Moving Your Pampered Chef Business
By Executive Director Julie Gizzi
The day my husband and I decided it was time for him to accept a new job offer made me realize how comfortable I had become with my Pampered Chef business in the same town that I’d always done business for 12 years. Part of our decision to move was also for my own business’ growth. What better way to grow your team and host/customer base than to relocate?
My business move was very smooth and I experienced success beyond my wildest dreams in my first month in a town where we previously knew no one! I did my best to keep notes on what I did before, during and after the move. I hope it helps you restart your business if you aren’t planning on moving and if you are I hope it gives you the promise and enthusiasm of being successful wherever life leads you!
The best advice I have is to PLAN YOUR MOVE!! If you wait to get to your new area to get bookings you’ll likely build slowly or worst yet you’ll become frustrated and quit altogether!. By building your business in a new area BEFORE you get there you’ll find that you’ll not miss a beat with your personal business!
Before the Move
- Continue to build your current business. Book shows and recruit. For a little while you’ll be running what seems like 2 businesses simultaneously, but it will pay off big time once you’re settled in your new location.
- Ask friends and local hosts for a referral of a good realtor in your new area. Take it a step further and call a few real estate offices to recommend someone known for great customer service. You’ll get great service and their circle of contacts will likely be of great caliber for business networking once you’re settled. Typically a female realtor is going to be willing to host a cooking show, although a male realtor could as well!
-Establish phone service ASAP so you can print business cards and label paperwork to distribute right away. Depending on the area where you are planning to buy a house or rent, you can get a residential phone number before having an address. If possible try to choose a phone number that will work in the neighborhoods you’re seeking. Have that phone number permanently forwarded to your current phone number until your move is complete. (If you’re an Executive Director or above you can be listed in the Yellow Pages as long as you pay for a business line. Check on the deadline for the phone book publication date which could be several months prior to your move.)
-Have PHOTO business cards made up….lots of them! When people can see who you are they’re more likely to remember you. You do not have to have your address listed on your business card.
-Always mention you’re moving your Pampered Chef business when making phone contacts prior to your move related to your children, school, realtor, phone service, etc. Never hang up without mentioning that you are relocating your business! When talking to schools you could say: “I am relocating my Pampered Chef business…..are your familiar with our products? I have a very successful business where I live currently and I need to move my business to ______. Would you be willing to get some friends together for a fun hands-on cooking show and help me meet people in the new area?”
-Contact the Chamber of Commerce for a list of events.
-Join a Junior Service League or business women’s networking group to meet professional business women
-Offer to teach community enrichment classes such as a Power Cooking Show. Keep your focus on the concept you’re teaching rather than products. This can get your foot in the door with a wide variety of people.
-Seek out booth opportunities happening PRIOR to your move. If possible work a booth in your new area before your move to find new hosts/customers/recruits.
-Are there events in your new town where participants will receive a “goodie bag” of coupons and special offers? Events such as Taste of Home Cooking School provide these for every guest. I sponsored 1000 goodie bags for that event that took place 2 months prior to my move. What were my results: 3 bookings. I spent about $400 on the materials and shipping. From those 3 bookings to date (8 weeks after my move) I have booked 13 shows and signed 1 recruit….a year from now I’m sure that number will grow incredibly, so although the immediate response appears meager I know it was money and time well-spent! For the goodie bags I included a mini-catalog, magnetic PHOTO business card and an introduction of myself that looked like this:
Hi, my name is Julie Gizzi and I’m new to Bloomington/Normal, IL. I began my career with The Pampered Chef 12 years ago in Colorado where I have done over 1700 Cooking Shows. My husband, Mike, recently accepted a faculty position at IllinoisStateUniversity. We have a 10-year-old son who is eager to make new friends here!
I am honored to serve this community with energetic, interactive Cooking Shows and Bridal Showers. Also, with years of consistent achievement of company awards in numerous categories and having built a team of over 200 consultants I am ready to help you build the business of your dreams with our business opportunity!
So, give me a call. I do 3-4 Cooking Shows every week and will award all of my June & July hosts with bonus free products. Theme shows this summer will include: Cold Stone Ice Cream Shows, Power Cooking for Camping and Power Cooking for the Grill.
What’s involved with hosting a Cooking Show? It’s so easy!
