A Veritable Gold Mine For Wealth Builders
Believe it! You can easily make $50,000 in the next six months or less! After
that, you can practically be guaranteed at least that much, but probably much
more, every year for the rest of your life, without, really working!
The way to accumulate this kind of wealth is with your own business of selling
merchandise via The Party Plan. Few other businesses can so easily give you this
kind of wealth as quickly, and keep your income growing.
A recent questionnaire, circulated among hundreds of successful direct sales
merchandisers across the country asked this questions: "If you were to start
over today, knowing what you know now and could choose the one method of
merchandising that would make you really rich in the shortest period of time,
which would you select?" Of these questionnaires returned, 94% stated they would
go The Party Plan Method.
The sharp party plan operators (and the richest) simply hold motivational sales
meetings for their sub-distributors about once a month. During these meetings,
they are teaching their sub-distributors how to recruit new hosts and hostesses,
or husband and wife host and hostess teams.
A host or hostess can be any person who is agreeable to holding a sales party at
his or her house. Almost always, this person is rewarded for having the party
with a percentage of the total business or an agreed upon special merchandise
gift.
These people invite friends, neighbors and relatives to the party. Your
sub-distributor doesn't have to do much more than make contact with people
willing to hold parties, supply the merchandise, and sometimes offer to help or
be there to make sure every thing goes smoothly.
Here's the kind of money you can realize with this business: Say you have ten
sub-distributors, and each one arranges only five parties a month, and each
party does $2OO in gross business. That's a total of $10,000 per month in total
volume. And from that total volume, you make only 30%. Figure it out for
yourself. This would give you a personal income of $3,000 for thirty days in
which you did no more than hold one or two motivational sales meetings!
Besides, each party is almost guaranteed to give your sub-distributor at least
two more hostesses for future parties, and those future parties will provide
still more hostesses. This chain is endless, and will build as fast as you can
keep up with it.
To get your start in this fabulous method of merchandising, become a host or
hostess yourself. Give a few parties yourself, and learn the ropes.
Choose an evening for your party - any evening excepting Friday through the
weekend. Generally 7:30 is the most convenient time for the greatest number of
people. If it's inconvenient for whatever reason to hold a party in your home,
arrange with a friend to hold the first couple of parties.
Make up a list of 30 to 60 people you can invite to the party. They can be
friends, neighbors, relatives or people you know from work, even acquaintances
with whom you do business such as the check-out clerk where you buy your
groceries or people you meet at the bus stop on your way to work.
After formally inviting these people, you then call to remind them of the party
at least a couple of days before the date of the party. This is important,
because of the original 40 people you invite, at least 15 will not show because
it slipped their minds, last minute circumstances that force a change in plans,
and those that really weren't interested in the first place.
On the day of the party, get your merchandise display set up early. The party
should be held in the largest room in the home - usually the living room - with
the merchandise display the center of attraction.
The merchandise should be set out on a sturdy table covered with a good white or
light colored cloth, and the merchandise should be arranged by group or type -
the jewelry items together; perfumes, bath oils and colognes together; crystal
together, and so on.
Try to put a bit of imagination and showmanship into your merchandise display.
This will have the effect of making your merchandise look much more valuable
than it actually is. Those that do put a flair into their merchandise displays
find that it in creases their sales by as much as 25 percent over an ordinary
showing.
For instance, a high intensity light focused on the display will cause the
jewelry to sparkle, the stainless steel to gleam, and the brass-ware to glimmer
like valuable heirlooms.
Another idea would be to tack a piece of velvet onto a 4 by 6 foot piece of ply
wood and use it to display rings, earrings, necklaces and watches.
In jewelry sales, another idea is to hang a mirror on a wall near the
merchandise display. If you or your hostess has room, you might want to set up a
card table, covered with an expensive looking piece of material, place a
dressing table type mirror on this table, with a chair available for your guests
to sit at the table while they try on the various items. The guests then make
their selections after determining how each item looks on them.
Regardless of what you do to make it easier for your guests to select and buy, a
hand mirror is an absolute must whenever you're showing jewelry. It would be
wise to have several hand mirrors available - two for your merchandise display
table, and an extra
one on the "admiration" table.
