Mary.. Thank you for sharing these noes with us..  YOu had an amazing month.. over $2000 because you planned and did the follow thru!!
love and pride, Marsha


Marsha asked me to share with you what I thought made my open house so successfulwhat made the difference for me this year.  I have to say that it wasnt any one thing but a series of activities that I started to do a couple of years ago.  Heres what Ive learned:

• Pick a date or dates for your open house and schedule it the same weekend each year.  That way your customers will expect it that same time every year and set aside time to attend.
• Use some type of holiday bonus buck program.  At the beginning of September, I send out an email and flyer to my customers announcing the date(s) of my open house.  I mention that during the months of Sept and Oct they will receive $5 in holiday bonus bucks for each $50 spent with me which can be used only at my open house that year.  They will show up at your open house even if they only have one bonus buck coupon.
• About 2 weeks before the open house, send out invitations to ALL of your customers even if they only buy mascara or eye makeup remover from you.  You just never know what their needs are.  State on your invitation that if they call you to let you know what day and time they are coming, they will receive a free gift (discontinued lipstick, gloss, eye shadows or former PCP gifts).
• At the same time I send out invitations to my customers, I also send out a postcard invitation to my immediate neighbors who are not currently my customers.  The post card introduces me as a Mary Kay Beauty Consultant and is also a coupon for $5 off a purchase of $15 or more to be used only at my open house.  Last year I had 2 neighbors stop by and purchase.this year I had 3 more stop by and they each spent at least $50.
• A few days before the open house, I call my A customers if I havent heard from them yet and I call those who have RSVPd to verify the day and time they said they would be coming.  I try and reach the majority of my customers.
• When you set up the area you where the products will be displayed, group them into specific areas: Mens products, all fragrances, stocking stuffer sets, and other gift sets.  I also placed some of my most popular skin care items out on the dining room table (eye makeup remover, TW cleansers and moisturizers, eye creams, Microderm abrasion, etc) so they could pick up the products they were running low on or in need of.  Have an area set up with a mirror and tray for customers to try the limited edition glamour items or other color products.  I set mine up at one end of the dining room table.  I was surprised at how many women sat down to try the color and purchase it!  I also had a trial size miracle set and full size set on the table directly in front of the customer as she sat and tried on color.  She couldnt miss seeing it.  I had two customers take home the trial size and they had been only color customers before!
• As each customer arrived, I gave them a shopping basket, a gift list and walked them around explaining what was set up at each of the different stations.  We did Satin Hands, I showed them the limited edition glamour items and then I let them shop.  While they were browsing, I got them cider or coffee or tea. 
• Lastly, I believe that setting individual appointments with each person attending worked for the best.  You can then spend quality time with each person and really help her with her shopping needs without being interrupted or distracted by others.