Someone recently posted on one of the forums, "How can consultants afford the Scent/Warmer of the Month?"
I had the same question, so I did some calculating.
The Scent/Warmer of the Month combo costs $60/month. Here's what is in the Scent/Warmer of the Month, and what it's worth (retail price):
1. Warmer of the Month = $30 (usually)
2. Basket tester = .75
3. Party tester = 2.00
4. Room Spray = $8
5. 6 bars = $30
6. Brick = $20
7. Flyers = ?
That's $90.75 in product (retail value).
You'll receive a 25% commission on the $60 price. That means you're really out $45 for the Scent/Warmer of the month combo. (I'm not figuring in tax here, because I figure it will be a wash in what you pay when you buy, and what you charge when you sell.)
It also means if you sold all of the contents at regular retail price, you would double your money (you pay $45, the retail value is about $90.75). Depending on your rank, you might make more. That's a 100% profit! If you choose to sell all the product, the Scent/Warmer of the month kit is the most profitable Scentsy product available.
Another way to look at it is, you pay $45 and have about $45 in product to work with for freebies. Everyone knows that freebies are a big part of generating excitement. Well, the Scent/Warmer of the month combo is how you can afford to give away freebies.
You can use the brick to make samples for very little cost - especially important if you need to make samples in large quantities, such as when you're doing an event (fair, show, fundraiser, etc). Or you can use the warmer/bars as giveaways, or for drawings (to get mailing lists for future sales/parties).
A few other thoughts:
* The Scent/Warmer of the month combo counts towards your personal retail sales volume, which increases your rank and helps you to stay active.
* The combo helps you have something new and fresh to put in front of your customer base every month. Sometimes someone will have a party, just because they want to get a certain warmer (I think this is going to happen with this month's Jack-o-Lantern warmer). At any rate, it gives you a reason to communicate with your customer base, especially past hostesses.
It really all depends on what you want to do with your Scentsy business:
* If you want to be more of a personal use consultant, or want to run things more on a low-commitment, low-volume basis, then yes, the Scent/Warmer of the Month combo is a big financial commitment. (And there's nothing wrong if this is what you want to do - it should be what fits into your life and your goals at any given point in time.)
* But if you want to rev up your business, work hard, sell more, and make serious money, then the real question isn't "How can I afford to do it?" The real question is, "How can I afford not to do it?"
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Friday, August 21, 2009
Scentsy Can be Anything You Want
One of the main reasons I like Scentsy is because Scentsy can be anything you want it to be. Truly.
If you want to be a "personal use consultant" (one who's in it mainly to get discounted products), you can. Scentsy is EASY to maintain active status in. All you have to do is have one qualified party ($150 in sales) every 3 months. That's only four $150 parties a year.
One consultant I talked to doesn't even do that. She has two parties a year, and places two inventory orders a year (selling the inventory at the parties). Her life is very full and busy, and that's all she wants to do right now.
[When you do the math for this scenario, it's really quite compelling: If the lowest-ranking consultant - Escential - places two inventory orders a year, she will receive a commission of $30 on each $150 order, for a total of $60 in commissions. That means she really only needs to put out $240 on the two inventory shows ($300 - $60). Then, if she has two $150 parties in a year, she will earn another $60 in commissions ($30/show). If she applies that $60 to the two inventory orders, she really only need to put out $180 on the inventory orders ($240 - $60). Most likely, that $180 will easily be covered by her two "paying" shows.]
And heck - you can place a $150 show yourself, just by doing all your Christmas, birthday, teacher, wedding, bridal, thank-you, and other incidental gift shopping for the year, all at one time!
On the other hand, if you want to totally go for it and create a career, you can. I spoke with one consultant at Convention who is making a six-figure income with Scentsy. She has been in it four years and she works very, very hard. But I know lots of women who have had their jobs for four years and work very, very hard, and none of them are making what this consultant is making. She projects a 50% increase in her income this year (based on the year so far). No one who is working a "regular" job gets a 50% pay raise in a year - at least, I've never heard of it - and especially not in a recession!
With Scentsy, you can work when you want to work. If you want to take the summer off, you can. If you want to take December off, you can. You mark out the days you want to work on your calendar, and you work those days. Of course you also have to take the initiative to fill up your schedule.
It's also true that a lot of the work of Scentsy (making calls & emails, filling orders, managing inventory, etc.) can be done at home in little bits and pieces as it fits. And a lot of the work of Scentsy can mesh right with what you're doing already (talk to someone at a soccer game, hand out samples at the bank, put a car vinyl on the car you drive every day anyhow).
