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Hey gals, I need a BIG pick-me-up. My sister and I just started in Arbonne. We decided to host an open house to "lauch" our business. The first date was tonight, and the second one is Sunday afternoon.


We had 2 WHOLE people there tonight. One is already signed up as a WB and the other person left with some samples and the RE 9 set to try.


I could smileys/smiley19.gifsmileys/smiley19.gifhttp://www.wahm.com/forum/smileys/smiley19.gif!!!!!!! Seriously!! I know I have to stay positive and keep plugging away. I also know that the only difference between me and my RVP is that she has experienced more "no's" than me. HOWEVER...I SOOOOOOOOO want this to work! I feel like I have let my entire team down.


Sure Sunday could be better...but how on earth do I get bookings for more parties? I signed up a couple months ago, and waited until after the new product launch to start things out. I have been reading..studying...I was all set to go.


What do you guy do when you get the wind knocked out of you? Sorry to vent and be such a downer..but I needed to talk to someone that understands...


I have been so pumped and ready to go during all my conference calls with my team...this just isn't at all how I imagined my "coming out" party to go!smileys/smiley19.gif

Holy smokes....this is almost as discouraging...24 people have viewed and not one response?smileys/smiley5.gif

Hi Tracy, it is the action not the results that matter most!! I believe this to be true in all areas of life. I will tell you that you are not the first twoArbonne consultants to have this happen. Here comes the encouraging part... my sponsor and her friend both started Arbonne together ( just as you two have) and when they had their first two parties no one showed at all. Needless to say that they did not give up and two years later one is a ERVP and the other is a RVP.


3 Feet From Gold
Defeat is a trickery to make you quit right before you succeed!!


Good luck to both of you! Remember presentations are not your only way to do the business. Get out there and share these amazing products and opportunity with everyone!!


Take care,
Rochelle

My first business launch party was a no show as well. Its easy to get discouraged but try not too! Just stay in activity!

Activity is key........customers do not initially come to you, why would they? Most households haven't heard of Arbonn* yet. It's your job to go out and share our products and opportunity with them!! You go girl!!!!


P.S. You may want to watch Cecilia Stoll's DVD from NTC in Vegas last year. It is amazing!!! You'll be very inspired!


smileys/smiley17.gif

I had 4 people show up to my launch party (my launch party was actually after my 1st BB's party)...sales total $0. I did get experience from it and kept plugging away. I have found the best way to get people to try the RE9 or book parties is to talk to everyone when I am out & about. I had a very small warm list so I have to continually grow my prospect list with the people I come into contact with. Once I went from feeling like I was imposing on people & "bothering" them to "Oh my gosh, have I got great news for you!" in my thinking, I have no problem talking to people.


On a side note, since the change in thinking I don't go looking for parties but I certainly don't turn them down if that is what the prospect is interested in.

Hi Mom 2 Twins,


Don't give up. I have had several parties andsome of them have had one person show up. Discouraging, yes, but activity is more important that the end result. Focus on the activity and it will come. Rock on girlfriend. Keep on pluggin!
smileys/smiley1.gif

smileys/smiley31.gif Awww, Tracy, sorry you had a discouraging party. Just remember, starting out with a warm market is difficult! If you get anything out of your warm market, your doing great! You want to get REFERRALS from them and move on!!!


The most important thing, as others have said, is to stay in activity. Do something every day to expose your business, even if it's one call or one sample pack. The key with warm market is to get referrals. Try using "oh by the way...." after speaking with people (phone, in person or email). Practice it and use it all the time!


Theidea comes from a very good friend of my families and incredible motivational speaker Brian Buffini. His book "Oh, by the way...., a wonderful way to sell and be sold to" is wonderful.


An example would be "Oh, by the way, if you know of anyone who _____ (would be interested in trying a complimentary skin care sample/ wouldenjoy hosting a party and getting free and discounted product/ is looking for a career change / .........) and would appreciate this same level of service, just give me a call with their name and number and I'd be happy to follow up with them. Does that sound good to you? Great ______ (name)! I'll be in touch, thank you and take care.


Just remember that this is almost an after thought to the conversation. Before you get to this, you need to build a relationship and know what their wants and needs are. Here is what Brian suggests:


1- Can I be of help to you? How are you? How is your business? How is your family? If I can help you in any way let me know! (and help them!....send them referrals, send them small tolkens of appreciation)


2- I value you Your business means so much to me. It is a pleasure to do business with you. My business depends on working with goodpeople like you (always send thank-you notes...for everything!)


3- Oh, by the way.....