Besides your merchandise display, be sure also you're organized with your
refreshments. These usually consist of coffee, tea, soft drinks, cookies or
other "nibble" items. The host or hostess usually makes arrangements in advance
for one of the guests to assist with the serving of refreshments.
Be sure you have nametags for your guests, and a couple of felt tip marking
pens. And don't forget the order forms. These should be standard two-piece
self-carbon order forms - one copy for your customer and the other for your
files. The best idea is to buy the order forms. All these items are commonly
available in stationery stores. Rubber stamp your name and address on each copy
of each order form, at least a couple of days in advance of the party.
Still another item to remember is your merchandise catalogs. Be sure you have a
good supply on hand, rubber stamped with your name and address. Later on, when
you're established and the money is rolling in, you can have your name and
address imprinted on the catalogs.
If you don't have a merchandise catalog, consider making one of your own. A
valuable and easy-to-follow manual on "How To Prepare Your Own Catalog" (book
#1203) is currently available. Another manual that will be of special interest
to you is the
"Close out Merchandise Money Making Manual" (book #1668). Both these manuals are
avail able from the dealer who supplied this report.
While we're on the idea of catalogs, we'd like to point out that a lot of Party
Plan Merchandisers are also dealers for the extra-income book catalog, "Unique
Books." They feel that almost everyone is interested in extra income ideas, and
the Unique Books catalog has a wide selection of reports and manuals describing
supplemental income opportunities. Leaving one of the book catalogs with guests
at the party results in an ongoing flow of book orders for months afterwards.
Back to the Party Plan. About a half hour before your guests are due to begin
arriving, turn on all the lights in the room where the party is to be held. This
will give the room a bright, warm feeling conducive to a party kind of
atmosphere. And by all means, be sure to turn off all the radios, stereo and TV
sets. Eliminate any and all noises from other rooms in your home that might
distract the attention of your guests.
Every party should be planned, and follow a prescribed format or agenda. This is
because without a plan, it will just be a gathering of people wasting time at
your home instead of theirs. You must have a plan to know what to do next in
order to achieve the desired results. Having a "pattern" is also the easiest way
to teach others to duplicate your success, and the idea of following a
successful formula is a proven method of making the most sales in the least
time.
Phase one is the greeting and get-acquainted time slot - about thirty minutes.
The hostess greets the guests as they arrive, prints a name tag for each,
introduces them around, gives them a catalog, points out the refreshments, and
leads them into conversation with the other guests.
The second phase is the "game-playing" portion of your part. This phase is used
to relax everybody and get them involved in the party. It should last about 15
to 20 minutes.
Next comes the merchandise presentation by the hostess, who shows and describes
each item on display. If you have jewelry available, ask different guests to try
on particular items and show the others what these articles look like in use.
The length of time spent on this phase of the party will depend in large part on
how much merchandise you have on display, but generally, you shouldn't spend
more than about 20 minutes showing and describing your merchandise. Then give
your guest s about 10 to 15 minutes to personally inspect and try on the items
that have aroused their interest.
You should mingle and converse with the guests during this time period in order
to answer specific questions or explain the possible uses of an item, where it
might look good in the buyer's home, and any interesting tidbits relating to
where an item came from, how it was made, or the satisfaction of an earlier
buyer.
When you seem to have answered all the questions, and everyone appears to have
made their selections, start writing orders. Don't hesitate to ask for orders.
Writing orders should take about 15 minutes, and then you should let the party
begin to winding down.
During this time, mingle with your guests and anyone showing a spark of interest
should be approached with an offer to serve as a future host or hostess. As each
guest starts to leave, thank them for coming and walk with them to the door.
The total length of your party shouldn't be much more than two hours. Time and
time again, it's been proven that you can do everything necessary, and make the
most sales in this period of time. You lose effectiveness and make fewer sales
with appreciably more or less time.
There are a couple of proven ways to recruit new hosts or hostesses from the
people attending your party. First of all, watch the guests as they look over
the merchandise, examine, admire and wish for something they don't quite have
enough extra
money to buy. When you've determined that a particular guest wants a specific
item but can't quite fit it into the budget, simply take her aside to a secluded
corner of the room, and explain privately that you're willing to give her the
item she has been looking at and wanting, if she will agree to invite her
friends and relatives to a party in her home.