I have been involved with five direct-selling companies at various times in my life: Pampered Chef, lia sophia jewelry, Jafra cosmetics, BeautiControl skin care, and Scentsy. Of all these companies, Scentsy has the best career path and compensation plan.
Most companies require you to sell a monthly quota to retain active status. Scentsy has a quarterly quota, and everyone else's monthly quota is higher than Scentsy's quarterly quota (which is only $150!) So Scentsy is the easiest company to stay active in. That's important, because you have to stay active to retain your rank and your downline, which have a big effect in determining your income.
With every other company, if you miss your quota or go inactive, you lose out big. For example, with Lia Sophia, you lose your downline. With Pampered Chef, you start over from ZERO on your lifetime sales (which drops your rank, which drops your pay).
With Scentsy, you retain your rank as long as you stay active (you aren't paid certain commissions that month if you don't hit the monthly quota, but you don't lose your downline either). Plus, Scentsy's personal sales quota that you have to hit in order to receive commissions on your downline in any given month, is only $500. That is very low, in the direct-selling world.
What all this means is that Scentsy's compensation plan is far more flexible and generous than anyone else's. So it cuts both ways: if you don't want to work a whole lot, Scentsy is flexible enough to let you do that. If you want to go for it, work hard, and earn a good income, Scentsy will get you there faster than anyone else.
For myself, I'm more at the "personal-use" end of the consultant spectrum right now. But I also like the idea that if I wanted to move more to the "make-money" end of the spectrum, everything I'm doing now is positioning me to do so, should I decide I want to kick it up a notch or two.
Besides, I'm sure having a lot of fun where I'm at!
If you want to be a "personal use consultant" (one who's in it mainly to get discounted products), you can. Scentsy is EASY to maintain active status in. All you have to do is have one qualified party ($150 in sales) every 3 months. That's only four $150 parties a year.
One consultant I talked to doesn't even do that. She has two parties a year, and places two inventory orders a year (selling the inventory at the parties). Her life is very full and busy, and that's all she wants to do right now.
[When you do the math for this scenario, it's really quite compelling: If the lowest-ranking consultant - Escential - places two inventory orders a year, she will receive a commission of $30 on each $150 order, for a total of $60 in commissions. That means she really only needs to put out $240 on the two inventory shows ($300 - $60). Then, if she has two $150 parties in a year, she will earn another $60 in commissions ($30/show). If she applies that $60 to the two inventory orders, she really only need to put out $180 on the inventory orders ($240 - $60). Most likely, that $180 will easily be covered by her two "paying" shows.]
And heck - you can place a $150 show yourself, just by doing all your Christmas, birthday, teacher, wedding, bridal, thank-you, and other incidental gift shopping for the year, all at one time!
On the other hand, if you want to totally go for it and create a career, you can. I spoke with one consultant at Convention who is making a six-figure income with Scentsy. She has been in it four years and she works very, very hard. But I know lots of women who have had their jobs for four years and work very, very hard, and none of them are making what this consultant is making. She projects a 50% increase in her income this year (based on the year so far). No one who is working a "regular" job gets a 50% pay raise in a year - at least, I've never heard of it - and especially not in a recession!
With Scentsy, you can work when you want to work. If you want to take the summer off, you can. If you want to take December off, you can. You mark out the days you want to work on your calendar, and you work those days. Of course you also have to take the initiative to fill up your schedule.
It's also true that a lot of the work of Scentsy (making calls & emails, filling orders, managing inventory, etc.) can be done at home in little bits and pieces as it fits. And a lot of the work of Scentsy can mesh right with what you're doing already (talk to someone at a soccer game, hand out samples at the bank, put a car vinyl on the car you drive every day anyhow).
I have been involved with five direct-selling companies at various times in my life: Pampered Chef, lia sophia jewelry, Jafra cosmetics, BeautiControl skin care, and Scentsy. Of all these companies, Scentsy has the best career path and compensation plan.
Most companies require you to sell a monthly quota to retain active status. Scentsy has a quarterly quota, and everyone else's monthly quota is higher than Scentsy's quarterly quota (which is only $150!) So Scentsy is the easiest company to stay active in. That's important, because you have to stay active to retain your rank and your downline, which have a big effect in determining your income.
