How To Prevent Cancellations In Direct Sales

Author: Susan Squier

Preventing cancellations is a process that starts the first time you make contact with a hostess and doesn’t end until after the show has been held. This process is critical if you want to have successful shows.

Pick a Date

Book each new hostess inside of thirty days in order to keep them excited. After thirty days the excitement begins to die out and cancellation becomes more inevitable.

Ask each new hostess what days of the week are better and then offer two dates. Studies show that people generally pick the second choice, so give the furthest date first and the closest date second. If need be, offer something extra if they agree to book and hold a show within thirty days. (They don’t receive their “something extra” until their show is held.)

Give The Talk

Be sure to tell your hostesses exactly what they need to do to have a successful show, and why they need to do these things.

If you don’t tell them to get outside orders; they won’t, so their credit will be less. The more their credit the better chances of a re-book in the future.

If you don’t tell them to over invite; they won’t, and again their credit will be less. Shows will cancel if a hostess feels they don’t have enough people coming. It’s your job to tell each hostess that only a third of all invited guests will show.

Most importantly, tell each hostess that if they need to reschedule, you will understand, but you need two weeks notice to re-book the date because this is how you earn your living. If you faithfully say this to each hostesses then they will think long and hard before canceling on you at the last minute. If you take your business seriously, they will too.

Follow Up

A follow up means that you’re taking customer service and your business seriously.

Immediately following each booking, send a thank you card thanking the hostess for booking her free shopping spree with you and how you can’t wait to party with her. Also remind her that you need her guest list, so you can mail out her invites.

When you leave the invitations up to the hostess, you’re like a deer in headlights; you can’t possible know what to expect and you’re probably wasting your time. So mail them yourself.

When mailing the invites, send one to the hostess, too. This way, she knows that her invites went out and she won't freak out, calling everyone to cancel.

Three days before each show, call the hostess to see if she needs anything and let her know when you will be arriving. If she says that not many guests have RSVP’d, have her call and personally invite everyone. Most times people forget to RSVP or the invitations get lost in the mail.

Once she has made her calls, have her call you back with the results, then offer an extra gift if she gets 5-7 people to attend.

Seize every opportunity to communicate with your hostess as this keeps you fresh in her mind.

Get That Guest List

A hostess’ guest list is your show confirmation. The guest list tells you how many people will attend. Knowing how many will attend can help you project sales.

Typically, if you don’t receive a guest list from a hostess, they’re going to cancel... so don’t plan on the show; re-book the date, instead.

On the other hand, when you do receive a guest list, you can be pretty confident that the show will hold.

If you use this guest list theory then you’ll successfully be able to manage your calendar and your cash flow.

Plan Ahead

Having extra invitations in your party kit can also reduce cancellations.

When someone at a party in progress books a party of their own, you could say “Ok, raise your hand if you’ll go to Jane Doe’s party!” When the hands go up, hand them a ticket; when they check out give them an invitation with Jane Doe's party information.

Jane Doe will have a hard time cancelling later if a third of her invitations have already been sent. Besides, there's a good chance she won’t have all of the phone numbers to all the people who raised their hands and received an invitation.

Have A “Snow Show" Instead of A "No Show”

During winter months, offer this bit of advice to your hostess:

Get 5-7 orders before your scheduled show.
If it snows the day of your show, you’ll still shop for FREE!
If it doesn’t snow, then your FREE shopping spree will be even bigger!

Winter cancellations can be hard on a direct sales business if you don’t plan ahead. During the winter months, you can customize a flyer with the above mentioned slogan explaining how a snow show works. The orders will be sent in as a catalog show and you can re-book the hostess for spring.

Low sales are definitely better than no sales, but by planning ahead and using a little creativity, you can keep your calendar full all year long!