Share Your Worst Show Story - No Judgement Allowed!

[janetupnorth]

Another idea for mystery host shows when you want to boost sales. Let the non winners choose an item at the host discount. This is really nice when it's 25-30% off, but regardless, it's a sale. It's also loved when stoneware is one sale since it's a discount on top of the 20% off!! If you tend to get decent attendance, you can put in your invite that attendees will receive one item at 25% off. Mine are hit or miss so I don't know what the % will be. I just contact people after the show and tell/email them that they didn't win the big prize, but the consolation prize is one item at...

I also call people that didn't attend after the show to see if they need anything. It doesn't always work, but I've gotten a couple of $100 orders that way!

Thanks for the ideas - I did an online one and invited people for about a week - I had SO many catalogs out...it was hit and miss...people were either "PC'd out" or excited to look but didn't buy. I at least made some more connections and got out that I was a consultant and many said, "Now I know who to see when I want something." I'm hoping the contact at least pays off in the future...

 

[trps]

I had a show last summer who was expecting over 10 so she wanted a second recipe when I got there she had a big set up of food drinks etc and my place set up we waited and no one came she finally admitted she hadn't called anyone to see if they could make it and hadn't heard from any yeses just a couple maybes and thought these others would be there. So she felt so bad and went on about all the places she would collect orders from and would call me to close ....she never called so I called her and she says oh my husband told me just to forget about it and move on ..WHAT!!! WHY DIDN'T YOU LET HIM DECIDE THAT BEFORE i WASTED A NIGHT AWAY FROM MY FAMILY and cooked your family dinner!!! tHAT WAS the worst!

Before the $150 rule you just needed 5 orders I had a catalog show of 4 $1 cookbooks and 1 small batter bowl and she didn't get anything with her 10% discount. so it was a $14 show but that was better than the above actual show with $0 in sales.

 

[pampermemelody]

Ok this one is funny! I had a show last Spring.. My host was a sweet girl who speaks English. She failed to tell me that the guests she invited only spoke Spanish. I do not. I felt like an idiot trying to teach with my hands and speaking loudly and slowly (as if that would help!) Duh. In the end, they were so sweet and smiling and loved the food. But they had no idea why I was there. The host didn't have any orders or collect any outside orders in the 10 days I gave her. My only $0 show! But I had a $1900 show the next week that helped heal my bruised ego!

 

[janetupnorth]

Ok this one is funny! I had a show last Spring.. My host was a sweet girl who speaks English. She failed to tell me that the guests she invited only spoke Spanish. I do not. I felt like an idiot trying to teach with my hands and speaking loudly and slowly (as if that would help!) Duh. In the end, they were so sweet and smiling and loved the food. But they had no idea why I was there. The host didn't have any orders or collect any outside orders in the 10 days I gave her. My only $0 show! But I had a $1900 show the next week that helped heal my bruised ego!

OK - picturing your mouth moving and Spanish subtitles scrolling across the countertop for you - LOL!

At least they had fun and if they see the stuff in the future, they will know what it is and maybe like/buy it...who knows what seeds it planted...

 

[amcclanaghan]

My worst show was in Nov. I got lost in the Host's parking lot because she didn't tell me there were three buildings and which one I needed to go to. I couldn't get a hold of her on the cell phone, so I picked a building and rang the number she said was hers (whew it was!). I had to carry my stuff up two flights of stairs (she's pregnant), and lives in a TINY appartment. With the smallest kitchen i've ever seen. She lost the ingredients to the Tuxedo Brownies she was making, - luckily not for what I was doing. Her grandmother and another friend showed up (late) and neither ordered.

Then while I was cleaning up. I saw a roach run across the counter top where the food had been (I'm so glad I didn't eat anything!) I had to stifle the scream... and still didn't get to leave because she was interested in the business.

So no show, show orders, no recruit. And 1 roach. Oh and her husband kept calling my cellphone to talk with her (it was his cell phone I was calling to get directions!)

