Tales from Direct Sales

The second company I ever signed with was Partylite Candles. A close friend of mine (at the time) had just signed up and because I'm a joiner, I signed up too. She ended up quitting after a few months, but I hung on for 6 years. Crazy. Since I have a lot of stories from 6 years of sales, I'll just hit some of the highlights in this installment.

I had my largest show EVER in direct sales with this company. And here's what a moron I am. The sales from this show were right at $2,000. My cut was 25%. A LOT of cheddar. Well, since bringing people into the business and moving up the ranks of leadership is how you make SERIOUS money in these types of companies, I convinced this hostess to sign up as a consultant. The sales from her show were credited to starting her business, which meant I was completely cheated out of my commission. Nice, huh?

Then there was the time that I set up for a show on my "trusty" card table. (You know, the one I wielded kitchen tools on) Did I mention this card table was old and rickety and sloped ever so slightly to one side? Well, I had the whole display set up and noticed that one particular holder was really leaning over quite a bit. I told the hostess that I wasn't lighting the candle in that holder, but she was rather insistent that it be lit. And so, I lit it, the wax melted and then a guest bumped my table and sent red wax flying all over her WHITE carpet. I spent 30 minutes trying desperately to get the dried wax up, but was unsuccessful. Thankfully, the hostess was forgiving and she actually hosted a couple more shows for me after that. However, I never actually lit anymore candles at her house again.

Once, I was given a show from my upline and I drove to this amazing gated neighborhood kind of far from my home. It always delights me when people who have LOTS of money are very nice and down to earth. I arrived at the mansion and began to set up my display, when the hostess asked all of us to come out onto the porch. She said her hubby was bringing their new boat by. (Did I mention this was a mansion by the lake?) Now, I've had lots of friends with boats, but there is a huge difference between a boat and a yacht. And this was a yacht. Three floors, multiple bedrooms & baths, living areas, kitchen, the works. I found out after the show (while I was mingling with guests) that the hostess was a Powerball Lottery winner. And I'm not talking 6 figures winner. I'm talking 8 figures winner.

And finally, there was the show that my guests did for me. It was 10 days after I had given birth to my 1st child. I had an emergency c-section after 22 hours of labor. I didn't want to cancel on the hostess, so hubby packed up the car and carried everything into the house for me. The hostess set up the display and the guests talked all about the products. (Needless to say, they had all attended MANY shows. This was a social event for them.) They were all so mystified that I would show up to do the show, that they bought lots of stuff. It was delightful. But I missed my baby for the 2 hours that she was away. Aw, to be a new mommy.

I'm moving on to my spa consultant business next. There's a great story there that I still laugh about.

Tales from Direct Sales

Kat was pontificating, earlier this week, about the misery of being a direct sales hostess without attendees. Boy, have I been there. I've also been on the side of a consultant who shows up for no attendees, and that's no fun either.

Let me begin by saying that I have sold for 6 different direct sales companies over the last 11 years. I know, I'm nuts. I've been mildly successful in some endeavors and REALLY successful in one venture, but boy have I got some stories from each one. The good, the bad and the REALLY ugly.

Today's story will be about my venture into the world of cooking with Pampered Chef. PC was the 3rd company that I signed with. My reason for joining? I love Disney World. My upline told me about the fabulous vacation to Disney World that PC paid for, so like the sucker that I am whenever Disney is mentioned, I asked "where do I sign?" Forget the fact that I already owned pretty much EVERYTHING in the catalog. I didn't have the cookware and I didn't want to pay full price for it. Problem solved, right?

I suckered a good friend into hosting my very first show for me. We talked about which 2 recipes she wanted me to demonstrate and we decided on Skillet Chocolate Cake and Shrimp Wonton Cups. So, I gave her the shopping list and arrived at her house for the show a week later. She had all the ingredients laid out for me, which I set on my card table. Yes, I was wielding kitchen tools on a card table. I like to live dangerously.

Her guests sat down and I dazzled them with my witty kitchen banter. I explained what we would be cooking tonight and set out to make the Shrimp Wonton Cups first. And then I set out to work my culinary magic. That is until I realized that my hostess hadn't bothered to purchase the wonton wrappers I needed for the Shrimp WONTON cups. Completely mortified and panicking, I asked my hostess about this minor little detail. She turned beet red and confessed that she had forgotten and was going to get them right now. And she left. Yes, here I was standing in the middle of her living room with a bunch of people I didn't know, while she ran to the grocery store (for 40 minutes) to purchase wonton wrappers. In that time, I whipped up the chocolate cake, baked it and was serving it, when she returned.

The show took way longer that a normal show should, but the guests were thankfully sympathetic to the blathering idiot that I became once our hostess left. Sales were decent, but (not surprisingly) no one booked a show. After that performance, I wouldn't have invited me to my home either.

Upon telling my upline about my show woes, she told me a story that made me feel so much better. She once had a hostess who wanted to make a chicken dish of some sort. Instead of providing chicken breasts or tenders (or even canned chicken) for her consultant, she purchased a whole chicken. So, my upline had to completely dismember, debone, and boil a chicken while the guests watched. After that, she insisted on providing the ingredients herself. I can't blame her.

Join me next time for Tales from Direct Sales - The Candle Company edition.