Author: lorijharris

Verifying New Accounts

When setting up a new account through your portal you will need to use a valid email address which will receive a confirmation email to activate the account. Your customer must have access to the account in order to confirm their account creation and be able to order from Alison’s Pantry.

Here are some tips to make that easier!

• Please create new accounts BEFORE your order day so your customers can validate their new account before your orders close. 
• If your customer does NOT have an email you will need to create their account and have it validated by the office during office hours: M-F 8-5 MDT
• Be sure to triple check your spelling of the email to guarantee the customer gets the validation email. If you misspell the email and then correct it after it’s created the validation email does not get resent. You would need to try to login to the website with that login and then ask for the validation email to be resent.
• Check spam or junk for the validation email with the subject “Account Verification”.

Customers Without Emails

If your customer absolutely does not have an email account that they use, please create their account using the @alisonsreps.com email and then notify the office to validate the account for you. Please be sure to allow time for us to validate it during office hours:   M-F  8-5 MT.

Former Rep Recognition Program 2019-2022

We’re excited to introduce you to our new Alison’s Pantry Rep Recognition Program. We love celebrating our Reps and seeing you continue to grow, both professionally and personally. When you reach your first $1000 in sales you receive an Alison’s Pantry lanyard to put all your pins on. See below for more pins to earn and other benchmarks to watch for .
Plan to show off your pin collection with pride at our Food Shows! We invite all Reps to wear their lanyards so you can celebrate your success when we gather for events.

Here’s what each pin represents, and how you can continue to build your pin collection:

Longevity: You’ll receive a pin as you reach your first year mark as a Rep and then at 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30-year marks.

Sales: You’ll receive special sales pins as you reach these sales benchmarks: $1,000, $2,000, $3,000, $4,000, $5,000, $7,000, and $10,000 in monthly sales (based on subtotal sales amounts).

Personal Growth Pins:

We want you to know how much we appreciate the way you serve your customers and represent Alison’s Pantry so well. Thank you for sharing great food with families in your area. We firmly believe that good busi-ness always comes down to good relationships. Your commitment and care for your customers will keep them coming back to you as your AP business grows.
Congratulations on reaching your first milestone

During rep calls each month, occasionally I hear a rep say “I only had one customer call me with an order” or “no one called me with orders”  When I hear these statements, I have to wonder how much follow up contact she is making with her customers. Is she waiting for them to call her with an order? Unfortunately, in the busy world in which we all live, this seldom happens. In my own personal business, if I don’t contact each customer until I receive a response, I wouldn’t even have a minimum order.  Part of the responsibility of being a rep is to work your business. By work, this means to advertise, promote and follow up with your customers.

One of the ways to follow up is to check with EACH customer through an avenue of communication i.e. Facebook messaging, Email, Texting and lastly phone calls. If you aren’t contacting your customers personally, then you are missing out on orders. Part of the customer service that we pride ourselves in is to watch out for our customers, to be an extra set of eyes for them. To offer her 100% customer service.  When I contact my customers, I am showing them that I care how busy their lives are and making sure that they didn’t forget to let me know if they wanted anything. As busy as we all tend to be, calling an AP rep with an order falls low on the list of priorities, right down there with cleaning up after the family dog!

Have you ever heard of the Rule of 7?  

This is an old marketing strategy. It states that a prospective customer needs to see or hear your marketing message at least seven times before they act and buy from you. Now, the number 7 isn’t set in stone, but you get the idea.  Our competition advertises in the media, our only form of advertising is our personal touch, through messaging and texting and calling.

Keeping the lines of communication is imperative in maintaining the working relationship with your customers. In Money Magazine, it states.

  “Part of relationship selling involves maintaining regular contact. If you neglect a client who has trust in your integrity as a person and as a salesperson, that client may finally be forced to turn to your competitor. (Who has probably been calling regularly to get their business.) So, make sure you not only build the relationship, but keep regular contact and keep all channels of communication open.”

As AP reps, we see our competitors every time we drive by the supermarket. If we want to earn the business of our customer, we must advertise just like the local grocery store. How do we advertise?  Here’s a couple of ideas for you to ponder on.

