Category: Sales Tips

YOUR Great Ideas from our Rep Only Webinars in June

We’ve compiled all of your great ideas and responses from our June rep forum webinars in one place. They are organized by topic for easy reference.  If you have further questions about an idea you can ask that rep on the rep Facebook page.

Thanks again for all of your great feedback and ideas!

Social Media

 

Amanda 

 Hi guys! I don’t know if other reps have a separate group for their AP customers but I’ve had one for a few years. Just last month I made it PUBLIC and I have had 3 new customers call me and people ask to be added to my group. It was a great tool to start the conversation for new customers.
Jennifer  I have a Facebook page for my AP too and I post on it a lot and I also post on my personal page.
Heather  I’ve put an ad on the local online FB yardsale pages and have gotten 5 new customers in the past couple months. The flash sale was good too! I had 2 customers who hadn’t ordered in 6 months. I’m still brand new at this, so still learning.
Cassey  I think we as reps need to be the best advocate for the products. I did a LIVE video on my AP Facebook group this catalog and had several customers say that they liked being able to see how products were packaged and it encouraged them to possibly try new products.
Paula  Love being able to share facebook pages that are created by Alison’s Pantry.
Jennifer Whittle One thing I do is going live on My FB page when I get the new catalog or when the list of Items Leaving comes in.
Amanda Maine I went live in my group when I got my cast iron set and I already have 2 maybe 3 who want the set!!!
Jennifer Hilton I told my husband if I didn’t send reminders I would not get orders
Jennifer Whittle I despise calling… I use to before cell phones LOL but now I despise it. I write down what I’m going to say, then that makes me less nervous.
Danielle Sayler I do know that FB is a great tool but have a real love hate relationship with it so honestly only use it for updates on the rep page and group page but have found the face to face interaction works as well if you are willing to put in the time.
Amanda Maine In my group, I share recipe videos and suggest the AP items to buy to make that recipe (with the code & cost). I get more likes on those posts than just sharing a picture.
Debbie Johnson You could remind everyone of the search function on the FB page.  Great tool for finding answers to common questions.
Jennifer  I like to take pictures of meals I have made using AP products and post them on FB.

Incentives/Rewards

Jennifer  I’m doing a drawing for my customers that give me new customers this month and the new customers will also be in a drawing.
Sara  I think having some sort of incentive as a rep every so often helps to get customers. I know last month on my own I did a drawing for an item if they place a $50 or more order, and my customers loved it. It wasn’t a spendy item by any means. Also, give your customers a reward for customer referrals. I know someone for a different company did a punch card for if you ordered x amount of times you would get a reward.
Cassey  What about a customer appreciation incentive? Sort of like a punch card type thing. ..after they spend so much they receive a gift card or code to get $5 or $10 off their next order.
Debbie  You can barter with other personal business owner.  Ex:  buy Mary Kay from someone if they will buy AP from you.  I do this with my massage lady too.  I pay her shipping and don’t give her a tip.
Mindy  I run my own punch card that I use for my customers.  I keep track for them.  They get one punch for each time they order and an extra punch for ordering over $100.  For every 10 punches I put a $10 credit on their account for their next purchase.
Shasta  I had a friend tell me to do a featured product each month and give the customer something cool for ordering it.
Joyce  One idea is to offer to do the food for birthday parties for kids, etc promoting AP products while trying to pickup new customers while they test the food.
Mindy  I have two suggestions.  I use a punch card system that I keep track of for my customers and I give them one punch ordering and an extra punch for ordering over $100.   For every 10 punches they get a $10 credit added to their account for the next order.  They love it .  I try to order my sample products a month before so I can get the samples ready ahead of time.
Fern Goodwin I have a referral incentive where I will give the referring customer 10% off the new ordering customers first order. It seems to work well.
Sharon  johnson I do a drawing each month for a gift certificate and an Alison’s Product from my gift basket.  I give anyone who brings me a new customer an Alison’s Product from my gift basket.  Working well.  The items range from 4 to $10.
Jeannie Sykes I do a basket also for any referrals plus they get free shipping or $5 off their  orders.
Troi Williams The best way I’ve found to get new customers is to do contests and go to craft and vendor fairs.
Becky Price Would love help from any of you reps who would like to earn the $100 referral bonus by helping us find new sales reps or replacement reps…I am looking for replacement reps in Lander and Afton, Wyoming, and Tribune, Kansas, for my area.

