best tried & true tips

[amy07]

I need some help! my bookings have been increasing (yay!), but the problem is that I am having to book further out. So, what are some great tips for coaching your hosts when they have booked shows more than 1 month out? I like having my calendar looking like it is, and I want to make sure that these dates hold!
Are you using postcards, emails, phone calls (obvioulsy), but what is working the BEST for you?

[niclowther]

Maybe if you know what the host special is for the month they booked, you could find out what they want to get. That way you could send reminders of why they are having that day. and you could also send recipes and tips that go great w/ the product they want to get.

Also, you could offer a free cookbook or gift for keeping the original date.

And if you do not already- offer to send invites.

[amy07]

to be totally honest, the majority of my hosts do not book because of the host specials - unless it's 60% off anything or Stoneware. if they like the special it's an extra perk, but usually they just want to do the show.

I LOVE the idea of giving a cookbook for keeping the original date!!

[ChefBeckyD]

I send a postcard thanking them for booking, and then it's mostly just emails.

Here is one email I send, and then I also send it via snail-mail on a cute bordered paper:

[amy07]

thanks Becky!!

[ChefBeckyD]

Another thing I think I may start doing is sending recruiting and host special info separate from the host packet. I heard this on a Training CD, but can't remember which one, although I think it might have been Marna Ross.

So then, they are getting info from me every few weeks until they hold their show.

[mrssyvo]

Becky,
I love your tips- Do you mail this to them after you send the packet? Ho wmuch later? I love that it is something else they are getting, and that it keeps you up front and center.

[ChefBeckyD]

Becky,
I love your tips- Do you mail this to them after you send the packet? Ho wmuch later? I love that it is something else they are getting, and that it keeps you up front and center.

Thanks - they aren't mine though.:o I got them from a consultant in my cluster who, here in MI, with the worst unemployment in the nation, has an almost $800 show avg.! I did change them up a bit to sound more like me though.

I book about 95% of my shows at shows, so I hand the host packet to them. (except during this change-over time. I hate having to mail out all of those March and April bookings I got before I had the new catalogs!) Then, I send them the Tips as an email when I set up their show online.

Then, a couple of weeks later, I send the Tips sheet in the mail...I've been sending Joy's DYLAB with it too.