Booking Shows

The Heart of Your Business

It is not a secret that in order to maintain a successful business you must have a consistent schedule of bookings. If you have no shows scheduled, then you have no pay days scheduled. The inability to keep a full calendar is the reason why a whopping percentage of consultants give up the dream of owning their own business before they even get started.

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Booking From a Show

Booking from an existing show is undoubtedly the easiest way to keep a consistent calendar. You have captive guests who were interested enough in your product to attend and will most likely purchase at the party. If you are not offering each guest the opportunity to take advantage of your hostess program then you are in a sense doing them a disservice. Here are some great ways to make booking the focus of your show.

*Change Your Attitude*  

Many consultants find booking at parties difficult simply because they fear asking. If you clam up when the opportunity arises to talk to guests about booking a show then I challenge you to change your thinking. Instead of ASKING guests to book a show, begin OFFERING them a chance to take advantage of your hostess program and enjoy their products for free or at a discount. At checkout, say something like “Amy, I see you fell in love with our skincare tonight. I would like to offer you the opportunity to be one of my preferred hostesses next month. That way you can enjoy your next set of products for free or half-price. “ Sometimes approaching booking in a new way will be more appealing to you and the guest.

*Know Your Hostess Program*

Be ready to give your guests specifics about your hostess program. Understanding the hostess benefits forwards and backwards will allow you to make a savings connection with each guest. “With just a $500 show Amy you would be able to get the entire skincare regime you picked out tonight for FREE!”

*Use Your Hostess*

Generally guests will value the opinion of the hostess much more than yours. Ask your hostess to share why they agreed to book a show, what they have on their wish list and how excited they are to take advantage of the hostess program. For a visual effect, pile your hostess lap with all the products she would earn for a $1000 show. This gives guests a great picture to associate with holding a show and will surely get them thinking.

*Play a Game*

There are several effective games you can incorporate into your show that will help you accumulate bookings. Here are some of my favorites:

Mystery Prize Balloon Game

Before the party blow up balloons and place a folded up slip of paper inside with a discount or a free item....whatever you'd like as an incentive.

As guests arrive, give them a balloon. As you hand it to them, say, "This is yours for the evening, hang on to it and don't trade it away. You may be holding a special balloon." When you open the show, casually remind them to hang on to their balloons, you will get to them later on. You will see them shaking the balloon and see the curiosity in her eyes. Towards the end of the evening tell the guests that if they decide to book a show with you tonight they get to keep the incentive/gift inside, otherwise they must return the balloon to you. Let them know if 3 of them pop their balloon, then the hostess gets to pop hers as well. Wording is key here. There is not a person in that room who is not dying to know what her prize is.... Your hostess will also want to pop hers to see what her mystery prize is, so she will work to get other to pop theirs. Have them bring their balloon to you with their order and pop the balloon with you.

Chocolate Delight

At the end of your party, show a plate of chocolates! On the bottom of each piece, put either:
Let's Party
5% off
$1 off
Free shipping
Key chain
or any other discount/free gift you are willing to give

Let the guests know that half of them say "Let's Party!" If they chose that one, they must book a party. Otherwise, they get whatever is on the bottom of the chocolate. They can play as much as they want, but must book tonight if they hit "Let's Party!"
Anyone who plays is most likely willing to book, and chocolate is always a good incentive!

Deal or No Deal?

You will need four envelopes and a basket with your inexpensive door prizes. Wrap all the items in the basket. Inside each envelope, put a small piece of paper folded several times so they can't see it. On one, write $1.00; one will say $2.00: one will say $3.00 and one will say $5.00. Tell everyone what is inside and that they are gift certificate for tonight!
Have the first person to your left pick one of the envelopes. But tell her she CAN'T LOOK!!!!

Now have them pass the envelope around and the hostess says either LEFT or RIGHT and they have to switch direction when she says each word. Stop her after the envelope has gotten around to most everyone. At the end, I tell the person with the envelope "DON'T LOOK" ~ Because I want to "Make A Deal" with you: "Since you didn't pick the envelope, maybe your luck is better than hers (meaning the person it started with) ...so you can trade for another envelope if you want to" (Hold the other envelopes out). Usually everyone is hollering "Trade" or "Don't trade").

Next say "DON'T LOOK!" ~ "I'll make another deal with you...(Pull out your gift basket) "I will trade you the envelope for an item in my basket....that envelope could be worth $5 or maybe just $1" (Everyone is again yelling "trade" or "don't trade"). She then makes her choice and say, "DON'T LOOK!!!" ~"I have another deal to make with you....I will give you your envelope back and DOUBLE what's inside or give you TWO prizes from my basket IF you will book a show tonight and help (Hostess) out."

