Boosting Your Consulting Business: Tips for New Consultants in Canada

[iheartmypanda]

I am a brand new consultant! I've had my kit for almost two weeks and I still don't have a show.
I think my director is dissapointed in me.
I know three people who might host shows but they're all too busy with the start of the school year right now (which I understand, one just moved, bad timing). And I'm ok with not being a super starter but I'm scared that my director is not!

My main problem is that I don't really know many people in Canada other than the young adults from my church (where I know the three friends). I'm new to the country!

So yeah... any advice?

 

[SusanBP0129]

Host your own show! Make it your "Grand Opening"! Invite everyone you know! Family, friends, neighbors! E-mail out-of-town people so they can look at the products online!
Also, check with your chamber of commerce to see if there are any upcoming fairs, etc... Good luck!!

 

[jrstephens]

If you know you are absolutely not going to have a show in your first SS month call HO and see if they will change your month to the next month. That will give you more time to get things organized. Do you have a local paper you could advertise in? Or an email list you could send out too? Maybe contact the schools where these kids are starting and see if they need a fundraiser. The idea of a Grand Opening is great you could post flyers in your neighborhood. This would give yo ua good chance to start your business and get to know people.

 

[soonerchef]

I agree with delaying you SS month, get people booked now for October, great month by the way with the knives and cutting board special and then choose Oct as SS month 1. Of course your director wants to see you succeed but more so everyone wants to see you get the SS bonuses because they are so great and it's a great boost to your business!! Talk to everyone you know as well as everyone you don't, go to the grocery store and speak with the deli and checkout people. Find excuses to bring up your PC business.

 

[chefmary]

Don't be discouraged and more importantly, don't let your director's attitude influence your business! When I started the business, I was a very slow starter and I'm sure my director thought I would fizzle out and that would be the end of my PC career. Boy, did I surprise her...6 years later I'm still going strong (including a move from one state to another). You might want to look for some fairs and festivals in your area to get your name out there in the community. Just one show booked can get your business going!

I totally agree with hosting your own show...it's a great way to get to know new people. When I moved to PA, I invited my new neighbors to introduce them to me and my business. The key to anything you do is follow-up. When you hand an invitation to someone you don't know well, make sure you get their name and phone number and say something like, "I'll be making reminder calls to all my guests the day before my show. May I have your phone number to be sure you're included?" Whenever you do your own show, it's important to hostess coach yourself as you would any other host!

I don't know if you can change your SS1 in Canada (I know some things are a little different), but call Home Office and they'll be able to clarify any questions you have.

Don't give up! You can do this and you'll find it will help you make many new friends in your new country!

Mary

 

[mommyhugz1978]

It might be differnt in Canada but contact HO about changing your SS1 and then start planning your own show for your first show!!! Don't give up, you can truly do this!!!

 

[iheartmypanda]

that's great advice!
If I manage to change my ss1 could I have my own show (starter show) in September? Or would I wait until the beginning of October?

 

[mommyhugz1978]

I would go ahead and start planning it for this month!!! Invited people from church...... if you have kids in pre-school/ or reg school invite teachers or fellow parents...ect!! Good luck!!

 

[soonerchef]

If it were me I would do all that I can in September but still have Oct as SS1.

 

[cat]

If I manage to change my ss1 could I have my own show (starter show) in September? Or would I wait until the beginning of October?

I signed up in August and made Sept my SS1. In early Sept, I changed my SS1 to October because I was away for 2 weeks in Sept. Anyway, I had some sales in August and September and it counted for my SS1 in October! How neat was that? (I hope that made sense! Essentially, I had an extra three weeks, one in Aug and two in Sept and then officially, October was SS1). Most people can get an extra 6 weeks added to their SS1. If you sign up Sept 16 and make Nov SS1, you have 2 weeks in Sept and 4 weeks in October before your official first month!

 

[siderits]

I too am a new consultant, and I did my first show as a "Kick-Off Party" (as a recommendation from my recruiter) and invited nearly everyone I could think of (besides the obvious, I also did husband's co-workers, past co-workers of mine, hairdresser, other soccer/baseball moms, etc.). I managed to pull in 33 orders with show orders, online orders and called in orders. Some of these included orders from out of town friends/family. I may not get leads from them, but at least it gave me a kick-start and a chance to use the free product earned as the host to build my show products. It was tons of fun!

Hang in there, and good luck!
Tanya

 

[tlennhoff]

Talk to your church about doing a fundraiser that you put together and gives you a chance to meet people. This could be done in a 2-week time period if you put some real time into it & you should be able to get the church to mail out flyers to every member. Maybe you could tie it into a "meet & greet new members" potlock party where people are encouraged to come to get to know the new members, give new members a chance to meet long-term members, and raises money for the church all at the same time.

