Chapter 9
Hosting Successful Parties
In This Chapter
Exploring the six key elements of a successful party
Giving your talks at parties, with scripting examples
Building desire for products, hosting, and the opportunity
In my many years of experience in direct sales, I have participated in thousands of home parties and have had the privilege of being a part of several surveys and focus groups. In that time I have discovered why people want to host and attend home parties, and the best ways to go about doing so. This chapter contains my distilled wisdom on this important topic.
Contrary to what some may think, the home party is alive and well. People enjoy it as a form of entertainment. A home party is a good reason to get together with friends and socialize. In today’s busy and stressed-out world, it’s a good opportunity for people to get together and relax.
Except for your launch party, when you’re doing a home party (also known as a show, workshop, class, herbal hours, trunk show, and so on, depending on your company), you typically need someone else to host this event. Whether in their home, workplace, or another type of service establishment, these people are usually referred as the host. Hosts are individuals who are willing to invite a group of people to see or try your products.
Your host can be regarded as your business partner for the evening. They are generally given some type of reward by the company for taking the time to introduce the product line or business opportunity to a new group of people. This relationship is important, and it is therefore a must that you treat your hosts with professionalism and kindness. It is also very important to understand why someone would choose to have an event with you.
A Brief History of Home Parties
Going back to the early days of Tupperware, the product wasn’t very successful sitting on the shelf of a retail store. It needed some show and tell. Once the product was part of a demonstration, it started selling like crazy — and thus began the popularity of the home party, or show.
Back in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, the home party was all about socializing. It was a way for a housewife to get out of the house for a fun time with her friends and neighbors — and to see what the hostess would serve for dessert. And because most of the women didn’t have jobs or independent income, the idea of getting products for free was appealing. In a nutshell, they enjoyed visiting with their friends, seeing the products, and shopping.
In the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s, the home party focused more on education and learning more about the products. The increase in the number of products distributed by direct sales was amazing. You could get almost anything you wanted for your home, especially with regard to health and beauty and your wardrobe. This was a time when people still wanted to socialize, but were very interested in getting things for their home for free or at a good discount.
Home parties were very popular. The presentations grew longer, and hosts (yes, nonsexist language took hold) were encouraged to go very light on refreshments. You didn’t want it to be too much work for them. Hosts wanted to be the first in their circle of friends to introduce a new company and its products.
In the past ten years, home parties have completely come full circle. With the hustle and bustle of life, friends rarely get to catch up with one another today. They want the experience of mingling with each other, as well as the feasibility of shopping in one location. Home parties give them both.
Understanding the Appeal of Home Parties
What do people say they want in a home party? They want to socialize. They enjoy getting something to eat and drink and they want to catch up with those they care about. They also want your presentation to be very short, no more than 20–25 minutes in length.
They don’t want extensive details about all the products. They would rather get highlights of the benefits and features of the most popular items and then get to the shopping experience. They don’t want to be lectured the entire time. They want to participate, to interact in the experience. They want to be serviced or assisted in their shopping experience, and they expect representatives to be experienced and professional in the way they conduct themselves.
Hosts want to provide their friends with a fun night out. They want to entertain and offer light refreshments for their guests. They do this first so that people can spend time catching up with one another. They want to give their friends a convenient shopping experience where they can all try the products before they buy them. Hosts don’t want their friends to sit through a long presentation either. They too just want you to hit the highlights of the company and benefits of the product so their friends can stay engaged and interact with you.
Whatever you can do to involve the guests is going to be a hit.
There are three main reasons people will decide to host a party:
- Fun: People like to be entertained and educated at the same time. Hosts like to be able to interact with their guests and try the product.
- Free and discounted products: People enjoy free, of course. But they also say they don’t want to have the party at the expense of their friends. They really want to enjoy the free and discounted products without the emphasis placed on what they are going to get free or the fact that they are having the party in order to get free products.
- Help a friend: People like to help their own friends, and most people say they would host a party so that their friends can have a good time. When you are talking about booking a party, you need to say things like this:
“Your friends are going to love it. They are going to appreciate you for introducing them to these fabulous products, and you’ll have lots of great customer specials for them.”
It’s important to have some goals in mind for your parties. Just as a host has goals, like their friends having fun, you too need to set goals so you can measure the success of your party. Your goals should include generating sales, bookings, and recruit leads.
Fun is definitely the top priority for your host and her friends. But you have goals for building your business. A party is considered a home run when you get average to above average sales, two to three bookings, and two to three people taking home information about the opportunity. This is what you should always be striving for.
Whether it be a home party or launch party (Chapter 8) or an appointment (Chapter 12), six key elements are needed, and the rest of this chapter covers these in detail:
- Creating desire
- Giving your opening talk
- Giving your presentation
- Giving your booking talk
- Giving your recruiting talk
- Checking out customers
Creating Desire
Your true objective at a party is to create desire. If you create desire for the product, you will get sales. If you create desire for hosting, you will get bookings. And if you make your job desirable, you will get recruit leads.