 

[britishchef]

I had a fundraiser I organised myself, last month. The two local papers both failed to put the announcement in (that's a long story that makes me mad each time I think about it). I put fliers at EVERY house in our village (100-150 maybe) and I had one woman show up and then another woman and her husband and Mum. The latter family left before my demo was done. Luckily my best friend came along. I had to blanket the local community with order forms in businesses and schools to get enough to make it a qualifying show and it BARELY qualified at £130! (It's £125 here)

I felt really terrible because it was a fundraiser for a charity called the Cystinosis Foundation. That's a rare genetic disease my brother has. I even spent hours calling all the families with Cystinosis in the UK to see if they wanted to order but NO-ONE did. I spent many many hours on this and got nothing out of it really.

I submitted it as a cooking show in the end and gave the free products to a local woman who has a booth regularly for the Cystinosis Foundation - I figured she'd get more than the 10% they would have received.

 

[saleenkitchen]

I have been doing PC for one year this month and I have had mostly pretty good shows until last Tuesday and I did host coaching with the host and when I showed up at her house it looked like she as not ready for me and then she had six people there not to bad that is the number of guests who are at most of my shows, But I had to do my demo in the kitchen area and I said to her that what we could do is move the table and then her guests could sit in what is suppose to be the dinnig roomshe said ok then she had them all sit in the family room away from where my stuff was set up! Okay then I just s\went infront of them and talked and would go back to the other area to get the products we where talking about. And to top it off the sails ended with 1.25 less then 150 so I added things to add up to 1.25 and called it a show, there where no outside orders and the hostess only used her host credit and bought nothing. Oh well I did get one booking from her show that made the night worth it for me.

 

[janetupnorth]

Ok, my $300 first show is looking better and better...thank you for the unintentional boost!

 

[legacypc46]

Worst show: attendees were the host, prev host, and a future host. Prev host ordered one piece of stoneware at 60% off and the future host placed a $14.00 order. No outside orders. Couldn't salvage it. I figure it's just how it goes sometimes.

 

[soccermama]

Here's how I look at it... and I had to explain my thinking to my Host from last night (who is signing on as a consultant on Wednesday)

If you get out and meet even ONE person, it's a good show. If you learn from the experience, it's a good show.

And because I think that way, I have never had a bad show. Maybe low sales, low attendence... but always worth my time, as long as I learn from it or meet at least 1 person.

Enthusiasm is contagious. NOT being enthusiastic is also contagious.

 

[chef131doreen]

Well I have had a few in 7 years but a few stand out , like when the Apt kitchen was so small and the smoke alarm went off and I thought the fire dept was going to come ( thank goodness they didnt)
Or when I had to work on my crate as a table cause the host didn't have a table , ( still had an 800,00 party though) drove 72 miles no one shwed up this was my 3rd show , the host felt so bad , but she mad up for it with outside orders..

 

[Kelley Sells]

Worst Of Worst....So, I have done 2 "Candle Show Parties" We ALL know what company I'm talking about, I had 2 800.00 shows for this consultant and finally got HER to book a PC show, on a Sunday.....so I decided to do a brunch, sent out invites, the few she gave me, she was TOO busy to get them together and ASSURED me that she would have plenty people there.....so I drag all my stuff on a rainy cold sunday morning to her house, she had ONE, yes ONE guest.....she had two outside orders, pretty much HER order was the largest, total of the show? 225.00.....AND I JUST found out one of her outside orders hasn't even RECEIVED her items YET....the show was in OCTOBER.....I called her and she was really aggrivated at me for calling.....

The last show she did at my house, she sat on my back porch on her cell, she dropped off all her display at my house the night before, and I set EVERYTHING up for her as she was an HOUR late showing up.....it was INSANE....everyone was AMAZED.....

Needless to say the guest she didn't get her stuff to is a "candle consultant" as well, guess who will be getting my next booking? LOL.....

It amazed me that a fellow director seller didn't have the decency to put some work into her OWN party, but yet I had two AWESOME shows for her......hmpf....at least it kept me active?

