Mystery Host Came Out a Little Low

[cheflorraine]

I'll be wrapping up my first Mystery Host show tomorrow (with a wrap-up party!).
I had 5 people participating initially, and then I added one more whose scheduled cooking show was canceled, but she had some orders (I don't have those orders from her yet, so am going on faith that she does have some).

One person wasn't able to get any orders (even though she had entered 71 people on the PWS guest list!!), but she'll have her own order to place.
One person got about $300, another $150, yet another around $150 so far, and I haven't heard back from the last person.
So I know that we'll for sure hit a $600 show, so thus far I was thinking of splitting the benefits up as follows (only 5 participants now):
$80 free product (+10% off for a year)
$40 free product (+10% off for a year)
1/2 price item
1/2 price item
60% off host special item

Plus I had written in the initial email that everyone would get 30% off their order - right now the actual discount is only 25%, but I think I should honor the promised 30% discount.

Any suggestions as to what to do when your mystery host falls short of expectations?

Also - I'm not sure what to do with the Cool & Serve, in case the winner would want that at 60% off (here in Canada, we don't get that until sales reach $750). Would you just allow the winner to choose it anyway? Ouch... I was definitely hoping to hit that $750 level...

 

[NooraK]

It's a bit late at this point, but whenever I've done a Myster Host show that I've advertised based on the $1000 level, I put in a disclaimer that the benefits may be adjusted if I don't get enough participation to reach the $1000 level (or whatever it would be for you guys).

That being said, if you did state a 30% discount in your email (and didn't have a disclaimer), I'd honor it. At least it's only 5% out of your pocket, plus you'll get commission back. The same thing goes with the Cool & Serve: it depends on how you put it out there. If you attached the host special flyer so they can see it has to be a $750 show to qualify, then you can refer to that when it comes up. If you didn't put in anything about that, you'll have to see what the winner says when it comes up. She might not even want it, or she might understand the limitation.

 

[wadesgirl]

I agree with Noora, I always put a disclaimer that actual benefits will depend on the final show value!

 

[Sheila]

If you have 2 people who haven't yet submitted their orders, you may just hit the 750 level. But you'll definitely need their orders to see what level the show ended up at and to see how you want to split up the benefits. You can sit & work it all out for the 600 level, and those two might surprise you and put you at the 900 level! If the last two did the minimum requirement, I think you should split up the benefits as if you had an extra person & let the 300 person win twice! And I agree with the other ladies. In the future, write it out with an escape clause in case they don't hit the level you are advertising. I usually do something like: "assuming 10 people participate, get the minimum $100 in sales and have a show total of $1,000 - the benefits would break down as follows" and then you could put something about "if the show total is lower, the benefits would change according to the show level" ... that way, you are covered.

 

[cheflorraine]

OK... all is good (I think/hope!)
I talked to one person (whose original show had canceled), and although she didn't actually have any orders, she wanted to order the roasting pan for herself (so now she's a guest order, and doesn't get any host rewards), which brings my current show total over $750 (so the C&S is a go if someone wants it).
The last person I need to hear from emailed to say she would call once she has her last order in hand, so I'm assuming there are orders there.
So we'll probably end up at for sure an $800, possibly a $900 show, and only have 4 hosts to split the benefits between - not a bad deal! And we'll be at the 30% discount level, so I don't need to worry about that either!
Thanks for the encouragement, and I will definitely add that clause to my next mystery host show about benefits being adjusted if needed. I don't want to feel panicked next time...

 

[wadesgirl]

OK... all is good (I think/hope!)
I talked to one person (whose original show had canceled), and although she didn't actually have any orders, she wanted to order the roasting pan for herself (so now she's a guest order, and doesn't get any host rewards), which brings my current show total over $750 (so the C&S is a go if someone wants it).
The last person I need to hear from emailed to say she would call once she has her last order in hand, so I'm assuming there are orders there.
So we'll probably end up at for sure an $800, possibly a $900 show, and only have 4 hosts to split the benefits between - not a bad deal! And we'll be at the 30% discount level, so I don't need to worry about that either!
Thanks for the encouragement, and I will definitely add that clause to my next mystery host show about benefits being adjusted if needed. I don't want to feel panicked next time...

I'm curious as to why the lady who is placing her own order won't go into the drawing? If all you required was her to collect $100 in orders, the roasting pan is way over that. Who cares if it's her order or orders she's collecting?

 

[cheflorraine]

I'm curious as to why the lady who is placing her own order won't go into the drawing? If all you required was her to collect $100 in orders, the roasting pan is way over that. Who cares if it's her order or orders she's collecting?

That's very true... I could definitely put her in, but she wasn't all that interested in the host benefits in the first place, and I think would just like to get her order in and be done with this. If she was coming this evening I'd definitely include her in the draw, but unfortunately she's leaving today at 5:30 for a vacation, and won't be back till next week. I can't do the draw for benefits until the others bring their orders this evening, and then I'd really like to get this submitted tonight... I just don't want to drag this out any longer!