- We’ll choose a date. I do Cooking Shows Monday-Thursday daytimes or evening. In homes or offices.
- You’ll create a guest list. I’ll mail ALL your invitations and give everyone a reminder phone call a couple days prior to your party.
- You’ll pick up a few simple ingredients for our cooking demo.
- Enjoy a fun party with your friends and shop for free & discounted products!
See below for exclusive offers from me! Eager to serve you and your friends soon!
Julie Gizzi
309-454-8800
In addition to our generous host program all hosts for June & July will receive BONUS FREE products of your choice valued at $25. Co-host with a friend and you’ll each get $20 in free products!
The first 25 people to call to reserve their Cooking Show Date in June or July will receive a FREE cookbook. Must call by April 10!!
-In visits to your new area prior to your move go “shopping for leads.” Say: “I’m new to the area could I ask you a couple questions? My name is Julie Gizzi and I’m moving here from Colorado. I’m moving my Pampered Chef business and wondered if you know anyone here who sells Pampered Chef?....No? Well that’s great because I would love to serve you!.....” Ask for their information and invite them to your grand opening show once you arrive.
-Also in your visits: make time to go to typical places you’ll hang out latter. For example: take a few hours with your children and go to the Children’s Museum or play place and make conversations such as that above.
-Ask EVERYONE for referrals! This is a small world and you’ll be amazed at how many people you know where you currently live have connections in your new area!
-Only take 2 weeks off from shows! Plan well so you don’t miss too much time with shows. For example:
- We moved on May 23; my full month’s worth of business was done between May 1-20 and my first show in my new location was on June 3.
- This takes very careful planning! In our case we moved our own belongings….we did not have a company come pack our house or drive the truck, we did it ourselves – knowing that ahead of time we worked hard for a long time so that between moves I would continue to do cooking shows and train my team. (Our last month we lives in a rental since our house sold quicker than we planned…so we got to move twice!)
- When I found out we were moving I set a goal to have June booked by April 10th and to have all my June host’s guest lists by April 25th. This allowed me extra time to be able to assemble invitations that needed to be mailed out 2 weeks prior to the show which fell during our moving time. Did I meet all those goals? No, but having a target really helped in keeping track of the timing.
-Find kid’s activities through your new Park & Recreation department. Kids’ camps/activities/sports are offered all different times of year. Register early so your kids can make new friends and you’ll have new contacts too!
-Get a phone book of your new area and commit to “Pamper a Business” once or twice per week. Identify which businesses you’ve already had a good rapport with in your current area and target such businesses in your new area. A perfect recipe for this is Warm Nutty Caramel Brownies. Buy the Rolos/nuts/chocolate chips in bulk at Sam’s Club. Stock up on brownie mixes when they go on sale. You can be ready to bring brownies on short notice! They are loved by office staffs and when you drop off goodies be sure to take in on a Simple Additions piece that you need to go back to pick up within a couple days. On that day you can pick up orders too! Of course you’ll leave a flyer with special offers to book a cooking show! (see the end of this document for ideas on special offers)
-Keep track of your contacts in your new town somewhere safe! Moving makes it easy to misplace all sorts of things! Create a system you won’t lose or use Pampered Partner Plus to record your new contacts.
-Simplify your kit for shows you’ll do until you move so you’ll have the tools you need in your present location AND continue the same recipes in your new location so you’re not without the tools you need.
-Pack your computer last and unpack it first. Be sure to make several FULL SYSTEM back-ups.
-Offer to do fund raisers for local organizations at their location. Ask for a list of their supporters to send invitations.
-Check early with schools that do Fall/Christmas craft shows for vendor booth opportunities
-See out local directors and consultants to collaborate on meetings and booth costs. Remember you’re new! Be respectful of local consultants and the businesses they’ve built there.
-Go to the Taste of Home Website to see where the bi-annual cooking schools are happening and contact sponsors to participate.
-Ask your mortgage rep to host a show. Always try to swap business – dentist, title clerk, hair dresser, bank, nails, store clerk, etc. Be professional if someone doesn’t want to trade…I would never advocate refusing to do business with someone who doesn’t return the favor.
-Contact bridal shops to learn about bridal fairs or suggest a fair in the store with 6-10 key businesses that support brides.
-Heavily promote Catalog Shows with your current hosts/customers. Continue to hold catalog shows with them indefinitely.