 

[Miss Cori]

I havent had my first show yet, and now i am freakin out. I had 4 people who said they would have a party, so i signed up. Now 1 (my aunt) is saying she needs to change the date. My Mother in Law hasnt set a date and im beginning to think she isnt going to she started selling home interiors. My mom and her friend are holding their show THANK GOD!! And my best friend is saying she doesnt have enough people so "thinks" she should do a catalog show. Hope this isnt how my pc career is going to go! Im getting a little discouraged. Sorry to the enthusiastic lady.

 

[chefkitty]

My worst show was in Dec of '05.I had only been a consultant since August '05. This girl booked of another show and had just gotten married so she felt that she really didn't need anything but wanted to do the show anyway because she liked the product. She decided that she wanted to send a bunch of catalogs to her friends and family from out of town that had come to her wedding. So I made up packets advertising her show and made it sound really exciting and that she would be able to get all this free product and what not and I played up the specials for them. Gave them my phone number and email address and told them to contact me anytime. For her actual show she said she had about 10 people that were going to show up. In actuality only ONE person showed up. I did the whole show in her kitchen for her and her friend because her husband would have a fit if he saw me in the living room with food. I was kind of glad that only one person showed up because thene could at least fit in the kitchen. Plus the 2 of them kept talking. I was overly polite and would stop when they started talking and then start back up when they would stop. I think she ended up with around $200 in sales and when I called to follow up with ehr I couldn't get intouch with her. And she has never been heard from again. the end!

 

[cat]

Here's how I look at it... and I had to explain my thinking to my Host from last night (who is signing on as a consultant on Wednesday)

If you get out and meet even ONE person, it's a good show. If you learn from the experience, it's a good show.

And because I think that way, I have never had a bad show. Maybe low sales, low attendence... but always worth my time, as long as I learn from it or meet at least 1 person.

Enthusiasm is contagious. NOT being enthusiastic is also contagious.

Celeste,

I love your outlook!! That's wonderful...

 

[cat]

Before the $150 rule you just needed 5 orders I had a catalog show of 4 $1 cookbooks and 1 small batter bowl and she didn't get anything with her 10% discount. so it was a $14 show but that was better than the above actual show with $0 in sales.

So did the people who got the $1 cookbooks each pay shipping then??? I remember those days and shipping was a little cheaper, but still!

 

[Paige Dixon]

I had a show last November that still isn't cleared up. The commissionable sales were 400.00. BUT... I had an NSF check for $162. I've never received the checks for the host order/orders taken after the show totalling $85. So I feel like I bought those ladies about $250 in products!! My commission was about $120 or so. Ugh! If only we could charge extra for the extra attention they require to follow up with chasing them down.

 

[cat]

I had a show last November that still isn't cleared up. The commissionable sales were 400.00. BUT... I had an NSF check for $162. I've never received the checks for the host order/orders taken after the show totalling $85. So I feel like I bought those ladies about $250 in products!! My commission was about $120 or so. Ugh! If only we could charge extra for the extra attention they require to follow up with chasing them down.

That's terrible! I had a guest last October who gave me a bad check for $120...fortunately, she did pay me a week later.

Have you considered trying to recover your money through small claims court?

 

[soccermama]

Thanks, Cat! Having a positive attitude gets me a lot further than dwelling on the negatives.... I try to find something positive in every situation

 

[SillyChef]

.

Enthusiasm is contagious. NOT being enthusiastic is also contagious.

I completely understand this quote. Though when you are enthusiastic about something and people shut you down, or say that you talk about "Pampered Chef" too much, you get a little discouraged.

Also, I don't know about any of you, but I get a little ego bruise when I don't make at least 150.00 in sales on a show.

So I guess this quote kinda only relates to some people and not all...

 

[ChefLisa]

Please don't freak out!Hi all!

To those of you who are new to Pampered Chef, please don't freak out as you are reading these posts. These are the worse shows the Consultants worked. We have all experienced them, but the majority of our shows are awesome.

