New Pampered Chef Host Club Brings Fun & Friendships!

[sklay723]

I had the first meeting of my new PC Host Club last night. Several people had shown interest (one of my friends had been in a Host Club for a stamping group and wanted me to form one for PC), so we put out the feelers and now I have eight people signed up! Each person is committed to spending at least $25 a month for the next eight months (minimum $200 show each month!). And they talked amongst themselves last night and assigned themselves months, without even looking at the specials!!! I think this is going to be a really good thing...I'll be able to stay active even if I don't have any other shows! One of them had already booked a home cooking show for June, still wants to have it, but she loves the products so much she brought one of her neighbors...the neighbor had never even heard of Pampered Chef! The neighbor isn't going to be a "member" of the Host Club, but she'll probably tag along as much as possible each month to learn about the products, etc. She's one of those people who claims she never cooks, so we'll see if we can convert her way of thinking!

Anyway, just had to share...I'm excited, and it'll be nice to come up for a recipe idea and tips for such a fun group of ladies each month. Everyone knows each other somehow, through a friend, etc., and they have a good time talking and laughing, so it'll be a positive thing to hang out with them on a regular basis.

 

[AmieCream]

Congrats! Way to go!!!

 

[Mr. Pampered Chef]

I like this idea of a host club, so are they going to invite the same people all of the time to their shows? how did you go about starting it up?

 

[sklay723]

One of my friends, who was my first show host, wanted to get it started, so she talked about it with a few of her friends from work, etc. Some of them have already been hosts (one was a host just two weekends ago). They all want to add more products to their kitchen, but couldn't just spend a couple hundred bucks in one show, so this is a good solution. They can work the $25 into their monthly budget (well, more like $30 when you add tax and shipping), figure out in advance what to order, and they're guaranteed one night a month to get together, try a new recipe, and order new products. The same group will be at each meeting, but I told them it's open door invitation if anyone wants to bring a friend (or two...or three). I told them outside orders are also welcome, and they all seemed really happy about that.

As for getting it started, I really had to buckle down on that. I'd been trying to get it going since March, but no one wanted to commit to a meeting date and time. So at the show two weekends ago, I told my friend to just announce that the first show was this month. We all looked at our calendars, picked a date and time, and that was it. The rest was up to me...I put together pocket folders for each person. On one side I have the catalog, with my business card in the little perforated spot on the folder. On the other side, I put a member commitment form (I have it on my other computer but will try to post it later today), an information form about how the club will work, an order form for May, and the product wish list I printed off of CC (there's a list of all products in the catalog, complete with item numbers and page numbers...so easy to use, and I figured people could keep track of what they already have using that).

 

[pampered2007]

What a wonderful idea!! I am also interested in any more information that you may have on starting the club and getting it going! Do you happen to have a flyer or something put together announcing your host club that can be emailed to those on your email mailing list or sent regular mail for those that may be interested and would like to join?

 

[Mr. Pampered Chef]

OK Really like the way you set this out, keeps you active and brings in new people every now and then...I would like toswee your form, I think I am going to try this approach to as well.

 

[jillbean]

Ok, so do I have this right?
The same group of women come together each month for a social time and they order at least $25 a piece. Then say Sue has selected July she gets the host benifits for that month? Does Sue also cover the cost of the food for July or is that something that you do?
Sorry, I am a bit knew to this!

 

[sklay723]

Each host chooses what to do for the month. They talked together last night and basically assigned their own months, so that took the extra work off of me to assign everyone. We can meet at the host's home, or at a local community meeting room, depending on the host. We kicked it off at a restaurant just because the first host (for May) has small kids, so it was less stressful for her that way...everyone was just asked to take care of their own check, since it was our first meeting (I offered to pick up an appetizer, but they all wanted to pick, choose and pay for their own...thank goodness!). For the demo, I offer to make something and if they choose what I offer then I bring the ingredients (I can control my cost that way) or if they have something in mind they provide the ingredients and I just bring my tools for that particular dish.

I am still stuck in my living room with my two little kids and the little girl I'm watching today...can't get to the computer in my office until later, but I'll post my flyer then. I don't have any wording for an email, since my club got formed more by word of mouth.

 

[ThePamperedMommy]

Wow this sounds like fun!!! I think i'll keep this in mind for when i get going

 

[pampered2007]

I just absolutely love this idea! But I would imagine it would only work if a host has a circle of friends that they hang out with all the time. I would like to send a "survey" to everyone on my email mailing list to see if anyone would be interested in participating in a "monthly host club". If someone responds back, I will then contact them with more information. Most of the time I don't hear back from my mailing list. So I really don't expect any feedback. But I just love this idea. It sounds like so much fun! A guaranteed night out every month!

