Why Personal Invitations Are Important

How many parties have you had where 10 people are coming and only 3 show up?

How many times have you found out that your hostess only invited 20 people?

How many times have you had to start the party 15,30 even 45 minutes late?

If you answered yes to any of these questions than you need to reevaluate what YOU are doing.  Ladies, there are some things we can put up to “it wasn’t our fault” but……more often than not the answers to the above questions are all about us and what we are doing or not doing wrong with hostess coaching.

Before we dig into this topic please watch this short video I made about FB events as an invite being the

DEATH OF THE FB EVENT

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLChXVyqyA4

FUN FACTS:

1. 20-25% of how many you invite will come to the party.  So if you invite 20 only 4-5 will come.  Invite 40 and 8-10 will come.
2. We have to assume our hostesses know nothing.  Let’s face it.  This isn’t their job (remember it is ours).  They aren’t in DS (direct sales).  And if they were I am going to assume they weren’t successful.  Because that is honestly the song and dance I usually see and hear.
3. Not everyone listens to voicemail.
4. Not everyone opens emails.
5. Not everyone opens private messages on FB.
6. But, texts are opened almost always immediately.
7. And mail with hand written addresses on the envelope are opened immediately.
8. People are forgetful.
9. People don’t RSVP like they used to.
10. People procrastinate.
11. People are rude.

So, let us dig into each of these topics one at a time.

1. 1.  How many people should a hostess invite?  40 minimum.  I push for 50+ and I tell her why.  I tell her the math of 20-25%.  I completely give her the numbers and relate it to her $600 minimum party we are shooting for.  Because the average guest spends $60=$70/  Remember we have to assume she knows nothing.  I urge her to think of her invites as if she was having a baby, getting married or having an open house for graduation.  Because we all have those hostesses who claim they don’t know anyone.  Pull out that FRANKS and explain it to her.  Guaranteed she knows plenty of people.
2. Explain, explain, explain.  And then follow up, follow up and follow up.  Remember it is our job to tell our hostess exactly what she needs to do to get people at her party.  We have to truly coach her.  And with that we have to make her feel special!   Because remember this is all about building relationships.  And don’t forget hostesses are our #1 recruits and truly the key to our business.  Without them we have nothing.
3. Voicemail and talking on the phone are becoming a thing of the past.  Tell your hostess to call still.  She should know the ones who will answer the phone. The ones she talks to on a regular basis.  Talking on the phone to a live person is a great way to invite.  But remind her that not everyone listens to voicemail.  It tends to be a generation thing.  The younger the guests the more they will be texters not callers.
4. Email is truly becoming a thing of the past.  Weaving through the 100s of emails we all get a day is honestly annoying.  But remember that word “blended” we need to still send out the emails.  Because some women with a 9-5 job for instance use their emails faithfully and will indeed see this invite and cherish it among the 100s of dreadful emails they receive in one day.
5. FB messenger can be a good or a bad thing.  Some live on FB and the minute you message them voila they are responding.  Some have this fear of messenger on their phone and won’t use it.  And they never get on their laptop they only use their phone.  So again, it can be an option but not the only option.  There is that word “blended” again.
6. Our Redstamp is AMAZING.  If you aren’t using it you are missing out.  Redstamp invites are pretty amazing.  I mentioned texts are opened.  And more often than not they are responded to.  One more way to use that “blended” approach.
7. Snail Mail.  In my opinion it is still one of the best ways to invite.  Who doesn’t like to receive something in the mail that isn’t a bill?  I know I do!  When I get something that has handwriting on the outside I think it must be my birthday or a holiday.  I always know it will be from my Aunt Nancy because she is the only one who sends me anything anymore lol.  But truly I love it. So get those addresses from your hostess and send her invites.  Side Note – She is going to tell you she doesn’t have their addresses.  YAY!  That is a great thing!!  Why?  Because she now needs to contact them and tell her she is having a party and needs their address.  Hello invitation #1 already happened by her contacting them to get the addresses!!  Yay!  Yay!  Yay! This is what we want!!!
8. People are forgetful!  They do not write things down.  They don’t pay attention.  This is where that blended word is key!  We need to literally be inviting them to the party a minimum of 3 times.  And probably different ways each time.  So here is an example.  1.  Your hostess sends out the private messages on FB, calls and texts her friends to tell them about the party and that she needs their addresses,  2. She gets you the addresses and you send her invites.  3.  You send her a redstamp as a reminder a few days before the party.  Now is that enough?  Probably not still.  I would recommend sending a redstamp also in the time before you send out the mailed invites.  And don’t forget the emails from our back office too.
9. After all of that does the hostess still know how many people are coming?  Probably not.  Because she still probably looked at that FB event you made her and can see 8 people coming.  And yup, one is you and one is her so that really leaves 6.  AND those 6 people only clicked join because they were curious!!!!  She has yet to TALK to them.  You want to encourage her to literally make contact with all 50+ people that she invited and confirm if they are really coming or not!!!  People have become rude (more about this later) and they don’t RSVP anymore.  They just don’t.
10. Procrastinate.  They wait.  They don’t reply.  They don’t respond.  They wait.  Enough said.  Call them.  Text them.  Have your hostess make them feel wanted at the party!  Remind her to tell them why she wants them there and how she misses them and would like to catch up 🙂
11.  Rude.  Let’s face it.  People are rude.  They don’t pay attention to invites.  They don’t RSVP.  And they certainly don’t show up on time.  So this is one more area you have to take control of your business.  The party starts when you say it starts.  And you make sure your hostess knows that.  Make sure she tells her guests you will be starting at the said time. I have been personally doing a party at 6:30 and knowing in my head that I will start at 6:45.  But NO later.  I don’t care if it is me and the hostess.  I want to show her that my time is valuable.  And this is my job.  And remember she is our best recruit.  So everything we show her matters.  But again it is our job to make sure that hostesses knows our time is valuable and we will be starting on time.  Make sure she knows you want her to express this to the guests.

One of the most important jobs we have is to hostess coach.  We must explain everything.  We must stay in constant contact with that hostess.  If she is saying only 3 people are coming.  Ask her how many she invited.  Explain to her everything I just told you.  Make sure she knows why you want to invite so many different ways and so many different times.  And make her feel special.  Send her a card in the mail before the party as a reminder of what she needs to do.  Send her a thank you card in the mail after the party.

But whatever you do DON’T LET HER THINK HER FB EVENT IS THE INVITATION TO THE PARTY!!  In my opinion it is a last resort and you must tell your hostess it is advertising not inviting!