I Think I'm Being Selfish. I Need Unattached Advice.

[mgressaffa]

I am going to be in my first fair tonight. I will be the only Pampered Chef representative there. And also, I will be in for as long as I want to for as many years as they do this. When I told my director about it, she asked if I wanted her to go with me. Of course, I had mixed feelings about it. Okay, I admit it, I'm being selfish. But I'm worried she's going to get all the bookings and recruit leads. I told her yes, she can come, because I didn't want to do the first one by myself. We agreed to split all the shows we book. Then she said we would split all the leads. She said the fair way to do it is to split all the yeses, the maybes, and the nos on the door prize slips. If there's anyone we personally know, those will be ours, not factored into the split. That's when that green-eyed monster took me over. So I told that I wanted all the recruit leads. (I haven't even been doing this for a year yet, and she's been doing this over ten.) I know it was terrible of me to say it. But I can't help but worry that she's going to get all the leads. She told me that if she talks to someone about the opportunity it should be hers. I get where she's coming from, but I would HATE it if she gets recruits and I don't get any.

All of you who have done this before, please put my fears to rest and tell me that I'm being selfish and it always works this way and it works out in the end.

Thanks for your comments in advance!!!

I'll let you know how it goes.

Mary

 

[mrssyvo]

Mary,
I believe that all things work out. Pampered Val and I have done several booths together, and we split leads, ect as even as we can. Sometimes it is not even, and we make it up the next time, but I think it would be very difficult to work the booth yourself, and know that things will work out. Think of all you can learn from her experience.

 

[pamperedbecky]

This is a hard situation to be in. When I've done fairs, the big ones have usually two consultants in the booth per shift. We try to trade off talking to people as they come in the booth. We just switch off. If I talked to the last person (after offering my handout with a recipe and other info on it and asking them if they're familiar about PC), then the next person that walks by is the other consultant's. We each usually try to attract the person by offering a FREE recipe from The Pampered Chef. Even if they just take the flyer and keep walking, you never know if they may call you or place an order. It's SO hard to split the maybes, yesses, etc because a yes may turn out to be a bust, but a NO may end up booking a show down the line. We don't do drawings at these big fairs, so we don't have the problem of having the drawing slips to sort through. Lots of people will mark yes" because they think that betters their chances in the drawing.

Is it a really big fair? Our county fairs are huge and we get a fair amount of people looking through the booths. In these cases, it's easy to switch off talking to prospects walking by. If it's on a smaller scale, it might be harder. It's totally random because you never know if the next person walking by the booth or into the booth could be a show lead. Some people totally ignore you and walk by, but then the other consultant would "get" the next one. I know this all sounds weird to do, but working out some kind of plan to get into a rhythm is the best way. I'm not making much sense because I'm in a rush to leave the house, but email me if you have questions and I can try to be more clear! Thanks!

 

[mgressaffa]

Thanks for the advice, guys. I appreciate it!!!

 

[cmdtrgd]

I just did a fair with one other consultant a couple of weekends ago. We each had a drawing slip - hers had a PC sticker on it and mine had none. We decided not to use different colored paper because people could just pick the color they like. Anyhoo, we each personally talked to the people that came up - kind of like it was described above - every other person. We both had to leave early on the first day, so we put our drawing slips together - every other slip was mine - and left one pile on the stool in the front. I really liked doing it this way because I could make notes on the drawing slips of the people who I talked to. Also, why would you want to have one person call you when you had talked with the other person at the booth. Each person gets his/her own leads. Personally, if I had been a lead at a fair - especially a recruit lead - and another person called me, I would have been miffed or felt like the first person didn't like me. Signing under someone should be a personal decision. I highly suggest you work your butt off, have separate drawing slips, and follow-up on YOUR OWN LEADS! Make sure that you split the booth fee according to how long you each work. If you each work the same amount of time, each should pay half.HTH

 

[Momma23boys]

My recruit and good friend Sarahsellcm (also a cheffer) and I did a Job Expo in May. We split the slips up~ and I think she "gave" me a few extra since I was there for a bit longer than she was. I personally got nothing but names out of it. I think she got two parties and two actual interviews for recruits. I did follow up but.. I don't know. So, I at least still have their info.
Make sure you take your calendar to "pencil in" any one who is interested in hosting a show and give them the packet plus a date/time when you will call for the first follow up. We didn't (first show and all...) and we really regretted not being more organized. but anyways.. good luck and it will all work out I'm sure!

