show you how to make simple, easy meals in under 30 minutes.”
  • “I’m going to show you how you can create meals your entire family will love.”
  • “I’m going to help cut your grocery list in half with these four ingredient recipes.”

  You can also mention how the party will run — that you’ll be doing a short presentation, passing out catalogs, and then assisting them one-on-one during the checkout process.

• Plant booking seeds. Bookings are among the most valuable things you can get from your events. You’ll give your booking talk a little later, but in your intro you can start planting seeds like this:

  “Having an event is so much fun, and I hope you will think about how much fun your friends will have in your own home.”

  You don’t need to go into too much detail here, just plant a seed and create the desire. Be sure to plant seeds five times throughout your entire presentation.

• Plant recruiting seeds. The three most important services you can offer are shopping as a customer, saving as a host, and earning as a representative. Make sure that you plant these seeds at the beginning of the party as well so they can consider them throughout the rest of the night. Again, don’t go into too much detail here, just paint a picture of what additional income could look like for them and their family.
• Thank the host. You always want to acknowledge and thank the host for having you in their home as well as thank the guests for coming.

Knowing what not to do

When you know exactly what you’re going to say, you come off as confident. But if you don’t know and haven’t taken the time to memorize, you tend to make mistakes, give misinformation, and can even forget to thank your host. You come off nervous and unprepared.

When men are nervous or haven’t thought about what they want to say, they have a tendency to clear their throats and stammer:

“Uh, yeah, uh, my name is Bob, and, uh, thanks, Tom, for having me here tonight, uh … .”

That probably won’t go over very well with your guests.

Nervous or unprepared women often add a high pitch to the end of their phrases, almost sing-song. I like to call it winging it:

“Hi, my name is Ashley … I will be doing the party … I want to thank Chelsea … for having the party … and wing, wing, wing.”

Here’s another way that people waste this precious real estate of time, by saying something like this:

“Hi, I’m Michelle and I would like to begin by telling you a little bit about the company,” or, “Hi, I’m Michelle and I want to begin by telling you a little bit about myself.”

In the opening, you want to grab their attention with something about them.

Example opening talk for an in-person event

Your opening talk may sound something like this, which you can modify for any type of event:

• “Hi, my name is Lauren, and I’m going to be doing the event this evening. Quick show of hands, how many of you have been to a (name of your company) jewelry party before?
• “Great! You’re in for a real treat because I have a wide range of beautiful designer jewelry to share with you this evening. I have a little something for everyone depending on style, personality, and budget. You’re going to fall in love with so many of our beautiful pieces and styles that your biggest challenge this evening is going to be what to choose. If you find you’re unable to get everything you want tonight, the best way to take care of this is simply by hosting your own event like Sarah is doing here this evening.
• “My company and I really appreciate our hosts and we like to treat them to a very generous shopping spree of free and discounted items, as well as a fun night out with their friends.
• “As you watch me do the event this evening, you’ll see that it’s fun and pretty simple. If any one of you is looking for a fun, flexible way to add an extra stream of income, you may want to take a look at what the business has to offer. If you want some information, I’d be more than happy to send it home with you.
• “With that, I want to thank Sarah for having me in her home and I want to thank each and every one of you for coming. Now let me introduce you to the wonderful world of ______ (your company).”

Example opening talk for an online event

Here’s an example of what you can say for an online event:

