{guest post} what i learned about party plan style sales

Kerry Dean is the builder and owner of Callie’s Palace, an online shop for ‘everything girly for your little princess’. She was inspired to add a party plan component to her sales plan, and shared with us the steps she took to get started in the world of party plan style sales. She has kindly offered to write a second guest post to share with us how her launch party went, what worked well and what she discovered she needed to change.

The Callie’s Palace launch party was hosted on the 15^th of August. Wow what a day! It is an understatement to say I was nervous. The weeks leading up to the party I was so busy and when the day came I was totally exhausted but very excited. I had everything ready, a great range of stock, a display table with lots of goodies from friend businesses, our yummy CP cupcakes, some great guests and of course our brand new party plan representative running her very first party. I decided to take on the duty of babysitter for the day so took the kids outside to play some games and let my rep run the party without me hovering over her making her more nervous.

I stopped in from time to time to see how things were going and answer questions, but I let my rep run the party the way she felt would be best.  It ended up being a fantastic afternoon with excellent sales and three more parties being booked in.  I was very happy with the result as it showed me that our products really are great quality and appealing to our guests, and three of them wanted to see more of our products and invite their friends as well.  I continued to get more and more orders being added to these orders two weeks after the launch party! Although the launch party was a huge success sales and feedback wise, we did find that there were some things we needed to fine tune before our next party.

Things we need to change:

Presentation Length

~ Our presentation was too long; we took every single product we had and the presentation which we thought would only take 30 to 45 minutes ended up taking over an hour! As this was our launch party is was great to showcase everything but we don’t want bore guests with a presentation that just takes too long.

~For future parties we will look at only taking approximately 80% of our stock.  We have catalogues at the parties so stock we don’t have on hand can still be viewed on the day in the catalogue.

Order Forms

~ We provided order forms to our customers on the day but didn’t have payment due dates on our order forms! On the day we just verbally told everyone when payments were due and the delivery date.  I will add this onto the order form so the customer has a record of this.

~ We also didn’t have payment options on the order form; oops yes definitely a big mistake! So for the first party I emailed each person individually with payment details.  I will be adding payment details to the order forms to make it easier for the customers. 

~ I’m in the process now of having some carbonless order forms made up so we can give one copy to the customer, one to the consultant and one for myself to prepare orders. This way I don’t have to continuously email my consultant back and forth finding out order information etc.

Product Samples

~ In order to not take every item of clothing we had, we took only a size 2 and size 8 in each item of clothing. What I didn’t think about was the age of the children of our guests.  A lot of our guests had little girls between 3 and 7 so we really needed to have other sizes for our guests to look at and try on. This may have given us more sales. 

~ In the future we plan to speak with the host to see what age children will be there so we know what stock to focus on at the party. We may also have themed parties, so if a group are mainly interested in vintage wear we can run a vintage party where we bring mainly our vintage designs. A little tip given to me by a facebook work at home mum who used to manage Tupperware parties!

Party Games & Goody Bags

~ We had organised 3 different games throughout the afternoon however we didn’t organise these well enough to fit them all in. We played one game before the presentation started which went well but we ran out of time to play the other game.  In the future we will only be playing one game to ensure we get through everything else on the day.

~ We also provided goody bags to our guests: in each there was a Callie’s Palace business card and if there was a little coloured sticker on a guest’s business card they won a prize. However, what we didn’t think about was the fact that we had extra goody bags and none of the guests chose the bags with the prize in them!   Next time we will be putting these cards in the bags at the last minute once we know how many guests are there.  

Things that worked well:

Showcasing New Designs

~ At the last minute we had a whole table of stock from one of our designers showcasing a new line of clothing that was not out at that time. This proved to be a great idea as we sold a lot of items out of this lot and were able to put in an order with this designer before their new range was even released to other stores.  I would definitely love to offer this to my guests again in the future.  Customers love knowing they are the first to view and buy a new design, and this gave us extra sales we otherwise wouldn’t have had.

Delivery Timeframe

~ Our three week delivery time was a great time frame for me to be able to ensure I had all stock needed. Before the launch party, I tossed up between 2 or 3 weeks delivery time.  In the end I went with 3.  It gave me more time to order any stock I may have run out of.  Being a business of only 4 months we don’t always have huge numbers of products so this allowed us to provide all our customers with the items they wanted without any delay.

