WAHM Forums

This is a long story but I will try to be brief. I had a show on Sunday. The hostess was real excited when I scheduled with her the month before and she sent me her guest list. In my packet and through conversations via the phone I told her to ensure a great party to use the 5-10-1 formula and invite at least 40 guests using FRANK. When she sent me her guest list it had 15 guests to invite. I called her and asked if these were all the yes and if she could think of anymore to call me. A few days before her show I do the reminder call to the guests and call her. She says she is going to get a few orders blah blah blah. I show up 45 minutes before the party and start to set up. I tell her to start trying on jewelry and sparkle up. She shoots back "No, Ill leave it for my guests to try on". I tell her if she is wearing the jewelry It will encourage the guests to try it on also but she I still resistant. So as her guests are coming in I greet them and give out raffle tickets and start conversations with them but the hostess is no where to be found for like 15 minutes. Come to find out she is on the phone with her drunk boyfriend arguing. At the show I try to get the guest to open up, try on jewelry and have fun but it is like pulling teeth without pliers. In hindsight, I may have given up. Well her show ended up being a dud and she did not even qualify so she just received $25 in free jewelry. Which is good IMHO for not even trying. She was a little dissappointed and said she would try to get outside orders but didn't sound hopeful. I call her last night and her daughter answered, I asked for her and her daughter yells "it's the B**** from S*****a". She gets on the phone and says what do you want. I asked her if she had any orders and her order for the free jewelry. She responds that no And she doesn't want to order anything because she can't find anything for $25 she likes. She also didn't like the fact she had to pay tax which was only $2. If she had been nicer I would have offered to take that expense and add an individual order that would jump her to at least $68 in free jewelry. She also said that she was dissappointed because all her friends thought the prices were too expensive and so did she. Well, hello didn't she know that when she booked the party or looked at the info package(She booked at an event I was at). And, several of the 7 she had order over $75. She will callme if she wantsto order something.


So now I have two options that I want advice on.


I have to place her order by Dec 11 to ensure before Christmas delivery.


1) Place her order in care of my address, take the hostess gifts, send her the order with a gift certificate for the amount of the hostess gift. (My sponser suggested this).


2) Place her order, send it directly to her and forfeit any hostess gifts. (My husband suggests this).


Also, should I try to contact her again?


I am very new to this (I started in Sept and have never been in direct sales before) and want to maintainnice customer service but it may be to late. Thank you in advance.

Sometimes we have to deal with strange people. It sounds like she is not in a good place in her life. Life stress changes us in our day to day likes/dislikes, spending, etc. I always try to give the benefit of the doubt (don't see Psycho Customer I, II, or III if you plan to take my advice) smileys/smiley2.gif


I would give her a hostess gift, but ship everything to you to ensure the customers get their jewelry. Anyone who teaches her daughter that type of language would make me wonder.


Chalk it up as lesson learned. But do be the nice one here.


Debbie

Hi Amy,


It's Meg! We met on Saturday at the YWCA show in Batavia.


Anyway, I'd probably go with option 1. Maybe you just caught her on a bad day. Give her the benefit of the doubt for now. Who knows, maybe she'll be so impressed with your professionalism, she'll use her gift certificate towards a bigger item.


PS I think your things are lovely, and very well priced!http://www.wahm.com/forum/smileys/smiley1.gif

Debbie,


I totally agree. She was a very nice woman until I called her last night. I have had many stressful things in my life and have probable snapped at people without realizing. I always try to give the benefit of the doubt. However, I feel like she is wanting something for nothing or probably is influenced by that one person that didn't care for my product. I will maintain my professionalism but I didn't know which route to take. When you say to give the hostess her free product, do mean order something for her or give her a gift certificate?


Meg,


Hi, it is nice to know someone in my area is also utilizing the board. Isn't is awesome? Thanks for your advice. PS - isn't it frigid out there todaysmileys/smiley19.gif(oop my tears froze - ha ha).

Hi Ann Marie,


I'm so sorry to hear about that party. We all deal with that one time or another. Personally I'd like to side with your husband on this onesmileys/smiley2.gif, but I also know that the right thing to do is what your upline suggested. (And it's probably what I would do myself). If you can make it beyond this party, you're going to do well in this business. I've talked to lots of people in direct sales and this type of show tends to be what sends them running (even seasoned managers I've seen tuck tail and run!) Know in your mind that this is a rarity and she probably has far more issues than just you. The daughter on the other hand needs her mouth washed out with soap!!


By the way I was so happy to meet both you and Meg (Hi Megsmileys/smiley4.gif) last Saturday, I hope you both did well at the show even though it was small. I have leads to call, but have been out nearly every night this week so I haven't gotten a hold of anyone yet. Anyway, I'm looking forward to my Silpada party!!

I'd go with option 1, only I'd make sure the guests get their
jewelry with a personal delivery on this one assuming you have all of
their information. It sounds like this woman may have some
"issues" that have nothing to do with you per se. However, I agree with
Debbie in that anyone who would allow their daughter to answer the
phone in that manner needs some parenting skills to start with not to
mention a new boyfriend!

I agree with Cheryl.

I have never met these women before and they are over a half hour drive. Should I mail them their order? I know I should know these answers but my confindence has dwindled with this situation. This is only my 6th show.Edited by: amccarthy

If you don't feel comfortable driving then mail them. I wouldn't have them shipped to the host.

Ann,


It is ok. It is nothing you did. So get that out of your mind! Some people are just down right rude and are clueless to those around them. I can't believe her daughter said that. That floors me!


I would put her order in, send her the gift cert, and make sure you get the items to the customers. It isnt their fault that this woman is horrid. LOL And you never know. One of those customers could fall in love with their new item and want to be a hostess's or a business partner. Everybody is different.smileys/smiley2.gif





Good luck!


Jody

Do you have an item for $25 that is a very popular one you could pick for her? You can send her a certficate if you want, and let her know she can apply it, but don't hurt yourself financially.


And go ahead and mail them. Jewelry is light weight. You may want to track as well.


Debbie

I totally agree with Debbie and Jody here. These customers may have had a bad experience with your company due to the tention in the air at your hostesses house. You don't want them to have that be the last impression of you and your company.


The drive may be out of the way, but would you drive that far to do a party for them? Because with your great attitude and extra effort, they could very well be your next hostess or recruits for that matter.


Cheer up... this too shall pass. smileys/smiley2.gif


Here's to your next very successful party!!!smileys/smiley32.gif