With every other company, if you miss your quota or go inactive, you lose out big. For example, with Lia Sophia, you lose your downline. With Pampered Chef, you start over from ZERO on your lifetime sales (which drops your rank, which drops your pay).
With Scentsy, you retain your rank as long as you stay active (you aren't paid certain commissions that month if you don't hit the monthly quota, but you don't lose your downline either). Plus, Scentsy's personal sales quota that you have to hit in order to receive commissions on your downline in any given month, is only $500. That is very low, in the direct-selling world.
What all this means is that Scentsy's compensation plan is far more flexible and generous than anyone else's. So it cuts both ways: if you don't want to work a whole lot, Scentsy is flexible enough to let you do that. If you want to go for it, work hard, and earn a good income, Scentsy will get you there faster than anyone else.
For myself, I'm more at the "personal-use" end of the consultant spectrum right now. But I also like the idea that if I wanted to move more to the "make-money" end of the spectrum, everything I'm doing now is positioning me to do so, should I decide I want to kick it up a notch or two.
Besides, I'm sure having a lot of fun where I'm at!
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Notes from Prospecting Workshop at Convention
Here's my notes from the Prospecting workshop I attended at Convention. It was done in kind of a Q & A format, with a panel of four SuperStar Directors (I think they may have been different every session). These notes aren't necessarily complete, but they're what struck me.
Always be prepared to prospect.
* Keep catalogs, car candles, business cards in your purse or bag so you can hand them out at any time
* You never know when you'll have an opportunity
* The worst they can do is say no
Tell people about Scentsy every day.
* Try to tell 5-10 people every day.
Always be prepared to prospect.
* Keep catalogs, car candles, business cards in your purse or bag so you can hand them out at any time
* You never know when you'll have an opportunity
* The worst they can do is say no
Tell people about Scentsy every day.
* Try to tell 5-10 people every day.
* Make it work in your life.
* You can send emails with links to the catalog.
* The key is to not give up.
* Put catalogs out at doctors/dentists offices.
* If you talked to 2 people a day for 4 years, you would talk w/ about 3000 people in four years!
* Talk to people in lines
* Give small gifts to people you see all the time (ie, car candle to your banker)
* Don't try to force things - let people work on their own time - has to fit
* Make lists of people you know
Using the Internet
* Facebook
* MySpace
* LinkedIn
* Message boards
* Forums
* Yahoo groups
Believe in your business and have a goal
* Know where you want to go
* Attach time limits to your goals
* Put sticky notes and visual reminders up to remind you of your goals
Recruiting
* The best customers in your current customer base are prime for recruiting
Competition
* Let them go to WalMart, they'll come back
* Be gracious and give them a discount when they do
* Say "Actually, mine is free" and explain how they can get it for free
* Explain how Scentsy compares to the competition, price-wise
Booking
* Know your community
* Avoid "bad nights" in your community (for example, Mondays in Utah)
Successful shows
* Give out personal invitations
* Reminder calls the day before
* Theme parties (cookie exchange, recipe exchange, mexican party, banana splits)
* Mystery hostess
* Rewards for bringing a guest
Dealing with Setbacks
* "If times are tough, you just work harder"
* Don't quit
* Success might be just around the corner
* For everyone who says no, there's someone else who's looking
* Don't get sucked into "the economy's bad" trap
Why Scentsy works
* It's simple
* It appeals to everyone
* You can send emails with links to the catalog.
* The key is to not give up.
* Put catalogs out at doctors/dentists offices.
* If you talked to 2 people a day for 4 years, you would talk w/ about 3000 people in four years!
* Talk to people in lines
* Give small gifts to people you see all the time (ie, car candle to your banker)
* Don't try to force things - let people work on their own time - has to fit
* Make lists of people you know
Using the Internet
* MySpace
* Message boards
* Forums
* Yahoo groups
Believe in your business and have a goal
* Know where you want to go
* Attach time limits to your goals
* Put sticky notes and visual reminders up to remind you of your goals
Recruiting
* The best customers in your current customer base are prime for recruiting
Competition
* Let them go to WalMart, they'll come back
* Be gracious and give them a discount when they do
* Say "Actually, mine is free" and explain how they can get it for free
* Explain how Scentsy compares to the competition, price-wise
Booking
* Know your community
* Avoid "bad nights" in your community (for example, Mondays in Utah)
Successful shows
* Give out personal invitations
* Reminder calls the day before
* Theme parties (cookie exchange, recipe exchange, mexican party, banana splits)
* Mystery hostess
* Rewards for bringing a guest
Dealing with Setbacks
* "If times are tough, you just work harder"
* Don't quit
* Success might be just around the corner
* For everyone who says no, there's someone else who's looking
* Don't get sucked into "the economy's bad" trap
Why Scentsy works
* It's simple
* It appeals to everyone
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
They paid ME to go to Convention!
