The Traveling Saleswoman

Last night I swapped roles and hosted a direct sales party at my house for another consultant.  Sales were good and we all had fun.  But I had some observations on the things she did that were less than optimal, from my position as a hostess.  Rather than ‘What Not To Wear”, think of this as “What Not To Do As A Consultant”.

* Keeping me on the phone for 9 minutes, when all she needed to communicate was that she had purchased tortilla chips and baby carrots for my party, so I didn’t have to.

* Giving an extended history of the company and her reasons for joining, in excrutiating detail, right at the beginning of her presentation.

* Reading her notes verbatim rather than talking spontaneously about the products.

* Going into another room to take orders and making guests line up in the kitchen to check out wth her, rather than mingling with the guests and tallying orders where they were sitting.

* Giving away too much!  I swear she barely made a profit becase she offered so much out of pocket – 2 door prizes, free shipping for the hostess as well as one guest, bringing some of the food, and extra perks she threw in for me on top of the company hostess program.  It smacked of desperation  – little did she know, I still would have hosted, even without any of those extras.