How did you do a cooking show at a restaurant??? Did the guests basically just place their orders and then eat from the restaurant menu? Did you do any kind of demo? Just curious. A show at a restaurant is a good idea if someone would prefer not to have a show in their home.

Also, how did you decide on things such as: how much each person has to spend per show and what the minimum show total must be? And how long of a committment is it for: 6 months, 1 year, etc?

Can't wait to see your flyer!!

 

[BethCooks4U]

We did this with a group of friends for Longaberger. Each of us took a month and had one every month so we could all get the special baskets. You do need a group of "junkies" to make it work but it's fun!

I need to find that group among my PC customers/hosts!

 

[Chef Bobby]

I know someone that does the same thing with another business except the members each pay a certain amount each month and one person at a time gets to place a $200 order.

 

[sklay723]

File AttachedAs promised, here is the file I copied and placed in each member's folder. I need to tweak some of the wording for the next time I do it, but most of the people in the club know me well enough to know that this is my first time running a host club...always room for improvement! The second page of the file is the form I asked them to fill out (lots of good contact information) and sign as a commitment declaration to the group. Not a legally binding thing, but I just felt like having a signature made them feel more responsible to the group.

 

[sklay723]

How did you do a cooking show at a restaurant??? Did the guests basically just place their orders and then eat from the restaurant menu? Did you do any kind of demo? Just curious. A show at a restaurant is a good idea if someone would prefer not to have a show in their home.

Also, how did you decide on things such as: how much each person has to spend per show and what the minimum show total must be? And how long of a commitment is it for: 6 months, 1 year, etc?

I agreed to hold the first one at a restaurant because it was the only convenient thing for the host (she has small children, and her family's already going through a lot because her father has cancer). We're booking it through P3 as a catalog show, just this one time. She doesn't mind missing out on the extra $15 in free product, and she was more excited about the host special for May, so as long as the total reached $200 we were fine (and it did). Pretty much all of the other hosts are going to hold the meetings at their homes, so we'll be doing actual cooking demos during all other months and those will be booked through P3 as cooking shows.

We chose for the spending minimum to be $25 so that it would be reasonable, but make it easy enough for the hosts to have good guest sale totals. We thought about lowering it to $20, but no one flinched at the extra $5, so we left it there. We'll meet for eight months, because we had eight people sign on for the club. We might meet one extra month and do it like a mystery host show, dividing up the earnings and doing a drawing, but I am offering a gift certificate to a drawing winner anyway, so that might or might not happen (it all depends on what the group wants to do...).

I hope this info helps!

 

[jbdowd0798]

THIS ROCKS!! Another consultant and I were talking about doing this and sharing the orders. We'd alternate months on who gets a show but we still stay active. But this really helps. Kristin are you reading this??!?!?! HA HA HA :love:

 

[peachey]

This is such a great idea. I am going to have to put some feelers out and see if there are enough people interested. I already have one girlfriend that is slowly redoing her kitchen and places a monthly order with me. I just add her onto someone's show. Hopefully she will be interested!! Thanks for posting your flyer!

 

[Mr. Pampered Chef]

Got the Flyer this morning...looks awsome. Thank you. I am going to put this out tonight and see if I get get any takers...
cheers

 

[Mr. Pampered Chef]

Ok so I have been walking around me complex and I think I already have one group of friends that want to get a group togther. This was a great Idea. Thank you. I have a show on sunday brunch and I am going to introduce this idea to the crowd. This can turn out to be a very big thing !!
cheers

 

[Kristina21]

This is such an amazing idea ~ Thank you for sharing!!!

 

[sklay723]

I wish I could take credit for it, but there's really nothing "original" about my club...it's been done before by lots of people, I'm sure, and with other DS companies. Glad I could give some ideas of how I'm doing it though! Good luck and keep us posted on how yours goes!

 

[quiverfull7]

I did a version of this with a group too for a while. The thing to encourage your hosts to do is collect as many outside orders as possible when it's their month... and then they can really do well! Great job!

 

[khergatt]

Thanks for sharing this! I am thinking about doing something similiar.

 

[christinaspc]

Hi sklay I am going to get my going in July I think and get it all set up this month and try to have the 1st one in July I shared this information at my culster meeting and alot of gals liked it.


Thanks for the neat idea..

 

[Mr. Pampered Chef]

I have my first 4, signed up on my first show that I presented it !! that was on Sunday, all I told them was to each bring a friend !!...no to book more shows..