Frankly, I was amazed at the generosity of the giveaways at Convention.
I was given two mid-size warmers @ $25 each (everyone got one, and I got an extra from the tiara game, which is its own whole story, thanks Lynda!); a Design-It-Yourself warmer & rub-ons ($30 + $10); a commemoriative warmer (I figure $30?); a full-size warmer ($30); and a tangarine plug-in ($15) (the plug-in isn't in the picture because my daughter confiscated it as soon as she saw it). That's $165 in warmers and the plug-in.
Close-up of Commemorative and Full-Size Warmer (Zeus, from new line):
Close-up of Design it yourself warmer (with rub-ons added - my daughter couldn't wait!):
Close-up of two Mid-Size warmers:
I was given two T-shirts, a Scentsy Travel Tin ($5), a set of Fall/Winter catalogs ($20), a Scentsy bar ($5), and two CDs (one training, one promotional - I think they cost $1 each, so that's $2). That's about $32.
And finally, at the end of the second session (I think), we were each given a box.
When I opened it up ...
... it was a FULL SET of both basket and party transition testers ($19.95 + $53.20 = $73.15)!!
I paid $150 to in registration, and I received about $270 in FREE merchandise! So I figure they paid ME to go to convention!
Plus my director gave me a goodie bag, and Scentsy paid for 3 meals + speakers + entertainment!
(Note: I live 45 minutes away, so I didn't have to buy a plane ticket or pay for a hotel room or rental car - but with some planning ahead, and if you were able to share, I think you could minimize those expenses.)
I was given two mid-size warmers @ $25 each (everyone got one, and I got an extra from the tiara game, which is its own whole story, thanks Lynda!); a Design-It-Yourself warmer & rub-ons ($30 + $10); a commemoriative warmer (I figure $30?); a full-size warmer ($30); and a tangarine plug-in ($15) (the plug-in isn't in the picture because my daughter confiscated it as soon as she saw it). That's $165 in warmers and the plug-in.
Close-up of Commemorative and Full-Size Warmer (Zeus, from new line):
Close-up of Design it yourself warmer (with rub-ons added - my daughter couldn't wait!):
Close-up of two Mid-Size warmers:
I was given two T-shirts, a Scentsy Travel Tin ($5), a set of Fall/Winter catalogs ($20), a Scentsy bar ($5), and two CDs (one training, one promotional - I think they cost $1 each, so that's $2). That's about $32.
And finally, at the end of the second session (I think), we were each given a box.
When I opened it up ...
... it was a FULL SET of both basket and party transition testers ($19.95 + $53.20 = $73.15)!!
I paid $150 to in registration, and I received about $270 in FREE merchandise! So I figure they paid ME to go to convention!
Plus my director gave me a goodie bag, and Scentsy paid for 3 meals + speakers + entertainment!
(Note: I live 45 minutes away, so I didn't have to buy a plane ticket or pay for a hotel room or rental car - but with some planning ahead, and if you were able to share, I think you could minimize those expenses.)
"Use Your Own Uniqueness"
One of many interesting things Orville said at Convention is to work with your own uniqueness, instead of working against it. For example, a working mom should think, "I work, so I have lots of contacts I can introduce Scentsy to," instead of "I work, so I don't have time to do Scentsy." A stay at home mom could think, "I have more time and flexibility to work on Scentsy," instead of "I don't know anyone."
In a similar vein, Mary Christensen that if you really want to succeed, you need to connect your business to something you are passionate about. She told the story of a woman who wanted to succeed in her business because her husband had been ashamed of his teeth all of his life, and she wanted to earn enough money so they could get his teeth fixed.
I got to thinking about that. What is a part of my uniqueness? Well, for one thing, I really don't like selling. Which sounds like an odd quality to identify for someone who's trying to think about how to succeed in direct selling. But it's true.
I also got to thinking. What am I passionate about? Well, one thing I am passionate about is my community and my children's schools.
So then I got to thinking some more. How can I combine my uniqueness and what I care about, with an eye towards succeeding in Scentsy?