This approach works almost every time, and your only expense is the wholesale
price of the item you give her as the free gift.
The second sure-fire approach is to offer a cash incentive. You do this by
offering to allow 5% to 10% of the total sales volume resulting from the party
staged for you by this type of new recruit. There's a plus factor for you on
this one, because you'll be getting the enthusiastic participation of the host
or hostess on the selling side. Once you've explained to them how your program
works, they'll generally do everything they can to make the party a huge
success, and thereby increase their pay for the evening.
When you give a gift to the hostess for having the party, the presentation
should be a special ceremony staged with all the "Show Biz" flair you can
muster, at the end of your merchandise showing. However, when your gift is a
cash award, carry your presentation over to the next party and make a big
production of it as well. Don't forget to invite the "guest of honor" to your
next scheduled party for the big presentation.
During these presentations many of the other guests will be favorably impressed,
and as a consequence will ask you for details.
Actually, your recruiting efforts should begin when you start taking orders.
Every person you talk with should be offered the opportunity to hold a party of
his or her own. Then just before the party begins breaking up, ask your guests
as a group if any of them would be interested in holding a similar party in his
or her home. You ask those who voice an interest to stay over for a few minutes
in order to work out the details.
You should have an Appointment Book for this scheduling. Simply ask what date
would be favorable for them, mark that date in the book, along with the name,
address and telephone number. Then assure each that you'll call in the next day
or two to work out the details.
Many party plan merchandisers also use a letter. They write a letter extolling
the fun and excitement of the parties, explaining briefly the opportunities to
receive free gifts of their choice or big commission checks. Then they invite
the letter recipients to call for complete details on how they can stage a
party. These letters are usually printed in volume, and then slipped inside the
covers of the catalog these merchandisers give to each person attending the
parties. Sometimes these letters are handed to each guest as the party breaks
up.
Some party plan merchandisers also run small classified ads in the area
newspapers. Their advertising plays up the opportunities available to make
regular commission checks (extra income) simply by holding parties in their
homes. People interested are invited to phone for more details. Response to this
kind of ad is generally very good, with the conversion rate better than sixty
percent!
Most people tend to feel party plan merchandising is exclusive to women, but
don't you believe it! It's true that women generally establish themselves more
rapidly than men with this kind of sales operation, but over the long haul,
there are just as many men operating successful party plan sales operations as
there are women.
Men are usually not as adept in establishing social "chit-chat" relationships as
women. Therefore, the man who wants in on the vast potential of party plan
merchandising should consider working with a woman.
A husband and wife partnership is an ideal working arrangement. An acquaintance,
girlfriend or relative will often work out just as successfully. The basic
requirement is simply that the "couple" must function as a team, with the
individual talents of one complementing those of the other.
Probably one of the greatest secrets of success with this kind of sales
operation is that in order to make the sales, and talk about $400 parties, you
must have the widest selection of merchandise possible.
Many beginners, not understanding that offering the potential buyers a wide and
varied selection of items to choose from is what builds your profits in a hurry,
base their entire merchandising plan around a selection that's of special
interest or particularly appealing to themselves. It's all right to include the
items that you especially like, but don't base your entire merchandise line on
the things you like; you're selling to others, not yourself!
Most successful party plan merchandisers advise that you should display at least
forty different items, and more if you have the supplier contacts or the buying
expertise. The actual decisions on which products to carry and display at your
parties should be based upon these four factors: 1) The kinds of gift items,
personal decor articles, and general merchandise the people in your area are
buying; 2) The styles or fads currently in vogue in your area; 3) Contacts with
enough sup pliers who can furnish you with the kind of merchandise your
potential buyers want; 4) Your ability to shop among the various suppliers, and
verify that you are getting the very best merchandise value obtainable.
Still another important point to consider before buying merchandise to display
and sell: Do the prices you're having to pay for your products wholesale allow
you enough room for a reasonable profit when compared to your time and expense?
Do some market research relative to your ambitions; get answers to the questions
we've set forth for you.