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Ideas/Section-8
Believe it! You can easily
make $50,000 in the next six months or less! After that, you can
practically be guaranteed at least that much, but probably much
more, every year for the rest of your life, without, really working!
The way to accumulate this kind of wealth is with your own business
of selling merchandise via The Party Plan. Few other businesses
can so easily give you this kind of wealth as quickly, and keep
your income growing.
A recent questionnaire, circulated among hundreds of successful
direct sales merchandisers across the country asked this questions:
"If you were to start over today, knowing what you know now
and could choose the one method of merchandising that would make
you really rich in the shortest period of time, which would you
select?" Of these questionnaires returned, 94% stated they
would go The Party Plan Method.
The sharp party plan operators (and the richest) simply hold motivational
sales meetings for their sub-distributors about once a month. During
these meetings, they are teaching their sub-distributors how to
recruit new hosts and hostesses, or husband and wife host and hostess
teams.
A host or hostess can be any person who is agreeable to holding
a sales party at his or her house. Almost always, this person is
rewarded for having the party with a percentage of the total business
or an agreed upon special merchandise gift.
These people invite friends, neighbors
and relatives to the party. Your sub-distributor doesn't have to
do much more than make contact with people willing to hold parties,
supply the merchandise, and sometimes offer to help or be there
to make sure every thing goes smoothly.
Here's the kind of money you can realize
with this business: Say you have ten sub-distributors, and each
one arranges only five parties a month, and each party does $2OO
in gross business. That's a total of $10,000 per month in total
volume. And from that total volume, you make only 30%. Figure it
out for yourself. This would give you a personal income of $3,000
for thirty days in which you did no more than hold one or two motivational
sales meetings!
Besides, each party is almost guaranteed
to give your sub-distributor at least two more hostesses for future
parties, and those future parties will provide still more hostesses.
This chain is endless, and will build as fast as you can keep up
with it.
To get your start in this fabulous method
of merchandising, become a host or hostess yourself. Give a few
parties yourself, and learn the ropes.
Choose an evening for your party - any
evening excepting Friday through the weekend. Generally 7:30 is
the most convenient time for the greatest number of people. If it's
inconvenient for whatever reason to hold a party in your home, arrange
with a friend to hold the first couple of parties.
Make up a list of 30 to 60 people you
can invite to the party. They can be friends, neighbors, relatives
or people you know from work, even acquaintances with whom you do
business such as the check-out clerk where you buy your groceries
or people you meet at the bus stop on your way to work.
After formally inviting these people,
you then call to remind them of the party at least a couple of days
before the date of the party. This is important, because of the
original 40 people you invite, at least 15 will not show because
it slipped their minds, last minute circumstances that force a change
in plans, and those that really weren't interested in the first
place.
On the day of the party, get your merchandise
display set up early. The party should be held in the largest room
in the home - usually the living room - with the merchandise display
the center of attraction.
The merchandise should be set out on a
sturdy table covered with a good white or light colored cloth, and
the merchandise should be arranged by group or type - the jewelry
items together; perfumes, bath oils and colognes together; crystal
together, and so on.
Try to put a bit of imagination and showmanship
into your merchandise display. This will have the effect of making
your merchandise look much more valuable than it actually is. Those
that do put a flair into their merchandise displays find that it
in creases their sales by as much as 25 percent over an ordinary
showing.
For instance, a high intensity light focused
on the display will cause the jewelry to sparkle, the stainless
steel to gleam, and the brass-ware to glimmer like valuable heirlooms.
Another idea would be to tack a piece
of velvet onto a 4 by 6 foot piece of ply wood and use it to display
rings, earrings, necklaces and watches.
In jewelry sales, another idea is to hang
a mirror on a wall near the merchandise display. If you or your
hostess has room, you might want to set up a card table, covered
with an expensive looking piece of material, place a dressing table
type mirror on this table, with a chair available for your guests
to sit at the table while they try on the various items. The guests
then make their selections after determining how each item looks
on them.
Regardless of what you do to make it easier
for your guests to select and buy, a hand mirror is an absolute
must whenever you're showing jewelry. It would be wise to have several
hand mirrors available - two for your merchandise display table,
and an extra
one on the "admiration" table.