I came up with a plan. I think I'm going to offer to the PTA at all three schools in my community - elementary, junior high, and high school - that I'm willing to do a Scentsy fund raiser for them. I.e., they let me have a table at a prominent event such as back-to-school night, I sell Scentsy, and I give them 100% of the profit.
I told my daughter, and she said, "Why would you want to do that? You won't make any money!" I answered her, "Yes, but I will get credit for the sales, and that will help me advance in rank. I'll also get some free/discounted product. I'll have the opportunity to start developing a bigger customer base. And besides, it will be a way we can give back to our community. I don't have a lot of money I can donate to your school, but I'm willing to work to earn money we can donate."
I guess the point is, you have to open up your thinking. You have to think about how to give back, and sometimes that means thinking about how you can succeed, instead of why you can't succeed:
* Before Convention, with two weeks to termination, I was thinking that maybe I really can't succeed at Scentsy, because I don't like selling.
* After Convention, I'm trying to think in a new way: how can I succeed at Scentsy not in spite of who I am, but because of who I am? And, how can I use Scentsy to give back and create a double blessing - one for me, and one for someone else?
In a similar vein, Mary Christensen that if you really want to succeed, you need to connect your business to something you are passionate about. She told the story of a woman who wanted to succeed in her business because her husband had been ashamed of his teeth all of his life, and she wanted to earn enough money so they could get his teeth fixed.
I got to thinking about that. What is a part of my uniqueness? Well, for one thing, I really don't like selling. Which sounds like an odd quality to identify for someone who's trying to think about how to succeed in direct selling. But it's true.
I also got to thinking. What am I passionate about? Well, one thing I am passionate about is my community and my children's schools.
So then I got to thinking some more. How can I combine my uniqueness and what I care about, with an eye towards succeeding in Scentsy?
I came up with a plan. I think I'm going to offer to the PTA at all three schools in my community - elementary, junior high, and high school - that I'm willing to do a Scentsy fund raiser for them. I.e., they let me have a table at a prominent event such as back-to-school night, I sell Scentsy, and I give them 100% of the profit.
I told my daughter, and she said, "Why would you want to do that? You won't make any money!" I answered her, "Yes, but I will get credit for the sales, and that will help me advance in rank. I'll also get some free/discounted product. I'll have the opportunity to start developing a bigger customer base. And besides, it will be a way we can give back to our community. I don't have a lot of money I can donate to your school, but I'm willing to work to earn money we can donate."
I guess the point is, you have to open up your thinking. You have to think about how to give back, and sometimes that means thinking about how you can succeed, instead of why you can't succeed:
* Before Convention, with two weeks to termination, I was thinking that maybe I really can't succeed at Scentsy, because I don't like selling.
* After Convention, I'm trying to think in a new way: how can I succeed at Scentsy not in spite of who I am, but because of who I am? And, how can I use Scentsy to give back and create a double blessing - one for me, and one for someone else?
Monday, August 17, 2009
Mary Christensen's Convention Workshop on Booking
Hi Ladies, I know a lot of you wanted to go to Convention but couldn't. So I'm going to post some of my notes from Convention here on my blog. Enjoy!
One of my favorites from Convention was Mary Christensen's workshop on Booking. Mary Christensen was absolutely fabulous, and her workshop was full of powerful info on how to get bookings and keep a full calendar of shows. I came away from it thinking, "Maybe I can do this after all!"
Here are my notes from the booking workshop:
* NO BOOKINGS = NO BUSINESS
* Bookings = sales, new hostesses, and new recruits
* BOOKINGS ARE THE HEART OF YOUR BUSINESS
1. Know what you want to accomplish.
Decide exactly what you want from your business, and go from there.
There's a systematic way to do this:
* First, you need to know how much you want to make.
* Then, you need to know an approximate average amount you earn per show.
* Divide the amount you want to make by how much you average per show, and that tells you how many shows you need to do.
For example, if you want to earn $400/month and you average $100/show, you need to do 4 shows per month.
2. Decide when you want to work.
Get an inexpensive calendar that shows a month at a time. (update 8/19: Scentsy Success actually has a calendar that would be perfect, it's $4 - go to www.scentsysuccess, click on "Binders - New" and scroll down til you see the "Binder Plan Calendar" product. - Sorry, blogger wouldn't let me paste the exact link in here.)
Use this calendar for your business bookings ONLY. Decide when you want to work, and highlight those dates on the calendar.
