Okay, Hit Me With All Your Tips for the First Show!

[chelynn]

My first show is on Sunday--help me!!

I've done all the online classes, all the online product training, watched the DVD, practiced my recipe (we're making Strawberry Amaretto Pastries-yum!), and have been doing some host coaching. Should be around 10+ people at the party, half mid-twenties and half middle aged. Host is making her wish list and has extra invites and catalogs for outside orders. I e-mailed her the shopping list, and will call her Friday or Saturday with the final coaching call and what to have ready before the party (strawberries washed, etc.).

But now I have to actually DO the show!! I need tips! I printed out the product cards, and I was thinking about passing them out and having the guests read them, but they're really dry.

I have a Season's Best to give away, but I need some sort of way to do that--a drawing or game.

Give me your best First Show tips and tricks!!!

Thanks--this forum is GREAT!!!

 

[heather9892]

chelsea
everything will be fine, you will do great!
my first few shows i thanked the host for helping me start out and gave her a sb in front of everyone. i then thanked all of the guests for being by guiena (spelling) pigs.
encourage people who know the products to share any tips they love about something, and in your paper work box there should have been show outline cards as well. mine were with the recipe cards. its ok to use them the product cards i keep handy in case someone asks me a question and i dont know the answer to.
most of all remember to have fun

 

[MomToEli]

I practiced before my first show, using my dh and ds as my "fake guests" I did the entire show, including make the recipe I was going to make. I forgot the name of pretty much every product I put my hands on, so I knew what I needed to work on. I did, and the show went great enough that no one could believe it was my first. I didn't talk about all four of the collections. I left out a few other things. Then I realized that in the big scheme of things it didn't matter. The show ended up being a little over $200.

I lived to tell about it.

My second show, 2 days later, closed out at close to $1400 and I had a blast!

My third show just closed tonight and ended up a little over $200 as well. I'm way happy with that one, as I didn't think it would even qualify as a show!

You, too, will do well. The best advice my director gave me, I believe, was to have a whole bunch of shows as quickly as possible, so it isn't like starting over with every one.

Have a blast!

 

[raebates]

Practice your show out loud. It plants it in a different place in your memory when you hear the words. Have fun! It's contagious.As far as the Season's Best is concerned, I place a label inside mine that says, "A gift for you from Rae Bates, your Pampered Chef Consultant." At the show, I have all of the guests write a short note inside for the host. That way it's both a recipe book and a keepsake.

 

[clshirk]

As for a guest gift/season's best, I've started using raebates idea at shows to use the SB as my host gift and I have a bag/basket of other items like paring knives, clips, safe cutter, bamboo tongs, etc (all under $2-$3) that a guest gets to pick from. I use the guest cards that you pass out for them to fill out as my drawing cards and let the host pick one from the stack and that's who wins. If it's a larger party- 10 or more, I let 2 guests pick. I'm not losing much money out of that really.

As for tips, just relax and have fun. I love these parties because they are so fun. For my first few shows I wrote out an outline so I remembered what order to talk about things and take food out of the oven, etc so I wouldn't forget something. I start my shows by say hi, who I am, why I'm doing this, how you can do this, show the hosting a show ideas for later in the summer in my look book, do a quick get to know you game, and then finally get started cooking food. I try to remember to talk about important products, like stoneware, cookware, and new products and favorite products. My goal is to be done with the food in an hour. And then I can answer additional questions. I also always welcome guests to come up and evaluate any products during the show because I want them to be hands on and see if they like it. I"m really big on making sure someone likes it if they're gonna buy it. Then once everyone looks like they are done eating and have orders ready, I start closing out.

 

[kaceyleigh2]

Keep it simple (so you don't get overwhelmed) and HAVE FUN!!

 

[chefann]

Remember that all-correcting phrase, "It's my first day." People will forgive just about anything if they know it's your first show. And then tell them, "I really need the practice, so you're all booking shows, right?"

Another good one is, "It's Pampered, not perfect."

 

[AJPratt]

Yes, I recommend "doing" a fake show. I invited a couple of neighbors over and did the whole sha-bang. It was great practice and plus we sat down and ate.

My advice would be to lean on the audience. If you are unfamiliar with a product you can just stop and say, "Who has this?". Then ask them questions (stolen from Tom Marsden, I think): "What do you use it for?", "Is it easy to use?", "Is it easy to clean?" and "Do you recommend everyone here buy one?"

My feel is that we are expected to go on and on about how great our products are, but when their friend tells them that water literally boils faster in our cookware, that means a lot more.

 

[raebates]

Exactly! Plus, you get to see who sells the products well. They're great potential recruits.

 

[jamieannemiller]

I have only been doing this for about a month now, but it is really helpful to have a few of the guests come up and help. They get to use the products, and usually make a few wonderful comments about them as they use them. Just relax and HAVE FUN!!