1. If you hand deliver your catalogs, you are demonstrating one contact point to your customers. When you hand them a catalog, let them know that you will check back with them to see if they want anything.
2. If you have your catalogs mailed, as convenient as it is, your customers are not receiving that personal touch. So, you MUST send out a notice to your customers to watch for that catalog, and to let you know if they don’t see it.
3. Encourage them to order by offering contests. For example, an early bird contest, or when we go live with the new website, for anyone who places their own order.
4. Make a Face Book post on your group or page once a week leading up to order week. You can use the pre-designed Face Book ads available on the pantryacademy blog  https://pantryacademy.com/category/sales-tools/images/
5. Post once a day during order week on your Face Book group or page. Post pictures of your dinners, recipes using our products or share ideas from the Alison’s Pantry customer page.
6. Text all your customers a reminder using a Mass Text app. (Hi Everyone, it’s order week, I know that life is busy and I don’t want you to miss out on any of our super deals this month. Please let me know by _________ if you want anything. I will check back with you if I don’t hear from you.)
7. Finally, if you haven’t heard from them using any of the previous contact methods, please call them on the old-fashioned phone. (Hi _____, I hadn’t heard back from you and didn’t want to miss you if you needed something from Alison’s Pantry….. )

In the Rule of Seven an article in http://www.thebabyboomerentrepreneur.com it states:

Too many entrepreneurs only market sporadically because they are “too busy” to market themselves. Then they wonder why they don’t have enough clients. Set aside regular times to engage in marketing activities, even when you’re busy.

We make the mistake of thinking that we are “bothering” the customer instead of offering great customer service. Look at it this way. If your friend found a screaming sale at the local mall and she went and saved a bunch of money and then didn’t tell you about it until the sale was over, would it bother you? You would think to yourself, (Wow, why didn’t you tell me?) Treat your relationship with your customers, the same way. Your customer wants to know of all the great products we offer and the sales, she isn’t always aware and doesn’t always have the time to look over the catalog. If you point out items that you love and use, then she will be more likely to trust you and order.

Good luck on your sales, and remember to check in with your customers often. If you need ideas for growth, please contact you RSM, she is willing to share ideas and help you grow.

Good Luck and Work Hard!

Stacee Izatt RSM

http://money.howstuffworks.com/business-communications/sales-technique3.htm

http://www.thebabyboomerentrepreneur.com/258/what-is-the-rule-of-seven-and-how-will-it-improve-your-marketing/

Email #1 Catalog #3

Subject line: What if we could make getting dinner on the table easier?

Hi,

If you are anything like me the dinner hour is the crazy hour.  I am finishing work, we are shuffling kids back and forth to various activities, and everyone is hungry and tired! Alison’s Pantry has the solution!

You asked and we’re delivering!   We’re excited to introduce 3 new Meal Kits to make dinnertime easier for busy families.  Each kit includes premium AP ingredients and an easy-to-follow instruction card for assembling the meal. 

Your family will love the warm nourishing food and you will love that all the thinking and deciding is done for you.  Just follow the simple directions for a quick, easy, delicious meal.  Now you can spend time chatting around the dinner table and catching up with everyone instead of worrying about dinner!

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Are you looking for more fresh ideas for dinner? Did you know Alison’s Pantry shares yummy meal plans and recipes every week?  Click here to receive yours for FREE every week: Get your free weekly menu plan here

Guess what?  Our favorite Daily’s Bacon and Pork Sausage Patties are on sale! Stock up!

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There are so many more great products in the catalog this month!  You can see it here or just let me know if you need a paper copy. 

The Alison’s Pantry order goes in (date).  Check out the catalog and text or call me with your order today!  Or you can place your own order here: www.alisonspantry.com

Thanks so much!

(Rep Signature)

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Email #2 Catalog #3

Subject Line: Doing the happy dance!

Hi,

I am doing the happy dance!  Chef Shamy butters (an absolute customer favorite) are back!  The options with these creamy favorites are endless!  Prepare with any meat, from chicken to steak for a juicy, flavorful meal.  They are heavenly melted over seafood or vegetables. 

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Don’t miss our sweet flavored Chef Shamy butters either.

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Can you believe Easter is just around the corner?  Spring is creeping up on us (thank heavens!).  Don’t miss out on the best ham you will ever eat our best- selling Carve Master Ham– on sale now.

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You have to have dessert with that tasty ham.  Check out these great option!

Macaroon Mix is on sale!  There are so many thing you can do with this from cookies drizzled with choc to homemade Easter Egg nests with malted milk eggs. My very favorite is to top our Richly Delicious Fudge Brownie Mix with it!

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Brand new this month are these darling Grahm Tart Shells.  The filling ideas are endless!

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Don’t miss all of our other family favorites in the catalog this month!  You can see it here or just let me know if you need a paper copy. 

The Alison’s Pantry order goes in (date).  Check out the catalog and text or call me with your order today!  Or you can place your own order here: www.alisonspantry.com

Thanks so much!

(Rep Signature)