In the Shoes of a Hostess

I've been a bit distracted.

I'm helping my mom start a business.... one that happens to involve parties!  She has needed my assistance and so my time is being torn between my WH business and helping her... not to mention taking care of my family :)

So I apologize for my lack of posting here recently.

I want to take a minute tonight to write a bit about Hostess Coaching.  There are several reasons why this topic is at the forefront of my mind.

The first and most recent is because I had the opportunity to stand in the shoes of a Hostess this past week. Shortly after starting my Southern Living at Home business over 5 years ago, I made a decision not to host any parties for other Direct Sales companies.  There are a multitude of reasons that I adopted this policy, but it has served me well.

HOWEVER, I broke that policy last week in order to host a party for my mom's new Gold buying business.

For the first time in over 5 years, I was on the reverse side of the party.

I was in the shoes of the Hostess.


I did everything I knew to do to ensure a successful party.

I over-invited.  In fact, I sent out over 100 invitations.

I added an element of personalization.  While I could not personally call 100 people, I did make a Post Call to everyone and included a personal letter with each invitation.

I send a reminder phone call.

I did everything I would tell a hostess to do.

And I must tell you, I was extremely disappointed.  Out of the over 100 invitations I sent, I received a grand total of 12 RSVP's.  4 of them were positive, 8 of them were negative.  Over 86 people didn't even bother to respond at all.

The night of the party, I felt horrible.  Even though I know what I would tell my hostesses in the same situation (i.e. don't take it personally, you can never find the perfect night, etc.), I did take it personally.  Not only was I upset by what I considered to be a basic lack of common courtesy, I was even more upset that I would not have a successful party to benefit my mom.

For the first time in many years, I think I felt like many of my hostesses have probably felt.

And it felt awful.

Fortunately, I did have more than just 4 people come and the party was much more successful than I thought it was going to be.

Nevertheless, it was a good "wake up call" for me in the sense that I don't want any of my Willow House hostesses to feel the way I felt last Thursday night.

Admittedly, I've become somewhat casual with my hostess coaching as of late.  But after my experience in the shoes of a hostess, I am re-committing my efforts to superb hostess coaching.

I hope you will do the same.  We owe it to our hostesses to give them the best possible shot at having a good party.  If for no other reason than to make sure that their experience with Willow House is a positive one and not one that makes them feel bad.

And let's not forget that when we commit to giving hostesses the best possible coaching we can, it pays off for us as well... in the form of more guests and higher paychecks!

The other reason this topic is at the forefront of my mind is because I took a look at our numbers tonight. I suspect that many of you would like your party averages to increase.  I suspect you would like to make more money for your time.

If your party averages are not where you would like them to be, I challenge you to take a look at how you are coaching your hostesses.

How many contacts are you making with them?
What kind of information are you sharing with them?
Are you stressing the importance of making a personal invitation?
Are you helping them utilize the electronic tools we have available to them?
Are you sharing the online store opportunity for increased sales with them?
Are you making a reminder phone call for them?

Hostess coaching truly does not take a lot of time.  It just takes commitment and follow through.

I hope you will invest in yourself, in your businesses, and in your hostesses by committing to give your hostesses the best coaching you possibly can.  It is nothing short of a win-win situation!

If you feel like you need some help in this area, please allow me to help you!

We are entering November... a month that is typically the highest sales month of the year.  If you commit to getting parties, coaching your hostesses well, and having FUN at your parties, you will be well rewarded in the form of $$$... just in time for the holidays!

Go for it!