May Monthly Meeting - What do you Appreciate?

Thank you to all who attended our May Meeting!

We had a great time and were privileged to meet 2 new team members for the first time! Lori Chandler and Melissa Gardner, both sponsored by Jeny Ayres, launched their businesses last month and are now officially "in business"!

Welcome Lori & Melissa!

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In the spirit of the Customer Appreciation Promotion (i.e. FREE gift for customers!), we each shared something that represented what SLAH means to us. Here are a few things that were mentioned...

• Lori Chandler - She brought a copy of the monthly specials and shared that she appreciates how easy SLAH makes our job by providing us with beautiful promotional materials AND the discounts to share with our customers! I couldn't agree more!
• Chenay Sloan - She brought her Renaissance Hurricane decorated with the "Spring Butterfly" theme and shared that she appreciates how easily SLAH products can be decorated... even for those who are not naturally "decorators". She loves how SLAH products make her home beautiful... even when the "insides"of her hurricanes come from WalMart! Perfectly said!
• Jeny Ayres - She brought her small Madeline Hurricane filled with sand, seashells, and little umbrellas and shared some similar thoughts to what Chenay shared. She also mentioned that her "beachy" hurricane is a good reminder of the General Incentive trip she earned last year and a motivator for the one she WILL earn next year! Ok... maybe I added that last part!
• Me - Well... my whole entire home has representations of all the things my SLAH business means to me! I simply love the beauty and warmth that the products give my home and I truly love being able to make my home a place "I love to be"! I also shared the below picture because it represents one of my most favorite memories, and without SLAH, it wouldn't have happened! It was from a GI trip 2 years ago... it was the only "big" vacation we took as a family of three and I will forever remember how much Noah LOVED every second of that trip! Do you think I'm crazy for thinking about trying to recreate those memories as a family of 4 THIS summer... swine flu and all?!?!

If you were not able to make it to the meeting, use the comments section to tell us what you appreciate about your SLAH business!

The first person to comment will get a pack of Fall 2009 postcards to use this Fall!

OK... on to business!

We spent the majority of the meeting discussing how important it is to make sure that you are always working to increase your party average.

Bottom Line: You make MORE money with LESS parties when you have a high party average!

2 things that are key to ensuring a good party average are:

1. Good Hostess Coaching

2. Knowing how to Sell Specials at a Party

Good Hostess Coaching:

There are lots of checklists out there that will aid you in making sure that you are providing your hostess with all of the information she needs to have a good party. In fact, I've put links to a few "checklists" in the ride side column with all of the other "Hostess Party Planning" documents. While I think that a checklist is a good idea, I hesitate to focus on it too much. The reason I say that is because I think it is easy to get bogged down in the details of "hostess coaching" and in the process of relaying LOTS of information to your hostess, she suddenly doesn't think having a party sounds like very much fun anymore! Does anyone know what I mean?

Remember: The #1 reason a hostess books a party is because she had FUN at the party she just attended!

So, as you hostess coach, it is important to remember that and make sure that you ALWAYS make the party sound FUN... not a lot of work!

The 3 key things that I've learned are most critical to relay to a hostess are:

1. PERSONALLY invite guests.

2. Invite ENOUGH guests.

3. YOU make the reminder phone call.

If you can get these 3 things across in a manner that encourages your hostesses to actually do these things, then hostess coaching should be successful! Remember, just because you make a suggestion to your hostess does NOT mean she will actually follow through! The key is to find verbiage that you are comfortable with that gives your hostess the incentive to actually do what you tell her to do!

Note: Never ask a hostess: "How is it going?" or "Are we still on?"

This kind of language gives your hostess an "out" if she wants one! Instead, use positive language that lets your hostess know you ARE planning on her party! I always start a conversation by saying something like "I'm looking forward to your party - I can't believe it's almost here..."

As far as timing goes, here are my suggestions (what I do):

• When she books at a party: I take a minute to "lay the groundwork" by telling her something like this: "I'm really looking forward to helping you have a fun party! I'm going to be getting a "party packet" together for you in a few days, but in the meantime, the very best piece of advice I can give you is to start spreading the word NOW to all of your friends! I have found that the very best way to have a great party is to personally invite your friends! So as you see them in the school parking lot, at church, at work, wherever, tell them to save the date for a fun party! I'll be making you some pre-printed postcards taht we can use as a mailed reminder as well, but as far as the actual "inviation" goes, it's best that you make those personally! We can go over the other details later, but go ahead and start spreading the word to as many people as possible!"


• Immediately after booking: I send a postcard in the mail confirming the date and time. I send the company generated email available through "Party Manager". I send a "Save the Date" email that she can forward to her friends.

