Don't assume other party plan consultants are pros for switching parties

Subject: Assume


Did you know if you broke up the word ASSUME into 3 parts (putting a hyphen before and after the letter “U”) that you get the definition of what happens when you assume?
Don't assume….it makes an A_ _ out of U and Me.


Often we coach new consultants who might be having a hard time getting their first parties booked to trade parties with a friend who represents another company. You know the deal… “I'll do a party for you if you do one for me.”


A fatal error we see made, that frequently leads to disappointing results, is that we assume that this person will do as good a job for us as we do for them. We also assume that this person (because she's in the business) needs no hostess coaching. After all, she knows what she's doing, right?


In fact, another party plan rep might need some EXTRA TLC to keep her excited and motivated. Stay in touch, get her wish list and most importantly, help her to put together a really, really large invitation list. Instead of the normal rule of thumb (invite twice as many as you expect to attend); better to have her invite 3 or 4 times the number.


Remember, she has probably already been selling to and inviting her friends and family to demonstrations involving her company. So, help her think outside of the box. Who does she know within her company that is in the area who might attend? What customers and hostesses of hers has she not been in touch with lately? Are their people on her list of contacts that might have not been potential customers for her product but would be better suited to yours?


If she's doing it only “as a favor to you”; that's probably not a very good motivation for her. In fact, it's a lousy one. She might want to consider donating her hostess proceeds to a local charity. “Doing” for someone else can be much more motivating and also helps her not feel like she's bugging her already existing customer base by inviting them again; because it is for a charitable cause.