Do You Pay for Postage for Invitations

[smilesarepriceless]

So, I am trying to gather, who does, or doesn't and if you have seen it positively benefit your show turnout?

 

[Paula R. Lewis]

I do pay the postage for my shows. I think it does make it a better show overall. There are less cancellations, and I think the hostess is willing to invite alot MORE people since it doesn't cost her anything to do so!

Congratulations on starting your Pampered Chef business!!

Blessings,
Paula

 

[ChefBeckyD]

I'm the same as Paula - I just consider it a business expense. And I don't like telling my host she owes me money for having the show.

 

[pamperedlinda]

Ditto for me too.

 

[JAE]

I just started paying for postage, so I don't know how it will affect my shows. I'll know by the end of hte month.

 

[jenniferp417]

Based on the many positive experiences with it, I've decided to start doing it.

 

[Chef_2_Four]

I haven't started yet but would like to. Maybe for my Sept shows I will do it for them.

 

[jenapc]

I sometimes offer to help with invitations in a general sense, but I would help with postage if they asked me to. However, I'm not going to volunteer to pay for stamps because that's a lot of money out of my pocket. I had a host that used her own invites, and their postage was 41 cents each instead of 26.

 

[MomToEli]

I completely take care of invitations, including the postage. All I want from the host is the guest list.

There are two more pieces of info I'm going to require to continue to do this, however - the guest phone number and email address (if they have one). I don't like not having a way to follow up before the show closes.

 

[krzymomof4]

Here Here Sandy! I am going to start requiring this as well. I am also going to make the host a copy, so that she can do reminder calls. I have thought about Post.com, but am still flopping the idea back and forth.

 

[KellyTheChef]

I have started telling my hosts if they give me 35+ names I will pay for the postage, otherwise they can reimburse me.

I use the full page invites, so postage is .41 each. I will "eat" that expense if it's gonna be a large show! I would love it if I got that many names from all of my hosts!

 

[hperschnick]

I pay the postage. That way I know when the invitations went out and how many were sent. It is just one more benefit to the host that makes it easier for her to do another show or tell her friends how easy it was.

I also agree on the phone numbers. I am going to email my hosts an excel file with columns of the information that I need and phone number and email address is going to be on there. I will then do the follow up calls a day or 2 before. It adds time but if it will increase the turnout of the show it will be worth it. Plus I can ask for the outside order if people say they can't come... Hosts have a hard time with that sometimes.

 

[pamperedgirl3]

I pay for the postage. I too like knowing when the invites were sent out, etc. I just save receipts when I buy stamps & they are a tax write-off. I currently use the PC postcards, but I think starting in Sept I will use the full page ones on fun paper & see if that makes attendance, sales, booking, recruiting higher because it sounds like a fun party instead of "another home party".

 

[dannyzmom]

I'm the same as Paula - I just consider it a business expense. And I don't like telling my host she owes me money for having the show.

same here...

 

[chesse]

I had one show since a training that our cluster had with Julie Weitz and I did the full page invite and everyone loved it. $700 show.

P.S. I finally had good luck with a "fair" booth. 5 bookings and a potential recruit. Go for it!

 

[stayinathomemama]

I do the invites for all of my guests but the payment of postage is based on a sliding scale. Some people think that is too confusing. I like it and it gives them an incentive to give me more names. Here's my scale:

Minimum 24 invites (I won't do a show w/o that as my minimum). That is one sheet of the triplicate labels from HO. These labels also include the phone number - I do the reminder calls. At 24 invites, They pay the postage in full.

Once they get to 32 (1 full sheet plus one column on the next sheet of the triplicate forms) I'll pay 1/2 their postage. (my cost $4.16)

Anything over 40 names & addresses I pay all the postage. (my cost $10.40)

I figure a couple of things on this. The people that work really hard to get 40 names (for the free postage) are also going to be the ones more willing to work on my team when I recruit them. Also, if I send out 24 invites and one in 3 show up, their will be 8 guests @ $40 avg order - that's $320 (or 70.40 in commission)

On a show w/ 32 invites that's 11 guests - $440 show (or 96.80 in commission)

On a show w/ 40 invites, that's 14 guests - $560 show (123.20 in commission.)
So you're looking at making over $50 more in commission by spending $10.40.

Sorry for the long post but I mulled over this decision for a long time before I decided to do things this way.

HTH

 

[chefmeg]

In the almost 3 years that I have been sending the invitations (paying for postage as well), I have had only ONE show cancel. This has been huge for me as I was having at least one/month and then finding that I was getting alot of the postcard invitations returned to me after a show. I have seen attendance pick up, but nothing overly significant.
I agree with getting a phone number and e-mail address for follow business purposes!

