Phoenix Trading - Hints and Tips

Bunnie1982

I am interesting in joining and have looked through some of the information on the website but I was wondering if someone could run through the process with me?

I don't expect to earn a high income from it, but a couple of extra pennies to supplement my current income would do nicely, and as I have always been interested in this area I suppose that is also beneficial.

Is it similar to say Avon etc. where I have to purchase so many books?

I don't think I would want to do door-to-door books though as currently husband does Betterware and has problems getting all his books back.

How much initial outlay would I need to make?

katchambers

londongirl wrote: »

Hi all,

Thanks for getting this thread going. I became a Phoneix trader in May but so far have only really sold to family and friends and have therefore not made any money!!
I could do with some tips though I think a lot of it is down to time and effort and i can see it could do well if i put a bit more effort in! But it's difficult with a full time job and being out of the house 7 til 7 monday to Friday!

The Christmas cards are lovely but no one has bought any from me yet as i think they seem a little pricier than shop bought ones (although they are nicer). Whereas the every day greetings cards are such good value that everyone wants them.

I have bought just a couple of packs of cards and a few rolls of christmas wrapping paper as didn't want to be left with loads of christmas cards no-one wants. What have others done?

Also has anyone got any tips for doing a "party". I know its not like you need to demonstrate the cards like you would the products for Avon or Virgin Vie but a local mum has expressed interest in hosting a party in the next few weeks. What do i do other than turn up with my stock and sell? What do most people give to the host for hosting it? How many cards? Or a discount? Can anyone help or give ideas on this?! Thanks

I was also nervous about my first party, this time last year! So I asked my upline if I could sit in on one of her parties and I learned that way, plus picking up tips from the newsletters we get, and from my upline newsletters as we have a very good team with a lot of good info.

The products are not demonstrable so you don't have to do much, and my great-grandmother in my upline, who earns a large full time income from phoenix suggests a party can be no longer than 1hr to 1 1/2 hours. What I did was set up the samples, depends if you have a table, if you do, you can use the green card stand and put all your xmas card samples on that for people to view with ease, then set up the card organiser, ribbons, family organiser, recipe organiser etc next to it on the table, just like you were at a fair, but instead of the actual cards, just use samples. It is suggested by most not to sell from stock, unless you have purchased a christmas offer pack, but even then, if they order cards to go with it, it is best to take the orders in and deliver at a separate time.

Next have all the greeting card sample in a couple of baskets, tied with ribbons, so people can pull out bunches of them and look at them, the cards look brilliant in the brochure but look 100 times better in person! You can also print off the poster samples from the website and put them in a folder to pass round.

Next wrap up a few empty square boxes with christmas or every day wrap and tie with a ribbon, attach the gift tag too, this looks very effective and sells the wrap very well. The best boxes to use are from somewhere like wilkinsons, they have those 3 boxes with lids that all fit inside one another, they wrap up really nicely but without the lid. The baskets for the cards you can get nice lined ones from in:store or again wilkos or poundshops.

There were some really nice ideas from the phoenix trader show which were in the last newsletter, take a loook at that for inspiration too.

Another thing you can do that you can actually sell on the night is to wrap up one sheet of every day gift wrap, the matching card and the matching tag and sell that for £2.20 each, you can even download a little poster saying that, which you can attach to the basket you hold them in, they sell well for people who need a card instantly as it forces them to also buy the wrap and not just one card and they don't have to wait, you always get someone who says, do you have any stock, I have a birthday tomorrow night, whip these out and they can't say no!

Also, on one of those you can write on the tag, host your own party and you can take me home for free! Leave that one pack alone, in the middle of the table and everyone will read it, it will help you book more parties.

If you are interested in recruiting, a good way is to put a freepost card, a dvd and a sample card in a cello, and dot them around for people to take home. Put a sticker on, saying something like 'take me home if you want more info on becoming a trader' if you dot them around people won't feel self conscious about taking one, put them far away from where you sit though.

Ask your host to put out simple nibbles, make sure she knows what she gets out of it, like 10% of sales of the party, and she will probably place her order last and give you any orders of people who couldn't make it.

Take enough brochures so everyone can have one to look at.

If you purchase the treasure island gift wrap you can use this as a party game, if you have enough people. Put the wrap in a frame and on the back of it place a sticker where the treasure is, then get everyone at the party to purchase a ticket to 'find the treasure' they then put a dot on the outside of the frame, the glass bit (so it can be re-used, if stuck on the paper it can't be removed) guessing where the treasure is, then when everyone has done it, check the back for the treasure and give a prize to the person who got the closest. You can either give them credit to the total of what was spent on the guess the treasure, so if you had 5 people at the party and each of them purchased 2 'guesses' at £1 each that means the prize is £10, and the winner then has £10 of phoenix free credit to purchase what they want, they feel happy, you didn't lose any money as the guests paid for the prize and you make your commission on the £10 too and bumps up your party total.