Always go the extra mile to help people and build trusting and true relationships!!! Your business will grow, people will want to see you succeed and want to help you!!!


Well, I really hope this is encouraging, I didn't plan to write so much but I want to see everyone here succeed!!! Don't forget to listen to all the great learn and burns, and if you plan to continue doing parties, you may want to check out trainings from direct sales/party plan trainers such as Karen Phelps www.karenphelps.com (http://www.karenphelps.com)


Warm regards and wishing you every success! smileys/smiley1.gif


Carrie

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We’ve all been there, hon. Every VP who has ever done parties has at least one story like that. Some are worse, Cecilia drove all the way from <?:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:State w:st="on">Oklahoma</st1:State> to <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Arkansas</st1:place></st1:State> once for a HORRIBLE party. The hostess had started selling another brand &amp; before Cecilia could start she ran down to the basement &amp; brought up all her stuff &amp; told them that it was better &amp; everyone bought that stuff! Another time she showed up &amp; the hostess wouldn’t come to the door to let her in, but she did peek out at her from the blinds.

You haven’t let your entire team down at all…yet. How you choose to react to this will determine that. This is going to happen from time to time &amp; they need to understand that &amp; know that their business will still be successful. You can’t control whether people show up or whether they buy. All you can do is share the story. It’s up to them what they do with it. You can’t let yourself be so concerned about the outcome because then every rejection will start to eat away at you.

Look at this as your great story for when you are a VP to help inspire others. “Oh my gosh, you guys wouldn’t believe it but at my launch party NO ONE came &amp; look at me now!” When I get the wind knocked out of me I file the story away for later. Not only will I be able to share it with others but I can also be proud of myself for how much I overcame on my journey. I also will go &amp; build up my belief more with books, learn &amp; burns, AU or EOA’s.

Also, look at the steps you took &amp; try to figure out where they can be improved. Did you follow up with reminders for those you invited? Did you personally invite people or just send an email? There are plenty of trainings online about parties. Remember this is a learning process. As you do it more often it will get easier.

Don’t be so hard on yourself. If everything always went perfectly then something would be wrong!

Did you call your guests and personally invite them, or did you just
send out invitations and hope they'd come? Mailings are great,
but practically useless without phone followup. Unfortunately,
talking to people personally leaves you much more vulnerable to
rejection. The only way to "make this work" is to put yourself in
that vulnerable position.



Another thing... you need to toughen up a little bit. Rita always
says, "Discipline your disappointment." One open house with just
2 guests is nothing to throw in the towel over! I just heard a
story from a sideline NVP. Her family owned a gift store with
thousands of loyal customers. She knew many of them
personally. She invited 200 of the ones she knew well enough to
exchange Christmas cards with. She bought over $200 in
food/drinks... no one showed up. Not one person. However, she
made RVP in less than 6 months. She didn't focus on the
disappointment.



I notice that you were discouraged after only 45 minutes without a
response from others. I know when I first started my
business. I wanted to success desperately and that desperation
was apparent to others. It kept people from wanting to talk to me
about Arbonne or host shows for me. Once I relaxed and started to
enjoy the entire process, I started being able to book shows
consistently.



Good luck with your next open house. Try calling people ahead of
time. At least you will have a better idea of how many are
coming! smileys/smiley2.gif

Our team doesn't even encourage business launches. We haven't seen one that went "well". However, I think the fact that you got an RE9 set out is well worth it. All it takes is one client/wb/bb. And give it a little time. With another company, I did a show where after 1 and a half hours of set up, not a single person showed up. I sat, chatted with the hostess a bit, then packed up and left. She turned it into a $600 book show and I also received a booking that yielded a $1000 show. So you just never know. Please don't quit before pay day!


And when I'm really down, I schedule quiet time for myself and I listen to personal development learn &amp; burns like they're going out of style. By the end of the first I'm already feeling better, and by the end of the second, I'm ready to go again.

Thank you SO so much for all of the responses. I really appreciate each and every one of your "words" of wisdom and encouragement!! It is so awesome to know that this is a team approach business.


I do want to clarify one thing; in no way did my upline put any kind of pressure on me to have a successful open house. I wanted to do good for them, that was my own personal goal. To give back to them for all the support they have shown me thus far. They are awesome!


I had such high hopes for an awesome start in this business. I really do have to learn not to take this personal, and use it as a time for growth. Imean without failure or mistakes in life...how to we learn and grow....right?smileys/smiley1.gif


Now that I have had my little pity party; I am ready to roll my sleeves up and go to work!smileys/smiley2.gif


Again, thank you everyone for your support...it means a great deal!


TracyEdited by: mom2twinsplus1