Rescheduling Shows Due to Hurricane Ike

[Suzy Englert]

We live in Houston and are doing fine-we did not have power for 8 days, but it came back on today-yea!

I had 2 shows for this weekend, one has rescheduled for Oct. and the other host I will talk to on Tuesday. And I have 3 shows scheduled for this coming weekend-one has rescheduled for Oct. and I'm waiting to hear from the other 2 if they still want to have their shows this weekend.

And I had 3 catalog shows going-have left messages with hosts but have not heard back from them. And several customers wanted to have catalog shows and said to call them by the 15th-the week after the storm.

Due to the holiday weekend earlier this month and my mom being here the 2nd weekend of the month, these are my shows for Sept. It's just the way the dates/calendar fell into place.

My question is: when is is too soon to call people to reschedule/follow up on a request to have a show, do customer care calls, call for future bookings, etc., when hosts may or may not have electricity, may have house damage, still be out of town, or Pampered Chef is the last thing on their mind? I want to be respectful of people's lives and the time it takes to clean up and get back to "normal" but also have a business to run, as we all do.

Do you have any suggestions of what I can say when I make calls to the above hosts or leave messages?

Many thanks

Suzy in Texas, happy to have the AC on again!

 

[dannyzmom]

I am just heading off to bed but wanted to shoot u a quick reply.
I went thru this with Wilma in '05

Start calling to reschedule the moment u have power again.
People (wome) will be clamoring to get out and have a gathering - be social - get out of thier houses, etc,

I did a show the day after we got poew back and it was a $1000 show - and she only had power on 1/2 her street - they all came running!

start calling ASAP!

and ps - welcome back to the world of electricity!!
Gald you're all ok!

 

[Teresa Lynn]

Suzy,
Glad you are ok. Our son is at University of Houston and he too just got electricity Friday He is just a college student but is dealing with nasty cleanup of his apartment fridge smells, and no air with 1 window to open in each bedroom (still can't buy groceries or cleaning supplies there today he was headed to Sugarland to shop.)I would maybe send them a postcard saying thinking of you let me know when the time is right. Maybe offer a small incentive if they call you to book by a certain date or place an order.I agree about your business needing to survive. have you considered requesting a leave or maybe PC will offer something like they did during Katrina, but if I were the customer on the receiving end after the devastation i would want to concentrate on getting my family settled & wouldn't want to talk about PC. (I know that's just me but many of these people may not have had insurance etc. and contacting them now as they start over may seem insensitive to them )

 

[gingertannery]

Well, I am dealing with the same problem. I am in Alvin about 30 miles inland from Freeport and 30 miles from Galveston. We took a direct hit- we were on the west eye wall as it hit.. as you were too probably. Many in my area still do not have electricity. And the area is demolished. Trees down everywhere. I was only out of electricity about 6 hours (can't figure out that one)... But anyway. My thought is that it would be way too close to the event.. But I didn't think about people wanting something to do. I have rescheduled my open house 2 times because of hurricanes. (Gustav August 28 and Ike Sept. 11) I know your area was hit hard too because of all the trees. My daughter owns a house in Conroe. I was going to give my customers a courtesy call to see how everyone is doing. Please keep in touch and let me know if you have any luck. It might be a great idea to have the open house now.(but I am afraid I'll conger up another hurricane and we can't handle another LOL) I will let you know how I do with calling. I will go inactive if I don't turn in another 48.00 in comissionable sales. And things do not look good. I did call PC, they said I could obtain a waiver either this month or next since I live in the declaired disaster area without it counting against me. I think I can swing this month.. but next might be harder. I would need 152.00 for next month to stay active. Good luck. I'll do some calling too.

 

[lisagoins]

Bless all of you in that hard hit area--glad things are getting better. Believe it or not, I am in Louisville, KY, and we got a HUGE hit from Ike a week ago Sunday--it actually came through with Level 1 Hurricane winds--the damage was enormous (nothing compared to you all), but 75% of the homes/businesses in our city were without power, and some still are--so I feel your pain (though not as severely!). I sent emails immediately, just checking in, and then I started calling once things started getting somewhat back to normal, and the first questions I asked was how they did--damage, power, etc., so then I could gage where to take the conversation from there--who wants to talk PC with a tree through their home, right? I also took the approach that wow--we're all ready to have some fun after all this--can't wait to see you and your friends and get some real food! Surprisingly, no one has canceled because of the storm, though I've had some reschedule for other reasons. I'm also giving a gift to the person at the show who was without power the longest, so at least something good is coming from it!
Good luck to you all--hope it turns out well!--Lisa

 

[tlag1986]

Lisa I like your idea of giving a gift to the person without power the longest. I also like your name it is the same as mine. I agree just start the conversation with seeing how the did with the hurricane and then gage how to incorporate PC. A get together could definitely bring the moral up. Good luck.

 

[gingertannery]

Great information. I LOVE the idea of giving a gift to the one who was without electricity the longest. Great way to make lemonaid out of lemons. I'll have to try that. Thank you for ideas when it is so hard to think and be creative!!

 

[lisagoins]

I just gave a prep bowl filled with candy--but the gal who won was thrilled! She said--at least something good came out of it!
As of yesterday, everyone in Louisville has their power back--I've always told my kids when we watched the news about hurricanes that we would NEVER have problems (other than rain) from a hurricane because of where we lived--BwaaHaa--I should know by now to NEVER say NEVER!
And people really do seem to want to go somewhere for food and a good time--gets their mind off the tree down in their front yard!
All of you take care--and good luck--let us know how you're doing!--Lisa

 

[Suzy Englert]

Thank you all for your responses! I've been able to reschedule my 5 Sept. shows for Oct. and November. And I sent out an email to my customers, letting them know I was thinking about them. I've received lots of nice responses-everyone just needs to know that someone cares about them right now. And tonight I'll start making customer care calls to check on customers from past shows. Hopefully everyone will have electricity restored, as some parts of Houston-as of yesterday-still did not have power 2 weeks after the storm.

I hope my fellow Texas are doing well, have power restored, and that you and your families and homes are doing well.

Thanks again!

Suzy in Texas

 

[gingertannery]

Also, Please pray for the families of locals on Bolivar Peninnsula. There are still about 300 missing and presumed dead from that area. I'm sure you have seen the pictures of the areas that were wiped clean by the hurricane. Many say there were folks in those homes. Here, 2 1/2 weeks after the hurricane and no word from those missing, does not look good. Thanks.