People love our products. You became a Pampered Chef Consultant so you know how wonderful our products are and how great the host benefits are. That drives a lot more great shows than bad shows.

Lisa

 

[Brandie]

For all the newcomers--these worst shows are few and far between! They just make for funny stories and great sharing. Plus, it's the small shows that keep you humble!

Here's mine--it's a doozy (and I wish you were all sitting here in my office with me so that I could tell the story the way it needs to be told):

Catalog Show--booked from a fund-raiser. She lives an hour away. I send her a packet with five catalogs (she says, " I work at a school, and I am going to send some with my husband to his work, too"), twenty OOFs, a show planner, and some tips for catalog shows. I call her five days after I send the packet (which cost me like $3 or $4 to send) to see if she has any questions and to go over some strategies. No questions, no problems.

A week goes by. I call. Leave message. No response. Another week. Same. Another day. Same. Closing date goes by. Same. Next month (new special). I call to say that the special is no longer valid unless I can close the show ASAP. "I don't have any orders yet. Things have been busy. Can I have OOFs for this month? I'll get the orders this week now that things have slowed down." I send more OOFs (ten this time with a note to call me if she needs more or to feel free to copy them at school). I call a week later. Leave message, No response. Two days later. Same. Day after that. Same.

Long story short--this goes on for another month (yep, more OOFs), and I finally reach her at the end of that month (now three months in, and about $10 in postage and so on). She finally is ready to close! (Do you hear the Hallelujah chorus?) Her show total--including her own order--$22.00. THREE MONTHS FOR $22??!!!! Am I an idiot?

This is the best part (I am laughing as I type): I explain that the sales minimum hasn't been met (a possibility that we discussed in a prior phone call), so she'll have to pay for shipping, but with the other order, she only has to pay an extra 10 cents. I am thinking about how lucky she is to only have to pay the 10 cents. She says, "okay," I sbumit the order, and I am released from my PC purgatory. Or so I think.

Two weeks later, I get a letter in the mail (with her check--a little late). She tells me how wrong it was of me to charge her the extra ten cents! How hard she worked even though it didn't work out, and how it was such a bad business practice to charge extra of a host! I couldn't decide whether to laugh or cry!

You just have to love a business where you get to work with people! You just never know what they're going to do! I love it!

 

[baychef]

I completely understand this quote. Though when you are enthusiastic about something and people shut you down, or say that you talk about "Pampered Chef" too much, you get a little discouraged.

Also, I don't know about any of you, but I get a little ego bruise when I don't make at least 150.00 in sales on a show.

So I guess this quote kinda only relates to some people and not all...

I think if you have a pulse...this is true for everyone. Enthusiasm IS contagious as well as being negative is contagious.

Everyone is in a different place when they read about some of our bad shows. I will be celebrating my 7th year in a few weeks and I find reading about these posts entertaining, funny and can relate to most!! (which makes me not feel so bad about some of my own parties!)

However, if you are new to PC or doubting your business, these posts would stand a greater chance of pushing you away from PC. One of the struggles we face doing PC or even life in general is keeping a positive prospective when things don't go as we would like or plan...despite our best efforts.

If you are new to PC, realize that this is new to you and we ALL recall the fear we had doing our first shows. Try to pick out that we are laughing at these "experiences" we have had and that even though they may not have been fun at all...everyone who has shared has become a stronger person and consultant! (Just one more benefit from PC!!!!)

I had a new consultant observe me yesterday and I think the best thing she got out of it was that I was not perfect. (I REALLY screwed up...I thought I was doing very well with my time. As I got on the road...I realized that I was NOT doing well...the party started at 11 am and it was 10:45. I had a 1/2 hour drive even if I drove between 70 and 80...which I did!!) I called the host to explain my dumb mistake. Of course at this party, the guests had to be on time!!! This was a HO referral so I knew no one!! I gave everyone free shipping because I wanted them to know how sincerely sorry that I was for holding up their day. That was not where it ended, however. The recipe the host wanted was one I hadn't made in 5 years. The Cherry Cheesecake Coffee Cake in the old Classics book. You put one roll of cresents down, put the fillings in and lay the other roll of cresents over the filling. I was still so flustered at myself that I put both rolls down and before I realized it....I had the filling on. But we made the best and I took guests suggestions on how to "fix" it!! The party is at $725 and I have no doubt it will reach $800 plus. One booking...possible recruit lead and a new consultant trained in the art of inperfection!! My worst show was not this one either!!
Ann

