My First REAL Kitchen Show: Challenges & Opportunities

[Lisa_aiko]

I just started selling PC and I have had a couple of shows, I just started selling PC and I have had a couple of shows, mostly catalog and they have been around $300. But, last night I had my first REAL kitchen show. I was so excited, a little nervous, but on the bright side there was 12 people there and one person came early and got catalogs to take to her friends, and one took one after the party to get extra orders.

I told people about the Guest special, and I was also running my won special promotion if they spent $75 they would be entered in a drawing for a free food chopper. I thought that it was a great idea. I was so pumped and excited. I got 1 booking and a friend of one of the people who attended wanted to do a show too, so that is pretty exciting.

However, when I went to add up all of the orders...they were all around $20. She barely made it to $150. Here I had thought that with all of these people, I would have a larger party. My host has had parties before, so I thought that she would have had a larger party...

So my husband is thinking that maybe doing catalog parties is the way to go. I tried to tell him that it is easier to buy things that are more expensive when you can see them and feel them. But all of the work that I put into to it, I just don't know if it was worth it.

I know I should be discouraged, but it's scary. Does anyone else have this problem? Any suggestions on what to do? I did find on here some host coupons....I think that I am going to toss them inside my host folder. Hopefully that will help.

 

[chefteresa1]

Don't let One Kitchen Show Get You DownIt's always hard to decipher how show sales are going to go. I've been with PC for almost a year now (I signed up last December). Invariably, the shows I think are going to be huge are the ones that come in small and vice versa. The biggest trick to having larger show sales is to focus on your host coaching. The better you coach your host, the bigger the sales will be (although there are always those hosts who ignore what you tell them regardless). Encourage your hosts to ask everyone who can't attend their show to place an order. Set a goal of 5 outside orders before her show. During your host coaching, find out who is going to be at the show and a little bit about them. Are they SAHMs or do they work outside the home? No kids or retirees? Are they people who love to cook, hate to cook or have no time to cook? By knowing the answers to these questions, you can tailor your show to their needs and focus on the products that are best for them. During your demo, make sure you use word pictures to help the guests see why they can't live without a particular product. Make sure you focus on higher priced items during your demo (the guests will find the Quick Cut Paring Knife and Corn Cob Knobs all on their own without you focusing on them ).

The sales will come, and statistically you will have higher sales with Kitchen Shows than with Catalog Shows.

Good Luck!
Teresa G.

 

[pchefmomof2]

It is very easy to be discouraged after a show like this but I will tell you that it happens to all of us at least once in a while. Don't give up on doing anymore Kitchen shows because that is not the solution. You never know your next Kitchen show may be a $1000 show. Try to evaluate your show and see if you can make any changes in your presentation. That has helped me several times. Have several different ways of doing a show because your customers are not all the same. I don't really offer an extra incentive anymore because I believe the PC gives us a GREAT Guest special incentive these days. Make it simple and have a lot of FUN!!! Remember that catalog shows are just a bonus! They too can have low show totals!

Kim

 

[pampered1224]

Here's one for youI did a show on Saturday, October 15th. We actully sent out 59 invitations.
No to bad! We had 27 positive RSVPs and about 47 people showed up as it was billed as a couples show. We fed everyone, had drinks and had about 15 people watching the demo and what not. All in all a good show. We had 8 orders totalling all of $277.
I was sick. But, I remembered something else. I had a Bridal show where the date got changed, the invites went out extrememely late and I thought it was going to be a bomb. 18 people showed up. We split the show up as there were a lot of outside orders to come in later. that whole thing turned out to be worth $1700.
So you absolutely NEVER can tell what is going to happen. I also had a show where three people came. They placed about $60 in orders. After the show, the host pulled out about 25 order forms and came in at abotu $1100.
I have had shows where 20 people came and the show total was less than $200. If I gave up evertime I thought it should have been different, I would have quit my first month in.
I also keep this in mind, no matter the out come, I always learn something, I always sell something and I always feel great about the job I did. You can't make people come, you can't make people buy. So change your own attituded and you instantly win! If ti kleeps up for too long though, well...
Again it becomes up to you. But never give up right out of the box. You haven't even given it a chance. Just wait till you hit that first $500 show or the first $1000 show. You will be walking on air I guarantee it!

 

[pamperedbecky]

I TOTALLY agree with John. You just never know how a show will go! One of my main goals is that the guests have FUN and even if the show isn't that great, if the guests have a good time and I feel like I covered what I wanted in my presentation, then I consider it a success. Just know that those bummers of shows will be few and far between. I have MANY more successful shows than ones where the sales weren't great or I didn't get bookings. AND, you should always remember that no bookings at a show doesn't mean that down the line, one of those guests won't book a show. That's why customer care calls are so important. Just keep in touch with them and check in with them from time to time. It'll make your name come to mind when they need something.

Good luck! I hope the next one is better for you.

 

[Lisa_aiko]

Thanks for all the good advice!I had another show where the host had told me there would be 10 people...but actually only 5 showed up. I was a little dissapointed, but you must go on with the show. When everything was all said and done, there was close to $400 in sales by these 5 people. I'm glad I didn't give up.

Thanks