 

[ChefBeckyD]

I do the invites for all of my guests but the payment of postage is based on a sliding scale. Some people think that is too confusing. I like it and it gives them an incentive to give me more names. Here's my scale:

Minimum 24 invites (I won't do a show w/o that as my minimum). That is one sheet of the triplicate labels from HO. These labels also include the phone number - I do the reminder calls. At 24 invites, They pay the postage in full.

Once they get to 32 (1 full sheet plus one column on the next sheet of the triplicate forms) I'll pay 1/2 their postage. (my cost $4.16)

Anything over 40 names & addresses I pay all the postage. (my cost $10.40)

I figure a couple of things on this. The people that work really hard to get 40 names (for the free postage) are also going to be the ones more willing to work on my team when I recruit them. Also, if I send out 24 invites and one in 3 show up, their will be 8 guests @ $40 avg order - that's $320 (or 70.40 in commission)

On a show w/ 32 invites that's 11 guests - $440 show (or 96.80 in commission)

On a show w/ 40 invites, that's 14 guests - $560 show (123.20 in commission.)
So you're looking at making over $50 more in commission by spending $10.40.

Sorry for the long post but I mulled over this decision for a long time before I decided to do things this way.

HTH

I have had 2 shows lately where the hosts each invited 15 people - and had about that many in attendance - actually one had 18 guests(several brought friends), and one had 14 guests- both were over $800 in sales w/ 3 bookings and 2 bookings respectively - If I had refused to do the show because they didn't give me 24 names - look what I would have lost. Sometimes you just have to trust your host to know their crowd!

When I had my own show (before becoming a consultant) it was the first in-home sales party of any kind that I had EVER even attended! I was completely in the dark as to how all of this worked. I know the consultant tried to host coach me to invite more people - but I honestly thought she was nuts! I ended up inviting about 25 people (at the most) had 12 in attendance w/ several outside orders and a $600 show........I never would have given her 40 names - but if she had been pushy about it - I also would have probably never signed either.

I'm just saying this because sometimes you can't judge a book by it's cover - or you can't base a prospective consultant's performance by how they handle having their own show - they may just not have a clue about what goes into it - even when you explain it to them.

 

[chefjill]

I had one show since a training that our cluster had with Julie Weitz and I did the full page invite and everyone loved it. $700 show.

P.S. I finally had good luck with a "fair" booth. 5 bookings and a potential recruit. Go for it!

I did that training with Julie, also, and have found that the full page invitations get a much better response. People love being invited to a party, not just "come & spend money", which is how they felt when the postcard invites would arrive. I've had guests bring their invite to the party & tell me how much they loved it.

 

[dwyerkim]

I did that training with Julie, also, and have found that the full page invitations get a much better response. People love being invited to a party, not just "come & spend money", which is how they felt when the postcard invites would arrive. I've had guests bring their invite to the party & tell me how much they loved it.

Ok, care to share a sample full page invite you've used? I hadn't really thought much about this b/c of the postage cost but it might be worth trying out.

As for postage, I've been telling hosts since last May that I will mail their invites and pay for postage if they give me 40 names, fewer than 40 they can reimburse me the postage. I actually just got a guest list from a Sept. host in the mail yesterday with only 11 names, and she didn't include postage, and I'm kind of trying to figure out what to do. I think she is out of town so it is going to be hard to coach her to add names, and I feel cheesy asking her for the postage now. Suggestions?

 

[stayinathomemama]

I have had 2 shows lately where the hosts each invited 15 people - and had about that many in attendance - actually one had 18 guests(several brought friends), and one had 14 guests- both were over $800 in sales w/ 3 bookings and 2 bookings respectively - If I had refused to do the show because they didn't give me 24 names - look what I would have lost. Sometimes you just have to trust your host to know their crowd!

When I had my own show (before becoming a consultant) it was the first in-home sales party of any kind that I had EVER even attended! I was completely in the dark as to how all of this worked. I know the consultant tried to host coach me to invite more people - but I honestly thought she was nuts! I ended up inviting about 25 people (at the most) had 12 in attendance w/ several outside orders and a $600 show........I never would have given her 40 names - but if she had been pushy about it - I also would have probably never signed either.

I'm just saying this because sometimes you can't judge a book by it's cover - or you can't base a prospective consultant's performance by how they handle having their own show - they may just not have a clue about what goes into it - even when you explain it to them.

