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The email stated that over ONE THIRD of the orders all came in on the last day of the month. That's impossible to prepare for. I am impressed that they are able to bounce back as quickly as they do.JAE said:Where's Janet? Can't they prepare for the massive influx of orders at the end of the month? That has been happening at least since I started my first time around in 1995. OR, better yet, how about a commission bonus for turning in orders by the 15th or each month or the 22nd or whatever day helps. I might try a little harder for even a 1% increase.
Like I said, this has been happening for years. Maybe HO should change the deadlines or change the incentives. If I don't make the 15th of the month, I'm really not in a hurry. It's annoying to close a week or more after the show was held. I'll do what I can.KellyTheChef said:I know that most of us on here don't "save" orders and submit them on the last day of the month, but I think we (as consultants and "employees" of PC) need to think ahead of time and really push closing our shows before the last 3 days of the month. How much would it suck to work in the warehouse and customer service and have sooooo much work to do, or so many complaints about turnaround time at the end of the month. If we all keep this in our minds, and guide our hosts to close out before the EOM, then we will be helping the warehouse out A TON!!
The email stated that over ONE THIRD of the orders all came in on the last day of the month. That's impossible to prepare for. I am impressed that they are able to bounce back as quickly as they do.
JAE said:Where's Janet? Can't they prepare for the massive influx of orders at the end of the month? That has been happening at least since I started my first time around in 1995. OR, better yet, how about a commission bonus for turning in orders by the 15th or each month or the 22nd or whatever day helps. I might try a little harder for even a 1% increase.
janetupnorth said:One concept they could try...we have EDs and downlines.
Maybe divide consultants in waves throughout the year...not necessarily for pay periods but for minimums and/or goals.
If you are under "X" director, your "month" is from the 10th to the 9th of the next month.
Second group is the 20th to the 19th.
Next group is the normal "end" of the month.
That would break up the last day of the month stuff.
We KNOW there are tons of directors throughout the US about to go into relinquishment on a particular month trying to pull it through.
As far as other incentives, they do pretty good adjusting submission on those.
wadesgirl said:we cannot control when our hosts decide to close their show.
janetupnorth said:One concept they could try...we have EDs and downlines.
Maybe divide consultants in waves throughout the year...not necessarily for pay periods but for minimums and/or goals.
If you are under "X" director, your "month" is from the 10th to the 9th of the next month.
Second group is the 20th to the 19th.
Next group is the normal "end" of the month.
That would break up the last day of the month stuff.
We KNOW there are tons of directors throughout the US about to go into relinquishment on a particular month trying to pull it through.
As far as other incentives, they do pretty good adjusting submission on those.
ameliasurf said:but you know that we do have control over when we want to close the show...... we have to put our foot down and tell them that we want from them during host coaching and communicate how we would like things done.
ameliasurf said:ok i am new to pampered chef ( well 3 months old) i know that we are giving a service to people and most of us, the priority of our business is because we love the products and secondly the flexibility of creating our own schedule and what hours we want to work..... i have had 2 shows and each was open for 7-8 days past the show date...... ok the first show was my open house so i held it open the extra days because my recuiter told me to do so ( and i am glad that i did) and the second one i just did last saturday and is still open) and i understand that my second host has a bunch of out of town orders and are being sent to her and i understand that.
but you know that we do have control over when we want to close the show...... we have to put our foot down and tell them that we want from them during host coaching and communicate how we would like things done. (i.e: the show closed 3 days afterward the show).... we can do it! we are the manager of our business and we control the hours and times that we are open.... not our customers! the hosts need to get on the ball and get things done with outside orders before the show ( if the show is like more than 1 1/2 weeks out or more) and communicating to people who want to order to have their order in before the show preferable) that this is how we would like it done for the simple fact of getting the products into hands of her guests Earlier....( if HO is not backed up with orders)
This is why host coaching is so key to our business. ( i know i am sounding a little intense here so don't take it personal i am just speaking from the little bit of experience that i have).
I do understand that we have to be flexible in this also and we can't put every host into a cookie cutting mold ( as much as i would like to) and also situations in life come up and we have to be work around those things.
But if we let our hosts run our business it is just like being in a regular job where you are letting someone else control your schedule........ i don't like that and that is one of my top 5 reasons to become a consultant
"Flexible hours"
soo sorry about my little rant but it is the truth.......
I had that problem but I changed something that turned my calendar around. I started marking the first two weeks of the month with pink sticky notes on the days I wanted to book. I do this about 2-3 months out. Then when we talk about booking a show, I ask them what day of the week works best for them. They'll usually say a certain day or weekend or what day doesn't work for them. Then I tell them which of their options they have according to my sticky notes. This has reversed my calendar completely. Last year it seemed like I could only get people to book towards the end of the month, this year is the complete opposite. As the month progresses on then I move any no used stickies to later dates.cvaccaro said:I find the majority of hosts choose the second half of the month to hold their shows. As mentioned in on the ealier posts hosts always want to wait for the special order that someone has promised that never seems to come. Or better yet the guest that comes to the show, eats and drinks more than any other guest; frequently has negative issues and takes the catalogue home for the order she knows(and I know) she will never place. The host has good intentions and believes this guest is going to place a great order.
Cathy
ps I have a host holding open the show for 2 orders she thinks are still coming!! maybe she will surprise us both and get the orders
fruit76loop said:I believe another thing that added to this huge influx was the bonus points they offered that ended January 31st. By setting this deadline not only for commission but also bonus points they "set themselves up" for this to happen. I personally submitted my shows for January 21-26 those last 3 days and all of my shows from the 28 29 and 30 by the 31st because of the push for those extra points.