For example, if you want to work once a week on Thursday nights, highlight all the Thursdays on your calendar.
3. Plan to get bookings at each and every show you do.
She said that it's much easier and better to get bookings at shows than to try to get bookings by cold calling (she said an industry average for beginners is that you get 1 booking for every 10 cold calls, and that as you improve, you might get 3 bookings for every 10 cold calls). She therefore recommended trying to get 2 bookings from every show.
How to do this:
* If you want bookings, you must talk about booking as much as you talk about sales.
* It has to be all about the customer, not about you or about Scentsy.
* Therefore, you have to talk about bookings in a way that appeals to the customers' self-interest.
* Here is an approximate script for the beginning of a show, and using your calendar (she acted this out, I took approximate notes on what she said):
"Hello everyone, I want to thank you all for coming out. Thanks to our wonderful host, Susan. I want to give her a special gift for having this show (give host a small gift). We're going to have so much fun tonight. Scentsy products are wonderful, and I know that you'll want to book your own show after you see them all tonight so you can earn your own Scentsy shopping spree.
"Here's my calendar. Have a look through - the dates highlighted in yellow are the dates I have available for my next Scentsy shows. I have a special gift for everyone who books a show tonight, don't miss out!" (hand the calendar out)
4. Using "booking bags" to help get bookings.
She had these set up on the table. They were just pretty gift bags with tissue paper sticking the top, and they had big tags on them that said things like "$50 shopping spree." Her comment was, people are busy and maybe tired, and you need to catch their attention right at the start by displaying products and also something to catch their curiousity - which a potential free gift will do.
You fill the bags with little incidental gifts like Scentsy lip gloss, Scentsy water bottles, key rings, etc. You also put in gift certificates.
You use these gift bags to help you get bookings, because you give a gift bag to each person when they book a show. Some of the bags had dates on them. (These are your next 3 available booking dates from your calendar.) Some had "Scentsy shopping Spree" amounts on the tag, to be redeemed at their party (don't do it at their hostesses' party, because then they lose motivation to hold thier own party).
Again, she acted out using the gift bags, saying something like this:
"Who's wondering what's in these bags? Well, I'll tell you. They're full of special gifts for anyone who books a show tonight! (take out some of the gifts, take out the gift certificates, show them and explain)
"Who would like to take one of these home with them tonight? Well, you all can! I'm giving a bag to everyone who books a Scentsy show tonight. When you host a show, you'll earn at least a $37 Scentsy shopping spree. And you can earn much more! Plus there are lots of fun prizes in these bags, so be sure to look at my calendar as it goes around and pick the date you want for YOUR show!"
5. Prep your hostess to get bookings BEFORE the party.
When you're coaching your hostess, explain the rewards for getting bookings (a half-price item for every booking made at her show.) As her who is coming to her show, and who is most likely to book. Ask her who has hosted parties in the past, and who likes to go to parties. Try to have some booking ideas in your mind before you even have the show.
6. To help identify potential hostesses, play a short game at the very beginning of the party.
It goes something like this:
After you welcome the guests and thank the hostess, hand out small sheets of paper. Explain that you're going to play a game for just a few minutes, and that the winner will get a free gift. Have them give themselves points for the following questions:
Question #1. Give yourself 1 point for every party (Scentsy, Tupperware, lia sophia, Mary Kay, etc) you've ever attended.
Question #2. Double the points for every party you've attended in the last 6 months.
Question #3: Give yourself 5 points for every party you've ever hosted.
Question #4: Double the points for every party you've hosted in the last 6 months.
Question #5: Give yourself 2 points if you love candles.
The one with the most points wins, but is also a prime prospect for booking a show.
7. When your guests first come in the door, give them two different colored pens, perhaps red and black. Then, when you welcome everyone, explain that the black pen is for them to write down the things they HAVE to have and want to get that night. The red pen is for them to write down things they want. When you take their order, look at what they want, and explain that they can earn everything on their wish list by hosting a show and earning free/discounted products. Keep the order sheets so you can do follow-up calls and emails and mention the items you know they want, in the future. (For example, if a warmer they want is being discontinued at the catalog change, you can call them, let them know the product is going away, and see if they want to host/order.)
8. If you must cold call, here's an effective strategy. Put 10 bangles on your left wrist. Everytime you make a call, transfer a bangle to your right wrist. Promise yourself you'll transfer all the bangles during the course of the day. This makes your goal concrete and helps keep you on track. (You can choose the number of calls you're going to make in any given day, she recommended 10 cold calls per day if you're serious about building a business.)