 

[jenniferknapp]

My very first show was under $150, so my host bought some things as a guest to make the show minimum....she told me that she was doing me a favor by making it an easy one with only 3 people Since then, I have been close, but have always hit at least the $150 mark.Edited to add that this is my 1,500 post!! I have a filled in stripper star!

 

[Jules711]

People are usually understanding when we screw up, esp if we can laugh at ourseves or apologize when appropriate. If they aren't understanding, you could probably be perfect (are we ever?) and they would still find something to complain about. We tend to be harder on ourselves. We can't help the shows that are hard b/c people don't show or the host is rude or whatever. But like others have said, you can learn from it like all of life experiences. I've been lucky and have only had a couple of low shows (which would be my "worst" experience). I love PC more than ever now despite the downs. The ups keep me going. Have a high show or a great host is the best. Also, the people that I've met b/c of PC is just amazing. Some of my best friends either PC or other direct sales people since we seem to gravitate towards each other.But this thread is definitely better for the more experienced consultants b/c we can laugh. I would have been scared in the beginning to know that a show could be hard or bad (not having to be perfect is good to know).

 

[baychef]

People are usually understanding when we screw up, esp if we can laugh at ourseves or apologize when appropriate. If they aren't understanding, you could probably be perfect (are we ever?) and they would still find something to complain about. We tend to be harder on ourselves. We can't help the shows that are hard b/c people don't show or the host is rude or whatever. But like others have said, you can learn from it like all of life experiences. I've been lucky and have only had a couple of low shows (which would be my "worst" experience). I love PC more than ever now despite the downs. The ups keep me going. Have a high show or a great host is the best. Also, the people that I've met b/c of PC is just amazing. Some of my best friends either PC or other direct sales people since we seem to gravitate towards each other.

But this thread is definitely better for the more experienced consultants b/c we can laugh. I would have been scared in the beginning to know that a show could be hard or bad (not having to be perfect is good to know).

Well said!!
I tell people that I have come up with an excuse for my mistakes. Although it is a lame excuse...I have "blonde senior moments" That is gray hair colored with blonde hairdye!!! I have an excuse for all mistakes now and forever!!
Ann

 

[ngracey]

I am right there with you this month, I didn't even make super starter this month (way bummed out) fundraiser flopped turned into a barley qualified party. Cheer up your not alone at least here in Hanford.

 

[crazy4dabug]

ok...I'm coming out and saying it. I understand the new consultants getting worried. ALthough I AM one and this thread does NOT make me worry. It's fun, entertaining, and encouraging that when we screw up or have yucky shows ....it's still OK! and it's GOING to be ok and it's GOING TO GET BETTER.

So, thank you to whomever started this thread....and I for one...am sorry there have been some ppl who basically negated the purpose and fun out of this thread by HAVING to criticize or even in one case get a little catty (IMO).

I just think that while different things CAN be contagious...others can be encouraging in many ways. And, you have your choice whether to read and follow those posts....it's the beauty of freedom darlings!
You don't like it? Don't read it!

 

[SillyChef]

Great job deanna.. Also. This wasn't actually about what happened so to speak at your worst show. Just sales. I was specifically talking about sales since there is a higher "pressure" on me to succeed. HIGH Shows will help my family. Just a bummer that I didn't get those "high" sales the other day.

 

[soccermama]

Who was being catty?

Some great info has been shared... and encouragement given... advice given... it's a great thread, but reminding others to find the positive, even mixed in with the negatives can be helpful. It took someone pointing out to me how negative I sounded about things that made me stop and look for the positive in every situation.