• “Hi, my name is Lauren, and I’ll be running the event over the next several days. Make sure that you answer the post questions so we can all get to know each other a little bit better.
• “I’m so glad you’re here. You’re in for a real treat!
• “I have a wide range of beautiful designer jewelry to share with you. I’m going to post short videos of our most popular products and collections. You’ll see that we have a little something for everyone, depending on your style, personality, and budget. You’re going to fall in love with so many of our beautiful pieces and styles that your biggest challenge will be what to choose. If you find you’re unable to get everything you want during this event, the best way to take care of this is simply by hosting your own event like Sarah is doing here.
• “We really appreciate our hosts and we like to treat them to a very generous shopping spree of free and discounted items as well as a fun time with their friends.”
• “As you watch me do the event, you’ll see that my job is fun and fairly simple. If any one of you is looking for a fun, flexible way to add an extra stream of income, you may want to take a look at what we have to offer. If you want some information, please comment below or feel free to private message me.
• “With that, I want to thank Sarah for hosting this event and each and every one of you for participating. I will share the link for the online catalog and where you can place your orders. I’ll be hosting a live portion, sharing more products, and any specials we have … so keep your notifications on! I’ll be going live on Wednesday at 7 p.m. EST.”

Creating a winning presentation

Here are some tips for putting together a successful presentation:

• Keep it short. Keep your presentation to 20 to 25 minutes. To save time, show your products in groupings or sets. Although it appears you’re showing one product, in reality you’re showing four. Make sure to include your guests in the conversation by asking questions. People like to feel they’re included versus being lectured to.
• Always show in groupings: If you show one product, you’ll sell one product, so always showcase your products in groupings. For example, if you’re a nail rep, when showing the nail wraps, complement them by showing your application kit, mini heater, and hand cream. That way, when people look at buying one item, they associate it with buying three others. Putting groupings together and having a price ready for them is crucial to increasing your party averages. Some people buy what’s on the mannequin because they don’t have the creativity to put things together. Show items in groupings to provide some creativity.
• Use testimonials because they sell. The more stories and testimonials you can use in your event, the better. They show that your products are loved and used by many. If the host already has some products or if there are guests who’ve attended before, you can ask them to talk about their favorite product. Testimonials are the single most powerful ingredient that prompts people to take action.

• Benefit selling versus descriptive selling.Descriptive selling explains what the product is without focusing on the benefits. Always share with your customers the benefits of your products. How will they make them feel? How will the products make their lives easier? Show your customers the value they’ll receive from your products.

  Value also means showing versatility if your products can be used in multiple ways. “No wardrobe is complete without _____. No kitchen is complete without ______.”

• Plant more booking and recruiting seeds. You need to plant three seeds in your event. For bookings, “This is something you might choose as your half-price item when you host your own event.” With recruiting you can share why you started with the company and what your business has done for you and your family. Again, you don’t want to go into too much detail. Remember that you want to keep your presentation going at a smooth pace.

Your presentation is going to primarily focus on the product, sprinkled with some information on booking and recruiting and topped with value. Remember, if people see the product and like it, they’re likely to buy it.

Building more desire for the product

You want to build up the product so that anyone listening to you will be compelled to buy. They’ll have a desire, a want, and a need. Avoid being descriptive about the products. If you hold up a blue purse, don’t describe the color and size. They can obviously see what it looks like. Instead, sell the benefits. Tell what the purse can do for them. How functional is it? Is it perfect to go with their casual wear or for a dress occasion?

Here is an example of how to sell candlesticks. Paint a picture:

“This next item is our Vintage collection. And it has the bowl with the matching candlesticks. I walked into one of my host’s homes the other day and she had our beautiful bowl sitting on the center of her mantelpiece with a gorgeous bouquet of flowers spilling out onto the mantel. On either side she had accented it with our gorgeous matching candlesticks. I have to tell you, it was breathtaking.”

You have to share stories.

Make sure that you’re using many adjectives instead of just one. One idea is to make a list of all your products and next to them write a descriptive word for each. That way during your presentation you won’t use the words my favorite or so awesome or special for every product that you feature.

For an online event, the purpose of sharing several short product videos during the first few days of your event is so that people can get to know the products, which allows you to keep your live portion of the event shorter. In the live portion, you can spend more time talking about collections or bundles, which will increase an individual’s order. That’s also where you can share any customer specials. Make sure to let your guests know that you’re happy to do a valet service checkout with them if they feel they want some additional help placing their orders.