Miscellaneous tidbits from her presentation:
* You need to transition from family/friends to others if you want to keep a beginning business alive. The way to do this is BOOKINGS.
* Everyone is self-obsessed. Always talk about them, not yourself or Scentsy, because they'll always listen when you talk about THEM. Present everything to appeal to customers/potential hostesses, from the standpoint of what's in it for them. For example: "Your party was so fun," "You're one of my favorite hostesses," "You were so organized," "You can earn free gifts," etc.
* If you're earning $20K, you have the skills to earn $100K.
* All you need is courage and discipline.
* "Hope is not a good business plan."
Note: Mary Christensen had a number of books and audio tapes available at convention. One of the audio tapes was on booking. I did not purchase any of the audio tapes (have to earn some money first), but based on her workshop, I'm guessing that they're pretty good. You can get them on her web site, www.marychristensen.com.
One of my favorites from Convention was Mary Christensen's workshop on Booking. Mary Christensen was absolutely fabulous, and her workshop was full of powerful info on how to get bookings and keep a full calendar of shows. I came away from it thinking, "Maybe I can do this after all!"
Here are my notes from the booking workshop:
* NO BOOKINGS = NO BUSINESS
* Bookings = sales, new hostesses, and new recruits
* BOOKINGS ARE THE HEART OF YOUR BUSINESS
1. Know what you want to accomplish.
Decide exactly what you want from your business, and go from there.
There's a systematic way to do this:
* First, you need to know how much you want to make.
* Then, you need to know an approximate average amount you earn per show.
* Divide the amount you want to make by how much you average per show, and that tells you how many shows you need to do.
For example, if you want to earn $400/month and you average $100/show, you need to do 4 shows per month.
2. Decide when you want to work.
Get an inexpensive calendar that shows a month at a time. (update 8/19: Scentsy Success actually has a calendar that would be perfect, it's $4 - go to www.scentsysuccess, click on "Binders - New" and scroll down til you see the "Binder Plan Calendar" product. - Sorry, blogger wouldn't let me paste the exact link in here.)
Use this calendar for your business bookings ONLY. Decide when you want to work, and highlight those dates on the calendar.
For example, if you want to work once a week on Thursday nights, highlight all the Thursdays on your calendar.
3. Plan to get bookings at each and every show you do.
She said that it's much easier and better to get bookings at shows than to try to get bookings by cold calling (she said an industry average for beginners is that you get 1 booking for every 10 cold calls, and that as you improve, you might get 3 bookings for every 10 cold calls). She therefore recommended trying to get 2 bookings from every show.
How to do this:
* If you want bookings, you must talk about booking as much as you talk about sales.
* It has to be all about the customer, not about you or about Scentsy.
* Therefore, you have to talk about bookings in a way that appeals to the customers' self-interest.
* Here is an approximate script for the beginning of a show, and using your calendar (she acted this out, I took approximate notes on what she said):
"Hello everyone, I want to thank you all for coming out. Thanks to our wonderful host, Susan. I want to give her a special gift for having this show (give host a small gift). We're going to have so much fun tonight. Scentsy products are wonderful, and I know that you'll want to book your own show after you see them all tonight so you can earn your own Scentsy shopping spree.
"Here's my calendar. Have a look through - the dates highlighted in yellow are the dates I have available for my next Scentsy shows. I have a special gift for everyone who books a show tonight, don't miss out!" (hand the calendar out)
4. Using "booking bags" to help get bookings.
She had these set up on the table. They were just pretty gift bags with tissue paper sticking the top, and they had big tags on them that said things like "$50 shopping spree." Her comment was, people are busy and maybe tired, and you need to catch their attention right at the start by displaying products and also something to catch their curiousity - which a potential free gift will do.
You fill the bags with little incidental gifts like Scentsy lip gloss, Scentsy water bottles, key rings, etc. You also put in gift certificates.
You use these gift bags to help you get bookings, because you give a gift bag to each person when they book a show. Some of the bags had dates on them. (These are your next 3 available booking dates from your calendar.) Some had "Scentsy shopping Spree" amounts on the tag, to be redeemed at their party (don't do it at their hostesses' party, because then they lose motivation to hold thier own party).
