Direct Sales Consultants Capitalize at Home Party Extravaganza

SEELEY LAKE - The Holiday Home Party Extravaganza featured 13 direct sales consultants from the Seeley Lake area, Kalispell, Missoula and Helena offering everything from jewelry to everyday home items and essential oils. For the past three years, the extravaganza has been held on Small Business Saturday.

Organizer Kelly Hoag said this is a great opportunity for consultants to feature their wares and interact with the community since "direct sales people are small business owners."

This year the extravaganza moved to the Seeley Lake Community Hall from the Seeley Lake Senior Center. Hoag said this allowed more vendors and companies to be represented. This is also the first year the event has been open to vendors outside of the Seeley-Swan area.

Darlene Compton and her husband from Kalispell offered Tupperware® and Tastefully Simple. She has been selling Tupperware® for the past three years and Tastefully Simple for six months. This was the first year they have attended the extravaganza.

"This is great exposure and it allows for hands on," said Compton. While she feels Tupperware® sells itself with its lifetime warranty, this venue allows customers to try it out and see how it works versus trying to imagine what it would be like from a catalog. Getting to see the quantities someone is buying with the Tastefully Simple line is also a big bonus for Compton's customers.

Many of the other vendors including dōTERRA® Essential Oils Wellness Advocate Marjorie Pelletier, Mary Kay Senior Sales Director Dee Dennison and Independent Sales Consultant for Norwex Billi Steber agreed that the event allows them to connect with customers and educate them about the benefits of their products. It also helps them network with other direct sales consultants.

Alex Kues, owner of Essential Massage and sales representative for Longaberger Baskets, appreciates the exposure. "Home consultants don't have a brick and mortar shop, they run the business out of their home or out of their front porch," said Kues. "Several people offer more than one product so they can be more versatile."

Kues believes that supporting small businesses helps the community, whether they are local "mom and pop" shops or area direct consultants.

"If you spend $100 at a big box store, you don't know where that money goes," said Kues. "If you spend that same $100 locally it helps buy the owner's kid their basketball shoes. Everything is so close."

"I love interacting with other moms," said Thirty-One consultant Erika Wilson. "It is a way for me to have a job but be there for my family. The event was amazing and very successful [based on number of sales and attendance]."