A lot of new consultants (and heck, let’s face it, really established consultants) feel a little awkward when they tell a new host that, yes, they have to pay for their party.
I’ll be honest: it was weird for me at first, too! It felt totally strange that I would be in a home party business and I was asking the host to pay for her party. Many WineShop at Home consultants who started in direct sales with another company find this strange, as well.
When it really comes down to it, there are many good reasons – legal reasons, business reasons, and social reasons – to ask the host to pay for her party. Let’s clear up the confusion so you can pick up the phone and ask someone to host feeling confident about your request.
The Social Reasons
In order to host a party with WineShop at Home, a host must pay $29.95 plus tax and shipping. In exchange for that fee, the host receives 5 full-size bottles of wine plus a 6th that they can keep for themselves or share.
As our bottles average ~$20 each, that’s at least a $120 value. Not only that, but the host also receives our gift of the month plus additional specials and discounts, accessories and Wine Club discounts. Needless to say, there’s a lot of benefit in that $29.95.
Comparatively, if the host were to take five of her friends to a wine tasting at a Napa winery, she could easily spend $50 per person just to sip. With WineShop, at least the host gets to keep any leftover wine!
WineShop offers the hostess an easy and fun way to have guests over as well as an opportunity to purchase really good wine at a wholesale price.
The Business Reasons
The objective of any business is to make a profit. I don’t care how much you love wine, no one would put in the time, energy and emotional effort required to run a business just because they love wine. They gotta make money!
From a consultant standpoint, imagine if you had to pay for every party out of pocket. That’s at least a $30 expense per party (not including gas, your time and your expertise). But what if you spent that extra $30 per party and the host cancelled? Or what if they didn’t purchase enough wine to cover the costs?
If that were the case, every consultant would be totally stressed all the time. WineShop doesn’t want to create a culture of constantly stressed-out consultants; that’s no fun for anyone.
The Legal Reasons
Legally, the host needs to own the wine. If the host is the owner of the wine, it frees the consultant to show up and help her throw a fun, educational event instead of being a bartender. It also keeps WineShop consultants from having to apply for a license to sell alcohol.
When a host presents resistance when you tell him or her that they must pay for their own wine, you can gently remind them of all the reasons listed above. If they were hosting any other sort of party they would have to purchase wine, and this way, they get it at a much lower rate!
Besides, what host doesn’t want to keep the leftover wine? This way she or he gets to enjoy the leftovers – and I don’t know anyone who isn’t excited at that prospect!