Host Called to Cancel as I Was Walking Out the Door........

[pamperedcheermom]

I was getting ready to walk out the door to head to the host's house this afternoon when she called me. She said she had "handed" out 40 invitations and yesterday she had 7 coming. Today she got 5 email cancellations and only had 2 coming. She said she didn't want me to waste my time driving to her house (she lives about 30-35 min away) for only two people. I told her I didn't want to do that either. Been there done that and it's not worth it.

Now tell me........I was at work all day and got off at 4:00. We've been e-mailing this week about the show and even emailed this morning. Did she have to wait till 5:00 to call and cancel when I was planning to be at her house at 5:30. I was literally walking out the door. :grumpy: Had I been on the interstate half way there I would have been extremely upset. So I'm at least glad she caught me before I left. As of last week she had about 35 people coming then it turned into 2. I knew 35 people weren't coming but she seemed to think so. She even wanted to two double recipes to have enough food. That all changed by Wed of this week and she said to make only one. Then today she's down to 2 people.

The "old" me would be very upset and discouraged by this but for some reason I'm not. I needed the show but it would have been more of a waste of my time to drive that far for two people to buy probably a total of $75 worth of PC.

This comes down to the host not following through with her guests. I offered several times to mail out the invites but she insisted on handing them out at work. I kept telling her to call the guests to remind them but I could tell that never got done either.
She wants to do a catalog show now but I doubt it will do very well. We'll just have to see I guess.

 

[dannyzmom]

I am sorry...
...but kudos to you on the positive attitude you're taking!!

 

[Grandmarita]

Chalk it up to experience. Sooner or later, we all have that type of situation.
I'm coming up on my 3rd anniv. in April. My 29th hostess lived 30 miles from me, and had a Sat. brunch planned. On Thurs. night she called to say she
had only 5 coming and had cancelled (without consulting me). I tried to get
her to call the 5 back and still have it. I was so bound and determined to have her show that I went and did it for just her. She had over $200 in outside orders and ordered over $100 herself. It goes to show you that you
never know. I had another hostess have 10 guests and only $90 in orders. She couldn't afford to order anything to make up the difference. I had to get
outside orders from my friends to submit the show. On the other hand, I have been blessed with several parties over $1,000 from hostesses I had not
even seen face to face before their party. One lived 100 miles from me, but
was the friend of a new neighbor who had a successful party. My purpose in
replying is to say, "don't get discouraged, you did what was best for you, and
her willingness to carry though with a Catalog party may surprise you with the
results." I'll pray that it redeems her last minute cancellation.
that

 

[amy07]

Today she got 5 email cancellations and only had 2 coming. She said she didn't want me to waste my time driving to her house (she lives about 30-35 min away) for only two people. I told her I didn't want to do that either. Been there done that and it's not worth it. .

Don't ever think it's not worth it. I once did a show, and it only had the host and 1 guest. I signed them both as consultants! I'd say that was worth it.

I feel for you on the late cancellation though.

 

[ccarp]

I did a show last night and when I talked to my host during the day we thought at least six out of the 40 were were at least going to attend. When I called to tell her I was going to be over a few minutes to set-up she just received a couple cancellations. I told her that was okay we'll still do it, and she agreed we should since her husband cleaned all day for it. We ended up only having 4 guests, but it ended up being a really fun show for us all. My host came through with about 7 outside orders today, and we are just under $500.00. To me it was well worth my time, and I'm glad we decided to do it. I have to say I had an excellent host, this wasn't the first time she's been a host, so that I'm sure that helped the situation.

I know your frustration, but you never know what will come about the next day after the show

Have a great weekend!

 

[Veevahchef]

LOL... 30 or 35 minutes is nothing where I live. I think I probably would have still gone.
I have had so many host thnk they were having 8 to 10 ppl , and end up with only 1 or 2 anyway. But then I have had hosts say to me "Are you sure you want to come, I only have 2 or 3 people coming" and of course I usually still go and probably 40% of the time, they end up with twice as many ppl because some who never responded came, or some brought friends or whatever.... you just never know!!
: )

 

[ccarp]

I should have proof read before submitting

 

[PamperedDor]

Never under estimate!! -- I did a show a few months back - only 5 guests - EVERYONE of them bought the 12 in skillet (executive line) , 3 bought the lid , and a few other gadgets - ended up being over 1000 in comm sales - (and no outside orders!!)

