Encourage your hostess to invite double or triple the number of people she expects to come. Only about 50% will be able to attend so over-inviting is key. A great goal is an invitation list of 40-50 people.
b) Help your hostess remember who she knows from all areas of her life! Believe it or not, if your hostess is at least 18 years old, she knows at least 1000 people. A great question to ask her is “Tell me about what you do?” this will give you insight and ideas to help her invite friends from a variety of places.
c) Encourage each invitee to bring a friend – this automatically doubles the invitation list. Consider offering a prize to the guest who brings the most friends!
d) Be sure your hostess carries around some invitations in her purse prior to her party to pass on to people she sees regularly (at her children’s activities, the gym, church etc;) but perhaps doesn’t have a phone number or address for.
e) Call-send-call. When scheduling her party, have her take the first 48 hours after scheduling her date to start to >verbally check in with people to be sure the date is a good time for most of the people on her list. Her invitation (email or snail mail) should serve as a follow up reminder to that initial verbal invitation. THE MOST IMPORTANT call of all happens the day before when either you or she does a final reminder call about the party. (*Note – be sure your hostess understands that this final call is a great courtesy to her guests as people are very busy and often feel badly if they’ve forgotten about the invitation!)
f) RSVP – When coaching your hostess, remind her that for whatever reason in today’s society, RSVP has lost its meaning. It is not unusual for people not to respond one-way or the other. That is why that final reminder call is so key! Personal contact and enthusiasm is a “must”… it helps people know that their hostess really wants to see them!!
Rina Valan, President and Founder of Fantasia Home Parties