For example, say something like

“If you know exactly what you want, you can feel free to go to the link and place your order. But if you have questions or want some help and want to make sure you get the best deal available, you can sign up for our valet service checkout. This takes about ten minutes, and we can do it over the phone or jump on Zoom. I’ve listed some available times in the chat.”

Choosing what to say

Most consultants either don’t have a strong booking talk or they don’t practice it. You have to do both. Memorize your script and practice it while looking in your bathroom mirror. Otherwise, you’re likely to be all over the place, and it’s difficult to get to the point. You need to have a strong booking talk without going into too much detail. Go light on what the host gets and balance it with what her friends get.

The key is to make your events sound fun for their friends as well as easy to host. Speak to the people in the room and not to the current host. Just like with products, the focus is on benefits versus description. You want people to think, Why on earth wouldn’t I want to host an event?

Here are some things you can work into your booking talk:

• “It’s easy to have an event.”
• “Your friends are going to love you for having it.”
• “It’s a lot of fun.”
• “I will do most of the work.”
• “As a thank-you from me and the company, hosts get to take advantage of free and discounted products.”
• “Your friends will get to take advantage of our customer specials.”
• “Guests will appreciate learning about our products.”

Here’s an example of an effective booking talk:

• “I’m sure you’ve all had a wonderful time tonight, and possibly you’re not able to get everything that you want this evening. You’re thinking, Wow, a $100 shopping spree sure sounds nice. Let me tell you how simple and easy it is, and really, it takes no more than the time you spent here this evening.
• “Haven’t you all had fun here tonight? That’s how much fun we’re going to have at your house with your friends. They’re going to love you for having them over for a fun shopping experience.
• “I will do most of the work, and all you have to do is get some friends together and have a great night socializing and shopping. So, honestly, why in the world wouldn’t you want to host your own event?
• “That’s why I’m encouraging each and every one of you tonight to just say yes, and I’ll work with you on a date that’s suitable for you and your calendar.”

On the flip side, here are two common examples of what I’ve observed people doing — they don’t give the rep the bookings they’ll need for maintaining a successful business:

• “So, if you would like to have a party, please let me know.”
• “I’d like to tell you a bit about what Sarah’s doing tonight. As a host, Sarah is going to walk away with a tremendous amount of free product. Let me give you an example of how this works. First of all, she can earn 20 percent of her sales in free product. Now, the average show is about $700 in sales, so that will give her about $140 to spend how she would like. That’s not all. Sarah is also entitled to four half-priced items, which can be anything in our line. Actually, she can also get the hostess bonus. Then for every booking she gets, she will receive this item. With three bookings, she could get that. That’s not all! Hosts also get to take advantage of our host-exclusive products.”

The first example doesn’t provide the benefits of hosting or create the desire. You’re putting the ball completely in their court to make a decision, which probably won’t get you a date on your calendar. The second one is overwhelming, gives too much information, and makes being a host sound complicated. You don’t want to host coach before you have a host.

If you come out of the gate with confidence and enthusiasm about your business and your products, your guests will mirror that same energy.

Building desire for hosting

The most important thing when creating desire for hosting during your presentation and in your booking talk is that stories sell. Also, when you’re talking about your product, you can sprinkle in some things about booking. It’s planting those seeds again. Here are a few examples:

• “This next item is a very popular item in our line, and I tend to give it away free more than any other item.”
• “I find that more of my hosts select this item with their host credit than any other item in our line.”
• “This is one of our most popularly chosen half-price selections.”

Here’s another idea where I’m planting a booking seed even though I’m talking about a product:

“This next item is one of our single most popular items. In fact, I just did a show in the teachers’ lounge after school last week, and this item was a huge hit.”

I’m talking about the product, but what am I really saying? “I did a show in the teachers’ lounge after school” or “I did an office luncheon event.” There’s an idea. It gives people other options, other than a home, to have an event.

For online events, your booking seeds will be placed in a series of posts over the course of the five-day event. You can make posts using the same examples we used above. During your live portion of the event, you can do a similar booking talk like in the example from the previous section.

