Severing the Ties With a Host-To-Be

[ChefBeckyD]

I think she should still have done the party. I have had numerous hosts thank me on the days of their show for continuing to call and not give up on them! Especially when they admit they aren't the best at returning phone calls but do receive the email and phone messages that I leave for them.

It is our job to keep in touch with our customers and not assume anything. Especially when we take bookings so far in advance, we need to keep them in the loop as much as possible.

As for that email ... I wouldn't have sent it. What if the host was out of town for a considerable amount of time? Had an illness in the family? Or was getting home too late in the evening to return phone calls? (I had one host who this happened to, and I finally got a hold of her and she had to cancel.)

If I had received an email like that from a consultant or a representative from any business, I would have passed it around to all of my friends and told them never to do business with that person/company again.

Just saying, you may experience some backlash from that from the host.

Have to say - I agree!

 

[chefsteph07]

I think she should still have done the party. I have had numerous hosts thank me on the days of their show for continuing to call and not give up on them! Especially when they admit they aren't the best at returning phone calls but do receive the email and phone messages that I leave for them.

It is our job to keep in touch with our customers and not assume anything. Especially when we take bookings so far in advance, we need to keep them in the loop as much as possible.

As for that email ... I wouldn't have sent it. What if the host was out of town for a considerable amount of time? Had an illness in the family? Or was getting home too late in the evening to return phone calls? (I had one host who this happened to, and I finally got a hold of her and she had to cancel.)

If I had received an email like that from a consultant or a representative from any business, I would have passed it around to all of my friends and told them never to do business with that person/company again.

Just saying, you may experience some backlash from that from the host.

Exactly the point I was trying to make, and in an earlier post someone had mentioned that she had called the host EIGHT TIMES, but I have been going through the posts and I had not seen where the original poster said she called that many times..so if you happen to find that one, please quote it for me in response. Not that it matters if it was one call or 20! I would have kept calling every day until I reached her, and then had a back up show at an earlier or later time in case this one didn't pan out! But, as I mentioned earlier, I agree that I would have worried that email would be passed around and PC will suffer for it!!! AND the consultants who would have actually done that show! I just think the entire situation is unfortunate...and another solution would be to have called someone else from her cluster who would have actually appreciated the extra show and offered it to her instead of blowing the whole thing off and entirely blaming the HOST. Obviously there was no host coaching. If I am unable to get in touch w/ a host via phone or email I usually send a letter as well. It is our job to do everything possible to make the host comfortable and enjoy the experience of hosting a PC show.

 

[pampchefrhondab]

I would have had the show as well as some others say. Was the host in the wrong, absolutely, but she is a customer. I just wouldn't try to have a show w/her again.

I had a host who booked a show and I never heard from her after mailing out her packet. Her number was disconnected! I mailed a letter to her stating I tried to call her but could not reach her. I said if I didn't hear from her by "set date" I would assume her show is not going to be held. I never heard from her again. She was a lead from a fair I did and she didn't live in the best part of town so I wasn't too disapointed. I wonder if she saw the product prices and thought they were too much for her and her friends. I'll never really know.

We all have our own choices in this business though.

 

[chefbritt]

I agree with the others that the e-mail might have been a little to harsh, although, so are some of the posts in this thread. I think as a consultant, you have every right to let people know that you take your business seriously. However, people don't like being accused and feeling like their being attacked, even if its true. I probably would have let her know that I tried to contact her that many times, but at the same time giving the host the benefit of the doubt and not placing blame for it. Like others said, you never know what's happening in their lives. Also, I too have had a situation where I left messages at the wrong house. It's quite possible that happened to this host. One other thing... I've heard others on here say that when they haven't heard from the host, rather than leaving a message canceling, they leave a message saying unless they hear otherwise that they'll see them at their house at 7pm, and the host usually will call back right away canceling if that was their intention, because they don't want you showing up at their house. That's another idea you might want to try next time you run into something like this. Just a suggestion.

 

[lockhartkitchen]

It's easy to come up with solutions and judgments when you don't have all the information. I'm giving it to you straight from the "horse's mouth", the one who initiated this thread: me. First, I wouldn't have posted if I didn't expect comments. There are several comments that I need to correct.

1. I did leave a very positive message 3 days before the show. "Since I haven't heard from you after my phone calls, I'm assuming your show is still on for.... I'm also assuming you must have the ingredients from my website since you didn't call me. I'm looking forward to our show on Saturday." Since I had no response from that, I left the message Friday morning saying I was assuming her show was cancelled since I hadn't heard from her.

2. The host DID NOT contact ME about the show the night before. There was a message left on my answering machine and via email that was left at 8 PM, saying "Yes I'm having the show. If I don't hear from you by 8:30, I will call my guests and tell them you cancelled". 1/2 hour time to return a call was what I was given. I got home too late to respond by phone. I believe I was given the short time span, so there could be an easy way out.

3. A job, like anything else, is confirmed. When there is no confirmation, is the cable going to come to your home? Is the painter going to come? No.

I did NOT say to myself as one stated, "Oh well, your loss, you never called."
I respect myself and time as well. I did say to myself, "I haven't heard one response from this host for a month when I've been calling at least 3x a week for the past 4 weeks. When someone never returns my call, they don't want to. I would be driving 80 minutes in a car just to return home. My time is worth something."

4. There was no wrong number. It was the number the host gave me. It is her voice with a message saying she will call you right back.

5. One consultant said "No host coaching must have happened". The last time I checked, coaching is a partnership. One cannot coach an absent team member. You can leave them the tools they need, but truly be successful, your host needs to be present to coach.

6. One consultant would call every day until the host returned her call. 7x4=28 phone calls. Huh? That better be one hell of show to have invested that much time for one person.

7. This host may or may not have been a liar, but is definitely RUDE!! Unreturned calls in our society, whether it be a doctor's office, scheduling an appointment, etc. if not returned in a timely manner is rude and unacceptable.

8. What show was I going to? The phone message from the host clearly stated, if she didn't hear back from me by 8:30 PM she was calling and telling her friends it was cancelled.

Here's how it ended. Saturday 9 AM, I got an email from the host, (The show was going to be at 11 AM) saying she was sorry if there was any miscommunication. She thought I must be used to having to stay in close contact with my hosts, but she was one that didn't need reminders. She wanted me to know that she was an honest person. She said she was going to call and let her guests know the party was cancelled. (Wasn't this what she said she did last night? Also, this was a sleepover party. Aren't they already there?" Hmmm.... She wanted to know if she needed to mail me back the catalogs.

I emailed her. I let her know she could keep the catalogs and make it into a catalog show so she could still get her host benefits. I told her if she wanted to work with another host that was closer to her home that would be fine. I referred her to a consultant in my cluster.

I got the catalogs and forms back in the mail.

My business? I was number 2 in my cluster in Sep, and number 1 in October.
I'm booked solid in November. I am a friendly person. This is my only client who has ever done this. My first email letter to her was not harsh, but honest of my feelings. Hindsight? I would not put into question her honesty, (ONLY because I can't prove it), but I would put my feelings of never having a returned call.