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Archive for Home Party Sales – Page 2

A Direct Sales App For Your Phone!!

By Julie · Comments (8)
Tuesday, November 1st, 2011

A few weeks ago I got an e-mail from the husband of one of the direct sellers who follows me on Facebook and reads this blog. This is what his e-mail said:

"I wanted to contact you about a smartphone application I developed for my wife. She is a consultant for Thirty-One Gifts and as a hobby, I develop apps for Android phones. After her parties she kept mentioning to me how much time and attention the checkout process took. She didn't want to make any calculation errors or mess up the customer's order, so this caused her attention to NOT be on the most important thing… The customer!  That is when I started working on MyConsultant. It's an app that I initially made just for her that helped add products, figure out shipping, tax and discounts. She had a few other consultant that thought it would help so I put in on the Android Market. It turns out that the app has been extremely useful to many consultants from many different companies. Just recently, I teamed up with another company that is helping me to develop the app for iPhone and iPad."

My ears perked up at that last sentence. Many of you know that I'm an Apple girl. I got a Mac about two years ago and my iPhone and iPad quickly followed. I was pretty excited about the potential of this app, checked it out, LOVED it, and agreed to share it with you all. I really do think this app has the potential to totally change your direct sales business.

Let me tell you about it. MyConsultant is a free app that has been available on the Android Market for a few months and as of TODAY is available for the iPhone. You know I teach that the number one, most important focus in your business is your customer. This app can help you to stop stressing over math and calculations and spend more time chatting with your customer and giving them a personal check-out experience.

Here are a few of the features I love about MyConsultant:

  • With MyConsultant, you can set a tax rate, shipping rate (% or flat rate), and commission rate one time and it will save it until you change it. No need to bring an extra calculator to your parties anymore.
  • There is a calculator built into the app, so you can add up your product subtotal, and then the app will do the tax and shipping calculations for you.
  • It also breaks it all down so you can enter each value into your order form if you would like to.
  • You can even select to tax or not tax the shipping fees.
  • After you set the commission earned rate, you'll instantly see how much you're actually making on each order. Cool!
  • Another very handy feature is the ability to accept credit cards and cash on your phone with the free Square Card Reader app. (I use Square on my iPhone now and it's amazing!).
  • You can also quickly and easily be directed to a website that will help you to look up the sales tax rate by zip code right from the menu button.

There are also a few very cool paid upgrades you can opt for (we're talking less than two bucks total here, and that's a one time fee!). Most direct sales companies offer specials each month. Sometimes it can be tricky for the consultant to figure out the total while applying these discounts. For just $.99 you can add a useful discount calculator to MyConsultant. For another $.99 you can take advantage of a great tool called Vehicle Expenses. This allows you to log all of your expenses related to travel for your business. You can enter miles driven either by your starting and ending odometer readings or by the number of miles driven. You can also enter the date and description of what you were driving for, and you can add any “other” travel expenses such as tolls/parking that go along with your travels. I'm guessing you'll be loving this feature come tax time.

This is still a fairly new app with a lot of GREAT features yet to come. Their goal is to pack everything you'll need into this app so that you only have to go to one place for most (if not all) of your direct sales business needs!

Check out what they're working on adding in the near future:

  • A task calendar that is specifically designed for direct sales consultants where you can set up default reminders to help with hostess coaching, following up with potential recruits, etc.
  • A “Build a Party” feature that allows you to input an entire party order at once
  • Integration with your companies’ hostess rewards program
  • A general business expense tool that lets you track all expense related to you direct sales business.

Interested? You can download the app for free and read lots of great reviews at:

You can also check out their Facebook Fan page and leave them your input. They want to know what other features you would like to see in this app in the future. You'll find them at: http://www.facebook.com/MyConsultantApp or follow them on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/#!/MyConsultantApp

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN PRINT OR ONLINE?
You may, as long as you do not alter it and include the following information (with active links as appropriate):

Julie Anne Jones is direct sales corporate consultant, coach, and trainer, and the CEO of Julie Anne Jones, Inc. She is known for her authentic and easy-to-use scripting and specializes in specific language and tools for success in direct sales. To learn more about Julie Anne and her products and services, and to read her weekly blog posts, visit her at www.julieannejones.com.


Comments (8)
Categories : Business Planning, Home Party, Main, Organization, Party sales
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The Best Laid Plans…

By Julie · Comments (0)
Tuesday, October 18th, 2011

It happens to everyone, no matter how good you are at host coaching and follow up. Sometimes you show up for a home party and there are only a few people sitting in your party host's living room. The key to success when this happens to you is the way you handle this situation. Here are a few things you will want to consider:

Your Host Feels Worse Than You Do

In most cases, this situation is your host's worst nightmare. It's happened to me recently. I had a home party last month and a list of about 7 "yeses" prior to the party. Then the day of the party my phone started ringing, Facebook messages started rolling in, and people started bailing on me for one reason or another. Up until thirty minutes after the party started, I was getting text messages with people saying they weren't going to make it. I had done all the things a good host is supposed to do and still had two people sitting in my living room when the party eventually started. I felt awful but it was totally out of my control.

As a consultant, your job is to make sure your host understands that you completely understand and that it's okay with you (and make it okay with you). You have a choice in this situation to either get frustrated or to accept what's happening. I promise, the latter will bring you much better results).

