Coming Out of Hiding to Ask a Question...

[mama2emma]

I've been lurking for the past week, ever since I signed my consultant agreement. There is a TON of helpful information here! I'm having my grand opening on Jan 20, and just today booked shows for Jan 19 and Jan 26, with two more people who want to book in February. I also have three catalog shows coming up in February.

My question is this: how far out do you all book shows? Right now I can only do shows on weekends, preferably just one per weekend, but I'm afraid that if I book people out farther than February, they're going to lose interest before the date comes. Any suggestions?

Thanks! I don't have time to be able to post here a lot, but I hope you all know how many of us are learning from you!

Amy

 

[JAE]

If someone is willing to put a date on their calendar for a show, then do it. If you don't have earlier dates available, then give them the soonest one you have. IMO

 

[PCJenni]

I started my business just doing 1-2 shows a month and would often be booked 3 months in advance. Just offer the dates that YOU want or need to work and the hostesses will take the dates in advance. I find that it works well because sometimes people like to have the advance notice to fit a show into their schedule. Remember, they are probably busy too!

 

[wadesgirl]

You can keep them excited with emails and postcards before their show. If I book someone out really far (more than 2 months) I tell them that I will send out their host packet about 1 month before their show. Then I will still call them a couple weeks prior to sending out their packet to make sure that the date they picked still works.

 

[lockhartkitchen]

I agree with wadsgirl. I book up fast, so I'm booking up to 3 months out sometimes. I send postcards, recipes, and I'll soon be sending my March hosts the new spring mini-catalogs. This will ensure they keep their dates. But definitely, don't forget about them. I send host packets out 1 month prior to show. I start the post cards to them right after I book their show.

 

[kbuck]

BookingsWe are booking out into May already (got one today :sing: ). My wife and I attended a kind of trade show this past weekend and got almost 100 leads! Since she is scheduled to deliver our new little girl on Feb. 8th we knew she'd need the next couple of weeks to recoup. So, what we had left in January and Feb. filled up VERY quick. We're now booking solid into March and April with our first May show scheduled today. We have told our April/May hosts that we will stay in contact with them but have asked them to go ahead and start working on their invite lists (they should have no excuse for not getting 40 names on that list!). We will send little reminders over the next couple of months for them until it's time to really get their show rolling.

FYI, for those interested, the booth we set up was at a HUGE consignment sale here in the Raleigh area. Our cluster has been doing this show for several years. So, my wife and I "bought" 2 shifts during the show (the cost of each shift covers the cost of the booth so that one consultant doesn't have to pay all the costs or cover the entire show). It was really a great opportunity for us to put our names out. We had a drawing for a Free 8" Saute Pan (through the booth). Now that we're following up, we're getting A LOT of response from people who had marked that they were not interested in PC and only wanted to be contacted about the drawing. Well, we're contacting EVERYONE. Even though no one from our shifts won the Saute Pan we are letting them know they won a secondary drawing for a Free Cooking Show. They are loving it!

Later tonight we also have a 3-way with a potential recruit we got from the show and we still have 4 people interested in Bridal Registeries we've got to contact (we just qualified, so we're waiting for our Registery to begin working).

Anyway, successful show that has allowed us to really kick-start our new year!