2015 Post Convention
Newsletter
ost “The mer! fun ev
tion”
“Educa
on”
“Motivati
“Inspiration”
“Recognition”
“The best ever!” These were just some of the wonderful comments we heard throughout the conference from all of you! Those who were able to attend experienced an amazing conference, and those who missed this event, will never miss another! “Southern Hospitality” was the theme as the red carpet was rolled out to all entering the magical town of Mount Dora, where the average weather was ‘perfect’. We gathered who we could for a group photo, but half were walking the streets in our little paradise enjoying the Christmas wonderland of amazing decorations! The Southern Belles greeted all and entertained everyone with true southern charm as they checked in to the famous and historic Lakeside Inn, which was once the largest resort in the south. As we cannot duplicate this amazing experience, we will attempt to summarize for all what was learned and what was experienced as we welcomed our reps to our home town for a true Southern Hospitality experience.
Day 1 What’s New at AMI - Dave Hurley Military bases – We are proud to say we are contracted to sell at bases with the US Marines, Army and Air Force; and the Navy is being finalized now. More information will be coming out in the near future on this exciting opportunity! Testimonial Sheets – Help us to help you! Remember to send in your I Love My Waterless Cookware sheets each week so that we can enter this information into our new customer relations database and send your customers information about when you will be back in their area. And remember, if you complete the first one in its entirety, everyone will follow! Form Changes – everyone applauded and was in full agreement when we announced we would be adding the Elite Set to the back of the brochure again. And the new opportunity form – now titled “Your Prescription for Better Health” – does a great job conveying our message that our cookware is a gateway to a healthy lifestyle. New Exhibit and Countertop – We proudly displayed our new lightweight fiberglass countertop that will be issued at the beginning of 2016. This new exhibit is designed for a 10x10 booth space with 12 barstools placed around the front, creating a more intimate and personal experience for your customers. Make them feel like they are part of your kitchen versus part of your audience. Watch your success rate soar! No Chicken – Think cooking chicken in your demonstration is a ‘must’? Think again!! Several reps have had record breaking numbers this year and have done it without cooking a single piece of chicken. When your customers aren’t waiting for that plate of chicken to make its way around to them, they are actually paying attention to the difference that cooking without water makes on the taste of the vegetables. Payment Plans – Payment Plans “0/3/6/Layaway” – Very Important Note: We will no longer be offering 4 or 5 Pay plans. This is effective immediately. In an effort to improve our ordering process and become more accessible to today’s consumer, we are implementing a 6-Pay option for customers. Customers can elect to spread their payments over six months for a fee of $60, which is added to their balance. However, a $300 minimum deposit IS required at the time of sale in order to do the 6-Pay option.
Example: $2,000 total sale including cookware, tax, shipping and fee - $300 down then 6 easy payments of $283.33. On the 6-Pay, you will receive 50% of your commission at the time of sale and the remaining 50% when the balance is paid in full. Please see the payment schedule below for more details. Quality Analysis Program – Seen any strange looking folks in your demonstrations taking a lot of notes, sitting all the way through to the close, and then frustrating to you, walk away without buying a thing? Chances are that was one of our new quality assurance reps, who are making their way around the country to your shows in an effort to provide us with quality checks on your demonstrations, booth and performance. Fear not, this program has been put in place to help you excel… and we have incentives built in for doing so! If you score a 97% or better, your airfare will be paid in full for the next annual convention. Also you will receive a spin on the Wheel of Fortune at convention, with a winning potential of $50 to $5,000! Congrats to Darlene & Jerry Payton and David Monge for both scoring over 97% this year during our testing phase! We want you to do well! So we are providing you with our questionnaire, so you can see what areas you will be scored on.
What’s New at Americraft – Bryan Hurley
Bryan shared with the group the changes taking place internally with the company moving to the Traction EOS program, and the BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) of the year…make Kitchen Craft a household name in 10 years! Dave will remain the Visionary of the company, and Bryan will assume the day to day responsibilities of the business as the Integrator. He also shared his wishes for all reps to spend five days at the factory between March and June of 2016 for a full hands-on experience. Stay tuned for more information to come on this! Bryan also rolled out the ‘5-10-Life’ Incentive by Americraft. Anyone who increases their sales by 10% in 2016 over 2015 will receive five Classic Sets to sell at will. The incentive will last the life of the rep’s career as long as he or she maintains a 10% increase every year. That’s 5 Sets for a 10 percent increase, for Life! To qualify you must have at least $250,000 in shipped sales for the previous year. The factory will pay for the shipping of the five sets to you if you take them all at once. If you elect to have them shipped individually, you will pay the shipping.