Hiring a Party Plan Consultant

~ Having a party plan consultant has been fantastic. Working part time three days a week, running my store both online and at markets has kept me pretty busy.  I would definitely struggle to run my party plan parties as well.  I am so glad I found a fantastic consultant, who is professional, reliable and turned up to her first party in uniform with Callie’s Palace embroidered on her shirt!  I will continue to give our consultant every party booking until it gets to the point where she cannot keep up then I will look into hiring a second consultant.

Catalogues at the Party

~ I printed out 6 catalogues and displayed them in a pretty pink binders which I put on the chairs before the party started. This proved to be a great idea.  Even though we had the stock in front of people, guests still wanted to flip through the catalogues as the presentation was underway.  They could see in print, what colours and sizes were available and more information about fabrics that may not have been mentioned in the presentation. 

~ I also had products in my catalogue as “Coming Soon” items.  This was a great idea as a lot of the guests really wanted to see some of the new items.  I think this helped contribute to us getting three more party bookings on the day.

Being Flexible

~ Someone who has experience in party planning advised that I should ask for a 20% deposit at the party to ensure that customers didn’t cancel their orders after the party.  I really tossed up whether I wanted to do this or not.  It may have stopped customers cancelling their orders, however I thought it may also stop customers from ordering what they wanted if they didn’t have money with them.  In the end I decided not to ask for a deposit which was a great decision. We didn’t have any customers cancel their orders and I’m sure we ended up with more sales because of this.

~ Allowing the guests to touch the products and let their little girls try on sizes was great.  As soon as we showed one of our tutu dresses a 3 year old girl stood up and announced “Mummy I want to try it on!” It was so cute and yes, ended in a sale.  What mum could deny a little girl a tutu dress?  It is definitely worth inviting children along to the party, and will continue to encourage that.

Cash & Carry

~Guests were able to pay on the day and take available stock home with them, immediately.  This allowed some customers to spend on the day and take the items they just had to have but also put in orders for stock they wanted but didn’t have money for at the party.  It also meant we had less stock to deliver later, saving time and money.  Just what a new business needs!

Hostess Reward Program

~ I set up a hostess reward program which gives rewards for each level of sales the hostess reaches at the party: $200 in sales, $400 plus 1 party, $600 plus 2 parties and $800 plus 2 parties. Hostesses get to choose one of three items for FREE at each level.  This is a great incentive for guests to spend just that little bit extra to take their host to the next level, increasing sales.  I made sure that the hostess prizes were relevant to any age child.

~ I also have incentives for guests booking parties.  Currently if a guest books their own party we offer a choice of two items FREE.  This gift is given to the guest on the day of their own party to ensure we are not giving out gifts to a guest who may end up cancelling their party.

Looking to the Future:

Expanding to Themed Parties and Baby Showers

~ The launch party was a huge success: we got a lot of positive feedback, more interest in our stock and I’m sure a lot of word of mouth sales also. But, I’m not stopping there! I’m not the sort of person to just do one thing and stop at that, I seem to have idea after idea! This at times can be frustrating as I always want everything to happen now, which obviously isn’t possible.

~ My next step with my business is to expand into running themed parties for little girls like Vintage Tea Parties and Pamper Parties. I will supply everything to run these parties and will have a Callie’s Palace representative coming out to run the parties so mums can just sit back and relax while their little girls have the best day ever!

~ Also in the pipeline are baby showers. One of our lovely customers has already asked us to run a baby shower for a friend of hers in November. I am still working on the logistics of this but I’m looking forward to the challenge and to expanding Callie’s Palace even further.

Market Stalls

~ I ran our first market stall in August and had a great time! I met some of our lovely customers and learnt about selling to real live people (vs online sales). It was definitely an adventure and something I want to do more of in the future. I have already booked in 3 market dates at The Mummy Tree Markets at Morningside Brisbane starting on the 30^th of October and I will start to have stalls at Chandler Markets soon.

Expanding Interstate

~ My ultimate goal is to have Callie’s Palace party plan parties and stores all over Australia. I recently had a fan on facebook ask if I wanted a party plan consultant in Perth. I was so excited! I’m still in the very early stages of thinking how we can make this work but stay tuned; our products may be coming to a party near you soon!