Set up a table that shows the products, pick 2-4 recipes to showcase, do recipe cards that include which pampered chef products were used in making the product, and make sure your contact information is on each recipe. For each person that books a show the night of the fundraiser the organizations gets $3 so this gives people an incentive to do even more.

 

[tlennhoff]

I should mention I'm also a slow starter in SS1. I've had 2 successful shows although one barely made $150. I have 2 catalog shows being done long distance right now. One show I'm waiting to close. At my shows so far I've had less than 5 people at each cooking show. So maybe you could get your 3 friends to come over for a girls dinner out, showcase the product, show them what you would do at their house, take their orders, and book their shows off of this first one. You could even suggest they bring their address books with them to the show and have each one fill out the "40 guests" list on the spot. If you can get them for 1.5 hours you might feel better and they will probably encourage each other to create good guests lists. If they see how little they need to do beyond the guest list they may "find the time".

 

[iheartmypanda]

So I called the offices and they said they NEVER change the super starter month.

I didn't know pampered chef in Canada could be so different!

ok.. well... I guess I'm not going to make ss1...

 

[mommyhugz1978]

I called in May they change the SS months.... Try emailing them and see what happends!!!


Good Luck!!

So I called the offices and they said they NEVER change the super starter month.

I didn't know pampered chef in Canada could be so different!

ok.. well... I guess I'm not going to make ss1...

 

[iheartmypanda]

But I just called them today.

I'm in Canada... I guess it makes a big difference?

 

[vangogirl]

Hey there. I understand about starting with no one to help kick things off. I just moved to Texas and didn't know anyone until I had my 'intro' party. I literally put flyers in all my neighbors doors 'Meet your neighbors at a Pampered Chef party!' Anyhow, I probably got out about 40 flyers and remarkable had about 10 strangers show up at my door. I met people and made friends, got 2 solid and 1 still thinking of a date booking, and I got my 1st recruit! Not only was this a great start for my business, but also for my new life in a new state 2000 miles from home!

 

[iheartmypanda]

You know what? That's a good idea! I should post flyers in my neighborhood!
Ok, let's get this show on the road!!!

I'm just so discouraged that I won't make ss1! I guess it's not the end of the world though. I actually booked my first show today. It's in November.. but hey, it's a start!

I think I'm going to have a sort of open house. Make my dad be the host and post flyers in my neighbourhood and invite my friends. Maybe I could even do it next Saturday.

I'm worried about one thing though. we don't have a lot of chairs!! (not a lot of room period). Is that a huge problem? Any tips on that or for my first show?

Thank you everyone so much for all your help in PM's and e-mails and on here! I super appreciate it!
I almost quit when they wouldn't change my month cause I got so discouraged but I'm starting to have hope!

 

[tlennhoff]

Hopefully off the open house you will get some bookings. Play up the great deals they get on stoneware this month. Check out http://www.chefsuccess.com/showthread.php?t=10498 which has a bunch of documents such as (SpecialDiscounts_small.doc) showing how a host can get an entire set of the new traditions stoneware (normally $211) at a fantastic price ($60is or less) if they do a show that brings in $400 or $500 in sales. You should confirm these in your Pampered Partner. Create a fake show in your area and then put in fake orders of $400 and then $500 and put in the items as shown in the document and remember to delete the show when you are done, I did the discount document without taxes or shipping. Remind people that they can get outside orders from friends and family that live anywhere in canada. Also check out the file section for DO YOU LOVE A BARGAIN.doc which shows them what the deals are if they get bookings off of their shows through December.

 

[lizcooks4u]

re: Slow starter but now I"m cookin'

I am a brand new consultant! I've had my kit for almost two weeks and I still don't have a show.
I think my director is dissapointed in me.
I know three people who might host shows but they're all too busy with the start of the school year right now (which I understand, one just moved, bad timing). And I'm ok with not being a super starter but I'm scared that my director is not!

My main problem is that I don't really know many people in Canada other than the young adults from my church (where I know the three friends). I'm new to the country!

So yeah... any advice?

I'm in the U.S. but I managed to get my SS changed as I bought a house very unexpectedly and didn't bonus at any of my SS months. However my
1st Real Cooking Show was a couple of weeks ago and it was a $ 700.00 show. I had so much fun and have a very tight Sept. sched. Non PC related, but just booked another cooking show for 9-23-06. My first cooking show was 8-25 and had a catalog show going without hearing back from the hostess much, she managed to get a $ 200.00 show, so with all my sales added together OH, I had another catty show at beginning of month for
$ 228.xx; I didn't try much and I cleared $ 1300.00 and won my mid-season prods. I'm gung ho now and hope to have at least $ 1250.00 every month.

I have a very demanding/stressful regular job, that I really can't wait to get out of, but for now I have to plug away, before I can do PC full time

Don't give up and don't worry about what others think, just have fun and it will all come together for you

Liz

 

[vangogirl]

Invite EVERYONE to your intro show!! Have fun and good luck!