Director Deb's Dilemma: What to Do Now for Sat 10/29?

[chefkathy]

I have a show scheduled for Sat 10/29. I do not mail out invites for my hostesses (needed to simplify my life and that was the easiest thing to go) and it is usually not an issue.

Until this week, of course.

I have left four voicemail messages, sent an mail, sent a text, and wrote on her FB wall to no avail. We have not spoken since originally setting the date. The party is an hour away in a part of town I'd rather not visit.

What should I do now?

~ deb

 

[Sheila]

I'd give her a deadline. "We need to choose a recipe in time for you to grocery shop and for me to pack the necessary tools. If I haven't heard from you by _____, I'm going to assume that you've changed your mind & are no longer interested in hosting a show on the 29th. ..."

 

[finley1991]

I say something similar to Sheila, but a little more gently (no offense Sheila!) We never know what's going on with someone else. If she blows you off, yes it sucks, but she can never say that you weren't nice about it. If you get angry, she'll talk about how crappy PC as a company and that effects all of us. If you are nice, she'll love PC and recommend you as a consultant, even if she never ends up hosting."Hi Host... I just wanted to check in since I haven't heard back from you about Saturday. Now is the time we need to select the recipe and go over a few last minute details. If I haven't heard from you by _____, I'll assume that something has come up and we need to reschedule. Please let me know..."HTH!

 

[Sheila]

No offense taken. I put a blurb in my host coaching tips requesting that if they need to cancel or re-schedule to try & give me enough notice that I can re-book the date. With hubby being on the other side of the world, I have to get a sitter. If they wait until the last minute to tell me that they are not going to do the show, then me AND the sitter are unemployed for that time slot. That wording helped when I was in Okinawa, Tokyo and is helping here in TX too. I don't have experience harassing them at the last minute for confirmation.

 

[jwpamp]

I usually leave a message like this:"Since I haven't heard from you I'm assuming that you are really busy -- so I will being the ingredients for the recipe that I will make for your party and you can just pay me back. See you at 6 on Saturday!"They usually call back with in 5 minutes and tell me that they have been "meaning to call me"....it's rash, but at least it gets the situation to a conclusion.

 

[jwpamp]

Oh, the one time that a host like that DIDN'T cancel -- she DID pay me for the ingredients and she had a $700 show with 2 bookings.

 

[cincychef]

I do both, I have left a message with "oh I have a babysitter for Saturday and I will be there at 6, see you then" That usually works and I get a call right away. I have just sent an email to someone about this today.
" I left you a message tonight but I know email is easier for some people. I need to confirm your show on November 9th at 7pm. I am really looking forward to helping you earn some great products for free, like the Deep Covered Baker that November hosts can earn for 60% off, and have tons of fun with your friends too! While I have a great time at each of my parties, I do take my business seriously, this is my families income and when I have to reschedule at the last minute, I am laid off for the evening. Thank you for your prompt response to confirm the date.
Having a party is really easy, we just have to invite people and I am happy to help with that!"
When I send this email I usually get a response either way as well.

 

[chefkathy]

I finally got a text at 12:47 a.m. asking to reschedule to next weekend. I *do* have Saturday open, but I'm not sure I want to give it to her. Hubby & I were talking about taking the kids to Medieval Time but hadn't confirmed anything yet. We'll see where this goes....

 

[finley1991]

Keep us posted!!!

 

[baychef]

When I hear "oh, I have been meaning to call you"...I have such a hard time not saying "B.S." (only in the non abbreviated way!).

 

[CoidgigBese]

I finally got a text at 12:47 a.m. asking to reschedule to next weekend. I *do* have Saturday open, but I'm not sure I want to give it to her. Hubby & I were talking about taking the kids to Medieval Time but hadn't confirmed anything yet.

We'll see where this goes....

Find out how many people she has coming before you agree to reschedule. If she has no one coming for this week, it probably means she hasn't invited anyone yet. How likely is she to follow through and invite people for next week. I think this requires a phone conversation, not a text in the wee hours of the morning. If you're willing to give up family time (maybe switch Medieval Times to this weekend?), text her back that you need to talk to her on the phone to discuss. Keep it vague.

 

[cincychef]

When I hear "oh, I have been meaning to call you"...I have such a hard time not saying "B.S." (only in the non abbreviated way!).

ME TOO:devil: I just had that conversation with a host who has rescheduled twice already and kept telling me how busy she is. I wanted to say look here, I have been keeping 21 hour days on 3-4 hours of sleep and I have 4 kids.

 

[finley1991]

If they cancel the second reschedule, then I am not nice and I don't care!!! I tell her at that point that we won't reschedule and she can contact me down the road if she decides she wants to host. And then I don't follow up again.

 

[cookingwithlove]

I am with Colleen. If they reschedule and then cancel again, I tell them that they can call me when they are ready and I will need a guest list first before we settle on a day. I do not follow up with them.

I did have a host who canceled on Sunday via Facebook, her party was that Wednesday and I was visiting family across the country until Tuesday morning. She said, "I hope you can rebook it" Left her a voice message saying that I could not rebook it on such short notice especially since I was accross the country at the moment I did remind her that she cancelled her first date and asked if she could reconsider since she has people coming. I gave a few suggestions as to what we could do to help her situtation. She calls me back and leaves the ugliest message practically screaming at me that this is just how life is and I should expect cancellations since this is my job. Something along those lines.

I unfriended her and deleted her from my P3 contacts. Good riddance!

 

[cookingwithlove]

I finally got a text at 12:47 a.m. asking to reschedule to next weekend. I *do* have Saturday open, but I'm not sure I want to give it to her. Hubby & I were talking about taking the kids to Medieval Time but hadn't confirmed anything yet.

We'll see where this goes....

Go spend the day with your kids.

I think when we keep changing our own personal schedules around it makes us look desperate. It also sends a message to the family that they are less important than a rude host who does not respond to any messages.

Unless you truely are desparate keep the day with your family and reschedule her for a day you don't care if she cancels on, like a Tuesday night.

 

[quiverfull7]

I usually leave a message like this:

"Since I haven't heard from you I'm assuming that you are really busy -- so I will being the ingredients for the recipe that I will make for your party and you can just pay me back. See you at 6 on Saturday!"

They usually call back with in 5 minutes and tell me that they have been "meaning to call me"....it's rash, but at least it gets the situation to a conclusion.

This is what I do too! Works every time to get an answer!

 

[chefkathy]

UPDATE:
Well, I did give her Saturday. I tried to call & text her several times for host coaching with no response. I was going to text her today and tell her that if I didn't hear from her today, I would ____________ (hadn't quite decided what I was going to say LOL).She beat me to the punch and just sent me a text to cancel. I replied and told her to let me know when she is ready to reschedule. I am not going to follow up again. I am not excited about working with her and going to her neighborhood to begin with, so I'm not going to force it.

 

[Sheila]

Sorry girl.I had better luck with the one that wanted to cancel on me. She was canceling for a small RSVP count. I laughed & told her the last girl who wanted to cancel ended up with over $1,300 in sales. I told her a smaller crowd was okay and we didn't want to disappoint the ones who said YES on their RSVP. She did only have like 6 people (8 if you count husbands). But she signed as a consultant, submitted that as her first show, has 2 bookings off her show & 1 of the bookings is a recruit lead for her. She's looking forward to building a team right off the bat!