Code of Practice

~ After seeing an order form from another very successful party plan business, I have decided to join the Direct Selling Association of Australia (DSSA). I want to make sure Callie’s Palace is a fantastic place to shop where our customer is number one. I really believe that subscribing to the DSAA code of practice will set a bench mark for us to adhere to and to ensure our customers are always dealt with in a fair and professional manner.

I’m looking forward to the challenges that the future holds. I’m sure I will learn a lot more over the next few months and as I expand I will no doubt make mistakes and learn some very valuable lessons. But what’s life without taking a risk every now and then. Finally, I’m doing what I have always wanted to do and I’m having a blast doing it!

Do you have a question or advice to add about party plan style sales? Please add a comment, we would love to hear from you!

Do you have some expertise that you can share with other little biz builders? I am always looking for guest posts, please send me an email.

guest post | How I Added Party Plan Sales to my Biz

A few weeks ago I wrote a post about how you could add a party plan or direct sales component to your biz. One of my readers decided to do just that! Kerry Dean is the owner of Callie's Palace. She already has a website and facebook page and is now planning her first 3 parties. Here she shares with us the steps she took to get started doing party plan sales.

Wow! What a journey I have been on in the last 3 months! I can’t believe it has only been that long since I opened Callie’s Palace.  Callie’s Palace is a little girl’s boutique with “All things girly for your little princess”.  We stock everything from tutus and boutique clothing to jewellery, hair accessories, books, trinkets and much much more. I feel like I have achieved so much in that short time!  After finally getting Callie’s Palace up and running in April this year, I recently decided to enter the party plan scene.  I love having an online business but I think it is really hard to try to explain or show people how gorgeous my products really are in real life. I was also finding it hard on Facebook to market my products without feeling like I was being too pushy. 

Once I had my site up and running a couple of girls from work asked me if I ran parties for my products; this was the first time I had even considered it. I then had a friend tell me that the dance school where her girls went were really interested in some of my products. Once I knew the demand was there I posted my idea on Facebook to see what sort of feedback I would receive and I got a lot of good feedback with people offering to become party consultants for me and three people immediately said they wanted to book a party. This was definitely the motivation I needed to get started.

I was so excited about the thought of taking my products out to people to physically see and thought it would give me a chance to really showcase what I have, get my name out there and of course increase business.  So, I started planning my first party plan party.

My first thought was, ok what would my suppliers think about this idea? I really have a lot of admiration and respect for my suppliers, they are all very hard working women who run their own businesses and I want to represent their goods in the best way possible. So my first step was to check with each of them that they would be happy for me to sell their products via party plan. Once I had the go ahead from all of them. I got started!

My next focus was on increasing stock. I wanted to make sure that would be a wide selection of products for customers to choose from at a party. I really believe word of mouth is a fantastic way to grow a business so I want to make a good impression right from the start! I wasn’t exactly sure what types of products I needed to expand so I used an online survey (https://www.surveymonkey.com) and Facebook to ask my customers questions such as: What products would you love to see more of at Callie’s Palace? and What brands would you love to see us stock at Callie’s Palace? From the feedback I realised I definitely needed more variety of clothes for my store. So the last month has been spent on researching, shopping, researching, spending, researching, shopping and researching some more. I have literally spent hours and hours online and at the baby expo finding the perfect products to go with my girly theme.  This was definitely the fun part, shopping, shopping, and shopping!

Now, I tend to take on a little too much at times. I currently work part time three days a week, I have a 6 month old baby girl and now I have just started Callie’s Palace, not to mention a hubbyJ. I don’t know why I do this to myself but I always seem to have something occupying my time! So, I came to the conclusion that to run these parties myself I really would have no spare time at all! When I first mentioned my parties on my Facebook page quite a few mums offered to become consultants for me. Since starting my own business I have realised how beneficial it can be working with other stay at home mums; when everyone works together, you really can accomplish anything. I decided to email a few of them and found the perfect consultant to help me run my parties. Our new consultant is a stay at home mum who has previously run party plan parties so has a lot of experience in this type of thing. I found that she was as excited about my products and ideas as I am and she really believes that we can grow this party plan idea for Callie’s Palace. She was definitely the sort of person I was looking for, someone with passion who really believes in my products.