Again, she acted out using the gift bags, saying something like this:
"Who's wondering what's in these bags? Well, I'll tell you. They're full of special gifts for anyone who books a show tonight! (take out some of the gifts, take out the gift certificates, show them and explain)
"Who would like to take one of these home with them tonight? Well, you all can! I'm giving a bag to everyone who books a Scentsy show tonight. When you host a show, you'll earn at least a $37 Scentsy shopping spree. And you can earn much more! Plus there are lots of fun prizes in these bags, so be sure to look at my calendar as it goes around and pick the date you want for YOUR show!"
5. Prep your hostess to get bookings BEFORE the party.
When you're coaching your hostess, explain the rewards for getting bookings (a half-price item for every booking made at her show.) As her who is coming to her show, and who is most likely to book. Ask her who has hosted parties in the past, and who likes to go to parties. Try to have some booking ideas in your mind before you even have the show.
6. To help identify potential hostesses, play a short game at the very beginning of the party.
It goes something like this:
After you welcome the guests and thank the hostess, hand out small sheets of paper. Explain that you're going to play a game for just a few minutes, and that the winner will get a free gift. Have them give themselves points for the following questions:
Question #1. Give yourself 1 point for every party (Scentsy, Tupperware, lia sophia, Mary Kay, etc) you've ever attended.
Question #2. Double the points for every party you've attended in the last 6 months.
Question #3: Give yourself 5 points for every party you've ever hosted.
Question #4: Double the points for every party you've hosted in the last 6 months.
Question #5: Give yourself 2 points if you love candles.
The one with the most points wins, but is also a prime prospect for booking a show.
7. When your guests first come in the door, give them two different colored pens, perhaps red and black. Then, when you welcome everyone, explain that the black pen is for them to write down the things they HAVE to have and want to get that night. The red pen is for them to write down things they want. When you take their order, look at what they want, and explain that they can earn everything on their wish list by hosting a show and earning free/discounted products. Keep the order sheets so you can do follow-up calls and emails and mention the items you know they want, in the future. (For example, if a warmer they want is being discontinued at the catalog change, you can call them, let them know the product is going away, and see if they want to host/order.)
8. If you must cold call, here's an effective strategy. Put 10 bangles on your left wrist. Everytime you make a call, transfer a bangle to your right wrist. Promise yourself you'll transfer all the bangles during the course of the day. This makes your goal concrete and helps keep you on track. (You can choose the number of calls you're going to make in any given day, she recommended 10 cold calls per day if you're serious about building a business.)
Miscellaneous tidbits from her presentation:
* You need to transition from family/friends to others if you want to keep a beginning business alive. The way to do this is BOOKINGS.
* Everyone is self-obsessed. Always talk about them, not yourself or Scentsy, because they'll always listen when you talk about THEM. Present everything to appeal to customers/potential hostesses, from the standpoint of what's in it for them. For example: "Your party was so fun," "You're one of my favorite hostesses," "You were so organized," "You can earn free gifts," etc.
* If you're earning $20K, you have the skills to earn $100K.
* All you need is courage and discipline.
* "Hope is not a good business plan."
Note: Mary Christensen had a number of books and audio tapes available at convention. One of the audio tapes was on booking. I did not purchase any of the audio tapes (have to earn some money first), but based on her workshop, I'm guessing that they're pretty good. You can get them on her web site, www.marychristensen.com.
Convention was IN-credible!
All I have to say is, Convention was IN-credible! I thought about not going, but I am so glad I did.
Here's my sad little story: I signed up for Scentsy in the spring. My launch party was a bomb, which was discouraging. My first few parties fell through - also discouraging. Summer has been extremely busy, and I haven't done anything with Scentsy.
So there I was, an Escential Consultant with maybe a week or two until termination. I was trying to decide if I should just cut and run (sell my Convention registration and my inventory), or go to Convention anyway.
Well, I decided to go to Convention. And I am soooo glad I did. If you haven't been, I'd HIGHLY recommend Denver in 2010!
Here's my sad little story: I signed up for Scentsy in the spring. My launch party was a bomb, which was discouraging. My first few parties fell through - also discouraging. Summer has been extremely busy, and I haven't done anything with Scentsy.
So there I was, an Escential Consultant with maybe a week or two until termination. I was trying to decide if I should just cut and run (sell my Convention registration and my inventory), or go to Convention anyway.
Well, I decided to go to Convention. And I am soooo glad I did. If you haven't been, I'd HIGHLY recommend Denver in 2010!
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