Sampling

Ceptember  I plan, when school starts again, to see if I can set up a sample table with catalogs in the local teacher lunch room.
Becky  I always try to sample something that is prepackaged or easy to separate out.
Shasta  I like the prepackaged stuff for samples.
Amanda  ok. so what if YOU don’t do the sample sizes, how about making the baggies available to us & we can do it ourselves?
Jala  I like the idea of putting together my own sample bags of the spices! That would be a great addition for customer orders on pickup day!
Jennifer Segler  Bringing samples like muffins to businesses has helped me get new customers!
Jeannie Sykes I’m sampling the bread this month. Spices, muffins, etc
jennifer Hilton a lot of times if there are kids I will give them an Icee 🙂
Kim Henke Use a sample that doesn’t require preparation–Fieldstone items, fruit snacks, nuts/candy, or other dry products and J & J Snacks treats…
Jaynee Metcalf  Your right, it is huge, and you would be amazed at how many people haven’t even heard of Alison’s Pantry but not sampling is a hold up.
Danielle Sayler Things that are already prepackaged are great like the fruit snacks.
Kelli BONE I bake all of my samples the morning before my order gets here.
Erin Brimhall I had the frozen root beer floats at my baby shower and got a lot of interest in them that way.
Danielle Sayler Dry products are much easier to sample,  plus if your sales skyrocket on that product you don’t have to have freezer space
Jennifer Whittle The Whole Fruit tubes is what I sample with the Uncrustables

Ordering/Customer Service

Lisa  I’ve been getting some of my previous (before the new ordering online) customers back by saying that I can order like before and they can pay me when they pick up.  I had said that many times before but it’s taking time to get it across!!  
Lauri  I agree with Lisa! I think reminding customers of the different ways to order would be GREAT!
Ceptember  All of my reminder texts say “order online or through me, pay online or at pickup” – just because I don’t trust that they remember
Lauri  I think the success of Alison’s Pantry is the personal contact with customer! The months I do best is when I take the time to text or call customers.
Allisha Hughes  I asked one of my customers to take over for me when I moved.  She jumped at the chance!
Jennifer   I agree that the success of Alison’s Pantry is the personal contact. I LOVE the online ordering, I think it’s fabulous. But I kind of miss people calling me with their orders. haha.  I guess I just need to be better at reaching out more to my customers to keep that personal feel even though they are ordering online.
Jennifer  I deliver a lot of my  customers orders and they appreciate it so much. One time I was asked if I had a delivery fee and I said no and they were surprised.
Paula  Customers that talk to each other are more willing to try a product that someone else has already tried. Even though everything is 100% guaranteed it still intimidates them to order something new. Especially if it is a higher priced item. We need to get our customers talking to each other. AND WE NEED TO TALK TO THEM TOO. Be personal!
Lisa  You guys do a great job, keep on keeping on!!  We need to work harder, customer service on our end is key and people order from US to help US so we need to do our best and let customers see our hard work!
Heather  When I text the week before closing day to the customers, I put the Flipbook link in and it seems to help.
Paula  Every month I try a new product. That way I can recommend that product to my customers.
Fern Goodwin The only way I have found to get new customers , is through referals. I have tried so many other options, and nothing worked.
Amanda Maine I’ve always asked my customers (who are not in my area) if they or someone they know might be a good fit for being a rep. It opens the conversation about the opportunity of getting a truck in that direction.
Kelli BONE In my reminder text a few months ago I just put in my text “I always love referrals” and I got 5 new customers from them.
Troi Williams I get most of my new customers from my existing customers.
Becky Price Don’t be afraid to ask them if they know about Alison’s Pantry.  If they do, ask if they are currently ordering from another sales rep.  If they are, move on.  If they aren’t and haven’t for over 6 months, then ask if they would like to start ordering again.
Sharon  johnson The best thing to get new customers, and new sales is just beat the bushes.  Tell everyone you see and encourage your customers to bring in new customers and reward them.  I treat my customers like family and they enjoy coming to the shop, enjoy the visit.  I give away a lot of freebies, but I don’t really have to, they just love to come and visit and try new samples.  Service sells. I don’t find big rewards with social media but I try to put recipes and info out to my FB Group.
Danielle Sayler Vendor fairs has been the number 2 source of new customers for me next to referrals
Haley Notter I just used the snipping tool to post all the sale items that were on overstock. Sold over 20 items!! IT WORKS and I plan on doing it often.

