Patricia Kagwiria Makhulo asked:


Dear Home Party Consultant, Direct Sales Rep., & Direct Selling Business Owner,

In my last article, An Open Letter To : Direct Sales Consultant, Direct Selling Business Owners On How To Triple Home Party Sales we laid the foundation for improving direct selling ratios. Today we are going to focus our minds of increasing and improving home party sales ratios. This will lead to more home party sales and direct sales profit!

There are 5 ratios that will factor into your tracking:

1. Dialing/Contact Ratio : How may dials and/or contacts to do you make a week?

2. The Home Party Booking & Appointment Ratio — Of the people you do connect with or have a conversation with, how many of them book an at home party?

3. The Hosting/At Home Party Show Ratio — Of those who make the appointment to host an in home show party, how many actually showed.

4. The Closing Ratio — Of those who showed, how many of those resulted in home party sales? In other words how many people made a purchase? These sales do not have to be limited to your in home party demonstration. Did you send out catalog to your hostess to hand out to those who are unable to attend home parties?

5. Follow Up & Follow Through Ratio — How often to you follow up with those have expressed an interest but haven’t nailed a time or place? What about those that show up to a home party and don’t purchase? What about catalog sales? The are sales waiting to happen. Don’t drop the ball because you got a no or a not now.

The most powerful direct sales training tips I ever got were from a man name Jeffery Zalweski “the power of 45”.

To get on the right track you must first set some benchmarks. For example, depending on what you are selling and how frequently people buy what you’re selling, set a target amount of people to speak to per day this is what we call a benchmark!

I recommend a 10 a day regimen. Most people will tell you that sales is a numbers game and they are right about that. Problem is what numbers count? Make it about quality not quantity! Make 10 dials/per day or 10 -15 contacts/day

Then, set a benchmark for the number of people you want to make an appointment to host a home party. Finally set a bench mark for the number or amount of home party sales you would like.

Start each day by tabulating/documenting exactly what happens. That will give you a rough idea of what your ratios look like.

The Appointment Ratio – 40% (If you speak to 10 people, 4 people will book home parties)

The Show Ratio – 60% (If you make an appointment with 10 people, 6 will show/attend the in home party)

The Close Ratio 50% – (If you do a home party demo/presentation to 10 people 5 will buy).

Based on these ratios, to get 3 sales per day, you would need to contact 40 people per day. Of those 40, 12 would make an appointment, 6 would show and 3 would buy.

As you put this process in place, you will see what your true ratios are, but it’s at the very least a starting point. As time goes on, you will also begin to figure out how many calls you need to make each day to reach your estimated goals. This right here is the key to home party plan success, knowing that it takes to get you to the next level.

Here is the best news ever, with time you will notice an interesting phenomenon, that once you improve your booking ratio, you will need to speak to less people to make the same amount of money. Or you could speak to the same amount of people and make more money.

In either case, you will be in a better position to be successful in direct sales, once you start learning direct selling ratios and managing your home party business based on real time numbers and not hear-say or upline advice.

Myself, and Ann Sieg, the Renegade Network Marketer, top notch sales people and others who are successful have been using these strategies for years.

Here’s to a more profitable home party business.

Party Plan Pat



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Louise Birkens asked:


Themed parties: a great way to give a fabulous and memorable party!

 

If you are looking for something a little out of the ordinary as far as parties are concerned, the themed party might be the way to go. Themed parties are fun to plan and prepare, and on most occasions, the parties are enjoyed by the guests much more than regular parties due to the flamboyancy of dressing up for the occasion.

The themed party can be a great ice breaker and gives guests who may be shy under normal circumstances, the opportunity to introduce their costumed personas to other party guests, without the need to come up with a good opening line. The themed party also gives your guests a good way to get involved with the actual planning of the party as they plan their costumes or outfits. This works well for most people as dressing up in costume has been a favorite way of self expression the world over. Dressing up in costume gives people the opportunity to take on another persona for a period of time and to take some time to experience life, however briefly, using the personality of their character as the basis for their performance.

Dressing up as another character, whether real or fictional, can bring many people out of their shells and let them live out a fantasy via an alter ego which can prove beneficial, especially in the case of extremely shy people. This role playing combined with the party atmosphere can produce excellent results for the hostess or host and your guests will likely have fond memories of your party.

There are many themes to choose from when planning your themed party; however I suggest always choosing a theme that is more likely to have appeal to your guests. This is the case especially when your guests are sourcing elements for their costume, as not everybody prefers to hire costumes, and a large number of people actually prefer to put them together themselves. Examples of well known party themes are an Elvis or rock and roll party, luau party, western theme or cowboy, nautical theme or a princess theme.

Once you have chosen a good theme, the fun part begins! Preparing for your themed party can be as much fun as actually attending. Your party invitations are possibly the most important part of the party, as it is the first impression your guests will get of how the party is going to be. It is very important to choose an invitation that will give your guest the best impression of your party. Invitations with the same theme as your party are essential in this instance. There is no need to pay ridiculous prices for themed invitations, visit www.allfreeinvitations.com to see the massive range of themed party invitations that are all free to download and print as many times as you need. Once you have chosen the perfect invitation, you are all set to plan your decorations and other aspects of your fabulous party.

You can now start to think about what sort of decorations and foods you might like to include for your guests. Many think that decorating for a themed party is difficult and expensive; however this is not always the case. When proper planning is implemented, the costs can be lowered considerably. For example, garage sales, eBay and thrift shops are an excellent source of potential decorations. Keep in mind, that you may also have things around your home that can be easily used or modified slightly to make them perfect for your party.  You can also make decorations without too much fuss if you use your imagination so be sure to ask your friends and family if they have any expertise in this area and be sure to utilize any assistance that may be offered in preparation otherwise you may not leave yourself enough time to actually enjoy the party!

If you have a themed party you must be sure to take many photographs so that your guests have a good record of the effort they have put into making their costumes. Your guests will appreciate it if you go to the effort of recording the event as they may have overlooked taking a photo or some video before they left the house.

These basic elements are a good preparation for the themed party so be sure to put in the correct amount of planning to ensure that your party is a roaring success!

Article courtesy of All Free Invitations dot com. I am a lover of parties and party planning. My website www.allfreeinvitations.com is a fabulous resource for party invitations and advice for planning a killer party! Be sure to stop by for hundreds of free party and event invitations.



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