• About 2 weeks to 10 days prior to the party: I send the "3 Secrets to a Successful Party" email (see right column to download). I make a phone call to go over the 3 key things I mentioned above. I have included a link in the right column (under Hostess Coaching) that gives a sample script of what I might say during that phone call.


• About 1 week before the party: I send the "It Pays to be Personal" email (see right column to download).

• About 3 days before the party: I call her to get a rough count of people who are coming. I get directions to her house. I get her PHONE LIST to make reminder calls. I remind her to keep her snacks very simple, cheap, and easy! I also send her a "reminder" email that she can forward to her friends.

• The day before the party: I use PostCalls to make a reminder phone call.

We role played some hostess coaching coversations which is a good thing to do. Get comfortable with what you are going to say and make it your own! Here is a rough example of some of my verbiage - click to read!

Selling Specials:

#1 Piece of Advice: Don't rush through the specials! Go through them all giving ideas for each special!

The more specials you can sell, the higher your party sales! The key to selling specials (in my opinion) is making them desire able... even if a guest doesn't initially think they need one of the specials! If you can give them a reason WHY they need it (i.e. many uses, a great gift, etc.), they might change their mind... after all, it is a good deal!

Click here to read a list of ideas we came up with for using the May specials!

When I sell specials, I make sure to go through each one, one by one, giving as many ideas for each as possible. Once the idea sharing has occured, I then tell them...

"This normally sells for $_____, but you can get it tonight for just $_________. Isn't that a great deal? Ok... let's move to special #2..."

#2 Piece of Advice: "Bring them Back" to you BEFORE you begin talking about the specials!

It WILL happen. Guests will start to chit-chat and suddenly you become less interesting to them as time goes on! So it is critical that you "bring them back" before you being talking about the specials. You want to make sure they hear you loud & clear when you explain the qualifying purchase of $29.95! Trust me... it's terrible when you have to remind a person of this at checkout because they didn't spend enough. I generally say something like this...

"OK Ladies... this would be a really great time to pay attention because I'm getting ready to talk to you about the items we have on SALE! How many of you like a sale? OK... so let's focus in and I'll tell you about the FIVE great items we have on sale tonight.

First off, the way our SALE works is that you have to have a qualifying purchase in order to purchase the items that are on SALE. A qualifying purchase is $29.95 or more. Once you have 1 purchase of $29.95 or more, you can buy ALL of the items that are on SALE! Does anyone have any questions about that? OK, so, 1 qualifying purchase and you can buy ALL of the SALE items!..."

Piece of Advice #3: Talk about each one of them even if you don't have the actual special available to take to the party!

If you don't personally own the items on special, that's OK! Talk about them individually anyway! Tell them which page to turn to in the catalog so they are following along with you.

AND... if you DO have them, most definitely TAKE them with you and PASS them around! You should be passing most, if not ALL, of your products around the party anyway!

Note: I've started using those plastic sleeves that go inside of a 3 ring binder. I put the Customer Specials for both the current month and the next month inside the sleeve. I then put a sleeve in each catalog so that they each have a special sheet to look at during the party. I tell them that they are welcome to keep their catalogs, but they must leave the plastic sleeve behind so I can recycle it! Just an idea!

And Last but definitely NOT least...

We discussed CONVENTION!

Honestly... I wholeheartedly believe that convention should be a priority for anyone wanting to make MONEY with SLAH. And this year is a great year to go because airline tickets are not necessary!

Click here to read about the exciting announcements I made about costs (and lack thereof) for those that attend this year!

And... click here to read what Jeny Ayres shared about her convention experiences!

It is fun, fun, fun and I hope you ALL will consider joining me this year!

Convention 2008

So that's it for the business...

We had a lot of fun, laughed a lot, and munched on some great snacks! Click here for the artichoke dip recipe that is always a party "hit" (I happen to talk about this recipe at EVERY party as part of my small Tuscan Baker sales pitch. I then email the recipe as part of a thank you to the guests for attending (when I get that done... which admittedly doesn't happen as often as I would like!)).

And as much as I want you all to have this good information, I don't think I want to type it all out every month! And, I'm quite sure your eyes are now tired from reading it!

So do yourself and me a favor and just come to the meetings and hear it for yourself!

Speaking of...

Our next meeting will be on Monday, June 1st at my house. We will have a "Mix & Mingle" at 6:15 pm and the meeting will start at 7:00 pm. Mark your calendars and save the date NOW!

And by the way, this little "consultant wanna be" was so excited to get down to the meeting that she actually jumped OUT of her bed - THUMP! Yep! She really did!

And then... she sucked on a pen...

And I let her :)

Happy May Partying!