Not being a fan of warm chatting, I had to find an alternative way to find leads. For myself and unit, we have done extremely well at Bridal Fairs, Home Party Expos, and County Fairs. (County fairs are very big around here.)
We set up a beautiful product display with a trifold of Company information and entry forms with a box. Any interested party can register to receive a product trial and color application session along with a gift certificate. We don't encourage everyone passing by to enter, we wait for those that show interest. (I would rather have 5 great leads than 100 pieces of paper.) I find this a very relaxed way for both the consultant and the prospect to connect. The fair is a week long so we are at the beginning of it with Friday and Saturday, of course being the busiest days. One thing I did a little differently this year is we have dates for a few workshops that they can select. It is was a little surprising to me that many seem interested in attending one of these "events".
New to me this year is that many are willing to book on the spot (haven't found these to be so in the past.) I am actually excited to see this because these bookings are truley interested in trying the product not just trying to win the gift certificate. I do a gift certificate so that we can hold the appointment and make sure they end of up the proper product. I prefer not doing items like a basket because you may never see the individual if they just take the basket and run.
I wanted to share that the response has been tremendous. Even those that have never tried it commented that they have heard very good stuff about MK and their products.
Also new this year, is the pink CTS sitting next to the stand. The "congratulations" and "wow, that is awesome", and MK really does really have the pink cadillacs away! has been extremely fun... the most fun has been the teenage boys checking out the car, commenting on oh "sweet" the car is. It has been a great draw and conversation starter. It has already been alot of fun.
So, don't be surprised if you don't hear too much from me this week. Haven't been able to get internet service yet and I (by choose) spend alot of time at the booth. My first reason is so I can help my unit members learn how to interact with potentials and secondly, I know so many people from doing the fair for years it is like old home week and I get to catch up with many people I only see once a year.
For anyone thinking no one is interested in Mary Kay - well I can assure you, I think the interst this year has surpassed any previous years! Woo Hoo! Go Mary Kay!
My unit is going to be soooo busy the rest of August and September, as always, book, sell, book, recruit!! Have a great week everyone and I will check in as often as I can! Carry on for me.
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Kudos to you for being there in person and helping your team learn to interact with customers. No one ever did that for me. :(
ReplyDeleteI do events like this too and I find that I ALWAYS walk away from it with bookings on the spot. I offer a free lipstick or lip gloss to anyone who books on the spot. I made up a certificate that doubles as a confirmation sheet where I write down their appt date/time/location and tells them to bring the form with them and redeem it for the free lipstick/lip gloss. It expires 6 weeks from the date of the event so that even if we have to book a "tentative" appointment the night of the event, I can often book them with that incentive because they know they can reschedule. I'm amazed at how rarely they do reschedule. I did two events last week and will have done a Perfect Start between Sunday and tomorrow. And they're booking parties! And rebooking parties for their follow-up appointments too! This is MUCH more effective than warm chattering.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for this! I'm a new consultant, and have a hard time with warm chatter and phone calls. Even with people I know, I don't want them to think I'm being "pushy" and I don't want them to try it because they are "helping me." I do better face to face with people who do show an interest. There aren't a lot of fairs around here, but I do have show dogs - and this gives me an excuse to go to a dog show and be able to deduct the cost on my taxes. :D
ReplyDeleteI have found even small local craft fairs, small bazaars, aplle/cheese festivals, etc... are great place to display and find interested folks.
ReplyDeleteProskairous, be careful not to "shun" family and friends either. I actually hurt feelings one time for not ever mentioning MK to one of my "new"relatives. When we finally chatted one time she wanted to know why I was willing to let everyone else try it and not her? (She thought I didn't think she was worth my time!) I felt so bad, I told her, oh no, it is just so hard, I don't ever want anyone to feel obligated just because I am family. She said if she wasn't interested she could just say no, but it would be nice if she had a choice.
So there is a major difference between just letting folks know what you are doing and being "PUSHY". The last thing I would ever want to do is hurt someone's feelings but I did because I was so focused on how I thought they would feel about me, that I made it about me instead of about them.
P.S. I actually received Estee Lauder from one of MR. mk4me's aunt's at my bridal shower. Showed me, I needed to open my mouth a little. - yes I did try it, no I wasn't impressed - felt my MK was just every bit as good and not near the price tag. Showing up at the family reunion with the Pink CTS now does clue them in on what I do! :)