Shipping/Tax

Jala  So you know, I am in a rural area and EVERYTHING charges at least 10% shipping, except Amazon. And all home businesses that I have ever been involved in have charged at least 10% shipping.
Laura  I just had a customer get shopping and then left it in the cart when she saw the shipping fee!  But, to get groceries at this price to our area you have to travel and shopping online is cheaper!  Customers don’t think of that.
Paula  I remind my customers that they pay a membership fee to Costco and that should be figured into the price comparison.
Paula  I figured out what I bought at Costco and how much my yearly membership fee was. It came out to about 10%
Cassey  I think the commission structure works well for me. But I also think you get what you put into your business!

Freezers

Debbie Johnson I added onto my homeowner insurance a business policy in case my freezer would go out when full of products.
Irene HENDRICKS I guess freezer is not a problem.  I have a large order and we sort and customers pick up within a couple hours of delivery.  I do it in an event center that has no freezers.  Customers know that they need to be there.
Kelli BONE I just turn them off when I’m done.
Jeannie Sykes I power up my freezers the night before the truck. They are down or off the rest of the month after all are picked up or delivered.
toni ohrman My freezers I plug in a day or two before the truck comes, I check the temp, and then unplug when empty, easier on freezer when empty.

Misc.

Lisa  I’m glad you aren’t MLM, I love the new catalog pictures and layout…love the lower prices.  We might just need to keep working harder as reps?  I liked giving my customers a freebie with $100 orders, I miss it but don’t expect you to do it if it isn’t worth it!!
Joyce  I have had a great response to the smaller quantities being offered on the different products.  Hopefully there will continued to be more items added to this.
Sara  I have been tossing around an idea of a Tasting Party at my home to gain more customers. There aren’t a ton of vendor shows in my area sadly.
Jala  I never get out of town and I am 250 miles from the nearest Costco, Walmart or Sams Club so I LOVE AP and it saves my budget every month. Plus my kids love getting surprised when the truck comes as to what is ours.
Elizabeth  I found smaller packs of Flavor-Pak veggies at my local grocery store.  I can get more for less.
toni ohrman When looking for new customers, an option is to volunteer for your fair, a funeral dinner at church, anything you can do do be in the public.  Always carry catalogs in you car. I always do our county fair with a contest for if you bring your order there, or tell me you ordered online. People will ask what I am doing, it is an opportunity to get new customers, and explain what Alison’s is, it is great for making contacts.  Helping with events is a great way to help your community, and get the word out on Alison’s Pantry.
Kim Henke  Have you attended the webinars? If not, we have a lot of recipes in our webinar handouts, and some recipes on our blog as well.
Haley Notter Get yourself a new phone and use it as a tax write off. 😉
Shellie Christensen I always have myself listed in the mass text that I send so I know that it goes out ok.