 

[Veevahchef]

Never under estimate!! -- I did a show a few months back - only 5 guests - EVERYONE of them bought the 12 in skillet (executive line) , 3 bought the lid , and a few other gadgets - ended up being over 1000 in comm sales - (and no outside orders!!)

Wow!
Did you do a recipe in the skillet? I need to know what you did!!

 

[lockhartkitchen]

Pamperedcheermom,

Keep up the great attitude. I feel for you. I once made a cake ahead of time that we would do the filling, etc. at the show. On my way out, the host knocked on my door and said about the same thing. My family enjoyed a cake that they had to see on the counter all day!

 

[c00p]

Ah....the sweet smell of frustration!! Good times!! NOT. Anyway, we can all feel for ya, and it does bite. Perhaps she will turn it into a profitable catalog show. The ones like this that have happened to me have somehow turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I typically try to use that time to make phone calls because I've already got arrangements for my kids, so I tell myself that I should be working since I was supposed to be anyway. This was a tip that I got a long time ago and I do try to adhere to it. But I have to be honest, sometimes, it's just nice to sit back and chill for the evening!!

 

[DebbieJ]

I know it sucks, but next time consider going anyway. With a show that small, at least one person is bound to book and then you'll keep your business going.

 

[ChefBeckyD]

I know it sucks, but next time consider going anyway. With a show that small, at least one person is bound to book and then you'll keep your business going.

I agree. I have had shows before that were really small, and turned into great shows!

I remember one that was 3 guests, but I got 2 bookings, and with outside orders, it was a $500 show - one of those bookings turned into a show with with about 25 guests, and over $1000 in sales.

Recently, I had a show with 4 guests - and 4 bookings (one from an outside order!). I am still holding those shows - in fact, I have one next week, and one the week after. One of the shows that already held - I got an April & a June booking, and $450 in sales......

I used to be disappointed with low turnout at shows, but now, I just take what comes, and encourage outside orders. I have found that when someone has a low turnout at shows, they seem to try even harder with outside orders....and I also coach them to ask everyone, since they missed all the fun, if they would like to host a show.

 

[wadesgirl]

Some of my best shows have had very small attendance. I try my hardest to not let hosts cancel because you never know what's going to happen. I had a show in January where no one showed up. Poor host, I felt so bad for her! Her show ended up at $500!

 

[pamperedcheermom]

Maybe I should have gone to do the show anyway but I could tell the host wasn't interested. I tried to get her to reschedule and she said "No, I don't want to get mixed up in this again". ????? WHAT DID THAT MEAN!!??
She hadn't actually "done" anything except make a dessert that she chose to make herself. The invitations were actually handed out by her sister so I'm not sure what it was she didn't want to get mixed up in.

I don't get home from work till around 4:15 and I was heading out the door at 5:00 when she called to cancel. I had packed my car the night before (as I always do) so I would be ready. It was very frustrating to get that call at 5:00 when I'm getting ready to leave and since she wasn't interested in rescheduling, I didn't want to drive 30 mins in 5:00 traffic to do a show. I'm fine with it now that it's over. My main problem is the extremely late notice. What if I had already left the house, had the radio on loud and couldn't hear my cell phone, got to her house and then she told me it was cancelled? At least she gave me a 5 second notice before I left home.

 

[raebates]

I'm sorry you had to go through this.I try to remind myself that some people are just not cut out to host direct sales parties. They make an impulsive decision to host, then realize that it's not something they really want to do. When you don't want to do something, it seems to take a huge effort. And, while putting off calling you until she absolutely had to was immature, it's not necessarily unusual in todays world.

 

[MaddyandOwensMom]

I agree that you get the vibe if someone really doesn't want the show, period. And a half hour prior is really just inconsiderate.

But, after reading this thread Friday, I knew I had to go to my show Saturday that only had one guest coming. The co-host didn't even show up (nor did she ever invite anyone!) But all that aside, it was only 15 minutes away, she is a friend, and she said I could bring DD to play with her DD. With only 2 guests, it qualified for a show and both ladies booked catalogue shows! She said not to bother to cook(I did grate some cheese and toast some croutons-it must have been all the wine as they all found this VERY impressive) and she even served me dinner. I put in very little work and we had a great time. We are still looking for outside orders so she can get her 1/2 price item. So thanks to this thread, I had a profitable and enjoyable night out!
Jessica