Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Booking Parties

Parties are the life blood of the party plan industry. With Thrive, we are lucky enough to be  have a large online and blogger following, but parties are the best way to show many interested individuals our delicious products and answer their questions. Parties are a great way to get people talking about and sharing our amazing products with their friends and family. Parties can truly make us!!!



I am guilty of not working to get parties. But I am making a commitment, today, to start booking those parties! The market is too perfect for our industry to not work to get a piece of the pie! And more importantly, the home store, food storage, and emergency preparedness is too important to not share with as many people as I possibly can, and parties are the easiest way to share this information.

I've worked with many party plan companies. And I can honestly say Shelf Reliance has something really unique to offer. Unlike many other party plans, many have never been to a Shelf Reliance Party or anything like it! Shelf Reliance in unique to the party plan industry and with its party plan, Shelf Reliance is unique in the food storage and preparedness industry, as well!! Plus, With Shelf Reliance, our customers get the best available price at our parties! So let's Party!!!

How do you start booking Parties?
  • Have your own party. A kick-off party is a great way to get people interested in your product and get things moving with your customer base. It's also a great way to book more parties and make sales. Hosting your own party can be less intimidating for a new consultant. And you get the hostess benefits too! A kick-off party isn't just for new consultants! It's great for 'restarting' your business, for boosting business, or just for a weekend when you don't have a party booked. You can host you own party anytime!!

  •  Ask EVERYONE,every party guest, to host a party! If they say no, that's ok. You haven't lost anything by asking. But, If they say Yes, then you get to share Shelf Reliance with that many individuals! Many times people are on the fence, and a no can be turned into a yes with just a bit of convincing. If she says "I'd love to have party when such and such is finished" or "...when my family is in town" or something to that effect, write it down! Call her in a few months and try to book that party! If she declines for other reasons, suggest a catalog party. She still gets hostess benefits, and gets to share Shelf Reliance with her friends but doesn't feel she needs to host in her home. You could also offer to allow her to host her friends to a party in your home or in her office during lunch! We are offering our customers an opportunity to earn free and reduced price products that are good for their families and products that can be life saving in an emergency! All we ask is that she allow us to introduce Shelf Reliance with their families and friends. We should offer this great opportunity to each and everyone of our customers!

  • Make your hostess feel special, and do so in front of her guest. Present her with a small gift for hosting a party. Rena has made some adorable party gifts using a #10 can and creativity!You could also give one of our products: possibly a pouch or pantry can of Thrive goodies. We also have several useful and inexpensive survival products that would make great gifts. Compliment her home. Ask her questions. Have her help you make the snacks your serving. Compliment. Compliment. Compliment! She is the lady of the evening. Help her and make sure her guest see how easy hosting a party is and how much fun it is. Talk about all the free and half price goodies she can earn. Have her tell her guest what she is hoping to get with her hostess credit. You want her guest to want to be the host, to be the lady of the evening, to want to get all those goodies!! When you treat your hostess great, you are going to have hostesses who keep having parties and guest who are going to book their own parties! It will keep your business booming!!

  • Talk about hosting a party throughout your demonstration. Remind your guest that you offer special prices at parties.She will want to share special pricing with her friends. When you talk about Thrive and the great specials and packages, remind your guest that when she host a party, she can earn credits to get these great foods for free! When you talk about our great shelving or survival products, remind your guest; she could have this for free by hosting a party!

  • Give incentives for booking with you. We are so lucky that Shelf Reliance offers great hostess benefits! Talk those benefits up! You could also gift your hostess for reaching certain goals such as having x guest at her party, or party sales of x amount or more. Again, there are lots of great Thrive or Shelf Reliance products you could gift. Or, again, Rena has made some great gifts. Get Creative. (We'd Love to see your ideas!) If you give these added gifts to you hostess, talk those up as well. You could also put "booking stickers" like those available at the booster, in your catalogs next to items you gift or high-ticket items your customer may want to use her hostess credits toward purchasing. This helps encourage each guest to book a party.

  • Talk about special party pricing. We have a really unique program and offer our lowest pricing to party quest and Q club members. Talk that fact up. It will help boost your Q sales, it encourages guest to order at your party, and it encourages guest to book and share those discounts with her friends!

  • Have fun! Customers love shopping and learning together in a fun environment! This is a party, after all! So have fun! Customers who enjoy your party are more likely to book with you, and share the fun with her friends as well!!

Lets get those books filled with parties! Go get your calender. Pick a date to have your own party and circle each day in the next 3 weeks that you would like to book a party! And start working toward filling those spots! Tell your guest about your goal, and let them help! I will hosting my own party March 31st. And I've set my goals for when I would like to book future parties!

When will you be hosting your next party? What is your best strategy for booking parties? Questions? Comments? I love them all!

Keep Thriving Divas!
-Tawny

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Shelf Reliance Sale!