Besides your merchandise display, be sure
also you're organized with your refreshments. These usually consist
of coffee, tea, soft drinks, cookies or other "nibble"
items. The host or hostess usually makes arrangements in advance
for one of the guests to assist with the serving of refreshments.
Be sure you have nametags for your guests,
and a couple of felt tip marking pens. And don't forget the order
forms. These should be standard two-piece self-carbon order forms
- one copy for your customer and the other for your files. The best
idea is to buy the order forms. All these items are commonly available
in stationery stores. Rubber stamp your name and address on each
copy of each order form, at least a couple of days in advance of
the party.
Still another item to remember is your
merchandise catalogs. Be sure you have a good supply on hand, rubber
stamped with your name and address. Later on, when you're established
and the money is rolling in, you can have your name and address
imprinted on the catalogs.
If you don't have a merchandise catalog,
consider making one of your own. A valuable and easy-to-follow manual
on "How To Prepare Your Own Catalog" (book #1203) is currently
available. Another manual that will be of special interest to you
is the "Close out Merchandise Money Making Manual" (book
#1668). Both these manuals are avail able from the dealer who supplied
this report.
While we're on the idea of catalogs, we'd
like to point out that a lot of Party Plan Merchandisers are also
dealers for the extra-income book catalog, "Unique Books."
They feel that almost everyone is interested in extra income ideas,
and the Unique Books catalog has a wide selection of reports and
manuals describing supplemental income opportunities. Leaving one
of the book catalogs with guests at the party results in an ongoing
flow of book orders for months afterwards.
Back to the Party Plan. About a half hour
before your guests are due to begin arriving, turn on all the lights
in the room where the party is to be held. This will give the room
a bright, warm feeling conducive to a party kind of atmosphere.
And by all means, be sure to turn off all the radios, stereo and
TV sets. Eliminate any and all noises from other rooms in your home
that might distract the attention of your guests.
Every party should be planned, and follow
a prescribed format or agenda. This is because without a plan, it
will just be a gathering of people wasting time at your home instead
of theirs. You must have a plan to know what to do next in order
to achieve the desired results. Having a "pattern" is
also the easiest way to teach others to duplicate your success,
and the idea of following a successful formula is a proven method
of making the most sales in the least time.
Phase one is the greeting and get-acquainted
time slot - about thirty minutes. The hostess greets the guests
as they arrive, prints a name tag for each, introduces them around,
gives them a catalog, points out the refreshments, and leads them
into conversation with the other guests.
The second phase is the "game-playing"
portion of your part. This phase is used to relax everybody and
get them involved in the party. It should last about 15 to 20 minutes.
Next comes the merchandise presentation
by the hostess, who shows and describes each item on display. If
you have jewelry available, ask different guests to try on particular
items and show the others what these articles look like in use.
The length of time spent on this phase of the party will depend
in large part on how much merchandise you have on display, but generally,
you shouldn't spend more than about 20 minutes showing and describing
your merchandise. Then give your guest s about 10 to 15 minutes
to personally inspect and try on the items that have aroused their
interest.
You should mingle and converse with the
guests during this time period in order to answer specific questions
or explain the possible uses of an item, where it might look good
in the buyer's home, and any interesting tidbits relating to where
an item came from, how it was made, or the satisfaction of an earlier
buyer.
When you seem to have answered all the questions, and everyone appears
to have made their selections, start writing orders. Don't hesitate
to ask for orders. Writing orders should take about 15 minutes,
and then you should let the party begin to winding down.
During this time, mingle with your guests
and anyone showing a spark of interest should be approached with
an offer to serve as a future host or hostess. As each guest starts
to leave, thank them for coming and walk with them to the door.
The total length of your party shouldn't
be much more than two hours. Time and time again, it's been proven
that you can do everything necessary, and make the most sales in
this period of time. You lose effectiveness and make fewer sales
with appreciably more or less time.
There are a couple of proven ways to recruit
new hosts or hostesses from the people attending your party. First
of all, watch the guests as they look over the merchandise, examine,
admire and wish for something they don't quite have enough extra
money to buy. When you've determined that a particular guest wants
a specific item but can't quite fit it into the budget, simply take
her aside to a secluded corner of the room, and explain privately
that you're willing to give her the item she has been looking at
and wanting, if she will agree to invite her friends and relatives
to a party in her home.
