Shocking Host Coaching Story: Unfair Treatment by Pampered Chef Consultant

[emiscookin]

I have a story to share with all of you. I put it under the "Host Coaching" here because I think this was a really failed host coaching situation.

Today I visited with my friend and saw that she had a seasoned stoneware cookie sheet on her counter. I was like, "Oh you like Pampered Chef?" And her eyes lit up as she replied "YES! I LOVE PAMPERED CHEF!!!" That made me happy because I was gonna invite her to my debut party and I know she will buy sometime (especially since I told her how awesome the DCB is and she doesn't have one!! Her eyes lit up that time too!) Anyway,

We got to talking and my friend (Ann) said she hasn't purchased anything in almost a year because of her last experience with a Pampered Chef consultant. I asked who the consultant was?

(Just for the sake of argument I am gonna say that the lady who is signing me up, her name is "Helen Bates.")

Ann replied: "Helen Bates."
I was like, "No way! She is the one signing me up. What happened?"
Then Ann said, "About a year ago I offered to host a party for her, but the sad thing was, no one showed up. And so, Helen charged me for all the food supplies!"
Then I said, "Wait a sec, did she tell you that as a host you would be paying for the ingredients or no?"
"NO!" Ann replied, "I believe she said she was bringing the ingredients. So when she came and no one showed up to the party, she turned around and said I owed her so much for the food. I was mad!!"
I agreed. "Rightly so," I said.
"Then," Ann said, "I asked her if I could make a purchase and Helen said, 'Just visit my website' and she went out the door. I don't know if she didn't hear me correctly, but...I was hurt. And I decided I was never going to host for her or buy anything from her again!"

Once again, I agreed. I could totally understand her frustration and hurt feelings. I couldn't believe Helen did that!! I told Ann that it would have been ONE THING if Helen said "Hey, since you're the host you will be paying for the ingredients" but she didn't. It's sounds like Helen OFFERED to for them...with the expectation of a successful show. I'm sorry, but I think that was a real jerk move!!!! :grumpy:

Fortunately for me, Ann was excited to hear that I will be inviting her to my debut party and that if she offered to Host for me, I would not treat her that way.

I am still shocked.

What do you all think?

 

[Sheila]

I just responded to your other post about not knowing if you will have customers due to your recruiter already being well known in the town. It sounds like she won't be in business much longer if that's how she treats her hosts. You may have lots of customers choosing to transfer over to you. But remember, there is always two sides to every story. She may have done everything right but the host doesn't want to admit that she didn't follow the instructions? (Just a thought)

 

[emiscookin]

I just responded to your other post about not knowing if you will have customers due to your recruiter already being well known in the town. It sounds like she won't be in business much longer if that's how she treats her hosts. You may have lots of customers choosing to transfer over to you. But remember, there is always two sides to every story. She may have done everything right but the host doesn't want to admit that she didn't follow the instructions? (Just a thought)

Yeah, I thought about that. But the thing is with my friend, she is one of the most honest people I know. She always admits when she was wrong. So, I could feel that she was telling the story exactly the way it happened.

 

[MLinAZ]

Sounds like the consultant wasn't clear with the host about her expectations. Which is, IMO, her fault, not the host's.

I had a horrible experience with a consultant when I hosted a show. When I met Caressa I didn't want to host again because of it. Fortunately she kept in contact and she assured me she'd give me a better experience. And now here I am! It does help me be a better consultant though, and to understand why some people might be really resistant or even fearful of hosting. This consultant pretty much walked away with orders and payments and then never submitted the show. She even cashed 1 check! It was my neighbor who was her friend, was being the key word.

You have a great opportunity to show Ann how awesome PC consultants CAN be and hey, you know she might be willing to host!

 

[pcsharon1]

I think this was probably a misunderstanding.............giving the benefit of the doubt here. I know a lot of consultants advertise that they will bring the food and your "qualifying show" will be free. Since her show didn't qualify then the consultant expected to be reimbursed. However, a customer doesn't know what a qualifying show is if the consultant doesn't explain it to him/her, so it's a miscommunication on the consultants part.