Once I found my rep, I had no idea what sort of payment or incentives I would offer her. I tried to find information on the internet but couldn’t really find what I was after. So, I asked some women I knew who previously worked for Avon what the pay structure was for the consultants. I found out that consultants were paid a commission on their sales at each party. As Callie’s Palace is only a new business I obviously don’t have the same reputation as AVON. So, I offered my new rep a flat rate per party plus a commission on a percentage of sales at each party. We agreed on an amount and also agreed to revisit this in the future once we know how the parties go.

Once I booked the first three parties I started to focus on how I was going to display all of my stock at these parties. I want to set a fantastic first impression so began my hunt for gorgeous display items like bowls, jewellery displays, card holders, clothing rack, pretty table cloths, and lots of other display ideas. I purchased items from eBay, Facebook, markets, cheap stores etc  and also asked a few Facebook stores if they would be willing to donate a sample of their gorgeous items for me to use on my display tables. For example, I approached one lady who makes personalised wall letters for children’s rooms; I asked her if she would be willing to donate the letters C and P for Callies Palace that I could put in the middle of my display table. I thought it would just add an extra little touch to my parties. To my surprise she was flattered that I had approached her and she agreed to make these two letters for me in my website colours pink, black and white! Wow, it’s amazing what you can achieve if you just ask for help.  I have finally found everything I need for a very pretty, shabby chic, colour co-ordinated display table.

I also wanted a little something extra at my parties. Everyone loves freebies, so after a friend gave me an idea of giving out a door prize to guests at these parties, I took that idea one step further and decided to give out little goody bags to every guest at each party. Now, how was I going to be able to give out freebies without sending myself into bankruptcy? I thought I might do a call out on Facebook to other businesses to see if anyone wanted to donate vouchers, samples or anything we could include in our goody bags. I was really excited by the response. People really do want to help you out, all you have to do is ask. I also have Facebook businesses who have offered me free samples and discounts of their goodies to give out as prizes for the first party! Freebies will include jewellery, dummy clips, keepsakes and even a photography session with a local photographer! To give back to these businesses I will promote them on my facebook page, do shout outs for them whenever possible and also display their samples at my parties with their business card in front of their items. That way, my guests can see the great quality work of these businesses and hopefully will tell other people about them and in turn increase their sales.

My next step was to organise invitations, brochures and business cards for the parties, and to give my rep everything she needs to help her run a party successfully. So I got together a list of all my items, with descriptions, sizes, colours, materials and supplier information so she can give our guests as much information on our products as possible. I also purchased some carry bags, garment bags, note books, diary, order books, calculator, pens and everything else my rep would need to run these parties. I really think attention to detail is really important and helps to portray a professional business image. I also decided to purchase a shirt for my rep and I will have Callies Palace embroided on it just to add the finishing touch. I managed to find all these extra small items at stores like Big W and cheap stores.

I found a business on Facebook that designs invitations for $20 and you just print them yourself, this was perfect for my invitations. These invitations will be sent out to the party host approximately 3 weeks before their party so they can send these out to their guests. I was really impressed with the design of the invitation and have now put in an order for matching business cards and a flyer for $25! Definitely a bargain!  I also printed up my own discount vouchers to add to our goody bags for future purchases and to entice the guests to come back for more at Callies Palace.

Finally, I think I’m ready. I have a great variety of stock, pretty display table, invitations, brochures, business cards, a fantastic rep (with a uniform mind you) and goody bags with freebies, discounts and samples. I can’t wait for the first party! A friend of mine decided to host the first party so we are using the party as our launch party. When you tell people it is a launch party, everyone wants to come. I offered invites to some of my Facebook fans and will have around 20 people at our first party. They will be able to sit back, relax, have some afternoon tea and view our fantastic range.

I still have one idea I would like to implement, which is currently in the planning stage. My store purely focuses on products for little girls but I thought wouldn’t it be great if I can find another work at home mum who runs a Facebook business and would be interested in allowing me to sell some of their goods at my parties also. That way, not only do our guests get to buy gorgeous items for their little girl but they might just pick up something stunning for themselves also. So, I am currently on the hunt for another work at home mum who would like some help selling their products. My thoughts are that I would make a very small commission from these sales and help to promote another small business.