Shelf Reliance & Thrive Thanksgiving Weekend Sale


On November 25th, Shelf Reliance® will be offering our biggest sale of the year—the annual Thanksgiving Weekend Sale! This sale is a great opportunity for you to get into the holiday spirit by stocking up on all you need to build your Home Store™.
Click Here to see all the Great Shelf Reliance and Thrive products available at great discounts(or here for PDF )
 
Divas, Be sure you use this sale to Stock Up on Your Favorite Shelf Reliance goodies and all those items you love to share at parties! Share this sale with your customers! Blog It! Facebook it! Tweet it! Whatever! Just make sure you customers know about this opportunity!
Wishing Everyone a Happy and Safe Thanksgiving!

"Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good.
            His love endures forever."
Psalm 136:1

Friday, September 2, 2011

Big Sale and New Products

Hi Divas!

What a GREAT time to stock up on your favorite Shelf Reliance Products!


Don't forget to share this great sale with your customers! Are you using Mail Chimp? Mail Chimp is a great way to share sales, promotions, new, and other goodies with your customers and team! Here is an example of a Mail Chimp Template letting customers know about our new products and this great sale.

A blog post about this great sale is also a great way to share with your customers news of this awesome sale! You can see a sample blog post here.

Need a price list that reflects the 5 day sale? Rena posted a great one here!

~Keep Thriving~
Tawny

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Party Perfect Brownie Bites

I borrowed this idea from Rena! It is just too perfect!!

We all LOVE brownies! Brownies, in my opinion, are a GREAT 'soft sell' item to introduce your customers to Thrive & the Home Store/Food Storage concept.

Many real estate companies recommend you bake in your kitchen during an open house. We all just feel more comfortable when we smell fresh baked goodies! We are selling food, so why not use this idea to our advantage!

Brownie Bites are a great way to share Thrive Brownies with your customer!

Serve your Brownie Bites with ice cold Thrive Instant Milk! Yummy!!
Thrive Brownie Bites
*1 1/2 Cup Thrive Brownie Mix
*1/4 Cup Water

Mix Brownie Mix and Water. Allow to sit for 10 min. Spoon Mix into mini muffin pan. Bake at 350F for 12-15 minutes. Serve.

Rena and I both use the Pampered Chef Mini-Muffin Pan. It is non-stick and the perfect size! It's also a great way to help out a fellow mom in business! Do you know a Pampered Chef Consultant you could 'team up' with? Maybe she could use some Thrive goodies at her parties and you could use the mini-muffin pan at yours?

Not sure you want to bake 24 mini brownies? Or maybe you are doing a one-on-one consultation? Try my One Minute Brownie Recipe!

Keep Thriving!
~Tawny~

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Customer Database Part 2

If you have not downloaded the Customer Database Spreadsheet, I want to encourage you to do so.   I had several calls to make and some issues to deal with for customers, and using my spreadsheet made it so much easier.  All the phone numbers in one place.  Passwords and emails were easy to find!


Here is another video that further explains some benefits and things you can do with the spreadsheet.


Leave me a comment and let me know what you think!

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Tie orders to a party

This is a simple tutorial on how to tie order to a party

One of the best parts of being a Shelf Reliance Consultant is the ability to be your own hostess!! This allows you to earn all those great hostess benefits on outside orders (orders not belonging to a specific party)!

Start by logging in to the consultant part of the Website.

*Be sure you have set yourself up as a customer. Go to Customers, add your email and information.
* Next, set up 'Your Party' for outside orders. Click Events. Add Event. From here put in your party info. I create a party for each month. BE SURE TO BOOK THIS PARTY FROM YOUR PREVIOUS MONTH PARTY.

Now your party is set up! You can now easily tie orders to your party!!

*Click Orders. From here you can directly put in a party's order. You can also click recent orders, and then click an order and tie it to your current party.

It's that simple! If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave them below!

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Creating your own Shelf Reliance Blog with Blogger

Blogging! I love it! And it has taken the world by storm!

You can start or find a blog on any and every topic! I love mommy blogs. I follow several homeschooling and couponing blogs.

Blogs are a GREAT way to share your knowledge and experience with others. And best of all, its FREE and easier than ever!!

First, do a bit of browsing, decide what blog host you would like to use. The most popular free host are wordpress.com and blogger.com. This blog is made with blogger. Wordpress.org is also very popular, but is not free. (When I first started blogging, I signed up with both blogger and wordpress and played around with both) You should get your blog basically 'set up' before sharing the URL with your customers. For this tutorial, we will be using Blogger. *In this tutorial I will be showing you how to use Blogger*

Your First step is to sign up for a free account. You will need to pick a URL. For example tawnysthrivinghomeblog.blogspot.com. YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO CHANGE THIS URL LATER. Pick something easy to remember and relevant to your blogs title and topic.


 Once you have your url and your blog named, you can customize the template, layout and design of your blog. Choose a template. You can change the font, colors, background and more. Next, change the design and layout. Play around with different features and see what you like. Look around at other blogs you enjoy for inspiration.



Now You are ready to start blogging!
Click create post and start wringing.
Tell your readers all about you and why you started with Shelf Reliance. Share your stories and your experiences. Share recipes. Tell your readers about how you use Thrive in your own home. Make your blog fun and educational. 

Enjoy Blogging! Feel welcome to send us a link to your blog! We would love to see it!

That is it! Now you are a blogger!