 

[susanr613]

This says it all, IMO..."Then," Ann said, "I asked her if I could make a purchase and Helen said, 'Just visit my website' and she went out the door."

That is a bad attitude on the part of the consultant and unprofessional.

Emiscookin, I am sure you will show your friend a great time!

 

[Lifeat50]

My concern is "no one showed up". Your friend will need some major host coaching so that she has some folks show up or has outside orders.

 

[smspamperedchef]

our Exec. Dir. does a thing and I have started it too and it works! She gets the hosts excited and tells them that if they have $200 in order with payment withing 24 hours of her show then she will buy her the stoneware loaf pan for free. A lot of hosts shoot for that and if they don't make it it's usually enough or close enough to at least make a show but you are not out of pocket anything. If they are at $200 you already have a guaranteed show before walking in the door and usually you will get another $400 or so at the show. We buy the "gift" on the host order so it really doesn't cost very much.

 

[kcont]

I use something I learned from Nancy Jo Ryan in that I tell my hosts that I will do the shopping and bring the food for the demo and bring the receipt the day of the show, BUT if the show hits $500 then I will rip up the receipt!! It works for me because my show averages have gone up and if I do have a small show with very low attendance then I'm not out the money too.....

 

[PamperedchefDaly]

I use something I learned from Nancy Jo Ryan in that I tell my hosts that I will do the shopping and bring the food for the demo and bring the receipt the day of the show, BUT if the show hits $500 then I will rip up the receipt!! It works for me because my show averages have gone up and if I do have a small show with very low attendance then I'm not out the money too.....

I like that idea. I'd prefer to get the ingredients myself anyway. So many times, the host didn't buy exactly what I asked for, and I hate surprises when I get to the show. One time it didn't work out for me, though. I bought the ingredients and the host cancelled 3 hours before the show. We rescheduled for the following week, and she cancelled as I was leaving my house to go to hers! She wasn't out any money because I had all the ingredients.

 

[pampered1224]

kcont - I hope you do not rip those up! You can write that off on your taxes!! But it only works if you have the receipt!

 

[lesliec]

I don't think I could personally handle the responsibility of getting all of the ingredients. I just had a host shocked that she had to buy them (guess I failed at host coaching), I offered to buy them, but she wouldn't get the $15 product bonus. She said she would get them. I think we are going to do the deluxe cheeseburger salad, so the ingredients are pretty cheap.
I have offered gifts to my hostesses if they have outside orders prior to the shows (Cookbook for $250, Unglazed stoneware for $500, and both OR glazed stoneware for $750). Someone suggested something similar on here not too long ago and I thought I would give it a shot. I have a show Sunday and it is the first where I have offered this, so we will see how it turns out.

 

[AnnieBee]

Just my 2 cents. I agree that the consultant didn't handle herself well. But on the other hand if I prepared for a show, drove there and had bought the ingredients, I would be pretty upset if I arrived at the show and no-one was there. The host HAS to get RSVP's, and if she thinks no-one will be there, owes it to the consultant to tell them ahead of time. I know that there will always be guests who say they'll be there who don't show up, but to have NO-ONE there without the host knowing ahead of time seems unlikey. She really wasted the consultants time and energy, IMO. Maybe she didn't do a good job with host coaching, but still...

 

[baychef]

This is no disrespect to your friend but to quote Dr. Phil...there is two sides to every pancake. I have had hosts trash me behind my back and when it got back to me it was totally not true. It is a matter of perspective sometimes. It may have been a discouraged consultant and/or a host that felt bad that no one showed up. Having been in the business for a number of years...you run into things now and again like this.

Regardless of the situation, just remain neutral and look forward to the exciting new relationship with your friend! Focus on your business and enjoy it!