The launch party is on the 15^th August 2010, I will keep you all updated with how I go and post photos so you can see how fantastic our display and stock looked on the day. I’m nervous and excited all at the same time. I’m hoping my parties really take off and would love to open my first brick and morter store in the next 2-3 years. One day, if you ever visit Paris, be sure to visit the little boutiques. You will no doubt find a gorgeous little store called Callie’s Palace selling all things girly for your little princess, Paris style. Au Revoir for now!

Kerry will write another post for us after she has her first three parties. She will let us know how her first parties went, what worked well, what she has to change for next time, and any more advice she has for anyone wanting to try party plan sales for their little biz. If you have any questions for Kerry you can post them on the Callie's Palace facebook page, or leave a comment here on the blog or on the build a little biz facebook page. 

how to build your own party plan biz

from a wikepedia search for ‘party plan’ (or ‘direct sales’ as it is also sometimes called): 

The party plan is a method of marketing products by hosting a social event, using the event to display and demonstrate the product or products to those gathered, and then to take orders for the products before the gathering ends. The primary lead generation system for home party plan sales is through the home party itself. The sales professional uses the home party business model as a source for future business

we all know examples of party plan type businesses, in fact i am sure most of us have been to a party: in the last few months i have attended bra parties, candle parties, handbag parties and jewlery parties, and have been invited to parties for tupperware, toys & puzzles, scrapbooking and make up & skin care. 

before i started my photography biz i sold children’s clothes with a party plan company called wikidz. being a consultant for a party plan company is a good gig – the products, marketing materials and brand recognition/reputation are already established when you begin and you generally have a support network in place of other sellers and leaders to guide you.

but if you are building your own little biz, DIY style like i am, then you can still make use of the party plan method of sales. you might be thinking: what i do/make/sell/offer does not work in a party plan format! well i encourage you to think outside the box, to question the rules: who says it won’t work? in fact if no one else is doing it that way it might be a niche primed and ready just waiting for you to show up.

WHY do your biz party plan style?

• it is a way to reach a group of potential clients at once, increasing the visibility of your brand in your community
• it is a way for the clients and customers you already have, who already love what you do, to easily promote your product and services to their friends
• it is an additional way to market your product or service and generate more sales. why only sell your stuff on etsy/craiglist/facebook/website when you can add another avenue?
• you can offer to customize and personalize your product or service to suit each guest – people love to feel they get something made for them
• you can offer discounts, bonuses, special deals, one time offers etc. – people love to feel they are getting a great deal on something
• you don’t need to set it up with multiple consultants working under you (which is the typical multi-level marketing method of party plan businesses) – just do it by yourself, or maybe with a friend or partner to help you. but if your biz grows you can add more consultants using the set-up you have already established. isn’t it nice to know you can expand if you want to?

WHAT can you sell?

products are an obvious choice:

• any handmade item (jewlery, cards, baby gifts, scarves, hair accessories etc.) would work well in a party plan format, particulary if you are willing to customize colour choices, sizes etc to taste. people can see your products and order one custom made for them.
• perhaps you buy and resell popular items online (jewlery, handbags, shoes, clothes, collectors items etc.) – why not try it party plan style? if someone wants something you don’t have on display and you find it for them, you will have a loyal customer for life!

services can work too:

• do you offer a service like massage, facials, pedicures or manicures, personal styling, hairstyling etc.  – why not offer mini versions of your regular service? 15 minute massages or pedicures for 6 ladies at a discounted price, instead of your regular 1 hr session, might give you 6 new clients!
• perhaps you offer a service like fitness or yoga instruction, art or music lessons – why not offer a group session at someone’s home? perhaps a modified version of your regular service to give people a taste of what you offer, and then sign them up for more group or one-on-one sessions.
• services like photography work too – think of doing many mini-sessions perhaps centred around a theme or event.

even better – find a way to do both:

• a jewlery party where people can purchase made items from you OR a party where you bring the supplies and teach everyone how to make the jewlery. or cards. or scrapbooks. or quilts. or candles.
• a massage party where you give mini-massages AND people can purchase the organic, locally made massages oils you use.

