Theme Parties Increase Sales and Bookings

During several of the Summer Sales Solutions training events this month, the topic of summer theme parties came up.

A recurring question was in regard to how to offer different theme parties without complicating your business by the need to change your party format each month.

Running different theme parties each month, especially in the summer or other difficult to book months, can be just what you need to create some party excitement.

2 Types Theme Parties

Both online and offline, if your bookings or your attendance are low, then you may want to consider theme shows.

Depending on your product line, there are a wide variety of theme shows that you can consider.

There are two types of theme shows:

• One type revolves around a product or service and the total show changes depending upon the theme.
• The other type is a theme that changes from the guest perspective and your presentation is always the same.

Examples of theme shows that change while your presentation remains the same are: a Mexican theme, a luau theme, 60’s hippie theme or a pool party theme.

In these types of themes and all those featured on the A – Z list of Summer party themes; the decor, the food and beverage and maybe attire would change, possibly even the music or location, but your presentation would basically follow the same format using the same products that you always do.

When I refer to theme parties this is what I am thinking: it is my preferred type of party.

This type of party gives the particular month a special meaning, therefore a reason to book a party but really nothing changes in regard to the demo.

Get out your Hawaiian shirt and offer a prize for the best tropical hat or shirt, but other than that it is all the same.

Creating themes is an easy way to boost interest in booking a show.

When you say at your show: “Next month I have two themes: Tropical Vacation and Margaritaville” you will create a sense of urgency with your guests and a desire for booking a show.

Themes – Same Show Routine

There are many home party themes that you can use and still keep the same show routine that you always use.

No need to change up your demo and complicate life!!!

• Chocoholic City
• Pool Party
• Pajama Party (This was really fun! Everyone arrived in street clothes, changed when it was time to leave we all drove home in our PJs!)
• Hospital Party
• Disco or ’70s show or hippie attire
• Hawaiian Luau
• Tropical Vacation
• Margaritaville
• Mexican Fiesta
• Patriotic Theme
• Wine and Cheese Party

Product Based Theme Parties

A theme show that changes your whole demo is a little more complicated and needs to be thought out more thoroughly. This type of theme show could highlight a valuable service, product or collection within your product line.

For example:

• If you work for a cosmetic company, a theme show highlighting your anti-aging line might be called “The Fountain of Youth.”
• You could call a theme show highlighting your lipstick line “The Lip Tickler.”
• Another example would be if a kitchen tool company consultant has a “Cookie Swap” show.

Keep in mind that a product oriented theme show should have a high end price point.

In the examples above the lipstick show sounds like fun but most likely will not generate as high sales as an anti-aging show would.

The Cookie Swap theme show will probably sell a ton of cookie presses, but if the same company had a “Cook Once, Eat Twice” theme show highlighting the pots and pans, then the sales would be a lot higher.

Make sure that you create a theme show around a product or service that will generate high show averages.

The product related theme show takes more effort to organize. Changing your whole party presentation on a monthly basis makes it tough to develop a routine, which may affect sales and bookings.

Theme shows can definitely increase bookings, so think about how you can serve the needs of your customers by creating themes that would bring value to their lives and bookings to your calendar.

Any theme that you pick for live shows can also be featured online. Think it through and adapt your monthly theme parties to your virtual parties as well. With a little creativity anything you do offline can be done online too!