A few weeks ago, I was chatting with a lovely sales consultant: “Do you know what my biggest problem is? I have terrible party attendance.”  And before I had a chance to respond, she said, “I just have to get better at host coaching.”  And I agreed.  Host coaching is a very important skill to learn and master.  But it was too much of a pat answer.  There had to be more.  Let’s think about it.

What is the point of host coaching?  What are we trying to accomplish?  The goal is to:

  • Build rapport with the host
  • Demonstrate how dedicated you are to her party success
  • Help her establish a reachable party sales goal
  • Teach her who to invite, how to invite and when to invite
  • Make recommendations about refreshments
  • Discuss delivery details

Oh, and you also talk about outside orders – how to take them, how to calculate the totals, what the current promotions are, when to close her party and more.   And when you do it well, your host will have a fun, well-attended party.  The sales will be high, her rewards, plentiful.

But that seems to be a very large answer to a very specific problem.  How do you get people to the party?  I posed this question to several colleagues and here’s what we have come up with so far.

  1. Ask your host how she’s going to invite her friends – what will really entice them to come.  If you feel you have more to offer, ask if you can make a few suggestions.  My concern is that sometimes, in our effort to help, we barrage our host with do’s and don’ts.  So let’s give her a shot first, and then ask for permission to tell her more.
  2. Explain that you don’t have party invitations.  You just have reminders.  I love this one.  To me, it really demonstrates the importance of personally inviting – once you’ve explained that e-invites just aren’t effective.
  3. When inviting friends, tell them that chocolate will be served.  I think this is my favorite.  It would certainly get my attention.

And then there are the oldies but goodies:

  • Suggest that her friends “bring a friend”.
  • Offer a small gift for a specific number of guests who place an order.
  • Recommend that she tell each friend why she feels they will benefit by attending.
  • Suggest that she carry some reminders in her purse so she can invite people on the spot.

I love the idea of looking at, “How to Build Party Attendance”, as a topic unto itself. And wouldn’t it be great if we all put our heads together and came up with a hefty list of suggestions?  So do you want to play?  If so, leave a comment so we can all learn more!

Lori Moser built a personal sales organization of thousands, and now helps direct selling companies put the salesforce training in place they need to succeed.  Lori can help your organization by both creating and delivering training that brings results!  For more information, contact her at lori@luceandassociates.com.

image credit:NatalieMaynor