Party Plans. Tips for the company please!

[sarahat2littleboys]

Hi there. We are going to be starting up a party plan side to the business and looking through some of the threads on here, it looks like there are some pretty strong views about what to do and what not to!

We DO sell wholesale to shops like Liberty and Fenwick and enough online retailers to demand that party plan people don't sell online.... we can't afford to upset our existing clients. However, we are an award winning design company selling products that we know will do well if they're seen by the end customer as they're unique and none of our wholesale clients buy everything in the range anyway....

We don't want to get into the whole hierarchy of having agents trying to find other agents to get a better percentage or reward and we figure that if we offer a good enough incentive in terms of a straightforward 35% discount/commission on what they sell, then we don't need the 'extras' that other companies seem to be offering. Do you think that by offering an extra number of products if an X amount are sold helps? If we did that, we would have to cut the initial commission rate.... I'm rambling now.....

I have romantic ideas of mums at home, needing some extra income, having some coffee mornings or attending some school and village fetes and selling our lovely products and earning commission. Simple? Or am I being horribly middle class?

Are there any serious DO's and DON'Ts that we should be considering. We're aiming to launch in about a month (just waiting for some more samples to turn up to photograph to put into the new catalogue).... and I really would love to know thoughts.

Thanks for reading (if you still are).

What do you sell?

The website is www.2littleboys.co.uk
Gifts for family and children.... not cheap, but they're not cheap to produce.

Tbh, 35% isn't a massive amount to have as your maximum amount of commission. It might attract the odd person who doesn't want to go any further, but most companies have a top commission rate of aound 40-50%, and, although the new starters start at a lower percentage of 20-30%, it is usually pretty easy to climb the ladder. I suppose it depends on how much people will sell at each event- ie if they will sell £300, 35% would be quite good, but remember most direct selling companies expect between £100 and £200 of sales per event (depending on product).

What kind of exclusivity rules will you have - ie will your agents be able to sell other products? Will you be a member of the DSA?

Sorry to be a downer- I do think network marketing and party plan is great, but you need to think it through properly as people will be investing in the oppurtunity (even if you are free to sign up, they will need to advertise, produce business cards and so on.)

Thanks for the tips - not a downer at all. I think as our stuff is so unique, we will be recommending that it goes with other products aimed at children and families. I'm surprised at the 40-50% margin as from my, to be honest, not massive amount of research, (hence posting on here), that 35% was quite generous across the board. We're looking into the DSA - in fact it was their guidelines on what sells best that convinced me in the first place to give it a go. I just get the impression that 'moving up the ladder' is aggravating; but perhaps people do need to feel that they achieving something extra, even if the start point is lower. Hmmmm, good points and again, thank you for taking the time.

If you don't mind people selling other stuff as well, that could be different- they might sign up as a sideline to something else that is their main "career" product, if that makes sense.

Are you aiming just at people who want a bit of spare cash, or do you want a variety? The people who just want spare cash can be good, but I would imagine that, if you are relying on them, it could be quite work intensive - bear in mind that they will need the same kind of product training as someone who is selling full time (and there are a lot of direct sellers now who work full time and take it very seriously.)

Makes perfect sense. I think it's the way forward to be honest; I know that there are some incredible direct sellers out there who know their client base so well, that they'll know exactly what will work and what won't. Thank you for posting.