The Date of the Fundraiser Can Make or Break You!

Posted by Chris | Posted on 29-10-2009

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What difference does a date make? Well in the fundraising world, it can make or break you! Keeping your eye on the calendar is an important factor in a successful event.

Making sure that all dates are taken into account is critical for set up, execution and completion through delivery. Look for Holidays, especially school holidays when there maybe no actual holiday, but the school is closed. How are these holidays going to affect your turn in date? What about your shipping date or the date you need to turn in your orders to have then back by a certain time? You need to take these all in to account

Another date you need to be aware of is other functions that are going on around town. Are there other schools doing fundraisers? What about sports teams? Can you compete with your products? Are the products the same? Be flexible if necessary. You need a date that is clear of other fundraisers. Remember most parents have other kids and that means other functions and fundraisers to sell for. Be mindful of activities around town. Here is an example of something that happened to me.

I was working a large fundraiser that consisted of a Prime Rib dinner, Silent Auction and other activities at night. This fundraiser would serve over 300 people. Our date was set and the planning was moving forward. We then started hearing things about other fundraisers at the exact same time as ours. These other fundraisers consisted of Crab and Lobster feeds. The groups that were putting these on are in direct competition with our event. Could I have a successful event at $25 a ticket? Would someone choose crab or lobster in season over Prime Rib that could be held any time? I think the answer was Yes. So, we elected to move our date out a month so that we could sell our tickets easily and have a bigger turn out. In retrospect, was this a good decision? Absolutely! In fact we kept the date at the later time for the next year’s event because it worked out better for us.

The moral of the story? Be Flexible even if it may cause some extra work. It will pay off for you in one way or another!

Copyright Chris Carroll All Rights Reserved
Chris Carroll is a sales professional that has made direct sales her business of choice and enjoys sharing with others. You can sign up for tips on managing and increasing your business at her site DirectSalesTalk. You can also find her at her business site ShopOnYourSeat If you would like to use this article for your newsletters or website, all links must be live and clickable.

Got a Difficult Customer? Here’s some tips on how to survive.

Posted by Chris | Posted on 19-10-2009

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Dealing with a Difficult Customer

Have you ever had a difficult customer or someone who made excessive returns on used product or even had a customer bounce a check on you? Did you stress out trying to deal with the issue or did you just let the customer walk over you as it was easier to deal with it all that way?

Well you are not alone! Many of us have had challenging customers
at one time or another. It is a fact of life with our type of business. But the difference is in how you deal with it.

Remember this first and foremost when dealing with a customer service issue. You are the business owner. You are. You need to deal with that customer in a professional, business type manner. You can get your message across that your customer is doing something that is over and above what you will accept in your
business without being negative, frightened, or walked on. It’s all in the delivery of the message.

**Be upfront with them from the beginning that this is your business.

**Be firm. Do not hesitate or be wishy washy. They can sense that and will not respond in the way you need them to.

**Offer a solution along with the issue. IE.. I’m sorry you are having problems with my product. I am in this business to assist you, so should we schedule an appointment so we can get together to find the product that matches your needs so you won’t have to be frustrated with returns?

**Think like a professional and let the professional take over in sticky situations. Change hats when you have to be the bad guy. Professionalism will always win! Meaning… be polite even if you cannot come to terms.

**Know that it’s is ok to “fire” a customer! If all you have is issues, tell them you can refer them to someone who can better serve their needs. Sometimes, it is not worth the stress to constantly deal with someone you can not get a long with… It’s OK! Really!

**Take a deep breath and move on. Don’t dwell on an issue. It is not worth it. Write it off to lesson learned and move on.

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Copyright Chris Carroll All Rights Reserved
Chris Carroll is a sales professional that has made direct sales her business of choice and enjoys sharing with others. You can sign up for tips on managing and increasing your business at her site DirectSalesTalk. You can also find her at her business site ShopOnYourSeat If you would like to use this article for your newsletters or website, all links must be live and clickable.

Helping Your Group Have a Successful Fundraiser

Posted by Chris | Posted on 19-10-2009

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Helping Your Group Have a Successful Fundraiser

You landed a fundraiser! Now you need to make sure that your group is successful in their endeavors! What is profitable for them directly relates to profit for you.

How can you help? Here are several things that you can do without a lot of effort.
? Make sure the information you supply them with is easy to understand and user friendly
? Remember the age group you are dealing with. Who is selling your product? Is it kids or the parents? Target your information to that age group.
? Consider using incentives for top sellers. If it is a small group, split the prizes with the group, or decrease your percentage you give them so you can provide prizes.
? Price your product at a 2 for price. For instance if you sell candles, retail them for the fundraiser at 2/$15 as well as 1/$8 It encourages higher sales for the group.
? Plan the dates of the fundraiser well. Make sure you have the lead time you need for orders to your company as well as delivery times for the customer. A minimum needed is 2 weeks. 3 weeks would be best.
? Make sure you help advertise the event with flyers and information to the parents once a week. Poster boards around the school and messages on the school message board outside will help. Excite the kids! That will inspire the parents!
? Don’t forget your personal customers as well. Allow them to get in on a deal or to help support a cause they may be interested in. It can’t hurt to let others know what you do in the community. It could turn into another fundraiser for you!

By working a bit extra on the side, it will really help your organization have a successful function. It is worth it to you to do what you can. It will reflect your professionalism and that will get you a great event and an invitation back next year!

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Copyright Chris Carroll All Rights Reserved
Chris Carroll is a sales professional that has made direct sales her business of choice and enjoys sharing with others. You can sign up for tips on managing and increasing your business at her site DirectSalesTalk. You can also find her at her business site ShopOnYourSeat If you would like to use this article for your newsletters or website, all links must be live and clickable.

What is Holding You Back From Growing Your Business?

Posted by Chris | Posted on 04-10-2009

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What is Holding You Back From Growing Your Business?

We hear a lot about dream and goals. Making a Dream Board is recommended to people all the time so you can visualize your goals. Visualizing your goals will make them real and obtainable, the experts say. I have one of my own!

But a lot of us have a Fear of growing our businesses. Some part of it could be old ingrained things from our parents. Some could be the amount of work recruiting and training really means. Some could be the fact that we are so overwhelmed with other Life issues that we don’t put the time into our businesses that it take to grow it. Status Quo is ok… Is that what is holding You back?

If you feel you have these things lurking in the back ground, what can you do about it? How can you overcome the ingrained fear of success?

• Realization is step one. If you do not recognize and admit that you may be this person I wrote about above, then you will not open the doors for change.
• Write it Down! What is your fear? Acknowledge it and begin the process to change it.
• Make a plan and work to break out of your comfort zone. Taking steps to overcome every day will help in becoming comfortable with the difference.
• Find out what it will take to reach your goal. Break it down into workable sections and plan out your work.
• Work on your plan every day! Sooner than you think you will realize your goals!

I know you can do it! Enjoy your success!

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Copyright Chris Carroll All Rights Reserved
Chris Carroll is a sales professional that has made direct sales her business of choice and enjoys sharing with others. You can sign up for tips on managing and increasing your business at her site DirectSalesTalk. You can also find her at her business site ShopOnYourSeat If you would like to use this article for your newsletters or website, all links must be live and clickable.

Are you upfront in your recruiting methods?

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Posted by Chris | Posted on 02-10-2009

Category : Biz Tips

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A friend of mine blogged about this topic today and I thought is was a great reminder that we need to be honest and upfront in our recruiting methods.

Read on… Be Real and Upfront

Deception never wins so why bother?