Nichole Henderson, Bowman, ND

Hi, I’m Nichole Henderson and I live in Bowman, ND with my husband, Drew. We have to wonderful children, Ella (5yrs.) and Weston (4yrs.). I have been an Alison’s Pantry Rep since October 2017. I ordered Alison’s Pantry before I became a Rep and we liked the products. Our previous Alison’s Pantry lady had sold AP products for 12 years and was retiring. My husband and I talked about selling AP and decided to give it a try!

We have a lot of favorite AP products and continue to try new ones each month! We always have the Old Trapper Jerky on hand and love this product for snacks and fishing 😉 We also love the frozen vegetables!!

Each month I send out reminders to my customers via email, text messaging, facebook, and phone calls. I ask my customers if they are ok with my reminders. I have found making my own facebook page has been extremely helpful whether it is for reminders on due dates, pickup times, hot deals, or new products!

Meet Sandra Crawford, Big Timber, MT

Hello, my name is Sandra Crawford. I live in Big Timber MT, about 1500 people. I own a hair salon “Shear Chaos”, I have been sharing Alison’s Pantry through the salon and Facebook, also friends have been spreading the word. I have met new people in this small community, selling Alison’s Pantry. My first order was 1500.00, 2nd 3000.00, and 3rd 2400.00, I can’t believe how well this is going. I do set goals for myself, this last month I was not quite there, but it is ok.

I am trying something new with the order. I have been posting sale items on my Facebook page, I am hoping to pull more people and more orders with this idea. I post everyday, which does not take much time at all. I am also going to do a drawing in the next few months, if everyone that orders, can get at least 1 or more people to order, there name will go into a drawing for 50.00, in free food. My goal over all is to be at 5000.00 and up in orders.I had a very successful open house, that really helped people to see sizes and to touch and smell items.  I am loving this, it has helped with our grocery bill, bills and what I spend a week at the store! I am retiring from my salon after 29 years and helping my husband. This keeps me busy and brings in enough to help out the family. I love the food, Alison’s Pantry staff, what a great company.
​

Alison’s Pantry Survey Results

If you had a chance to participate in our recent survey we wanted to say thanks so much for taking the time to respond.  It is very helpful to get your feedback to help make decisions moving forward. You may have seen multiple changes at Alison’s Pantry in recent years. Those were in response to seeing a decrease in order size and reduced frequency of orders from our customers. All of the previous changes and future changes are an attempt to meet your grocery needs in a better way, and your feedback plays an important part of our decision making.

In reading all of the survey responses, I wanted to address a few concerns and clarify some misinformation.

1-      You do NOT have to order online to order from Alison’s Pantry.  I’ll be the first to admit that we did a very poor job at explaining how our new website worked. We had many customers comment that they were under the impression that they were being required to order online to purchase our products, but that is not the case. You can still place your order with your sales rep and they still receive a commission on your orders, regardless of whether you order online or directly through your Rep.  I apologize that we did not explain our new online ordering option very well.  We do have a new website that you can place your order on, but that’s only one option you have to order with Alison’s Pantry.  You can still place your order through your rep and pay them at pick-up just like you always have.  So sorry for the confusion.

2-      We have decided NOT to move forward with a preferred customer program. Instead we have decided to adopt a more conservative approach by making small and simple changes over the upcoming months.

3-      Lower prices!  This was by far the #1 response request in our survey.  We will continue to work with our suppliers to lower our prices as best we can.  Hopefully you’ve already seen us lowering the prices on over 500 items and will continue to do more.

4-      We were surprised to see that nearly 50% of respondents are purchasing food for one or two in their household and the #2 response request was smaller pack sizes.  We hear you loud and clear and will do our best to find smaller pack sizes while still maintaining our quality standards.  This sometimes proves difficult because retail items are often much lower quality than the bulk foodservice items that we built this company on. We are working on breaking up some of our favorite items into smaller pack sizes for our customers with smaller families. You’ll find smaller packs of 17 popular products on Catalog #7.Thank you for this helpful feedback.