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From what I saw on here, there were alot of consultants upset about the turn around time, I think HO was trying to smooth things out by sending this email not repremending us.ameliasurf said:THis is so true! you give us a deadline for things and then you turn around and and send the email..... Doesn't make sense!
I think a lot of other DS companies may be changing that policy and I would prefer not to do that. It would cause an accounting nightmare. Receipts and 1099s would not accurately reflect the movement of money and the IRS could have a field day if they wanted!pampchefrhondab said:I think there are several different things they can do to help with this problem. First, they could plan on working the first weekend after the end of the month if it is late in the week. Jan. 31 was on a Thursday. If the orders came in at midnight that only gave them one day to work on them and then two days off. No wonder it took so long to get orders out. Not to mention they had consultants ordering new spring products/supplies.Another thing they could do is let us keep our commission up front and only issue us checks for the upper levels and bonuses. Example my show total is $475, I would only have to send in $370.50 (plus tax/shipping charges). I would keep my 22% commission up front. If I knew I was going to get $104.50 the day the show closes I would be pushing for it to close as soon as possible. If I know I'm not going to get my money until the 8th of the next month I don't really have a big incentive to get it in sooner. This is the way many DS companies do it. This does not mean I try to hold my shows until the end of the month by any means. I like to close them as soon as possible. I have a host who had a show a week and a half ago I have called about 6 times to try and close her show. Although I don't think I'll get her to close it until her Mom gets back from a cruise. They did the show together. The Mom did a great job getting her orders in before the trip (the show was Mon. and she left Thurs.), but she gave everything to her daughter who was collecting orders herself since none of her friends showed up the night of the show. I don't think we will know what the Mom wants to order for free and 60% off until she returns now.I have another host MIA from last month! She is only at $187 and was trying to get to $350 because I had offered a $25 bonus for a $350 show. I have called her about 6 times as well. It's just crazy. I'm going to try to reach her again today. If I don't reach her I'll be sending her an email stating I'm sending in the orders I have received payment for (which aren't enough to equal a show) on Monday. Hopefully this will get her to finish! I didn't get any bookings from this show so I don't care if I make her mad at this point.
janetupnorth said:I think a lot of other DS companies may be changing that policy and I would prefer not to do that. It would cause an accounting nightmare. Receipts and 1099s would not accurately reflect the movement of money and the IRS could have a field day if they wanted!
I think that they had that longer turn around time this month because of all the last minute orders due to the incentive deadlines (and all the other reasons above mentioned) and the fact that the weather has been aweful in that part of the country. It used to take ALL orders almost 2 weeks so even 5 day turn around it fabulous!jrstephens said:I submitted one Feb 15th and 2 boxes shipped on the 19th and the other 2 shipped on the 20th. Still a 5 day turn around and it was not the end of the month. I think no matter what they will always get more on the last day of a commission period during the month.
janetupnorth said:I think a lot of other DS companies may be changing that policy and I would prefer not to do that. It would cause an accounting nightmare. Receipts and 1099s would not accurately reflect the movement of money and the IRS could have a field day if they wanted!
BethCooks4U said:I think that they had that longer turn around time this month because of all the last minute orders due to the incentive deadlines (and all the other reasons above mentioned) and the fact that the weather has been aweful in that part of the country. It used to take ALL orders almost 2 weeks so even 5 day turn around it fabulous!
I submit shows as I get payment and I remind my hosts that everyone wants their stuff ASAP but some just won't do it on our schedule.
PC just sent that out to remind us to try. There are a LOT of consultants who do send all their shows in on the last day of the month every month. The email was a way to try to get them to change their practice without making them feel too bad - and to explain why they haven't achieved the 48 hour turn around we have gotten used to.
I could be wrong but I do think the order processing department works on the first Saturday of the month. Also, I believe that's why our supply/sample orders are slower - they move people over to process show orders during that time. But as Janet said, the belts can hold just so much - it still has to go through the system one box at a time per belt. They recently expanded that area too. We are just too spoiled.
ChefBeckyD said:I let all of my hosts who closed on the 31st know that their show was going to take a few days longer than normal. It was no big deal for any of them.
beepampered said:I find that I end of scheduling my shows in waves and the most end up at the end of the month. Somehow, when I discuss another date with people, they always want the last week. Therefore, I'm closing the show and the end of the month.
HO could "control" our behavior a bit more by changing the incentive dates. I never hold a show or close it early based on commission. I figure it all evens out in the end. I do, however, close shows in a more timely manner if I have an incentive to earn. Change that date and I'll change my close date as well....
Pampered Chef encourages submitting orders earlier in the month to ensure timely delivery and to avoid any potential delays due to high demand or inventory shortages.
Yes, you can still submit your orders at the end of the month. However, we recommend submitting them earlier to ensure a smooth and timely delivery process.
Submitting your order earlier in the month does not guarantee a faster processing time. However, it does help our team to better manage the high volume of orders we receive each month.
Yes, there are several benefits to submitting orders earlier in the month. These include ensuring timely delivery, avoiding potential delays, and helping us manage our inventory more efficiently.
No, there is nothing wrong with submitting your orders as soon as your host closes the show. We understand that everyone has their own schedule and we strive to accommodate all orders, regardless of when they are submitted.