Party Plan Tips

How many times have you heard, “I’m not a sales person?” Or, how many times have you said, “I’m not a sales person…” and just the thought of selling makes you nervous and anxious.

Well, if you have a home party plan business, you are in the business of selling, whether you want to admit it or not. We can deny it all we want, but sales are a major part of our business. Without sales, we’re without a business! We’ve all heard the saying, “Bookings are the lifeline of our business …” and, that is true! But what do bookings produce? Sales! If you are booking parties, one of your reasons for booking parties is to get sales. Selling leads to great things for your business … new friendships, new customers, potential recruits, more bookings, and, of course, income! So, if you’re still nervous or anxious about being a sales person, let’s turn that around.

You really can sell things without being a sales person. I know … that sounds crazy, doesn’t it? In a nutshell, don’t sell … CONNECT!

You can’t (or, let’s say, you shouldn’t!) just walk up to someone and start pushing your products. If you do, you’ll push them away and you can bet, if you ever cross paths with that person again, they will remember you and it won’t be the way you would want someone to remember you.

In our business, we must take the “What’s in it for me?” out of the picture and replace it with, “What can I do to help you?” … or “How would this product help this person?” etc. If you are only focused on sales, you are only hurting yourself and your business.

You must connect. Develop a rapport. Find something in common. Be sincere. Ask questions which lead to that person talking about his or herself … and most importantly, LISTEN! Listening is KEY! You will be amazed at how much you can learn about a person when you listen – and I do mean, genuine listening!

Change YOUR attitude about sales and keep this in mind: If it does turn out that you walk away without a sale, as long as you walk away having a new friend, you’re successful because you made a connection. The connection is going to benefit you far more than “just” a sale. People will remember you. They form their opinion about you from the moment they meet you. If you have genuinely connected with them, they won’t even think of you as a sales person anymore. And isn’t that exciting?

At your parties, when guests are looking through the catalog or looking at products on your display table, you should never just sit back and watch them and just wait for them to bring their order form to you. You should be connecting with each guest. Ask and listen … ask and listen … take your focus OFF of the sale and put your focus ON each guest. What do they do? Do they have a hobby? Kids? Are they looking for a gift? Or are they looking for something to help them get organized? Find their need and share your knowledge! You can make suggestions without being pushy! Tell them how you use a particular product; or how your mom or sister or friend uses a particular product. When you are sharing the uses and benefits of our products, you are not selling … you are connecting! Your genuine love of the products and your tips and ideas for uses is a benefit to the guests. Now if you just said, “Oh yeah, this is our (name of product) and lots of people buy these, but I’m not sure what they use them for …” that, obviously, isn’t the right type of connection. Instead, you would say something like this: “The (name of product) is one of my best selling products! It has so many uses – I use it for (tell them what you use it for and the benefits) … you can also tell them what other customers use it for.

Your knowledge, your sincerity, and changing your thinking to “What can I do to help YOU?” will produce far more benefits (and sales) than just focusing on the sale and leaving out the “connection” – so, again, while selling is necessary in our business, you really can sell without being a salesperson.

Think back to times that you’ve been shopping – whether it’s for clothes, furniture or even a car. Can you think of a sales person you really liked? Can you remember what qualities he or she possessed that made you really like that person … you felt a genuine connection …

Now, think about a time that you had a sales person that just completely rubbed you the wrong way. Does the word “pushy” come to mind? Most of us have had an encounter with this type of sales person. Their whole attitude is completely different … it’s more of a, “What’s in it for THEM?” attitude and you can almost see the dollar signs in their eyes … they really don’t care about you … they just want to make the sale, whatever it takes. Many times they seem to be in a hurry and you feel like you need to make a decision quickly so they move on to the next customer. You feel pressured. You either end up buying something you really didn’t have time to put thought into; or, you walk away knowing you will NEVER step back in that store again; or, at least you know you will never deal with that sales person again.

Now, THAT is the type of person we do NOT want to be – EVER!

So, if you immediately think negative things when you hear the words, “sales” or “selling” or “sales person,” most likely it is because you are leaving the most important thing out – CONNECT! Connecting with your customers or potential customers should be your focus… not the sale! If you show genuine interest and caring in people, they will remember you… and you will be remembered in a positive way; not a negative way.

Make it your goal to stop selling and start connecting and see where this takes your business!