HOW to sell something party plan style:

here is the basic idea of party plan: the host books a party. host invites guests. you do your spiel and show your stuff. guests buy stuff. guests book more parties. host gets something good for having party. the more parties you book the more your biz grows. simple right? here are some tips:

1.  make it EASY FOR THE HOST to have a party. give them something to hand out as invites and something to show to their friends to get them to come to the party including a range of costs along with what will be offered. the host needs to easily tell people what the party is and what to expect from it.

you don’t have to have printed catalogues and post cards to do this. be creative. a framed 8x12 photo or a 4x6 album showcasing your products and prices would make a professional looking catalogue. more 4x6 photos with your logo & website or your business cards with the date and time of the party on the back would make invites. forward an email with your logo and website information so that people can email their friends. or help the host create an event on facebook. think outside the box!

2. make it WORTHWHILE FOR THE HOST to have a party by giving some sort of incentive or discount. generally if people feel that the host gets something good for having a party they will book a party too. the discount can include a percentage off of their order based on total sales, bonuses for attendance, bonuses for people booking parties and more, special one-time offers that other customers don’t receive. again be creative. what can you offer the host that is going to make them book a party each season?

the best party i hosted gave me a half price item for booking a party, a half price item for every party booked by my guests and a discount on the total based on sales. i felt like i had received a really good deal. other formats (say just a percentage off based on sales) might have given me the same total in the end, but i might not have felt like it was as good of a deal.

3.  make it EASY FOR THE GUESTS to order. don’t overwhelm people with a long spiel and a hundred examples of your product or a hundred reasons why they should purchase your service. share with them the main things that you offer, let them know your prices and the ways you can customize your product or service to them and then let them relax, enjoy the night and ask you questions if they wish.

4.  make it WORTHWHILE FOR THE GUESTS to book another party with you. this is pretty important: one booking from one party means your biz stays the same, no bookings mean your biz peters out, 2 or more bookings means your biz grows. simple right? so make it worthwhile. offer them something for free, or for half-price or at a discount when they book their party if they book one now. and don’t make that booking too far away on the calendar, people get busy and people forget or lose interest.

5.  make it FUN! picture this in your mind: who is your ideal client? who do you want to fill that living room? what kind of night would those folks expect? any party for me is a night out with my friends without kids or husbands. a pedicure party for me has got to involve wine and a lot of laughing. a yoga party better be a safe place to feel a little silly learning the moves. a jewlery party is going to be a fun, personalized shopping experience where i can finally get the items i want in the size and colour that are right for me. but i might not be your ideal customer so figure out what they want.

practice and test out the waters. ask a friend to host your first party, and only invite people who already support what you are doing. try out some different discount/bonus situations to see what is easy to apply and makes the host feel happy to have had a party. the first time i did a portrait party it was only for a group of my friends for some father’s day portraits. i learnt more in that one day than i had from any planning or research i had done about what i needed to do as far as my timing, ordering system, pricing, samples, and the marketing materials i needed.

after you have practiced with your friends or family it is time to get serious about building your party plan 'plan'. you are going to need to consider: 

• getting word out about your biz and getting some bookings
• what you will provide the host – invites, email templates, catalogues etc.
• what you will bring to the party, do at the party and say at the party 
• the timing and plan for the party itself – do you need someone to help, is there something you need to set up etc.
• how you will take orders & payments for your products and/or bookings for your services
• how you will get your ‘stuff’ to the folks who buy
• the type of ‘reward’ you will give to the host
• the type of ‘incentive’ you will give to people who book parties 

if you are building your biz on your own, you don’t have a marketing department and a pile of marketing materials or a set outline of your prices, discounts, and minimum requirements. it means you have to do it all yourself but it also means you GET to do it all yourself. remember: think outside the box. you aren’t limited to what the ‘other’ party plan people in your field are selling or doing (they are limited by the rules of the companies they work for) so offer something different, something new, something that is going to create long-lasting clients out of those party guests.

feel free to email me if you would like some help brainstorming ideas for your party plan 'plan'. and if you are selling your thing party plan style, please add some advice, ideas or inspiration in the comments! =)