Open Houses are a great way to invite your customers and acquaintances to try some of the great products we offer. This will encourage current customers to buy more of what they need from you (Alison’s Pantry) and potentially bring in more new customers because they loved the food they tried.
An Open House event usually lasts 2-4 hours and allows people to come and go at their convenience. You can hold it at your home or a different location. You prepare food for people to try so they can sample a variety of our amazing products. During the open house, you could have contests, a short presentation about our company or products, or a cooking demonstration of some of our products. Hopefully, you will also collect orders while people are there.
Planning Your Open House
Careful planning is key to a successful Open House. Start planning at least two months in advance to ensure everything is ready for the day of your event.
- How many people will you invite? This depends mainly on where you will hold your Open House, how much food you plan to prepare, and how much money you are willing to invest in the event. **You want to plan for 100% attendance to ensure you have plenty of room and food for everyone.
- Where will you have it? Do they have a cooking facility, or will you bring everything already to eat? Do they have tables and chairs for you to use, or will you need to provide them? Make reservations, if required, at least one month in advance. Find out when you can get in to set up, who to contact to get a key, or who will let you in. Also, know who you need to contact if you have problems with power, heat, lighting, etc.
- When will you have your open house? Are there other local events scheduled on that day and time that would conflict with people attending your open house? **You want to choose a day and time when most people you invite can attend. You don’t want to hold an Open House on Wednesday at 1 p.m. when most of your invitees work M-F 8-5 jobs.
- What kind of food will you serve? How much will you need? Having a smorgasbord of items to try is a good idea, but having a theme is fun, too – breakfast items, soups and rolls, snack items, desserts, BBQ, a sit-down dinner, etc. **Order your products so you receive them at least one month before your event so you can reorder anything that wasn’t available, or you will have time to choose something else. Plan to purchase any other items you need that you cannot get from Alison’s Pantry at least one week before your event in case you have to go to several different stores to buy them.
- Will you do any contests, drawings, or demonstrations during your Open House? Order the items you need for these fun ideas so you have them prior to your event. (See sample drawing slips below.)
- Order any extra catalogs you will need for attendees and print off some type of order form. (See sample order form below.)
- Make a list and gather other supplies needed to prepare and serve the food at your Open House – crockpots, warming trays, coolers, tables, chairs, utensils, plates, bowls, cups, tablecloths, etc. **Make sure to have place cards for each item you sample. Include the item name, item #, price, and page # of where it can be found in the catalog. (See sample place card below.)
- Invitations – what kind will you do, and how will you get them out? Start announcing your open house as soon as you have chosen a date and secured a location, preferably 4 weeks before your event, by handing out invitations at the previous month’s order delivery or by mail. 2 weeks before – send reminders by email, Facebook post/message, text message. Send reminders and/ or make phone calls 1 week before, 2 days before, and the morning of your open house. **Be excited and make it personal. People are more likely to attend an event they have been personally invited to than just receiving a blanket invitation to “Everyone”.
- Will you need extra help planning, preparing, and holding the Open House? This will depend on how many people you have invited and how much food you will have for attendees to try. The more help you have, the less stressed you will be when the big event arrives, and you will be available to welcome people who come, visit with them, answer questions they may have, help them place orders, etc.
Holding Your Open House
- Write up a timeline for when you plan to prepare each food item you are serving at your open house and any extra ingredients you will need to prepare the food. Take into account thawing time, baking/cooking time, cooling time, etc., so you have everything ready by the time you begin your Open House. Determine if any items can be prepared beforehand, so you’re not trying to cook everything at the same time. Or have several people help you prepare the food.
- Give yourself plenty of time to set up tables and chairs for attendees, displays for drawing prizes and catalogs, food tables and chairs, a laptop computer to place orders, etc. **Don’t forget garbage cans for disposable items or bins for dirty dishes.
- Be ready to start on time! Put your best smile on and have fun! Make everyone feel welcome, offer them food, invite them to participate in your contests or drawings, hand them a catalog and an order form, and explain how they can order online with a possible demonstration on your computer, etc. Whatever you have planned, ensure your customers are informed and invited to participate. **Take pictures during your event showing the food you served and the people who attended. Post them on our Facebook Groups and let us know how it went!!
- As customers leave, thank them for attending, make sure any new people have a catalog to take home, and then follow up with them before your next order deadline to see if they would like to place an order. *Consider an incentive to encourage customers to order at your Open House, such as a prize drawing, a FREE item, or FREE shipping.
- Plan to have a cleanup crew ready to help you clean up your location, especially if it is somewhere other than your home, so you can quickly take care of everything. It’s been a long day, and you don’t want to spend hours cleaning up after your event.
- Send Thank You notes to those who helped you with your Open House. Make sure they know how much you appreciate them.
Good luck with growing your Alison’s Pantry business!! We are here to help you!!
Becky Price, RSM