Your Guests Are Uncomfortable

Generally, your guests pick up on the stress of the situation. They are also much more "exposed" because there are so few of them. The best thing you can do is put everyone at ease by naming the elephant in the living room. Say something like this: "So, we're a small but fun group tonight and I actually love parties like this because it gives me a chance to interact with you all in a more informal way and to give you some one on one attention. Let me cover just a few details and then we'll just relax and play with the products." That way no one feels weird or worried that you're upset, and everyone can relax and enjoy each other's company.

Be Flexible and Willing to Adapt Your Presentation

Depending upon how you normally do your presentation, you may or may not have to adapt for a smaller group. Obviously, if you play a game that requires six people and you only have three, that's not going to work. Consider scrapping some of the more interactive and group-participation parts of your presentation and do a shortened version that just hits the highlights (how to book a party with you, your opportunity commercial, and the details of how to order), and then spend your time working with the few guests who are there one on one or in a small, informal group. Encourage them to interact with you and your products and to ask questions. I often times found that these parties ended up having a better outcome for me in sales, bookings, and sponsoring results because of the interactive dynamic of the smaller group.

Make Sure Your Back Up Systems Are In Place Before The Party

This is really important. Are you coaching your hosts to get outside orders before their parties? If so, you're showing up to potentially several hundred dollars in outside orders before you even unpack your kit. Then, if the turnout is less than stellar, you still have at least a qualifying party and your host still gets some of the host benefits. Make sure you're reminding her when you follow up before her party to get those outside orders (with payment) nailed down before her party.

Sometimes the best laid plans do go awry, and when that happens, you have to adjust. The more open you are to what good can come out of the experience, the more good you'll take away from it. And just for the record, my party with two people ended up being a $1500.00 night for the consultant. She made the best of it, did a great job, gave my guests a great experience, and I got a ton of 1/2 priced items. Bottom line, it was a win-win for all of us.

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN PRINT OR ONLINE?
You may, as long as you do not alter it and include the following information (with active links as appropriate):

Julie Anne Jones is direct sales corporate consultant, coach, and trainer, and the CEO of Julie Anne Jones, Inc. She is known for her authentic and easy-to-use scripting and specializes in specific language and tools for success in direct sales. To learn more about Julie Anne and her products and services, and to read her weekly blog posts, visit her at www.julieannejones.com.


Comments (0)
Categories : Home Party, Main, Party Attendance, Party sales
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The Party’s Over…Direct Sales Customer Follow-Up Tips

By Julie · Comments (0)
Tuesday, October 4th, 2011

If you're a regular reader of this blog, you probably have a fairly decent party presentation. I routinely tell you how to increase the results from your home parties and there are a ton of easy to implement and simple tools you can use during your live presentations to make sure you're getting bookings, sales, and sponsoring leads at every home party you do.

But what about after the party? Follow-up tends to be the one area where most of us drop the ball and consequently lose some great booking, sales, and recruiting opportunities. I can be as guilty of it as you are, so I thought I'd give you a little nudge and reminder, as well as a few simple ideas for making sure you follow up with every paying customer after every home party you do.

Making Customer Service Calls Is Easy

I know getting on the phone can be a challenge and it's often uncomfortable to make a call to ask someone to do something (book a home party, learn more about your opportunity, etc.). Follow up calls that are specifically for customers from your home parties are actually easy to make, however, because they're purely customer service driven.

All you're doing it following up with those who purchased once they have their products, checking in with them to make sure they're satisfied and answering any questions they may have. The beautiful thing about this is that it often leads to a conversation about an add on purchase, booking a party themselves, or learning more about your opportunity, and that conversation flows seamlessly out of the reason you called – to support them.

Use The Wish List For Follow Up

If you're using a wish list during your home parties, it can become a great tool for you to use to follow up with customers who didn't purchase something they put on their wish list. Is it on sale next month? Is it a host gift or special right now? Connect with that customer and let them know how easy it would be to purchase it at a discount or earn it for free. You might consider keeping an index card for popular items and writing names and phone numbers of interested customers on those cards after each party. That way you'll have an instant list of people to call when that item comes up on sale or on the hostess gift list.

Schedule Your Follow Up

Whether you're making phone calls, reaching out with a Facebook message, or sending a text, it's important that you schedule a reminder so you'll actually follow up. Go to your calendar on the day you submit your host's order and flip ahead to the date you're fairly certain she can expect her order to be delivered. Then move out another week and create a reminder to follow up with every customer who ordered. If you don't schedule it, it's much easier to just forget to do it (or choose not to). If it's on your schedule, you'll do it more routinely. Trust me, this works.

Follow up With Your Host

Finally, make sure you take the time to shoot a hand written thank you note out to your host (if you need an easy, affordable way to do this that even allows you to schedule it ahead of time, click here) the week after her party. This acknowledgement solidifies your relationship and makes it easier for you to follow up in six months or so to book another party with her. You'll also want to make sure you call her around the time her order is scheduled to arrive to make sure she received it and answer any questions she might have about getting the items distributed to her guests. Remember, your host is the catalyst for your success, so you want to make sure she always feels valued and taken care of.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on after-party follow up. What do you do to make sure you're taking advantage of this important opportunity?

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN PRINT OR ONLINE?
You may, as long as you do not alter it and include the following information (with active links as appropriate):

Julie Anne Jones is direct sales corporate consultant, coach, and trainer, and the CEO of Julie Anne Jones, Inc. She is known for her authentic and easy-to-use scripting and specializes in specific language and tools for success in direct sales. To learn more about Julie Anne and her products and services, and to read her weekly blog posts, visit her at www.julieannejones.com.


Comments (0)
Categories : Customer Support, Follow-up, Home Party
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