Double Booking for Success
Every consultant has been there. You’ve packed your bags, gotten dinner ready for your family. You’ve made arrangements for carpool from whatever after school activity keeps them late. Now, you’re walking out the door and you get a text from your hostess.
“Sorry, I’m going to have to cancel tonight. My dog is throwing up everywhere.”
Fun times.
So you turn around and walk back in the house. You’re completely bummed because you needed the money. You needed the future bookings, you needed to meet new people.
Now what?
What do you do when your party falls through? What do you do when you were planning on making some money and now you’re home doing dishes?
Many consultants are worried about double booking. Let’s address those concerns and discuss ways you can double book for success.
- Where am I going to hold this party if I double book? You have a few choices. First, you could book parties for your own house. I know with kids this is a challenge but you’ll probably find it’s actually easier on you. You can set your trays and displays up when ever you have time. If you have the space you can even leave your displays out. Have your hostess bring a snack to share and maybe even pick up her friends. This helps with getting everyone there and with them leaving at a decent time. If your own house really isn’t a choice there is another option. That’s next.
- What if they both hold? You can double book two parties and have a sister consultant on notice for that night if they both hold. She holds the class and gives you a percentage. The hostess stays your customer and the new customers are hers. It’s a “go give” opportunity and really a win win. If they both hold and your house is the party location, you’re good to go. Set up more chairs and trays and get ready to make some money. This is the perfect training opportunity for a new recruit. Let her come and bring a guest if she’d like. Let her know the sales from your customers are yours but it is a great time for her to see how you work.
- How do I double book? It’s important that you don’t open up your calendar and allow your hostesses to just book any time. You will get burnt out super fast. One quick and easy method is to block out everything on your calendar of when you’re not available. (Pizza night with the family is a valid appointment. You can pick a color that’s your family color and just write “appointment” in your calendar on the times you know you need to be at home. It makes you look super busy and that’s good.) If you want to hold selling appointments on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday morning. Only offer those times. Offer two bookings for each time. You can fit more bookings into two weeks and almost always guarantee that you’ll work.
Don’t be afraid to double book. It can be the very best thing for your business. Remember activity breeds activity. If you stay busy…you’ll stay busy. Don’t ever leave a party with out a booking or two if you can. If you need help with ideas on how to get bookings from bookings, talk to your director. She’s a wealth of information!