5-      Many of you have been with us for 20 to 30 years and used to order for a large family.  We are grateful for your continued patronage and, like I said above, we will continue to find smaller pack size items for our empty nested customers.  We are wondering if you love the product and your kids grew up on it, how can we encourage your kids to become Alison’s Pantry customers as well?  Could you help us to connect with your kids who grew up eating food from Alison’s Pantry?  Please email us with any comments or suggestions that could help us connect with your kids who may not be ordering from Alison’s Pantry.  [email protected]

Sincerely, Josh and Jesse Kissee

The Number One Secret to Growing your Business Is To Get Your Customers Talking!

If 50% of American Business is done by word-of-mouth advertising, what’s the word on you? 

Do you want your customers to talk about you and share their Alison’s Pantry catalogs with their friends?  Did you know that customer referrals are the best way to build your business?  Here are some great tips for encouraging your customers to grow your business for you:    

Be Friendly

  •  When interacting with a customer, concentrate on the person, not the personality.  Your first job is to help the customer—not yourself.
  • Be a friendly person on the inside.  Start with a good attitude.  Be friendly to everyone, not just your customers.
  • Answer the phone like everyone on the other end is a friend you haven’t seen in years.

lady making phone calls

Be Available (no I am not talking for a date)

  • Will your answering machine accept messages or is it full?  Does your voice mail say you work with Alison’s Pantry?  Please fix it if it doesn’t.  Clear out your messages so you can accept more.
  • Answer your phone, or get back to customers within 24 hours.  Text back.  Call back.  Email back.  Be prompt.  People are not going to trust you with their money if they can’t get a hold of you.

Cinnamon Rolls

 Be Knowledgeable

  • Know and use AP products yourself.
  • Attend the webinars each month to learn more about our products and how to use them.  It’s only one hour per month.
  • Be enthusiastic about what you love with your customers.  Tell them how much you love a product and be quick to find out information for them on products they have questions about.

Small and simple things make all the difference and as you do those things with your AP business you will see it really grow!

-Julie, RSM

Facebook – Do you have one?

 

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If you are in business, you need to be on social media. The question is, what is the best way to go about it? So much of what we do today is spent on screens. Who we talk to, what we see and what or who we interact with usually stems around one form or another of social media. Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter. If your wondering where to start, here’s a few pointers.

If you already have a Facebook profile you might as well start there. If not, you will need to create one.  Think of your Facebook profile as your own personal page, it will offer a summary of who you are and what your hobbies, likes and dislikes are. It will share as much as you feel comfortable sharing. Everyone should have a personal profile to begin with. This will allow you to interact with other personal and business pages or groups.  If you’re wondering about a page vs group, here’s the difference.

A Facebook page is like a personal profile; however, it is usually for public figures, businesses, organizations, and other entities to establish a public presence on Facebook. These pages are public to everyone on Facebook, and by liking these pages, you will then receive updates on your feed about them.

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If you decide to use a Facebook page you will need to choose which category your page best fits into. The options are local businesses, companies, organizations or institutions, brands or products, artists, bands or public figures, entertainment, and cause or community.

Facebook Groups are designed for people who have common interests to connect in a smaller forum. Groups allow Facebook users to come together and share content that is related to their interests.

When a group is created the creator can choose to make the group public and open for anyone to join, or require admin approval for members to join, or make a group private by invitation only.

A Facebook group is a place for anyone with interests, goals and opinions to connect with other individuals.  When you create a group you can add your customers to the group as long as you are Facebook friends. While anyone can build a Facebook Page; a discussions style forum is not appropriate in Facebook Pages, these profiles are meant for businesses and the likes only. Facebook Pages are great for marketing, but not a suitable place to share interests and opinions.

So why not have both? Here’s a few ideas to help you decide.

