Product Description

If you’re into party plan or direct sales, and you want more home party bookings in your book, then this is the book you need! Christie Northrup, The Lemon Aid Lady™, has spent a lifetime perfecting the strategies and techniques for booking and holding home-party and direct-sales demonstrations. In Presentations for Profit$, you’ll learn dozens of methods on how to book more demonstrations and recruit more hostesses through creative preparation, presentation, recognition, and follow-through.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #150618 in Books
• Published on: 2002-12
• Binding: Paperback
• 128 pages

Review
"With Presentations for Profit$, in just one class, I sold over $1,000 and booked three classes!" -- Bianca Hackney

About the Author
Christie Northrup is a party plan and direct-sales marketing consultant, author, and speaker who specializes in teaching professionals how to TWIST Sour Sales Situations in to Sweet Successes and Juicy Profits. With over twenty-five years’ sales and leadership experience, she has taught and inspired thousands of sales consultants around the world as well as led nationally ranked, top-producing sales organizations. She is a certified "Train-the-Trainer," and a member of the National Speakers Association.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Segment One

Pre-Presentation

Who is the most excited person once a party is booked? I’m hoping the excitement level will be high for both you and your new hostess! When the hostess begins to invite her friends, believe it or not, she doesn’t always receive enthusiastic "yeses" from everyone. In fact, some people may even question her decision to book a show with you because they don’t like parties. And when they question her decision, she questions her decision. Sometimes, in rare occasions, she may actually talk herself out of being a hostess! Of course, she doesn’t want to call and disappoint you right now. No, she’ll wait until the day of the demonstration so you don’t have time to be disappointed!

Cementing the Date with Communication

So, how do you keep her enthusiasm and excitement high? By communicating with her. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Yet, it’s usually the reason most people cancel – after the booking they hear little or nothing from the consultant until the show. So, long before the party begins, let the communication flow. Start this flow with a Thank You note as soon as a new hostess schedules with you. My friend, Jenny Bywater, owner of The Booster has wonderful, inexpensive thank you cards. (If you want to call her directly, her phone number is 1-800-5JENNYB.) I routinely used her magnets that read "It’s your Party" or "It’s your Show." I enclosed a magnet with the Thank You Note, so that every time my hostess opened her fridge or went to her filing cabinet, she saw my name, company, and phone number. My goal was to have one or more of my magnets on every fridge in the county! This way, thousands of people would be advertising my business 24/7 with my magnet in their homes and offices.

If your hostess’ enthusiasm wanes when she hears a negative response, and then receives a handwritten thank you card within a couple of days, your communicating "thank you" encourages her to keep calling more people. Many times I saw my Thank You Note proudly displayed in my hostess’ home. I know this extra touch cemented not only the date on my calendar, but also my relationship with my hostess. Send the Thank You Note before the ink is dry on your calendar! And send it to her ASASB (As Soon As She Books) so she receives it during the time you’ve asked her to compose the list.

You might say, "I send a Thank You Note after the party." Do that as well. But my experience taught me that when you thank someone in advance, the event is better than it would have been. My parents taught me as a young child to start my day off with a prayer. I was taught to thank God for the new day and the blessings it would bring. I discovered that when I thanked God first thing in the morning, my day went much smoother – I was thanking him for my blessings in advance, and I felt like I was more blessed because I was grateful. I once heard the statement, "The more you give thanks, the more you’ll have to be thankful for."

A Great Inviting Idea

When you are scheduling the date with your new hostess, ask her if she has voice mail or an answering machine on her home phone and/or cell phone. Most people do. If she does, suggest she go right home and change the message:

"Hello! This is _______________. Leave your message so I can call you back. Have you heard the GREAT NEWS? I’m hosting a ________________ (class/party/workshop/demonstration) with _______________________ (company name) on ________________ (day and date) at ______________ (time). When you leave your message, let me know who you’ll be bringing with you!"

I came up with this idea when I realized nearly every hostess, at the end of the party, would say, "I can’t believe I forgot to invite Emma! I see her every day and kept forgetting to invite her." Usually, as the hostess indicated, the persons forgotten were usually those closest to her! With this great inviting idea, every time someone called my hostess, they were reminded about the big event.

Who else might be calling the hostess during the time she dates a party and the time she holds it? A lot of people. A lot of people you don’t know. A lot of people who don’t know you.

Let’s say there is a three-week period from when she books and when the party is held. During that three weeks, assume your hostess has an average of ten people who leave a message on her voice mail each week. That’s 30 people. Now, how many hostesses do you have on your calendar? If the answer is ten, and they all do this simple task (which will normally increase her attendance by two or three), that’s 300 people who are hearing about you and your company in a three-week period. And guess what? This exposure costs you nothing!! Your hostess is thrilled because some of the people who call her might already have been invited by her. Now, each time they call they are getting another reminder. Of course, the hostess will also get calls from people who don’t know her – someone calling to remind her of a fundraiser, the doctor’s office reminding her of an appointment, her travel agent calling to verify her next business trip, etc. And...you’re right! They’re all going to hear about her party – which is your business. Think of all the people you’ll be able to service who don’t even know you!

Customer Reviews

Five stars is not high enough for this book!!!
I have been doing direct sales for almost ten years and have yet to come across a book as fabulous as this one!!! I came away with so many ideas from this book. Christie not only hits the mark with her TWIST on SOUR SITUATIONS but she gives the reader wonderful ideas on how to make your presentations/demos more fun & productive.

Her ideas are all focused on how to make your business more customer oriented to increase not only your sales, but your datings. This book is a MUST for anyone doing direct sales. I cannot say enough great things about this book.

Being only around 100 pages, it is an easy, quick read. But believe me, it is packed with great ideas!!!

Fabulous resource!!
Of all the books I've read on running a direct sales business, this is by far THE best. Written with a sprinkling of humor and just plain good common sense, there are TONS of ideas that are useable, not just theoretic! Her principles apply to any company that uses a home demonstration to promote sales/bookings.

Lemon Aid Lady is Great!
I had been searching for more information on building my direct-selling home-party business and this book really gave me a bit extra. While some of the information may be obvious, it's in the way Christie presented it and inspires that really helps you put it into action. I have already implemented some of her ideas and have achieved the desired result. I bought a couple of her other books and was equally satisfied with the information.