 

[ChefBeckyD]

The only way I have ever done this when working with another consultant, we put our initials on the back of the drawing slips.....then, the only way to enter the drawing is to get a slip from a consultant......all the slips go into the drawing box, and at the end of the shift, you take out the ones that belong to you. (i.e. the ones with your initials) That way, when you call, you have already established contact with that person. (I often make notes about what they looked like - what they were interested in, etc....on the back of the drawing slip also)

 

[ChefBeckyD]

The only way I have ever done this when working with another consultant, we put our initials on the back of the drawing slips.....then, the only way to enter the drawing is to get a slip from a consultant......all the slips go into the drawing box, and at the end of the shift, you take out the ones that belong to you. (i.e. the ones with your initials) That way, when you call, you have already established contact with that person. (I often make notes about what they looked like - what they were interested in, etc....on the back of the drawing slip also)

 

[ChefBeckyD]

The only way I have ever done this when working with another consultant, we put our initials on the back of the drawing slips.....then, the only way to enter the drawing is to get a slip from a consultant......all the slips go into the drawing box, and at the end of the shift, you take out the ones that belong to you. (i.e. the ones with your initials) That way, when you call, you have already established contact with that person. (I often make notes about what they looked like - what they were interested in, etc....on the back of the drawing slip also)

 

[cmdtrgd]

Becky - wow! You are very into this thread! teehee

 

[ChefTotsy]

I agree completely with Becky!

 

[BethCooks4U]

I have done a lot of fairs along with other consultants. How we split the leads is that whoever talks with the person gets the lead. We do our draw prize slips in different colors so that it is easy to separate them. We take turns as they approach the booth but if someone knows one of us we might get a couple in a row - we actually WANT to be talking to new people so it's a disadvantage to have friends show up - lol.

You start a relationship with that person at the booth and you can build on it if you are the same person who does the followup.

It's chance who you get and one will get more than the other because some people talk longer but it works for us.

 

[mgressaffa]

Again, thanks for all the good advice. It's so nice to have support, isn't it?

Mary

 

[ChefBeckyD]

Sorry - I'm really not sure how that posted so many times

 

[lacychef]

I've done ladies fairs w/other consultants, & we do like Beth mentioned. We use different colors for our slips so we get the leads that WE talked to. It has worked out really well.
I opted not to do the county fair here this year. I did it for the first 3 years, & didn't get much out of it. Mostly people were walking thru the building just to get the freebies. I didn't do it last year, & enjoyed actually being able to take my kids to the fair! I opted to do a craft fair in the fall instead. Plus with temps in the 100s, I'm not regretting my decision to not sit in that non-AC building!
Good luck to you!

 

[Koolotus]

I diid a bridal fair with my recruiter/director when I had just been in the business about 1 month. We split the leads like Becky said, taking turns talking to them and then initialling our door prize slips. we also had the brides signing up for the quick registry right there. It worked out great for me, I was a little jealous about how together her speil was and kind of felt dumb, but she jumped in and helped quite a few times.
Funny thing was I followed up immeadiatley and did my registries right away and she didn't.
When she went on the cruise she paid me in products to Please, please, please! set up her registries for her. I got to see that she wasn't perfect and our relationship has been great ever since spending that time together.
I think it's a good idea and to look at it as a learning experience...sort of like on the job training
But, more important than who gets the leads is who does the follow up!!!
Do your follow up within 48 hours and follow through with everything! I booked 3 shows 4 registries and 1 recruit lead.
My director got no shows from her leads and her registries fizzled out.
I think she did get more leads, but then she wasn't able to make them pay off.
There's a lesson for us all!

 

[its_me_susan]

This is a hard situation to be in. When I've done fairs, the big ones have usually two consultants in the booth per shift. We try to trade off talking to people as they come in the booth. We just switch off. If I talked to the last person (after offering my handout with a recipe and other info on it and asking them if they're familiar about PC), then the next person that walks by is the other consultant's. We each usually try to attract the person by offering a FREE recipe from The Pampered Chef. Even if they just take the flyer and keep walking, you never know if they may call you or place an order. It's SO hard to split the maybes, yesses, etc because a yes may turn out to be a bust, but a NO may end up booking a show down the line. We don't do drawings at these big fairs, so we don't have the problem of having the drawing slips to sort through. Lots of people will mark yes" because they think that betters their chances in the drawing.

How do you get their info to call them without the drawing slips? I love being able to follow up with the announcement that they've won a free cooking show...

When we have done big fairs my director SOLD the hours worked. She and another director set up the booth with all their stuff and we just brought our own drawing slips and bowl. I think it was $20 for an hour, $30 for 2. My director stayed with us the whole time and just helped US to get the leads and the drawing slips. Any sales went to the people working. Let's face it, our success helps her directly. I was grateful for her help! She was grateful that I got 6 bookings and built a strong business.

I don't know what to tell you. I'm not thinking it was unfair to ask for the recruits. If you become a director, that will be to her advantage. Also, if you aren't charging her for the time, she should be happy (IMO) to help you build a strong business and get some bookings for herself. If she is paying, then maybe splitting or taking turns is the right to go. Just don't ruin the relationship you have with your director.

 

[mgressaffa]

Thanks for the advice. It worked out great. I never should have been worried. We'll go through the door prize slips tomorrow, but we had some great leads for shows as well as a recruit (that I actually got). My director is a very fair person, and we worked well together.

Thanks again, everyone.