I understand what you are saying. I was just offering the perspective of what works for me. In the area where I am, attendance is typically very low and the only way to get people there is to REALLY over-invite. Some communities are great with the whole "party" thing. Just not here. I do distance (out of town) shows where I really don't worry that much about how many to invite because those groups always have great turnout. But, here at home, I had a show two weeks ago that reminded me why I have the rules that I have. I had a host that wouldn't return my calls and never gave me a guest list. I assumed that the party was a "no-go". The night before the party, her sister called and told me that she (the host) was definately planning on having the party and would I call her sister on her cell phone. So I took that number, and called her. She assured me, that even though she hadn't sent out any invites and I had not been able to host coach her at all, that she had 10 people coming. So, I went ahead and confirmed the recipe choices, told her what time I would be there and showed up on time. She wasn't even there. She showed up about 15 minutes before the party, with one guest (that she had gone to pick-up). At 15 after start time, that was still the only guest. I went ahead and started my demo (wanted to get home) and another gal showed up later with one more right before we served the food. Two weeks later & the show still hasn't closed and the sales are at $41.00. If I had politely told her that I was not able to do the show until I could send out the invites, it would have saved me a nite away from my family. I understand that in different areas of the country, things are different, but I just posted what I know works for me. Some people have huge problems with attendance and cancellations and IMHO this systems helps alleviate some of that.

 

[Addie4TLC]

These posts are so interesting to me!! I always give my hosts invitations and tell them that it's a good idea to invite as many as possible to get more in product. That's it. I don't offer to send their invites out and I don't mention it again. After reading all of the posts here I'm considering changing my technique because I have had several shows where only 5 or 6 show up, then again I have others with great attendance. I guess everyone works according to whatever they personally feel comfortable with. My Director host coached me when I did my show and I thought it was annoying, I thought there was no way I would invite 40 people to my "small" home -what if they all showed up?!! Now I get a feel for my host first then decide if she is one I will have to host coach and do the hand holding thing or if she is proactive and would find it a turn off to be coached. For that reason I don't think anyone here is wrong in the way they choose to handle this particular aspect of the business, but we all win because you all share your great ideas!

 

[GourmetGirl]

I send the invited for the hosts. I tell them we will send e-invitations to anyone who uses email more and regular invitations (I use full page or a postcard I designed from vistaprint that I put in an envelope) to those who don't use email. This has worked pretty good for me so far. I have a much better attendance now that I am sending the invites! My show for Tuesday we e-invited 44 people, mailed 7 snail mail invites and have 18 people that have rsvp'd online alone! Plus 1 outside order that I know of. Definitely worth it!

 

[Paula R. Lewis]

My Director host coached me when I did my show and I thought it was annoying, I thought there was no way I would invite 40 people to my "small" home -what if they all showed up?!!




When a hostess expresses concerns like this, I always tell her to think of it as "Christmas morning".
I mean, there's people "on top of people", and gift wrap everywhere, but everyone's having a good time, so no one cares!
Well, that's the "atmosphere" we want at a cooking show!! So much fun, who cares if it's a little crowded!!


Good luck!!
Paula

 

[Addie4TLC]

Good point! Now I know a little more about handling people like me. My Director told me that she knew of a consultant who did a show on the hood of a car. So when someone tells me that thier place is too small I tell them about that and how we can have it in her backyard too.

 

[smilesarepriceless]

Thanks ..what great feedback..Well, in the 3 hosts that i spoke to in the last 3 days..what i get a lot is, " i want to personally hand out the invites" --These 3 women all have large volumes of church goers, and co-workers, people they see every week consistently, and preferred to do this, rather than invites int he mail.

anyone else get this line..and if you do, what is your reply?

 

[chefann]

I get that occasionally, and I usually tell them that they need to promise to hand out all of them (and I give them 40), and need to follow up with everyone they've handed one to. That's the tricky part. Because if they don't have a master guest list, they don't know who to call.

 

[chefinbiz]

It all sounds good but I'm just wondering about the overall cost of the full page invites? Ink is expensive...are you doing b/w or color? And then add 41 cent postage to each? Just wondering.....I know it is all tax deductible but......

 

[jenniferp417]

It depends on how you print them, really.Your BEST bet: get an inexpensive laser printer. Staples has them on sale for less than $100 sometimes, and laser toner, while expensive, is cheap PER PAGE. Do your homework.Barring that, experiment with your printer and its "toner saver" or "draft" mode. Many of them still look GOOD and don't use much ink. My printer has two draft modes - one uses the color cartridge, one doesn't.Also, black ink on colored paper is cheaper than colored ink. Studies have shown that people remember color more, so you want to use color in SOME way.