  • A Facebook page helps to establish your credibility in the business world.
  • A Facebook page is a wonderful way to bring awareness to your business group.
  • You can link to your group right from your Facebook page
  • If you use your Facebook live to do your live videos, then you have greater exposure than if you do it from your group. You can also invite people from your page to join your group.
  • Facebook Pages are public, therefore it’s easy to be found when someone is doing a Google search.

It makes so much sense to have both and to use them differently to accent each other. Use your page as your promotional place, then when you get those people to join your group you can teach, share and sell on your group.  You can find more about pages/groups here.

Alison’s Pantry designs beautiful social marketing images that can be used to promote your business regularly. You will find these images here on the pantry academy blog and they also can be accessed through the rep portal dashboard. Any of the sales posts from the team pages or the main Alison’s Pantry business page (not the rep group) can be shared to your pages or groups.  The easiest way to do this is to use the Share at the bottom right of the post and then choose where you want to post it. It you choose Share now, it will post immediately. If you choose Share, it will allow you to choose the location you want to share it and then give the ability to add a comment at the top before sharing.

First the group or page you are sharing from must be public to have the Share button.

share 1

 

 

Second, choose Share, then you will have the option to pick where you want to share it.

 

 

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Third, Pick Group or page and then enter the name of the group or page. You will be able to add something to the post, why you like it, or what you want your customers to know about this item. Then POST.

 

 

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Once you master this you can pretty much post anything you want. If you want to post an article, or a product from the website it’s so easy.

 

 

First find the source you want to share, and then move to the top of the page to the web address line. You will want to copy this link into your post. It should populate the item and contents of the article or picture or link in the post. If you have trouble getting the picture that you want to show, you can post the address and go back and save a picture of the item using your snipping tool and then you can add that as a picture. The picture will show and the link will also post and will be easily accessed.

link with pic

 

If you are interested in saving a post for later reference, you can go to the top of the post to the 3 little dots in the right corner, click on them and it will open a window with an option to save the post. This will save it to your saved posts on your FB. You can access them on the left of the screen under Savedsave post              saved post

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you haven’t tried doing a Live post, it’s the way of the future, as it allows your customer to interact with you on camera live. They can comment and like and ask questions in real time. You could use this for drawings for contests, unpacking orders and doing demonstrations on products. Live posts work best on pages, as they are always public and more people can see them.  The best live posts are short and sweet ones that get to the point and hold the interest of your customers. Too long you will lose them.

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Hopefully you have been inspired to create a group or page or both and start marketing yourself.

Happy posting!

Stacee Izatt RSM                shutterstock_329021993

 

Meet Jennie Segler, Caliente NV

Hi! My name is Jennie Segler, and I am a stay-at-home mom to 6 beautiful children and a wonderful husband! We live in a small town in Central Nevada called Caliente. I have been a sales rep for Alison’s Pantry for almost 2 years and I absolutely love it!

Working with Alison’s Pantry has so many benefits! I get to work from home and choose my own hours, I always have great food in my house, and I get to know so many wonderful people!

My family loves Alison’s Pantry food, it’s hard to choose a favorite! My children go through boxes of the Foster Farms Corn Dogs #1182, the Kraft Macaroni and Cheese Frozen Pouches #7881, and the Smuckers Uncrustables #4290 every month! They are must have staples in our house! I really like the Bacon Wrapped Pork Fillets  #7527, the Chicken Pot Pie Filling #1976 and any of the Soup Supremes. Making meals for my family has been so easy since I have been with Alison’s Pantry! They also offer such a good variety and tons of bulk items that fits my family’s needs!

I love being able to be a stay-at-home mom and help my family financially. With a large family, I have lots of helpers, but I do most of my work while my older kids are at school, and my husband is a huge help! (Especially on delivery day!) Every month I personally hand deliver all my catalogs to my customers. This gives me the chance to talk to all of my customers each month, see them face-to-face, and get to know them better. This has helped me make so many new friends, plus its helped my business grow!

I love Alison’s Pantry!!!!!