Keep your focus on your host. The host is the most important person in the room. Everything is riding on the host. If she is having a good time and she knows her friends are having a good time, she will be able to drive sales, help get bookings, and suggest one or two people who would love the opportunity.
Creating desire starts right at the beginning. The fun begins the minute the guests walk in the door, so it is very, very important for you to have your entire display and all your paperwork set up and ready to go before the first doorbell rings. You are creating the fun environment, so it’s important for you to meet and greet your host’s guests. Don’t miss this part of the party, because it will set the tone for the rest of evening. Let your host focus on entertaining.
While your guests are mingling, that’s 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, extend your hand, make good eye contact, and smile. A conversation like the following will work for any type of party:
- You: Hi my name is Mary, 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 a party 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 might 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?”
If guests haven’t been to a party before, they came because their friends invited them and because they have some interest in the product. If they have been to the same party multiple times, it’s because they not only enjoy the product, they love the party. And that is the number one criterion for anybody deciding to try out your business.
Your meet and greet should engage people and pull them in. It also develops a relationship and likeability. It should make them think she’s really nice or I think this is going to be a lot of fun. If they think you’re nice, they’ll like you. And if they like you, they’re more likely to introduce you to their group of friends.
People do business with people they know, like, and trust.
Giving Your Opening Talk
The opening talk is one of the most significant and important parts of having a successful party. It’s where you create first impressions and you have the guests’ full and undivided attention.
Your opening shouldn’t take very long — only a few minutes. You are giving the guests an overview of the evening and telling them what to expect and what’s in it for them.
Your opening should really pack a punch, though. You need to know exactly what you’re going to say. If there is one part of your script that you want to memorize, it is this portion. Of course, you want to want to be comfortable with your entire party presentation, but you really want to be sure of the opening.
Eventually when you start showing the products, you want your guests to engage, laugh, and make comments — but now is when you want them to pay attention and say to themselves, “Wow, I’m glad I’m here. This is going to be a lot of fun!”
What not to do
When you know exactly what you’re going to say, you come off very 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 very nervous.
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 Mary … I will be doing the party … I want to thank Martha … 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 Mary and I would like to begin by telling you a little bit about the company,” or, “Hi, I’m Mary 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. See the upcoming example for how to introduce yourself and your company.
Creating a powerful opening talk
Here are some tips for creating a powerful opening:
- Practice your name. This might sound silly but practice saying your name before the party. You want to sound confident when you are introducing yourself.
- Give positive affirmation. Always give your guests positive affirmations. 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.
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Share what you’re going to do for them. Punch it with at least three things they’re going to learn:
“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.”
And so on. 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.
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Plant booking seeds. Bookings are among the most valuable things you can get from your parties. You’ll give your booking talk a little later, but in your intro you can start planting seeds.
“Having a party 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. You want to make sure that you plant these seeds at the beginning of the party, as well, so they can consider it 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 the host and thank her for having you in her home, as well as thank the guests for coming.
Example opening talk
Your opening talk might sound something like this, which can be modified for any type of party:
- “Hi, my name is Mary, and I am going to be doing the party this evening. Quick show of hands, how many of you have been to a 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 party like Sarah is doing here this evening.
- “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 night out with their friends.
- “As you watch me do the party this evening, you’ll see that it is fun and pretty simple. If any one of you is looking for a way to add an extra stream of income to your household budget, you’ll be happy to know that on average we make about $150 to $200 in an evening.” (Or whatever your company average is.) “If you would like some information, I’d be more than happy to send it home with you.
- “With that, I would like to thank Sarah for having me in her home and I would like to thank each and every one of you for coming. Now I would like to introduce you to the wonderful world of ______ (your company).”
As you can see, the opening talk is very short and simple. If you can perfect this part of the party, you will breeze through the rest.
Giving Your Presentation
You want your entire product presentation to be short, simple, enthusiastic, and solid. In fact, it should be entertaining and educational at the same time. You don’t want to get too detailed into your product line. And you want to stay away from going into a lot of detail about the history of the company. You could end up losing the guests’ attention.
Presentation tips
Here are some tips for creating a winning presentation:
- Keep it short. In order to keep your presentation to 20–25 minutes, you are going to want to show your products in groupings or sets. It appears you are showing one product, but in reality you are showing four. This could ultimately help with increasing your party average.
- Use testimonials because they sell. The more stories and testimonials you can use in your party, 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.
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Sell the benefits, not the details. Stick to the benefits of the product and what it can do for them. Don’t go into details about how or where the products are made and so on. If your company has a lot of factual content, you can put together a binder and let your guests know that you have more details for them to look at while they are shopping if they want.