In my observation of online events, people have a tremendous amount of energy sharing the products. On a scale of one to ten, an eight or a nine! When talking about bookings, I see the energy drop to about a two. It’s more like an afterthought rather than being a part of the event. If you want bookings, you need to be enthusiastic and you have to ask for them. Some people use online games or drawings to maintain high energy and achieve multiple bookings.

Make yourself available for your guests

Be present and in the room while your guests are looking at your table of products and through the catalog. You say something like this:

“Okay everyone, why don’t you come up to the table. You can try out some of the products I talked about this evening, as well as some others I didn’t. Don’t be afraid to mess the table up!”

Stay by the table to answer questions. This gives you the opportunity to cover more products than what was in your presentation. After the guests start to head back to their seats to check out the catalog, say something like this:

“Okay, everyone, here is your catalog, and before you begin shopping, I’ll let you know this month’s specials.” (Name them and place flyers around, if you haven’t already.) “I’ll be walking around to assist with your purchases today so feel free to ask any questions.”

Start full-service checkout

When people are ready, begin a full-service checkout. If they don’t have their order form filled in, help them do so. Also figure out the best pricing for them if your company offers a customer savings plan. If they already have the order form filled out, go through their products with them to make sure that they have everything they need. Don’t focus on the total. Look at the products they ordered. Are they missing any products that would make their experience better? For example, if they have everything to make a pizza but not a pizza cutter, ask if they want to add one to their order.

Although you can easily get excited about the total, it’s your responsibility to service your customers to make sure they have everything they need. The more you service your customers and create positive experiences for them, the more they’ll continue to do business with you and refer you to others.

A few years ago I was invited to a candle party a friend of mine was hosting. My son, who had just recently moved into his own apartment, asked me to pick up some candles for his new place. I ended up ordering three candleholders for my son, as well as one for my kitchen. My order total came to approximately $168. The representative was very happy and thanked me excitedly.

When my son came over to pick up his order, he opened the bag and said, “These are nice — but where are the candles?” I was so focused on choosing candleholders that I’d forgotten about candles. The rep had missed this detail, because she was too excited about the large order total. If she had made sure that I had everything I needed, she would have noticed — and that would have tacked on an additional $40 to my order.

Provide additional products with upselling

Upselling enhances your relationships with your customers by offering them additional products. This isn’t being pushy but rather making sure they have what they need. After you’ve made sure that their order is complete, you may ask, “Can I help you out with any gift giving needs you might have?”

You also always want to compliment people on their product choices. People want to feel like they made good choices and received good value for their money spent. Doing so puts people in a more positive frame of mind to consider booking a party of their own with you.

After you’ve totaled the order, thank the guest and ask whether they had fun at the event. Ask if they’d consider having their own event with their friends. Then, as a full-service checkout, ask if they’re interested in taking home some information about the business opportunity and what the company has to offer.

Have guests check out online

Having guests order on their own can be challenging for reps because you’ve done this great event and now you are leaving it in the complete control of the customer to place their order. If you aren’t assisting them, it’s difficult to create upselling opportunities. One way to help with this is by creating different bundle posts (several products that complement one another) with the total price included.

Directly asking for the booking or discovering interest in the opportunity is difficult when customers check out online. That’s why offering a valet service checkout, or VIP service checkout, is extremely beneficial. By jumping on the phone or Zoom, you can work one-on-one with your customer, creating any upselling opportunities, as well as offering customer specials. It also allows you to directly ask if they want to host their own event or if want some additional information about the opportunity.

Some people reach out by direct messaging, calling, or texting each customer to achieve this same result. Some people are using a Facebook portal to provide a video chat experience. Either way, having one-on-one time with your customer is invaluable. You can use some of the same examples in this section but just in the form of messaging or texting. Consider adding something like this: “Feel free to screenshot me your order before you submit. That way, I can make sure you’re getting the best deal possible.” This allows you to then reach out to them via phone or Zoom and complete the process.