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Handling Adversity – Karyn Sherburne
In a touching segment on pulling through in the tough times, Karyn shared with the group how she dealt with the adversity in her life and still continued to work her shows, making friends with her customers and letting them help her heal.
Getting Back into your Mental Game – Dave Whipple
Everyone was moved to tears when our dear friend Mr. Whipple returned after four years of not attending convention, to talk about his own personal struggles with his health and life circumstances. But first he got the whole room laughing by sharing his version of “You Might be a KC/LC Distributor if…”
Day 2 Today is the Day - Alberto Cabilan
Always uplifting and inspiring, Alberto opened up the second day with Today is the Day. He reminded all to keep each day in perspective, and remember that every day is “The Day”. Success is less than 24 hours away….TAKE IT!
Passion in your Presentation – Dave Hurley
Dave showed everyone that passion is Priority #1 in your demonstrations. You aren’t “selling pots and pans”. You are changing lives…one meal at a time. Do it with passion and enthusiasm and your audience will listen. And buy! Remember all the tools in your toolbox that we have provided this year – the All Clad piece, the Chinese pan cut-out – and if you don’t have a fat jar up for all to see, get it up! And leave it out to show the audience all day just how much fat is cooked out of your chicken or roast using our fat free rack. Ask them this: “If you wouldn’t put this in your drain, why would you put it in your vein?” Also when you are doing your scrub test, leave the measuring cups filled with the aluminum remnants and cast iron remnants out for the whole demonstration so people who join late can see.
Chicken-Free Demonstration – Mark Temares & Tim Martin
Mark and Tim took the floor to show all that it IS possible (and better!) to do your demonstration without chicken. You can cut your demo time in half and still get the same point across, without having to make major adjustments to your script. Use the fried chicken laminate instead of actual fried chicken.
Day 3 GRITS (Girls Raised In the South)
The day began with breakfast, served up “southern style” by the ISD’s – Lesley, Shannon, Theda and Sheaven.
Habits from Heroes – Robin Temares
Robin got everyone revved up with an inspiring talk on “why we do what we do”. She gave credit to some of our heroes in the field, who go above and beyond to make their booths stand out, and put their Get Rid off the Bunny Slippers! heart and soul into it. Watch Video.
Recruiting & Training – Rebecca Monge
Rebecca gave a motivating talk on recruiting and training, and how she and David took Team Waverunners to the top. ‘Lift others up’ was the best takeaway from her segment. Don’t be afraid to have your recruits do better than you…encourage them to!
Watch Video.
Watch Dave’s Passion Speech.
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Day 3 Keeping the Blinders On – Ken Perry
Ken energized the group with his speech on how to stay focused on what’s going on in your booth, no matter what’s going on around you. He expressed the need to keep trying and never giving up. Practice, Practice, Practice. “Failure to hit the target is never the targets fault”. Well said Ken! Watch Video.
Green Eggs & Ham – Avery Martin
Little Avery Martin stole the stage when she read Green Eggs & Ham to close out the conference. Watch Video.
Doing the Final Demo – Kab Benefield
Kab encouraged everyone to press on and keep improving no matter what. You never know who you are going to get in that last demo…so do it! No matter how tired you are, never quit and never give up. “The only one that can make you give up is you.” Thank you Kab! Watch Video.
2015 Awards Banquet The Mount Dora Yacht Club was decorated in stunning Christmas lights and colors, but we made our own “surprise” light show that night, complete with 3D glasses! After an amazing dinner and social time with friends, we set a fireworks display off of the dock that had the whole town talking for days! And it truly was ALL FOR YOU. Afterward, we returned inside for our awards ceremony, hosted by our Master of Ceremonies, Tim Martin. A special tribute video was shown of Charlie Abbate receiving his Loyalty & Distinction Award the previous day. Watch Charlie Abbate’s Award video. And a surprise final award was given from Bryan Hurley to Dave Hurley – the Lifetime Achievement Award. “Dave Hurley - Forever Our Visionary”.