-As soon as you have a new address change your address with the Home Office so you can start receiving Home Office leads. Keep in mind once you do this all your mail from HO will go to that address. If you’ll be renting you might consider renting a mail box at a mail center which will have a real address versus a PO Box.
Transitioning Your Team
-tell your team about your plans early. Give them an opportunity to meet hospitality directors early on.
-Meet with your Director team to agree on booths and events you’ve traditionally organized.
-Focus on developing upper level directors to provide more team stability
-Finish your last team meeting 2 months prior to your move and during your last month attend all your directors meeting with your first line directors.
-Consider inviting your directors to join you for the last few meetings so your first line consultants will know their new hospitality director
-Make plans for conference calls. is a great resource. I use it for monthly director calls and monthly team meetings.
-Do a Step Up to Director Retreat before leaving your current location and plan another for when you return for a cluster visit.
-Commit to one-on-one phone coaching. This can be the first thing to let go when you’re busy, but it’s key too maintaining a strong team.
After the Move
-seek out consultants from other direct selling companies and do your gift shopping. While doing that ask for booth referrals and see if they would like to host. You can find consultants the same way people find us! Go to the company websites and ask to be contacted by a consultant.
-Keep your old phone number and forward it permanently to your new number so that you can continue to service customers from your old town. It’s not expensive and probably you’ll need to keep the old number for 1 year at which point most of your customers will have your new information.
-Stay in touch with ALL your customers with your Personal Website
-When asking what brought you to your new area say something like: “I relocated by Pampered Chef business and my husband took a position at IllinoisStateUniversity.” Don’t downplay YOUR job! Your spouse already has employment, so mention your job first!
-Look for organizations that need donations for silent auctions/gold tournaments. Create simple prizes from your free samples and always include a special offer to book.
-Go garage sale-ing!! Go to neighborhoods where you would like to do cooking shows and ask: “Do you have any PC to sell?” You’ll find out who needs service and who is excited to see what’s new! Note: if you’re reading garage sale ads in the paper go to those who specify they’re selling PC…..could be a former consultant who is ready to come back! My second recruit in my new town was a former consultant!
-Show interest in PEOPLE!! Don’t appear too desperate to build your business!
-Be VIGILANT with making sure EVERY contact you have with someone new mentions your business.
-Wear logo clothing EVERYWHERE EVERYDAY!!
-Always be prepared!! Moves mean lots of trips to the hardware store and department store. Always wear your logo wear, always be showered & looking ready to do business even if you’re just running to the store to pick up paint!
-Don’t be shy! Expect good things! Expect people to be excited to meet YOU!
-Don’t be pushy! Don’t beg! Look at the service YOU provide that will help them rather than them helping you!
-Attach your photo business card to everything you hand out. Your smiling face will help them remember YOU.
-Advertise in your Church bulletin.
-You’ll need a new driver’s license! Try to be first in line at the beginning of the day when the staff is in a good mood and you’re not frustrated from waiting for 2 hours. I booked a show on the spot with a group that might not have considered it after dealing with difficult people all day!
At Shows in Your New Area
-Especially work hard on host coaching so your host understands the booking benefit
-Re-book every host! My first host re-booked for the following week when I told her about a fun theme show I offered!
-Have 2-3 fun theme show ideas if you’re moving to a different part of the country since you don’t know what excites them there.
-Be intentional about building rapport with all the guests
-If you’ve never used name tags before because you knew most of your guests, start using them now!
-Include coupons in your invitations for a free gift when they bring a guest or for booking. Include your photo business card with every invitation
-Form new habits in your new town! Here’s your opportunity to start over and be caught up on customer care calls! Tip: when you record a new booking in your calendar schedule your follow-up customer care calls right away.
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Some of your best tips will be found in workshops geared to improving booking, recruiting and host coaching skills. The above tips can really help when you don’t know anyone in your new area.
If you would like some help in positive thinking (VERY important during what is a very stressful time) check out The Success Principles by Jack Canfield.
Moving a business takes very careful planning! But your move can be smooth! I have been absolutely thrilled with moving my business. I planned well for the transition and am reaping the benefits of a thriving business. My first month in my new town was one of my best this year and my calendar is filling up with shows very nicely. Expect great things and you’ll celebrate your success for growth, too!