That's it, you take the orders, ring up the host for her order plus anyone who couldn't make it, tell her how much she gets for free, then order it from phoenix, when it arrives, deliver each order to the host and she gives it out to her friends. It's nice if you bag up each persons order in a phoenix carrier bag, with the brochure inside or the new supplement, a freepost card, and attach their carbon copy of the order form so you know which order belongs to whome.

HTH!!

Anymore questions let me know.

Kat x

katchambers

Bunnie1982 wrote: »

I am interesting in joining and have looked through some of the information on the website but I was wondering if someone could run through the process with me?

I don't expect to earn a high income from it, but a couple of extra pennies to supplement my current income would do nicely, and as I have always been interested in this area I suppose that is also beneficial.

Is it similar to say Avon etc. where I have to purchase so many books?

I don't think I would want to do door-to-door books though as currently husband does Betterware and has problems getting all his books back.

How much initial outlay would I need to make?

It is not too similar to avon, as you don't have any targets, with avon you have to buy brochures for every campaign and take orders totaling at least £75 before you make 20% commission, with phoenix you buy as many brochures as you want, as often as you want, and you get 30% commission on all orders large or small.

A lot of people, with phoenix just sell to friends and family, a lot also have a large business out of it, it depends how much work you want to put it. Christmas fairs do very well, but only if the table is cheap enough. People really, really love the products at these fairs, I constantly get people saying 'great phoenix cards, I love phoenix!

With phoenix there is no set way of doing things, you can brochure drop door to door if you want, you can do parties, that is definitely what it is geared to, you can do craft and christmas fairs, you can leave cards in schools, businesses etc.

If you want a bit more detail you can request an info pack from the phoenix website, that will tell you all the ins and outs, of everything in more detail. Any other questions feel free to ask.

Kat x

twinmummy_2

Hi, Please can I join in?!

I started as a Phoenix Trader last November but was a bit late for the Christmas rush! I got a card pack and sold quite a few and my upline very kindly sold most of the others at a Christmas Fair she was doing.

Since then I haven't done much with it but really want to get going now - I have a cupboard full of cards and bits and need to get off my Butt!
I really like the idea of asking to sit in on a coffee morning - I too have been put off because I can't see in my head how to run one but the ideas given above have inspired me - Thankyou

I'm doing a stall at a local MacMillan coffee morning at the end of the month and have ordered a Christmas pack and some other stock - I went to one of the trader roadshows in the summer and got lots of ideas about stall and displaying things nicely but wondered if one of the experienced traders has any other tips??

This is a really great idea - thanks to the OP for starting the thread.

Jane
x

skeeter_2

londongirl wrote: »

Hi all,

Thanks for getting this thread going. I became a Phoneix trader in May but so far have only really sold to family and friends and have therefore not made any money!!
I could do with some tips though I think a lot of it is down to time and effort and i can see it could do well if i put a bit more effort in! But it's difficult with a full time job and being out of the house 7 til 7 monday to Friday!

The Christmas cards are lovely but no one has bought any from me yet as i think they seem a little pricier than shop bought ones (although they are nicer). Whereas the every day greetings cards are such good value that everyone wants them.

I have bought just a couple of packs of cards and a few rolls of christmas wrapping paper as didn't want to be left with loads of christmas cards no-one wants. What have others done?

Also has anyone got any tips for doing a "party". I know its not like you need to demonstrate the cards like you would the products for Avon or Virgin Vie but a local mum has expressed interest in hosting a party in the next few weeks. What do i do other than turn up with my stock and sell? What do most people give to the host for hosting it? How many cards? Or a discount? Can anyone help or give ideas on this?! Thanks

Have you contacted your local schools, to ask if you can attend their Christmas Bazaar as a stallholder? I believe these usually take place on a Saturday. This is also a good opportunity to book yourself in for coffee mornings, or coffee and card evenings.

skeeter_2

twinmummy wrote: »

Hi, Please can I join in?!

I started as a Phoenix Trader last November but was a bit late for the Christmas rush! I got a card pack and sold quite a few and my upline very kindly sold most of the others at a Christmas Fair she was doing.

Since then I haven't done much with it but really want to get going now - I have a cupboard full of cards and bits and need to get off my Butt!
I really like the idea of asking to sit in on a coffee morning - I too have been put off because I can't see in my head how to run one but the ideas given above have inspired me - Thankyou

I'm doing a stall at a local MacMillan coffee morning at the end of the month and have ordered a Christmas pack and some other stock - I went to one of the trader roadshows in the summer and got lots of ideas about stall and displaying things nicely but wondered if one of the experienced traders has any other tips??

This is a really great idea - thanks to the OP for starting the thread.

Jane
x

Hi Jane,

Have you considered approaching your local toddler groups, and asking if you can attend?

I attended my first toddler group last week, which went well.

twinmummy_2

Thanks for that skeeter - I hadn't thought about toddler groups.

I was planning to ask the local Brownie pack and also hand out catalogues to the Rainbows (which I help run!).

