This is another one of those questions that I hear a lot from direct sellers. “How do I book parties from parties? I can get a party or two, but I don’t get any bookings from those parties. How do I keep my calendar full?” It’s one thing to fill your calendar one time, but if you can’t keep it full with new hosts, you’ll never get outside the dreaded friends and family circle.
The goal of every party loving direct sales consultant should be to have a self-sustaining calendar that is a constant churn of new and returning hosts and customers. Trust me when I say you don’t want to keep revisiting your friends and family every time your calendar slips. It gets old. Fast. Here are my favorite tips and tricks that I used to keep my calendar full.
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SET A PARTY BOOKING GOAL
Setting a party booking goal is a huge first step in keeping a full calendar. A booking goal gives you a benchmark in measuring the overall success of each party. If you consistently hit your booking goal, then you know what you’re doing is working, and you should keep rockin’ it! If you regularly miss the goal, then you know there’s something that needs to be changed within your booking system.
How do you know what your booking goal should be? I suggest setting a goal of at least 2. If you add 2 new parties to your calendar from each of your existing parties, that gives you one to replace the party that just happened and another one to grow on, kinda like birthday spankings.
On average, if you only book one party from each party, what happens when a host is sick or decides to join your team? A hole just got blown in your calendar, and now you have to scramble to plug it up. On the other hand, having a buffer of an extra party keeps you from panicking and ensures you have a constant flow of new hosts and customers for your business.
COACH YOUR HOST TO AN ATTENDANCE GOAL
Once you have a booking goal for each party, it’s time to set an attendance goal. This might sound weird, but it works! If you know that, on average, for every 10 party-goers, you get one booking, then you should set a goal with your host of getting 20-30 guests that RSVP. This gives you plenty of people to offer the hosting opportunity to and schedule parties with.
Setting a goal with your host might feel awkward at first but trust me when I say that your host wants a number. You’re the expert and should know exactly what your host needs as far as attendance to make the party successful for you and her.
ENGAGE WITH GUESTS
We already talked about what needs to happen before the party, but what about during the party? What can you do to make sure you hit your goal of 2 new bookings from every single party?
First, be engaging. Talk to your guests, especially at a virtual party. I had a personal rule that every comment from a guest got a reply from me. If my party-goers commented on how they knew the host, I would reply and ask a follow-up question to keep the conversation going.
Second, build relationships. I’ve seen way too many direct sellers hiding behind their computer screen afraid or following a “set it and forget it” strategy. Your business is not a crockpot. You can’t just schedule some posts and walk away for hours or days at a time. Would it be nice if it worked that way? Absolutely. Does it work that way? Nope!
And finally, you need to have fun at your party! It’s a PARTY! Play party games. Use funny gifs and stickers. Laugh at yourself if you make a mistake. Don’t make it all about the sale. Have some fun along the way.
If you’re at an in-person party, the same rules apply. Don’t just answer questions, ask them. Engage guests in conversation, so they get to know you as more than the girl that sells stuff. And have fun!
LOOK FOR RED FLAGS
I’m not sure I like calling them “red flags” because it has a negative connotation, but I’m sure you get the idea. Look for the red flags, flashing lights, and sirens that scream, “THIS PERSON SHOULD BOOK A PARTY!”
What do those look like? Glad you asked.
- It’s the person that mentions they don’t have enough money to purchase right now. Hello, host savings!
- It’s the person that mentions that they love everything. Most people can’t afford to buy it all at one time, am I right?
- Or what about the guest that wants a big-ticket item? I’ve met very few people in my life that actually want to pay full price.
These are all red flags that these guests are good booking prospects. These are the people you want to offer the hosting opportunity to first.
BUILD DESIRE FOR HOSTING
Another tip, and one that a lot of direct sellers miss, is to build a desire for hosting. Think about the monthly specials that your company offers for hosts. (If they don’t, that’s okay. Just think about a higher-priced customer favorite.)
Whatever month you’re trying to book, showcase those products at your current parties. And I don’t mean just share the host special and hope people jump. I mean SELL that product. Talk about the features and benefits. Share how it will save them time or money.
Think about it. If you build a desire for this one amazing product and get everyone all excited about how it’s going to rock their world, don’t you think guests might jump at the opportunity to get it at a discount by having their own party? Yeah…it happens ALL the time! So whatever month needs more parties, use that host special to drive your party content and build desire for the special.