Show value by sharing the benefits. Your customers need to understand how your products are going to impact them and how they’re going to make a difference for them. How is this going to make my life easier? How is it going to save me time and money? Value also means showing versatility if your products can be used in multiple ways. “Ladies, no wardrobe is complete without _____. No kitchen is complete without ______.”
- Plant more booking and recruiting seeds. You need to be planting seeds throughout your party. You want to plant three in your presentation. For bookings, “This is something you might choose as your half-price item when you host your own party.” 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 are 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 will 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 are two examples of selling candle holders. First, how not to do it:
- “This next item, ladies, is from our vintage collection. And this is our beautiful vintage bowl. And you could put flowers in it. You could put candles in it. You could put fruit in it.”
Instead, paint a picture:
- “This next item, ladies, 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 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.
Giving Your Booking Talk
A booking talk is vital to keeping your business going. In Chapter 7 I refer to bookings as being the heartbeat of your business. Bookings help you keep your calendar full, help you see more people, and of course, help you get the commission you desire.
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. Again, it is important to memorize your script. 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.
I have seen and heard many examples. Here are two of the most popular. Some merely say something like this:
- “So ladies, if you would like to have a party, please let me know.”
Does that make you want to have a party? Probably not. You haven’t shared the benefits of hosting or created the desire. You are putting the ball completely in their court to make a decision, which probably won’t get you a date on your calendar.
The other booking talk I hear often is the exact opposite and goes something like this:
- “Ladies, 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.”
And so on. This type of booking talk doesn’t work either. It 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.
The key is to make your parties sound fun for their friends as well as easy to host. You should be speaking 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 to people to think, Why on earth wouldn’t I want to host a party?
Here are some things you can work into your booking talk:
- It’s easy to have a party.
- 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 is an example of an effective booking talk:
- “Ladies, 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 girls’ night while introducing them to these amazing products.
- “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 party?
- “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.”
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
There are a couple of ways that you can create desire for hosting during your presentation and in your booking talk. The most important thing to remember 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 couple of examples:
- “This next item, ladies, 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, ladies, is one of our single most popular items. In fact, I just did a show in the teachers’ lounge after school last week and I sold six of them.”
Now, I’m talking about the product, but what am I really saying? “I did a show in the teachers’ lounge after school.” There’s an idea. It gives people other options, other than a home, to have a party.
The Recruiting Talk
Your recruiting talk is going to be short and sweet. You don’t want to push people, but rather mention what the business can do for them. If there are any recruiting benefits or specials with your company, you can mention those as well. Here is an example of a recruiting talk:
- “Ladies, you’ve seen me do the party tonight and you’ve been able to see how easy it is. You’re probably thinking that an extra $600 per month sure would be great. Well, let me tell you how easy it is to get started with our company.”
You can make that brief. Then:
- “If you are interested or know of someone who is interested in the business and would like an information packet, I’d be happy to send you home with one.”
There is much more to it than that. And you’re going to plant seeds throughout your presentation. Chapter 14 covers recruiting in great detail. The main idea is to show people that your job is easy. You didn’t come in with a lot of bags, you didn’t spend a lot of time on the presentation, and you’re making them feel like your job is also fun.
When people watch your job in action, and they start to fall in love with many of the products, it becomes easy for them to see themselves selling it to their friends.
As I mentioned before, your main objective at the party is to create desire. Half the people at a party have some level of interest. It’s your job to create a safe, relaxed atmosphere where people can show interest without feeling pressure to join.
Upselling, Checkout, and Closing
You’ve done a fabulous party presentation, and everybody is engaged and having fun. You’ve planted some booking and recruiting seeds and are ready to start the closing process. Remain engaged during the closing. It’s important to 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. Once the guests start to head back to their seats to check out the catalog, say something like this:
- “Okay, ladies, 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 will be walking around to assist with your purchases today so feel free to ask any questions.”
When people are ready, you are ready to begin a full-service checkout. If they don’t have their order form filled in, begin by helping 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 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 would like to add one to their order.
Often, it’s easy to get excited about the total. But it is 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 will 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 I had everything I needed, she would have noticed — and that would have tacked on an additional $40 to my order.
Up-selling enhances your relationships with your customers by offering them additional products. Here are two ways to up-sell:
- 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 it make them feel? How will it make their life easier? Show your customers the value they will receive from your products.
- Always showing in groupings: If you show one product, you will sell one product, so always show your products in groupings. If you’re a nail representative, when showing the nail wraps, always 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. Learning to put groupings together and having a price ready for them is crucial to helping increase 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.
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. This will put people in a more positive frame of mind to consider booking a party of their own with you.
Once you’ve totaled the order, thank her and ask whether she had fun at the party. This is also where you will want to ask if she would consider having her own party with her friends. (I talk about this in detail in Chapter 7.) Then, as a full-service checkout, ask if she’s interested in taking home some information about the business opportunity and what the company has to offer.