This approach works almost every time,
and your only expense is the wholesale price of the item you give
her as the free gift.
The second sure-fire approach is to offer
a cash incentive. You do this by offering to allow 5% to 10% of
the total sales volume resulting from the party staged for you by
this type of new recruit. There's a plus factor for you on this
one, because you'll be getting the enthusiastic participation of
the host or hostess on the selling side. Once you've explained to
them how your program works, they'll generally do everything they
can to make the party a huge success, and thereby increase their
pay for the evening.
When you give a gift to the hostess for
having the party, the presentation should be a special ceremony
staged with all the "Show Biz" flair you can muster, at
the end of your merchandise showing. However, when your gift is
a cash award, carry your presentation over to the next party and
make a big production of it as well. Don't forget to invite the
"guest of honor" to your next scheduled party for the
big presentation.
During these presentations many of the
other guests will be favorably impressed, and as a consequence will
ask you for details.
Actually, your recruiting efforts should
begin when you start taking orders. Every person you talk with should
be offered the opportunity to hold a party of his or her own. Then
just before the party begins breaking up, ask your guests as a group
if any of them would be interested in holding a similar party in
his or her home. You ask those who voice an interest to stay over
for a few minutes in order to work out the details.
You should have an Appointment Book for
this scheduling. Simply ask what date would be favorable for them,
mark that date in the book, along with the name, address and telephone
number. Then assure each that you'll call in the next day or two
to work out the details.
Many party plan merchandisers also use
a letter. They write a letter extolling the fun and excitement of
the parties, explaining briefly the opportunities to receive free
gifts of their choice or big commission checks. Then they invite
the letter recipients to call for complete details on how they can
stage a party. These letters are usually printed in volume, and
then slipped inside the covers of the catalog these merchandisers
give to each person attending the parties. Sometimes these letters
are handed to each guest as the party breaks up.
Some party plan merchandisers also run
small classified ads in the area newspapers. Their advertising plays
up the opportunities available to make regular commission checks
(extra income) simply by holding parties in their homes. People
interested are invited to phone for more details. Response to this
kind of ad is generally very good, with the conversion rate better
than sixty percent!
Most people tend to feel party plan merchandising is exclusive to
women, but don't you believe it! It's true that women generally
establish themselves more rapidly than men with this kind of sales
operation, but over the long haul, there are just as many men operating
successful party plan sales operations as there are women.
Men are usually not as adept in establishing social "chit-chat"
relationships as women. Therefore, the man who wants in on the vast
potential of party plan merchandising should consider working with
a woman.
A husband and wife partnership is an ideal working arrangement.
An acquaintance, girlfriend or relative will often work out just
as successfully. The basic requirement is simply that the "couple"
must function as a team, with the individual talents of one complementing
those of the other.
Probably one of the greatest secrets of success with this kind of
sales operation is that in order to make the sales, and talk about
$400 parties, you must have the widest selection of merchandise
possible.
Many beginners, not understanding that
offering the potential buyers a wide and varied selection of items
to choose from is what builds your profits in a hurry, base their
entire merchandising plan around a selection that's of special interest
or particularly appealing to themselves. It's all right to include
the items that you especially like, but don't base your entire merchandise
line on the things you like; you're selling to others, not yourself!
Most successful party plan merchandisers advise that you should
display at least forty different items, and more if you have the
supplier contacts or the buying expertise. The actual decisions
on which products to carry and display at your parties should be
based upon these four factors: 1) The kinds of gift items, personal
decor articles, and general merchandise the people in your area
are buying; 2) The styles or fads currently in vogue in your area;
3) Contacts with enough sup pliers who can furnish you with the
kind of merchandise your potential buyers want; 4) Your ability
to shop among the various suppliers, and verify that you are getting
the very best merchandise value obtainable.
Still another important point to consider before buying merchandise
to display and sell: Do the prices you're having to pay for your
products wholesale allow you enough room for a reasonable profit
when compared to your time and expense?
Do some market research relative to your ambitions; get answers
to the questions we've set forth for you, and when you're satisfied
that you understand the workings of Party Plan Merchandising, grab
the opportunity and run with it!
