What are the best days for booking shows as a consultant?

[pchefinski]

I know that PC has told us to get a planner and mark off days for your family, and then block off days for shows, etc. -- to have streamlined organization with your business.. Do any of you have certain days that you have shows? I've heard of consultants only doing shows on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays (for example).. Do you find that setting this boundary for shows is helpful to your business (you're in control, and the host has to pick a date according to your schedule), or do have you found that that this holds back bookings because some hosts might not be able to have their party on one of those days? And do you find Fridays, Saturdays or Mondays to be good booking days or bad ones? My husband's work schedule is not the same each week (he's in management), we are currently depending on childcare through my in-laws, and we only have one car. So, to this point I've been offering shows whenever it is convenient for the host -- and hoping that I have a vehicle on the night of the show (as when the show is booked, it's usually 2-3 weeks away from the date, and I can't tell if my husband will be working or not), as well as childcare coverage for our 15 month old. Anyway, I'm not sure that I've found success in this--or at least satisfaction with it. And with the New Year here, and the goal of becoming more organized and streamlined in my business activities, I thought doing this might help. TIA, Amanda

 

[Chef Kearns]

Amanda--my husband is a traveling IT consultant and because his trips are usually done Mon-Thurs I only book parties Thurs-Sun. For the past few months I have not been bringing my calendar to my parties. Instead I bring a clipboard that has the dates and times of dates I want to book for the next 2 months. On the form the guest just writes their name and phone number one the line of the date they want.

This has been working well. Some hosts would want a Sunday brunch show at 10:30am when I'll already have a Saturday night show on the books. Well that was a conflict for my family because then there was no time we could go to church (our church offers services Sat night and Sun morning). So then I started only having brunch shows on Sat and all Sunday shows start at or after 1:30pm.

I'll attach the form I bring with me to the parties. Have you come across the Steve Wiltshire book "Partnering with your Host"? If you can find one I recommend reading it. There are great tips in there that help with organization and making the most of your work time.

 

[Sk8Mom209]

My scheduleCurrently, my preferred show days are Wednesday evenings (if a weeknight show is requested) and Saturdays or Sundays. I try to first book on the weekends my son is with his dad. If that does not work for the host, I will book on the opposite weekend.

Regarding weeknight shows, when I first chose Wednesdays, I was going to school on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Friday shows, I had heard, have low attendance (date/family night) and Mondays in the fall/winter conflict with football, so Wednesdays it was. I am not really strict on only doing Wednesday evening shows and will work with the host. But I will not do more than one weeknight show/week. It gets to difficult to get everything cleaned and repacked, not to mention getting to work on time the next day! I would much prefer to do back to back shows on the weekend!

 

[monica_sweetconsultant]

if i had my way i would always do my shows throughout the week. i have found tuesday nights to be my hot nights. monday is bad due to the beginning of the week...wed=church, thursdays are ok i guess and friday is payday and everyone wants to go spend there check. sat is more of a date night or catch up night and sundays i will do a brunch show only as long as it d oesnt interfere with church activities. i think it depends on your host and what is best for them. i try to work around them for the most part

 

[pamperedbecky]

I've found that Mondays for shows are very rare. Nobody seems to want those and it's fine with me. My most popular days are Fridays and Saturdays. Thursdays seem to be my most popular weeknight. I dont' really have set days I offer shows. I pretty much offer what days I can where I can fit them. I do work my other job on weekend days a couple times a month, so once I've blocked those out, my other weekend days are open. I'm sure I can streamline my schedule better by only offering Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays or something like that, but personally I think I'm able to accomodate more potential hosts by being more flexible. Just my two cents!

 

[DZmom]

Don't you HATE management!My hubby is in management and he works a rotating corporate schedule. He's off SAT/Sun, Sun/Fri, Mon/Tue, Wed/Thurs! I do shows on his days off or on days he opens. As you can see his schedule makes it hard for me to schedule shows throughout the month. My MIL will watch them a few Saturdays a month, but still I hate to impose on her so much!

 

[afshea]

Let YOURS be the stable scheduleHaving specific days has definately helped my bookings. My husband loves knowing that I am working Fri, Sat and Sun. If your spouse, kids etc have goofy schedule, let yours be the stable one. If you give a host a choice, they will make a decision. If you ask them what day, then you will spend ten minutes doing the "what's good for you?" routine. I have found that ANY day is good for a show, just like any month is good for a show. It's all in how you sell it to your hosts.

