Thursday, November 04, 2004

Operation Open House

As some of you know, I have planned to host a "Holiday Open House" this year to promote my Avon business and hopefully generate some Christmas sales. (Santa needs all the help he can get this year!) I got the idea to try this venture from a dear friend and fellow Avon lady, Yiota. (Thanks girl!) I woke up this morning and suddenly realized that I have exactly two weeks to finish planning and setting up for this event which is set to take place November 19th and 20th. TWO WEEKS! OMG! How am I ever going to get it all done? My husband has exactly three days off between now and then, so he won't be able to help much. This means that I am left to do it all by myself while attempting to maintain some semblance of a sane household and exert a reasonable amount of control over the daily actions of 3 and 1. My mom is down in her back and unable to help, my sister lives out of town and is busy attempting to graduate college, and my best friend just had a baby! Yikes! I'm on my own for this one! What was I thinking?!?! First of all, I have to find time to get to the library so that I can finish printing my invitations. I have sent out 25 already and have about that many more to post by Monday. Then, considering that people are going to be walking around my house, it has to actually be clean. Not just the quick, throw the toys in the basket, straighten the couch cushions and sweep the floor kind of clean that I usually manage. THEN, being that it is a HOLIDAY open house, I have to decorate. I have made a new wreath for my front door and purchased the ever-popular icicle lights to hang from the roof. I have a lovely Avon light-up snowman to go in the front window, and the new Avon musical nativity to go in the center of the entertainment center atop the tv. I've got to pull out my poinsettia garland to drape the mantle and find my Christmas candles. (I think I used them when the hurricane came through and we lost power...but where did I stash them afterwards??? hmmm.) I've got to dig my artificial tree out of the garage and assemble and decorate it. I still need to purchase a tree skirt as I'm sick of that artificial snow crap that leaves sparklies all over creation. (The baby would probably eat them and the last thing I need is to change an irridescent diaper...fruit loops are bad enough). I am supposed to pick up the rest of my "decorations" from my DSM at our next sales meeting on the 15th. Miss V is allowing me to borrow her entire Avon Christmas display which consists of all the popular products from this year's Christmas brochures. Hopefully, I will be able to derive some orders by displaying them prominently throughout my house. Ok, what next. Oh..the food. Something simple...easy to eat with ones fingers...slightly festive. I've decided on a cream cheese and salsa dip with tostido scoops, a dish of mixed nuts, Hello Dollies (a delectable bar cookie consisting of coconut, chocolate chips, and caramalized sweetened milk on a graham cracker crust... YUM!), and then a plate of apricot scones. I'm also serving my Cranapple Orange Holiday Punch. (Email me if you'd like any of the recipes). Why I have to play Betty Crocker and serve homemade refreshments I will never understand other than the simple fact that I'm far too anal to open a bag of store-bought cookies and dump them on a serving tray. Oh well. Now on to the guest. Each guest will be given a brochure and an order form (oh crap! I knew I was forgetting something...I still have to type up and print out the order forms! argh!) and a pen upon arrival. The brochures will be numbered for door-prize drawings which will be held at 15-20 minute intervals throughout the "party." Each guest will also have the opportunity to reach into a stocking filled with lip balms, mini bubble baths, holiday shaped soaps, mini shower gels, mini body lotions, mini shampoos, mini deodorants, etc. and pull out a "welcome gift." No one will go home empty-handed. Hopefully, my guests will be able to either sit and browe through their respective brochures or tour the room and write down any products they are interested in on their order forms. All available display pieces will be marked with an index card containing the item number and current sale price. I also plan to hang some posters hi-lighting other great "gift ideas." I hope to be able to have four distinct areas in which to display and demo various items. I want to have a Mark. table, a regular Avon table, a Men's table, and a Wellness table. I will also have a recruiting area for anyone who might be interesting in selling or learning more about selling. On each table there will be various products for people to try, samples to pick up, extra brochures and flyers, and ready made gift baskets to purchase. Hopefully I will be able to get everything together in time. My main worry now is that no one will show up! If you have any suggestions, feel free to comment or email! :)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sure, why not, Jamie's idea is no bad at all "on the punch"! Great plan girl, but remember, don't engage your customers with too much food... Make sure they don't forget to fill in their order forms. And speaking on order forms, you don't have to make ones, you could staple a couple of pages from the order books and have your customers' turn those in with your orders. Order several extra order books and use them instead of the print outs. It is wonderful that your DSM is willing to give you her holiday demos.
I wish I could help you, but I am in Seattle!!! I would love your recipe for the punch - I will be sure to add a bit of a kick on mine... Make sure you invite double or triple the amount of the customers you plan to. Also, ask your manager to give you the "Have yourself a mery little big business" cd to watch after you put your darlings to bed... If you have not watched that yet.
I think with this kind of planning you will do GREAT!
A fellow Avon lady in our district had a $ 4,000.00 sale recently. (she had her holiday house open for about a week though).

Anonymous said...

oopps, the anonymous comment was mine - I forgot to sign my name.... Yiota