Phoenix traders - what is your most successful selling technique?

mindermum

Yes,
I tend to hold stock and take it with me to coffee and cards etc. People like a good look through and often impulse buy when they see the real thing. Also gives everyone an idea of the quality/size, etc

I also hold stock for friends and neighbours to pop in a buy, and I also take a selection to baby group with me. My stock gets greater and greater with each order, it's probably where all my profits go

allIcouldwishfor

mindermum wrote: »

Yes,
I tend to hold stock and take it with me to coffee and cards etc. People like a good look through and often impulse buy when they see the real thing. Also gives everyone an idea of the quality/size, etc

I also hold stock for friends and neighbours to pop in a buy, and I also take a selection to baby group with me. My stock gets greater and greater with each order, it's probably where all my profits go

Same here - I take around £250 (sales value) of stock to toddler groups and home events, made up of 30-odd giftwrap and tag sets, 12-15 packs of notecards and around 150 cards, which is enough of a selection for people to have a browse through without being too arduous for me to cart about!

I've had a great weekend, a big postal order arrived on Friday, and I got 2 email orders from mums at school over the weekend. £100 of orders with no effort on my part whatsoever (well sort of!) Woohoo!!!

skeeter_2

allIcouldwishfor wrote: »

Same here - I take around £250 (sales value) of stock to toddler groups and home events, made up of 30-odd giftwrap and tag sets, 12-15 packs of notecards and around 150 cards, which is enough of a selection for people to have a browse through without being too arduous for me to cart about!

I've had a great weekend, a big postal order arrived on Friday, and I got 2 email orders from mums at school over the weekend. £100 of orders with no effort on my part whatsoever (well sort of!) Woohoo!!!

It is great when the business comes to you :T

I had a fantastic coffee and cards morning yesterday, with sales of £210 :j which consisted of mainly orders although some stock items were sold there and then.

happy1234

Hello,IM looking into starting a small party plan business soon - just deciding which to go with and which suits me best.What I want to know about Phoenix is - if you do a party or catalogue drops etc Do you have stock to hand or order when you have orders in? which is the best way round that?Thanks

mindermum

I held a stall at my school fete on Saturday, in the hope of having one of those £400 or £500 sales people talk about. Only sold £85, even though the place was packed and of course had to pay for the stall.
I want a big sale! (screaming and stamping feet!)
I have a cards night at my friends house on Friday so hopefully it will be the night Phoenix Traders dream of. Or I'll scream and scream and sream till I make myself sick!!
:eek:

allIcouldwishfor

happy1234 wrote: »

Hello,IM looking into starting a small party plan business soon - just deciding which to go with and which suits me best.What I want to know about Phoenix is - if you do a party or catalogue drops etc Do you have stock to hand or order when you have orders in? which is the best way round that?Thanks

Hi Happy and welcome!

At events, I sell from stock and take orders. I don't try to fulfil orders from my stock as there are well over 800 products in the Phoenix range and I run my business from 2 shelves of a cupboard, so I don't have the space to keep everything in stock. I also have customers who buy 6 or 10 of the same design. I advise my customers that their orders will be fulfilled within 10 days and if there's anything they need urgently, they can have a browse through my stock baskets.

There are traders who sell only from stock and also traders who don't carry any stock at all and just take orders, but you will find most do a bit of both.

allIcouldwishfor

mindermum wrote: »

I held a stall at my school fete on Saturday, in the hope of having one of those £400 or £500 sales people talk about. Only sold £85, even though the place was packed and of course had to pay for the stall.
I want a big sale! (screaming and stamping feet!)
I have a cards night at my friends house on Friday so hopefully it will be the night Phoenix Traders dream of. Or I'll scream and scream and sream till I make myself sick!!
:eek:

Aw poor you. There, there, mindermum!

If it's any consolation, I've not had a £400/£500 event either.

BUSYB_2

mindermum wrote: »

I held a stall at my school fete on Saturday, in the hope of having one of those £400 or £500 sales people talk about. Only sold £85, even though the place was packed and of course had to pay for the stall.
I want a big sale! (screaming and stamping feet!)
I have a cards night at my friends house on Friday so hopefully it will be the night Phoenix Traders dream of. Or I'll scream and scream and sream till I make myself sick!!
:eek:

Let us know how it goes on Friday night. Good Luck!!

skeeter_2

happy1234 wrote: »

Hello,IM looking into starting a small party plan business soon - just deciding which to go with and which suits me best.What I want to know about Phoenix is - if you do a party or catalogue drops etc Do you have stock to hand or order when you have orders in? which is the best way round that?Thanks

It is useful to keep some stock, especially if you are intending to sell at toddler groups, school fair's etc.

However, it is possible to sell from the brochure and samples only if this is what suits you best.

I keep the new cards and bestselling cards in stock (there is a bestseller list provided by Phoenix, and after a while you will get to know which cards sell well) and if a client orders something which I do not have in stock, I will either order it from Phoenix, or swap stock with another PT.

I recently attended two 'coffee and cards' events in a client's home, with brochures, order forms, samples of new products, and a small basket of stock. One I sold mainly from stock, and was given a couple of orders. The other I took mainly orders and sold a few items of stock. So it can go either way! I think it is best to cover all possibilities by using both stock and samples along with the brochure.

Wibblywobbly14

mindermum wrote: »

I held a stall at my school fete on Saturday, in the hope of having one of those £400 or £500 sales people talk about. Only sold £85, even though the place was packed and of course had to pay for the stall.

I think £85 is ok for a school fete! About average for my experiences so far. You'll have got publicity from it though and may get some future orders or sponsors, you never know...

I've only sold over £400 once, at an 'at home' charity sale before Christmas, I was astounded!