Should I become a consultant?

[sue_h]

I was hoping some of the consultants out there could give me some advice. I love my TM, I love what it does and I also love the healthy food options it provides. So much so that I was thinking I could easily sell this. I've had the TM for a month and I'm catching up with someone today to speak about opportunities to become a consultant. I'm a bit hesitant because I don't have much time. I work part time (3 days) and volunteer for 2 organisations ( at least 1 evening, 2 mornings and 1 week-end/month). That, being with my family and finding time for friends, doesn't leave me much time and I understand from preliminary discussions that I need to sell a machine a month. I don't see the selling as part of the problem, just the time it takes to sell one. My preliminary observations of my excellent consultant is that you need

3 hours - initial demo
3 hours - home delivery demo
3 hours - varoma demo

How much extra time does it take to prepare for a demo, the paperwork and to follow with your clients. If I'm going to do this I want to do a good job and provide a service for people, not just sell them a machine and have no follow up or sales support.

Any insights you could provide are appreciated.

[Meagan]

Sue I think there have been a few threads similar to yours.

The delivery should only take an hour. E varoma demo is not always straight away when you buy your machine, it can be a month or more after you buy.

In terms of the prep once you have a system it is about 1/2 hour. I always refill staple containers etc when I get home from a demo so my trolley is ready to go for the next demo, the same with the folders.

The only way to work out if it will fit in for you is to give it a go I guess

I love it   

Good luck.

[sue_h]

Thanks Megan. I tried to find the other threads and didn't have any luck. Maybe I was using the wrong keywords or in the wrong section. I'll have another look and see what I come up with. I agree. The only way is to give it a go. I'll sleep on it tonight and maybe tomorrow night and then see how it goes.

[brazen20au]

it didn't work out for me but i seem to be rare in that lol

[Meagan]

http://www.forumthermomix.com/index.php?topic=4406.0

Hmmm I am struggling to find them too  Maybe read through the demonstrators thread as well

[petit4s]

I heard the reason why they are always looking for new consultants is because they have  a poor retention rate (brazen, i think you are one of many). They have their managers give a spiel about how fantatic the company is (it's their job) and before you know it, you're in. That's worth one sale to tm. How many customers still have their original consultants looking after them? Not many, looking at the responses on the forum - the girl who sold me mine certainly isn't a tm consultant anymore.

[quirkycooking]

Well, I'm like Meagan - I LOVE being a consultant!!!  I guess you've got to realize you're not going to make heaps of money right away, and if you go into it as just another 'job', hoping for regular 'wages' right from the start, you're might be disappointed.  It took me a little while to get the ball rolling, but I loved it so much that it wasn't 'just a job' to me - I've always loved cooking for people, and helping people to learn how to eat healthier, and I love meeting new people, so it's been perfect for me.  I think you also have to think of it as starting your own business - the profits will be low at first, but the more you put into it, the more you'll get out of it.  And once you get a good reputation in your area for customer service, and the amazing things you can make with the tmx, you'll find people are seeking YOU out, not the other way around!  I have people stop me in the street to ask about the tmx, because they've seen the magnets on the car, or have heard who I am via word of mouth.  I've never had trouble selling at least one machine a month (right from the start), and when I work hard and keep in contact with people I have between 5-7 sales a month.  (I know that's not many compared to a lot of others, but I'm in a small country town, and I have heaps of other things on my plate, like you, Sue!)  Anyway, you can always try it and see how you like it Sue - if worst comes to worst, you'll at least have made a few sales which will helps pay yours off. 

[sue_h]

Thanks for the responses. It's great to get a mix. That gives me a good idea of some of the pro's and con's. I'm really not in it for the money. I love what it does and I know heaps of families/people could benefit. I'm like you Jo and love cooking for people and creating new dishes. I met with a group leader yesterday and I'm to speak with my family about it tonight. See how I go. At this stage I'm leaning towards a trial period and if I can sell enough to remain a consultant then well and good, if not, then maybe I'm not cut out for it and will continue to have demo's and invite people over. I'll let you know how I go.

[brazen20au]

sue, i wasn't really in it for the money either - i loved my tmx, was really passionate about cooking with it and wanted to share the love! but couldn't afford to keep spending $30-40 on a demo with no sales. i also found it hard to get demos as people don't want to have a demo for a $2K machine unless they really want one and really can afford it.  i thought i would do a lot better than i did because i was very successful wth tupperware, but it wasn't so. however as i said that was just my story

[quirkycooking]

I know you really have a passion for the Thermomix, Brazen - your blog shows that - it's such a pity it didn't work out for you.    Maybe it's harder where you are because there's lots of consultants in the area?  Not sure...  I think it also helped that I had lots of friends interested before I joined up, so I had demos and sales lined up ready to go before I started... If I hadn't of had them, I might not have lasted.  After a while, though, you start getting sales from demos you held months ago - I know it took me a year after first seeing it before I could get one.  So I guess it takes time to get going, then gets easier. 

[brazen20au]

there weren't many when i started - karen3 was pretty much the only one in canberra! it was bad timing for me too, i wasn't well for months which didn't help. i did have heaps of demos lined up before i started but at least half of them never went ahead for many reasons for the hosts

[quirkycooking]

Oh, being sick wouldn't have helped!!!   

I thought of another thing (Sue) - you do have to be prepared to work a lot of weekends!  I keep Sunday free for family, but do demos on Saturdays - but it doesn't matter so much for us as my husband shift works, and half the time he's working too on a Saturday (mum watches the kids)... now and then I'll set aside a Saturday for the family when my dh isn't working, so we can go to the lake or something... but a lot of people want demos on weekends, so you need to be prepared for that too.

[thermoheaven]

quirky, how long did it take for sales and demos to become easier to come by? I know my friend's consultant says that it's a real struggle, and the only thing going for it is the TM - the company are really hard on the consultants and there's that constant pressure to perform.

[sue_h]

Some extra things to think about. I have a few friends who are interested and I guess their committment will be evident if I ring them to arrange a demo. At this stage everyone is happy to come if I have a demo so the trick is getting them to remain committed.

Brazen - also sorry it didn't work out for you. I too can see by you're posts that you love the TM. I'm not keen about being pressured. As soon as that happens I tend to go into a defensive mode and lose interest. I am aware that there is a minimum you need to sell so if I don't meet that then I'm prepared to say it's not for me. That seems to be relieving the pressure a little at the moment.

Jo - At this stage we have commitments on Saturday mornings and keep Sunday for family. Do people ever have breakfast demo's? I think it would be great to have a menu to suit. We often invite people for breakfast and they just love it. I too researched the product for 12 months before committing. Having said that though I only went to my first demo 12 months after hearing about it and seeing at a friends house.

I spoke to DH today and he is supportive if I take a break from my volunteer activities for a while. 12 months sounds like a long time to trial this. I was thinking of 6 months, or even surviving the first 2 months is something I'm aiming for if I go ahead with it. Do you have demo's at your house as well, or just at the hosts house.

My final decision now comes down to what people say when I ring and ask if they want to have a demo.

Thanks to everyone for your input. I really appreciate it.

[brazen20au]

good luck sue!