HOLIDAY 2002
Interview with ERVP, Donna Weiser,
from Biz Builder, August, 2002

…”You’ve got to recognize the importance of certain seasons for buyers.  The holiday season is the most important time of year for retailers and Arbonne is no exception to the rule.  My personal sales tend to increase well over 25% during the holidays.  And just like other aspects of our business, the rewards of the work that we do today are often experienced down the road.  So, plan ahead for the buying seasons, and your business will generate the momentum it needs to optimize the sales and sponsoring possibilities that naturally present themselves.

I think the holiday season allows Arbonne consultants the opportunity to introduce Arbonne to people they may not normally approach during the rest of the year.  Those of us who focus on Arbonne as a career will eventually run out of warm leads.  That’s just the nature of the business.  But a season devoted to gift giving opens up a whole new world of prospective customers.  The holiday season is important to gaining new sales and sponsoring  opportunities because the fabulous holiday line of Arbonne products is tailor-made to entice new customers.

When asked about creating a successful holiday gift basket, Donna replied:” Always include a gift certificate in the gift set or gift basket.  I used to do free facial certificates and now I put in gift certificates that say: $15 off your first Arbonne purchase … Call for free samples and a Holiday or Product Catalogue.   You can also include a little questionnaire and offer a gift for returning the questionnaire.  Personally, I prefer conducting holiday presentations with a few prototype gift baskets I’ve created.  I know that many of us do catalogue presentations with very few products at our actual skin care presentations; however, when dealing with holiday gifts, potential clients want to see, touch, and more importantly, smell  our wonderful products when they are making their all-important decisions on which products they would like to give.  I keep one of each holiday product in a large basket done up with a few ornaments to promote the festive mood and buying spirit of the season.

Success comes from planning ahead!  Lay out a basic blueprint for your holiday selling and sponsoring plans right now at the end of summer so you will be ready to execute them when the seasonal opportunities arrive.  I like to start out with some basic strategies.

First things first! Just as we ask new consultants to make a list of 100 names they know when they first come into Arbonne- coming into the holiday season is no different.  Make a list of everyone you can think of who may be interested in gifts for their family, friends, clients or employees.  And just like that new consultant’s list of 100 names—don’t pre-judge! Think of all the people you and your family members do business with, think of your current client base and their professions, think of your own family and friends and all the people they give gifts to each holiday season—the possibilities are endless!

 The next step is to order each holiday product to serve as a prototype. You’ll need these to creat a holiday gift basket to use in presentations as a selling tool.  Remember: holiday customers need to see, touch, and sample actual products to be convinced that they would make good gifts because they are buying for someone other than themselves.  When going to a presentation, I always bring a selection of different priced gift baskets, ranging from high to medium to low.  Given the choice, people most often choose the mid-range priced gift sets.  Use this bit of knowledge to your advantage!

Armed with your list of names and your beautiful gift arrangements, the next step is to make those phone calls. But before you do this, divide your list into people you know well and those who are only acquaintances.  A third division would consist of cold calls, or those who have not been referred to you. You will need to customize your approach to each group differently.

Some sample dialog for approaching different groups of potential clients:

    1. For friend or acquaintance:

        “Hi, Mary, it’s (your name)—do you have a minute? I am so excited! Arbonne, you know the skin care and nutritional company that I have been working with… well, Arbonne just launched their 2002 holiday line and it’s fabulous!  I can’t wait to show it to you! I’m sure you have a long list of people you give gifts to each holiday season and I know Arbonne’s holiday line will be perfect for your gift giving needs this year!  And the best part is, you don’t even have to leave your home to go shopping!  When is a good time for me to come over to show you these wonderful products?”

    2. For a corporate lead that has been referred to you, also called a “warm lead”, you would follow these lines:

        “Hi, I’d like to speak to John Adams.  I was referred to John by my friend Mary Smith. Hi, John, this is (your name) and I’m a friend of Mary Smith.  She thought you might be interested in my corporate gift service.  I have a line of aromatherapy products that would make fabulous gifts for your clients or office staff.”


        (If his immediate response is an objection, counter it with a positive) For instance, if he says:”We don’t have a budget for that this year”.  You respond: “Actually, you’d be amazed at how reasonably priced these gifts are… perhaps I can “pop” by for a few minutes later this week and let you take a quick look”.

        Or turn the situation from a corporate purchase to a possible personal purchase with: “These make wonderful gifts for your (wife, mother, girlfriend) and with your busy schedule, you won’t even have to leave your office to go shopping! So when can I “pop” by and show you these wonderful products?”

    The third group is “cold leads”.  Open the yellow pages and just start calling! This is how to do it:

        “Hi, may I speak to the person who handles your holiday gift-giving this year?” If the response is”We don’t do that here.” You can counter with: “Have you considered doing something like that this year? I have a corporate gift service of fine aromatherapy  products – very reasonably priced and I’d be happy to “pop” by and give you a chance to take a quick look!” If you still get an objection, proceed with: “Perhaps you can do me a big favor (people love to do favors). I have a home-based business here in the neighborhood and I’m currently looking for two people who would like to earn some extra money by starting their own home-based business.  Would it be allright  if I come by with a catalogue and drop off some samples for you? Maybe you know someone who is looking for a change!”

Remember: your goal is simply to get your foot in the door.  You never know who you might meet when you drop by to show the products.  You may gain more than you bargained for. A secretary, for instance, may be looking for a way to supplement her invcome.  Or, better yet, perhaps a spouse of an executive is looking for something to do.  After all, we are in the business of network marketing—so you have to “network” to “market”!!