Tips and Tricks for Demonstrators

While my favorite part of Stampin' Up! events are the creative presentations, SU! couldn't let us not learn something useful in our business. The next several presentations were about how to increase our business and some of the new options SU! has given us to reach more customers.

Brandi Bernard, a Curriculum Developer and Trainer from the Stampin' Up! headquarters made over a dozen guests in attendance happy by sharing that they would receive extra benefits for signing up as a demo while they were with us at Regionals. They also extended the Sale A Bration sign up bonuses for those in attendance. We had over a dozen guests join us in the Stampin' Up! family. I for one wanted to say welcome and I know you are going to love it! There isn't a better home business to work for, and besides, it's so much fun!

Donna Griffith another curriculum developer and trainer and Shannon Reynolds from marketing talked about Paper Pumpkin. I had just received my Paper Pumpkin in the mail a few days earlier and was so excited. It's really cool to get a stamping surprise in a cute little red box. They shared how there is a try it kit that can be ordered from Stampin' Up! for those customers who want to give it a trial run before signing up. They also made sure we all knew that the stamps and items in Paper Pumpkin were not going to be available to receive any other way. These are exclusive to the Paper Pumpkin line. So, if you don't want to miss out, sign up today!

They also had two local demonstrators come up and answer some questions about their business.

Carol Payne and Jan Barnett answered the following questions:

What are you doing to increase sales?
 Carol mentioned that she was increasing her presence online. She mentioned Facebook and Pintrest specifically and also stated that she had made it a point to post to her blog on a daily basis (which is something I need to be working on!)

Jan told us that the most important thing was to "Keep your customers stamping." While she didn't like the term upsell, she did always asked her customers to make sure they had everything they needed when placing an order. How awful would it be to get your brand new stamping supplies and then realize you couldn't do anything with them because you forgot to order snail!

What are you doing to interest new customers?
Carol said that she puts her name on everything she passes out. She shared several instances where someone had gotten her name from something another customer had given them. She also recommended vendor fairs. She cautioned against craft fairs due to the creative and crafty nature of the attendees. How many of us have been to a craft fair, saw something we liked, and then said "I can make that!" and headed home to try.

Jan had several suggestions as well. She said she always wore her logo wear. Anytime someone saw SU! on a shirt or jacket, she had an opportunity to talk to them about her business. She also said that she passed out small 3D items (usually containing chocolate) to those she interacted with on a daily basis. Cashiers, Bank Tellers, Grocery Store Clerks were some she mentioned. She also said that she would give the bank teller at the drive through not only one 3D item for themselves, but also a second one to pass on to the car behind her. She also recommended joining non-paper crafting groups like quilting or crocheting, to find crafty people who may be interested in SU!

What has made a difference in your business?
Carol said her motto has been "You never know". Just because a workshop only has two people show up, doesn't mean you should cancel. You never know if one of those two will be your largest customer or know half the town or be your next downline.

Jan said the biggest difference for her was when she stopped looking at her business as a way to earn money or sell stamps, but as a way to have fun and build relationships. She views every potential contact she has in her day to day life as someone who needs SU!, they may just not know it yet! She also encouraged us to stay consistent  She cautioned that once you stopped stamping or building your business on a daily basis it was hard to get it started again.

While I mentioned at the beginning of this post that I like the events for the techniques and stamping fun, I have to admit that these types of presentations always get me motivated! If you haven't been to a stampin up event yet, what are you waiting for?