How to Do a Christmas in July for your Direct Sales Business

Christmas in July is a fun event to do in your direct sales business. It can boost sales, fill your calendar, clean off your shelves, and help you make new contacts. It’s an easy theme for the summer because no one expects you to go all out but the word “Christmas” puts everyone in a shopping mode.

Date and Time

Two or three hours in length is perfect. Because this can be a big booking event for you, try to have it during your ideal party time. So if you like to do parties on Thursday evening, have your Christmas in July on a Thursday evening. If someone can come to your CIJ, chances are she is usually available that same time and day and you have one less objection to overcome.

Décor

Don’t pull out all your Christmas stuff unless you love Christmas and you’re looking for an excuse to leave it up for the rest of the year. If it’s easy, pull out a couple of stockings or put up a wreath. If it’s not, use red table cloths and play Christmas music.

Food

If you like to bake sugar cookies and you have Christmas cutters, use them. If not, no one is going to turn down a chocolate chip cookie even if it is store-bought. Most grocery stores have a frozen punch you can put into a bowl with ginger ale or Sprite. Put a bottle of vodka next to it if your crowd would appreciate it. If you sell food and/or entertainment items, do a little more and have it do double-duty of display and refreshments.

Set-up

Set up different areas for people to explore.

• Newer products – you might not have the releases from conference yet, but you’ve probably gotten some new items in the spring or summer. 
• Retiring and limited-edition products—don’t feel like you have to discount them. If you don’t have everything for display, have a list of items that are leaving.
• Sample sale—these don’t have to be used items. They can be brand new or maybe they were just used for display. If they are used, they should be discounted. The discount can reflect the wear and tear. If they are new, and you really want to get rid of them and you don’t want to save them for hostess gifts, etc., discount them. If they are brand new AND still in the catalog, I wouldn’t discount them. I wouldn’t charge shipping on them either, but that’s up to you.
• Summer favorites—you can combine this with the newer products if you want to. These can be your favorites, top sellers, or things that are summerish.
• Gift items—most of the people who come to your Christmas in July will be current customers. They’ve probably already seen the basics that you display at a show so if you don’t have room for everything, do a gift idea table instead of the basics. Guests can buy their obligatory holiday gifts (teachers, co-workers, etc.) and add to their stash of emergency gifts (you’re training them to have a stash, right?). Think about housewarmings/hostess gifts, Secret Santa, add-ons to a main gift, etc. If you sell a product that people have to do something to it before they can gift it, such as a craft item, make a big deal about this at your CIJ. They’ll have a better chance of completing it if they get started in the summer. You want them to enjoy the process and be successful.
• Hostess opportunity—have something that talks about all the benefits of hosting. You can even wrap little boxes to look like presents and put your available dates on the name tag. Someone can pick the present with the date that works best for her, and she can open the present at the party (don’t send it home with her). The presents can all be the same (extra pick from your hostess basket, free shipping, an extra discount on one item, etc.) or be actual items you want to gift her. Bring the present to her party. If you don’t want to wrap presents, have a blank calendar and highlight your available dates. I’d offer a bonus for booking right then and there.
• Join opportunity—have something that highlights the benefits of joining your team. If you have an opportunity event coming up, have a stack of invitations to that. If you like to do one-on-one opportunity chats at a coffee shop, put a stack of invitations without the date filled in so you can schedule your chats.

Having different areas helps give the guests structure and frees you up to visit, sell and schedule. The areas can be in different rooms, different tables or different parts of a table depending on your displays and available space. Print signs with explanations or titles of the areas so that guests can be self-sufficient in their exploration, and you can save your words for upselling and scheduling.

Flow

Christmas in July is typically done as an open house. If there is space, set up a welcome table with catalogs, a welcome sign, and a simple display. Most people are going to walk past the first table, so don’t put anything important on it. Set up your checkout area where you typically like to do a party close. The kitchen is great for this. Have the hostess and join opportunity areas near this because you’ll want to personally invite people to host or schedule a chat with you.

Booking Parties

You can fill up your summer calendar and start on fall’s at your Christmas in July. Offer to open a party with purchases someone makes at CIJ. If they bring friends (encourage them to do so), you can open the party with their friends’ purchases too. Most new catalogs start at the end of the summer, and you can give your guests first dibs on hosting a catalog reveal party. These are your regular parties unless it is all repeat people in which case you’ll highlight the new products.

The main thing to remember about your Christmas in July is that they are just like summer. Fun and simple. Light and easy.

Don’t overthink it or overdo it.

Cheering for you,
Kelly