Another way to build desire for hosting is by adding value to your parties. People don’t always book parties to save. They book for fun and education, too.
Fun + Value = Successful Direct Sales Parties
Offer tips and tricks. Teach them something new during a Facebook live. Share your favorite time-saving hacks made possible by your product. Do a little bingo and offer a small prize — prizes automatically make things fun.
By making your parties fun and value-driven, your guests will want to book their own parties so they can see what you’re going to share next.
GET YOUR HOST INVOLVED
When your host is involved and looking for the bookings, she’ll do most of the work for you. During your host coaching, make sure she knows the benefits she will receive when one of her friends schedules their own party. Is there an extra goody at her party? What about a future benefit she needs to know about?
You can also ask her which of her party guests would make a rockstar host themselves, then make a note to reach out to them during the party! If it’s a Facebook party, ask her to tag her friends to make sure they see it when you post about hosting.
JUST ASK
The Ask is another pain point for many direct sellers. They feel awkward because they don’t like asking people for things. I get it. You don’t want to be pushy, salesy or spammy.
But the truth is that most party guests will not jump up and down and wave their arms asking you to pick them as your next host. Wouldn’t that be nice? So you have to ask.
I can hear your questions now. What should I say? Or I ask and I don’t get a yes. What now?
I liked to use a simple three-step booking formula to create my party Ask, and it’s a system that will work for anyone.
- What are you excited about? Think host specials, new catalog, etc.
- What made you think of them? Was she an awesome party guest? Did she express an interest in a big ticket item?
- Ask them to host! Don’t leave this part out. I know it’s scary at first, but you have to actually ask a question for someone to answer it.
See? Simple as 1, 2, 3—literally.
Keep it friendly, keep it light, and avoid the mile-long word vomiting messages we know we’ve all sent at some point in our career.
CREATE A SENSE OF URGENCY
Sometimes potential hosts need a reason to book a party now rather than later. One way to create a sense of urgency to book now is to offer a short-term reason or incentive, all of which can be done in a non-pressure, non-spammy way.
Giving them a reason to book a party now can be anything from an upcoming host special to a special booking gift or just wrapping up the current party to make sure your host gets credit. New catalogs, retiring products, and special sales are other great incentives. Be creative and give your party guests a reason why booking now is better for them than waiting to book later.
OFFER A BOOKING GIFT
This one is easy enough. When someone books a party at your party, give them a gift. It doesn’t have to be big and make sure it’s easy to give to them. Nothing big and bulky that you have to stand in line for hours to mail.
Think small products that are easy to ship that are already sitting in your product stash. Consider items that are fairly inexpensive but fun products that you can add to their host order at their own party.
And don’t overthink this. You can give them the gift at the time of booking or wait until they hold their own party. Your choice. I’ve done it both ways and didn’t notice a huge difference in cancellations if they got the gift at the time of booking.
GIVE YOUR HOST A CHALLENGE
Want one more tried and true tip? Offer your current host a special gift when she has 3 friends schedule their own parties!
Your hosts are your number one business referral tool. If you’ve done your job, educated your host, gotten her some free stuff while having fun, and overall, just made the experience seamless for her, your hosts are going to refer you to their friends and family.
And offering a bonus goody when she has 3 bookings does a few different things.
First, it gets to aim past your goal of 2 bookings per party, which means you’re more likely to hit the original goal of 2. Sneaky, right?
Second, everyone loves extra freebies. Talk it up with your hosts during your host coaching if you plan to offer something extra. I found that most hosts would work for the bookings on my behalf when I offered the bonus goody. And it doesn’t have to be huge. Test out a few different things to see what works best for your people.
Consistently booking parties isn’t magic, but as you can see, it’s a mixture of focused intention, strategic use of party content, and attention to detail that makes all the difference.
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Want a proven plan for growing your direct sales business without feeling like you're chasing your tail? The Direct Sellers Business Blueprint explains the 4 key areas you must master to build a simplified, systematic business. It will even tell you which area to tackle first, so you can stop feeling overwhelmed or confused about what to do next. The best part? It's completely FREE!
Mary Haynes is a highly successful direct sales leader turned strategist and coach. Her passion is helping party plan people streamline and scale their businesses using simple, proven strategies. Her goal is to eliminate business overwhelm so direct sellers know exactly what to do and when to do it. Mary is also a homeschooling mama that lives in sunny Florida with her husband, 4 kiddos, 2 dogs, and various other backyard animals.