I would like to have a stall at the school Christmas Fair but there was another trader there last year and she may have got in first - I'm not sure how she got on as she was in a back room out of the main thrust of things and didn't look very busy each time I saw her. That kind of event is probably as much about contacts as anything though as most people have bought their cards by then.

Can I ask a dumb question while it's in my mind?

I've just got another lot of catalogues and used to always put a customer order form with them - the large 3 folded one that you could also download. I can't see them anywhere to order and I know that in a recent newsletter there was something about the customer order pads but can't find the newsletter to read it properly!!!!

What so you put with your catalogues now? I have the small custpads but wonder if I should get the large A4 pad if that is what we now put with the catalogue?
If anyone can shed some light on this I would be grateful - I have just got a load of large clear plastic bags to do some catalogue drops and don't want to send them out incomplete!

Many thanks

Jane
x

Elljay_2

Twinmymmy - the code for the A4 Customer order forms is CUSTPADA4. it is in triplicate so white and yellow copies is for the trader to keep and pink copy is receipt for customer. The form itself is an easy way of writing code/qty/description/price and total.
If you don't want to buy these you can get round it by suggesting in your brochure note that customers write or email their orders to you using the code/quantity. I find that the small customer order forms work just as well. Especially now the prices are in the brochure!!

Elljay_2

The products are not demonstrable so you don't have to do much, and my great-grandmother in my upline, who earns a large full time income from phoenix suggests a party can be no longer than 1hr to 1 1/2 hours. What I did was set up the samples, depends if you have a table, if you do, you can use the green card stand and put all your xmas card samples on that for people to view with ease, then set up the card organiser, ribbons, family organiser, recipe organiser etc next to it on the table, just like you were at a fair, but instead of the actual cards, just use samples. It is suggested by most not to sell from stock, unless you have purchased a christmas offer pack, but even then, if they order cards to go with it, it is best to take the orders in and deliver at a separate time. This is a good idea for people starting out who don't want to outlay much money initially
Another thing you can do that you can actually sell on the night is to wrap up one sheet of every day gift wrap, the matching card and the matching tag and sell that for £2.20 each, you can even download a little poster saying that, which you can attach to the basket you hold them in, they sell well for people who need a card instantly as it forces them to also buy the wrap and not just one card and they don't have to wait, you always get someone who says, do you have any stock, I have a birthday tomorrow night, whip these out and they can't say no!

Also, on one of those you can write on the tag, host your own party and you can take me home for free! Leave that one pack alone, in the middle of the table and everyone will read it, it will help you book more parties.

If you are interested in recruiting, a good way is to put a freepost card, a dvd and a sample card in a cello, and dot them around for people to take home. Put a sticker on, saying something like 'take me home if you want more info on becoming a trader' if you dot them around people won't feel self conscious about taking one, put them far away from where you sit though. This is a really good idea......no pressure but getting your message across. My upline always has a big "flash" sign on the top of her header board with...........I am always looking for new team members to sell Phoenix, do you know anyone who would be interested? She gets talking to people who's sister/aunt/cousin may be interested etc
If you purchase the treasure island gift wrap you can use this as a party game, if you have enough people. Put the wrap in a frame and on the back of it place a sticker where the treasure is, then get everyone at the party to purchase a ticket to 'find the treasure' they then put a dot on the outside of the frame, the glass bit (so it can be re-used, if stuck on the paper it can't be removed) guessing where the treasure is, then when everyone has done it, check the back for the treasure and give a prize to the person who got the closest. You can either give them credit to the total of what was spent on the guess the treasure, so if you had 5 people at the party and each of them purchased 2 'guesses' at £1 each that means the prize is £10, and the winner then has £10 of phoenix free credit to purchase what they want, they feel happy, you didn't lose any money as the guests paid for the prize and you make your commission on the £10 too and bumps up your party total. I've not heard of this!! it's such a good tip and must help break the atmosphere a bit!

It is always difficult to know how much to take to a party - especially if it is far away and the customers want to buy on the night. i do a yearly "Open House" for one particular lady and always take my whole stock with me and sell what I can on the night. Instead of buying as much as I can I have an arrangement with another Trader that I take all of her stock too (Or pick and choose what I need) and then just replace what I have sold of hers or buy it from her at cost! This works really well as I don't have to buy lots of stock that I MAY not sell! What i'm saying is it may be an advantage to get to know your local Traders too. Swapping and buying from them saves placing little orders sometimes if you don't want to pay postage.

londongirl

Wow thanks katchambers for such a detailed reply about doing a party. |Very useful but actually so much more to think about than i realised. I almost hope the lady doesn't call me back or doesn't call soon as i don't feel ready! I haven't done a fair yet or anything so all my stock is just usually set out in boxes on the dining table at home if people buy from me. I havne't printed out posters or anything (in fact haven't even got around to putting my name on half the brochures yet!) so think i have a lot of work to do getting more organised otherwise i'll do these things badly and no one will want to buy from me again or have a party!!

I can't sit in on a party unfortuantely as most of my upline is in derby and the north of england and i'm in london! (thats what happens when you sign up after going to a craft fair miles away from where you live!!)