 

[chefjeanine]

It's YOUR business, choose your scheduleAmanda,

For the past 4.5 years, I've set my work days as Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. I work some Saturdays (if I'm trying to reach a goal or the Host just can't do another date). Saturday shows are always morning shows. Sunday (afternoons) are reserved for Bridal Showers.

People will go with your schedule. I had to laugh when I read that Mondays are bad days for shows. That's a favorite for me and my Mondays fill as quickly as any other date. I had a friend in the business who could only work Mondays and her dates were full.

Tell them what days you schedule shows. Ask which day of the week works best for them and then try to get them to take the next open date on your calendar.

Good luck and don't worry. . .as someone else said there is no bad day (or month) to have a Pampered Chef show.

 

[PamperedPrincess74]

I don't do Sundays or Mondays during football season because we have season tickets in our city. During off season, I pretty much will do a show whenever because my calendar just isn't that full. If I ever start to get too busy, I would block off certain days but right now it just hasn't been necessary.

 

[PampChefNancy1]

I generally do Thursday, Friday & Saturday shows. As far as Friday's having low attendance...well, my show this past Friday...there was 23 people there! It all depends on how well you coach your hosts! I personally mail or email the invitations for my hosts, as well as making the reminder calls. I have found that that has helped tremendously with a larger turnout! Just my 2 cents worth!

Nancy

 

[Jennie4PC]

I dont do sun mon and thursday shows and i have lost one due to them being stuck on wanting a sunday show but i have had no other problems with not doing those days.

 

[tiffanypc05]

I have found that setting certain days to do my shows really help...for instance i book Tuesdays,Thursdays,Fridays,and Saturday mornings.
At first I was booking on Mondays also but most host would not book on Mondays because for most people mondays are very hectic...Tuesdays and Thursdays are the ones most people choose though.

 

[its_me_susan]

Amanda--my husband is a traveling IT consultant and because his trips are usually done Mon-Thurs I only book parties Thurs-Sun. For the past few months I have not been bringing my calendar to my parties. Instead I bring a clipboard that has the dates and times of dates I want to book for the next 2 months. On the form the guest just writes their name and phone number one the line of the date they want.

This has been working well. Some hosts would want a Sunday brunch show at 10:30am when I'll already have a Saturday night show on the books. Well that was a conflict for my family because then there was no time we could go to church (our church offers services Sat night and Sun morning). So then I started only having brunch shows on Sat and all Sunday shows start at or after 1:30pm.

I'll attach the form I bring with me to the parties. Have you come across the Steve Wiltshire book "Partnering with your Host"? If you can find one I recommend reading it. There are great tips in there that help with organization and making the most of your work time.

That is a great chart. How do you get the month in the background like that? Do you pass it around or just have with you at check out?

 

[Chef Kearns]

Susan--I put that in in the Header/Footer section in Word. If you are doing it from scratch you would go under View then click Header/Footer. You'll want to make it different for the first page. If you are revising mine all you need to do is double click on the words.

During my talk about bookings I show it and tell them what to do (write your name and number) then I just leave it on the table where they all are sitting. I pick it up at check-out time and have it next to me so I can ask everyone as they check out about booking again. That is when I give them the envelope for their guest list.

I do not make up host packets to carry to my parties I make out envelopes with the blank guest list sheets in them. Then we set a date to exchange...I give her the host packet and she gives me the guest list. When I need some extra bookings I put an incentive under the flap (sort of like the "Book to Look" thing on a different thread) of the envelope.

I'll attach my guest list (it's nothing special, but who wants to create it themselves if it is already done?)

 

[its_me_susan]

Susan--I put that in in the Header/Footer section in Word. If you are doing it from scratch you would go under View then click Header/Footer. You'll want to make it different for the first page. If you are revising mine all you need to do is double click on the words.

During my talk about bookings I show it and tell them what to do (write your name and number) then I just leave it on the table where they all are sitting. I pick it up at check-out time and have it next to me so I can ask everyone as they check out about booking again. That is when I give them the envelope for their guest list.

I do not make up host packets to carry to my parties I make out envelopes with the blank guest list sheets in them. Then we set a date to exchange...I give her the host packet and she gives me the guest list. When I need some extra bookings I put an incentive under the flap (sort of like the "Book to Look" thing on a different thread) of the envelope.

I'll attach my guest list (it's nothing special, but who wants to create it themselves if it is already done?)

THANK YOU!!!! You are so awesome.