If she doesn't book she gets either what's in the envelope or her gift but MOST of the time they will book. Play this at the end of your demo because by then they are already thinking about having a party.

Booking From Scratch

Let's face it...it has happened to all of us at some point! You look at your calendar for the next couple of months and you have not one party on the books. Now what? Has your business completely dried up? Is it time to throw in the towel? No way! One of the great things about having your own direct sales business is that you have the power at any time to relaunch your business and fill your calendar with shows. Here are some tips to get you started.

Unlimited Home Business Leads

*Turn Your Daily Routing into a Networking Opportunity*

When you leave your house to do errands, pick up the kids from school, meet friends for lunch, stop at the bank, go to the doctor or ANYWHERE, go with the intention of sharing your business with people that you meet. Plan where you will go and who you will talk to before you leave. Set a specific goal of what you want to achieve. Get your errands done and grow your business at the same time. This is a great way for busy moms or those employed at another job full-time to fit their business into the nooks and crannies of their life. Here is an example of what my day might look like.

Drop Kids Off at School- Start conversation with Mary (Steven’s mom) about products. Ask her if she would be interested in getting a few friends together to sample products.

Bank- Give teller samples of cream, tell her I will follow-up with her to get her opinion.

Doctor- Ask receptionist if I can leave catalogs in the waiting room. Offer her samples of the face cream and tell her I will follow-up with her to get her opinion.

Pick Kids Up From School- Give catalogs and samples to office ladies. Check back with them on Friday.

T-Ball Practice- Take goodie bags with samples and coupons to moms. Ask them to try the samples and I will follow-up with them on Friday at the next practice.

Without even going out of my way I have made several new contacts. By taking the time to follow-up with these contacts I have a good chance that some of them will book shows.

*Be Prepared...Not Flustered*

If you have never been told how to compile a “30 Second Commercial” or “30 Second Ad” for your business then this is something that you will want to do right away. For those of you who get flustered or long-winded when asked “What do you do?” this will help you gracefully and professionally introduce people to your business.

Your 30 second commercial should be no longer than 3-4 sentences and should leave people wanting more. This is a short, simple way to create an effective commercial.

Answer the following questions:


What is the favorite thing you DO or GIVE to people as part of this job?

*I show women how to have gorgeous, glowing skin.
*I show women how to organize their kitchen to save time and money.
*I give away fabulous cooking gadgets to women who want to treat their friends to a home    cooking experience.

What FEATURE of this job is your favorite and what BENEFIT do you receive from it? (feature/benefit)

*ground floor/unlimited income potentia
*all natural and eco-friendly products/making a difference in the world

*flexibility/stay at home with kids

Give a WOW example of how the feature/benefit combination is working in your life.

*The first consultant to start in the company just three years ago just received a $30,000 bonus check this month.

*We have saved over 100,000 gallons of chemicals from going down the drain and into our environment just this month.

*I have been able to attend all of my kids’ school functions this year-with a day job I would have missed them.

Put them all together and voila! When someone asks you what you do, you are prepared.


I own my own business with ______________________ and I show women how to have gorgeous, glowing skin. And what is great about this business is that it is ground floor so there is no limit to my income. In fact, the first consultant to start with the company just three years ago received a $30,000 bonus check this month!

*Get On That Phone*

I hate to state the obvious here, but yes, calling and offering people the opportunity to be one of your hostesses is one of the most effective ways to achieve a full calendar. I love this fun spin on calling to book!

24 Booking in 24 Hours

What if you could get other people to invest in your business goals and help you achieve them? You're thinking...awesome! This was passed on to me years ago and I have tried it and had great success!  The call goes something like this:

" Hi Ginny...this is Alice from Company X. I was calling to see if you would be interested in being one of my preferred hostesses. I have a challenge to book 24 shows in 24 hours. I am booking dates between now and September 30th. For booking your show with me in this 24 hours you'll be entered to win a $100 shopping spree with Company X. We have a new catalog, new products and some amazing hostess specials coming up. Please give me a call back at xxx-xxxx to be one of my preferred hostesses. My challenge ends on Sunday night at 9pm. Thank you!"

My customers embraced my goal and enjoyed being part of my success. Many of them had either been on the fence about having a show or just put it off. This was a little incentive that went a long way!

Check Out Past Blogs for More Great Booking Tips