Hard to believe that my very first Tastefully Simple party has come and gone! It’s probably a good thing too, for the stress was killing me. The day of the party I had just enough time to drink 2 energy provoking cups of coffee and scarf down my lunch at 2 o’clock in the afternoon. I do believe I swept the floor about 4 times and was starting to loose it when the hubster decided to mow the grass on a rainy day. Did he not know that those bright green grass clippings would make their way all over the place?!?! I looked a lil like this.
Funny how often we have in our minds what we think or want the other person to do, only to find they do absolutely nothing in the ball park of what you were hoping. I chuckle now. I didn’t chuckle then. You know what though? Ise is actually one of my biggest supporters. He had his moment of skepticism (ok, more like a day or two) but has become so very interested in the details of how things are progressing. Sometimes we’re like oil and water, others we’re like maple syrup and a stack of warm pancakes!
Back to the party. So I was anticipating about 13-15 people. They always say, “expect less then you think.” They were right, but my total wasn’t too far off. I was, however, thoroughly surprised at a few people who I randomly invited, came, and placed over a $50.00 order! People, it pays (literally 🙂 ) to invite anyone you can think of.
Having never been to a Tastefully Simple party other then the one I shadowed AFTER I became a consultant (yes, I promise the food is that good!) I was somewhat frantic in the kitchen trying to prep everything. It was all made, but then you gotta transfer it to the buffet plates and soufle cups. My sponsor Carrie totally helped me out, but took off the lids to the sauces. Yah, I hadn’t a clue what some of them were and looked perhaps extremely “green” with my lack of product knowledge. But hey, that’s why you’re surrounded with your friends and family for your first party. They all know, you know nothing! Plus, you can only get better, eh?
The evening progressed by briefing the guests on how the company got started and what you get when you decide to host a party of your own. We got our sampling on rather quickly since that was what the guests were there for! One thing I might change when I do parties, depending on the size of the group, is make the event a little less formal. In our setting the other evening, samples get passed around in a moving buffet style. You take a wee spoon, plop some gooey yumminess on your chip, and pass the plate on. I feel guests are a little mislead. They are told to come hungry and ready for a fun night. Perhaps not everyone had their fill with a dollop of flavored Daisy the size of a dime. I would love to try everyone having their own plate and taking a scoop of everything. We still sample the product in order and at the same time, but we’ll have a more home style feel to the process. I know when I do my first party a la solo that I’m going to run out of things to say while the plate is getting passed around.
My mother-in-law ran over to the party after traveling all day from visiting her daughter in CT! She managed to snap a few pictures of the evening and captured the fun we were all having!
A nervous me 🙂
The rest of the display
A surprised guest
They just can’t decided!
Just because they’re little doesn’t mean they didn’t want some yummy in their tummy!
The night ended with a bang. When it was all said and done I ended up with over a $500 party. Deep down I wanted to be one of those girls who just blew the other consultants out of the water, but who knows where we would have been if I didn’t do what I did to get the orders I got. So I made $150 bucks in sales and wrangled in another $50 for activating or fulfilling my first $400 in retail products before Oct. 14th. That was another bonus I wasn’t expecting when I signed up as a consultant. I do believe the $200 for one party was worth it! I recovered the cost of my Blast off Kit and made profit! I was just a wee bit giddy 😉 I booked 4 parties. Two of which were a complete surprise to me! The one gal who booked I didn’t even think would come…you never know how ONE person can make the difference at your party. A few things I learned from my first experience:
1. Invite, invite, invite! Doesn’t matter how well you know them or if you hadn’t seen them in 6 years. The more you invite the better chances you are of increasing your sales. Some people only place a $12 -$20 order. You must compensate by gathering more orders to get higher sales.
2. Create your own hostess incentive! I had one person contemplate booking a party but chose to do so simply because she wanted the gifts that I put together. People LOVE free stuff. Don’t be too chinsy, and don’t be too elaborate. Make those gifts look enticing with a good wrap job and pretty bow.
3. Create a customer incentive! My deal right now is when you spend at least $50 you get 10% off your next order. This not only helps to create a higher sale but encourages the customer to come BACK to you. I had 2 customers that were originally going to place smaller orders but bumped it over $50 to get the coupon. Customer incentives work!
I know there will be many more things I’ll learn as I go along. None of us are going to always do or say the right things to increase our sales and bookings or recruit another business consultant, but we need to learn from our mistakes and change our tactics. We need to be real with our customers, hostesses, and team members. Connect with them and let them know you care more about them then the dollar. You will reap greater rewards! Maybe not initially, but your business mentality will produce growth. Think people first. Money second.
Tastefully Serving You,
Henricks Happenings 