Kudos Awards
Lifetime Achievement Award Dave Hurley
KUDOS KUDOS KUDOS KUDOS KUDOS KUDOS KUDOS KUDOS KUDOS KUDOS KUDOS KUDOS KUDOS KUDOS KUDOS
Dave Whipple presented by Shannon Miller
Darlene & Jerry Payton presented by Theda Heiserman
Ken Perry presented by Lesley Scott
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Charlie & Monica Fowler presented by Sheaven Maddox
Bronze Club
Ambition Award
Distinction Awards
Steve DeVincenzi 166 days worked
Robert Ballinger, Stephen Dukes, David Phelps, Mike Kelch, Cindy Hostbjor & Sandy Hayes, Alberto Cabilan, Dave Whipple, Charlie & Monica Fowler, Darlene Payton, Lloyd Garms, Cheryl Morales, Betty Hahn, Karyn Sherburne, Paul Bugenhagen, Nicholas Castellano, Patrick Couvillon, Katie Yeadon, Lehticia Kendall, Wayne Muilenburg, Justin Mahaffey, Robert McGlasson (Not present: Gary Danko, Brian Moxon, Mark Rudie, Denise Duncan, Jay Cotrell, Bruce Hemmila, Ray Mahaffey, Gary Salisbury)
Five Years Loyalty
Silver Club Katie McFadden
Steve des Islets
Alberto Cabilan
Not present: Gary Danko
Factory Appreciation Awards Ted Froese, Gene Young, Steve DeVincenzi, Steven des Islets, Sam Levinson, Stuart Mayo, Rick Mussi, Sal Anschuetz, Kate & Mark Reed (Not present: Lorin Igo, Brett & Lena Coleman, Dan Gauthier, Virgil Tanner, Charlie Abbate)
(5 Classic Sets) Ken Perry
Mark Temares Kate & Mark Reed
Gold Club
Not present:
Steve McChesney, Brett & Lena Coleman
Team Leader of the Year Dustin Nadeau & Katie McFadden, Tim Martin, Ken Perry, Mark Temares, David & Rebecca Monge (Not present: Steve McChesney)
Dave Whipple
Diamond Club
Rookie of the Year Mike & Kristen Kelch Kab & Sophal Benefield Annual Convention 2015
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Pro of the Year Kab & Sophal Benefield
Team Leaders of the Century David & Rebecca Monge
Dedication Award Tim Martin
Loyalty & Distinction Award Charlie Abbate
Look who’s going to Panama! Kab Benefield
Ted Froese
Dustin Nadeau & Katie McFadden
Lorin Igo
Tim Martin
Gene Young
Ken Perry
Brett and Lena Coleman
Sam Levinson
Cheryl Morales
Mark Temares
Steve DeVincenzi
Rob Ballinger
Sal Anschuetz
Steve McChesney
Steve Des Islets
Alberto Cabilan
Mike Kelch
Virgil Tanner
Paul Bugenhagen
Rick Mussi
Charlie Fowler
David & Rebecca Monge
Stuart Mayo
Dave Phelps
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Adventure Time! After our meeting on Tuesday, we headed down to the docks for lunch and a two hour boat cruise along the Dora Canal. Upon returning, we broke into groups to do seaplane rides and Segway tours around Mount Dora. And who can forget the Fun Bus rides with Crazy Joe! Everyone took a ride to home office for a tour and visit with the whole support team. Finally, equipped with magic bells provided by our lovely Southern Belles, everyone boarded the Polar Express along with Santa Claus for an entertaining train ride to the Christmas Ho-Ho-Hoedown in the Park. The Customer Service support team served up yummy barbeque and southern pies while the band picked bluegrass tunes on the banjo and guitar. After some square dancing lessons and fun at the photo booth, the children joined the band to sing beautiful holiday favorites to all. Talk about a packed and entertaining day and night! So many great memories to treasure, and lessons to be committed to memory. We hope everyone enjoyed their stay as much as we enjoyed having you. Thank you for joining us and allowing us to show you our Southern Hospitality. Please study the material provided and let us know if you have any questions. It was great seeing y’all in Mount Dora! We wish you all the best during the holiday season!
Your Mount Dora Support Team See all the photos from our event!
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10 8 Annual AnnualConvention Convention2015 2015 | | Southern SouthernHospitality Hospitality | | Beyond Beyondthe thefront frontporch porch
Annual Annual Convention Convention 2015 2015 || Southern Southern Hospitality Hospitality || Beyond Beyond the the front front porch porch
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