Tuesday, July 29, 2008

A Review of The Pampered Chef MLM Opportunity

By Cathy Yeatts

The Pampered Chef is a network marketing opportunity headquartered in Addison, IL. Its goal is to preserve the importance of shared family meals for even the busiest families through time-saving tips, tools and recipes. In addition, the company strives to provide an opportunity to earn money from home using God-given talents.

The Pampered Chef was founded in 1980 by Doris Christopher. Christopher was an educator, a home economist and a mom who saw the need for real cooks in regular kitchens to have professional-quality tools. Putting to use her expertise in the kitchen and her talent for teaching, she assembled a group of what she considered the essential kitchen tools and began teaching and direct selling at home parties.

Today, The Pampered Chef includes 60,000 independent sales representatives worldwide. It has grossed over $700 million in sales and has served 12 million customers.

The Pampered Chef is a Better Business Bureau accredited business and a proud member of the DSA (Direct Selling Association). DSA membership is a promise to uphold the most ethical standards in business. It is a mandate for the company to be honest and forthright in all dealings, whether with consultants or customers.

The Pampered Chef sponsors many charities, including "Help Whip Cancer" in which special pink products are sold to raise money for cancer research.

The Pampered Chef product line includes as many as 300 items at a time, with 80-90% of those being exclusive to the company. Many of the products have become iconic. Who doesn't have the round baking stone? I won?t bake on anything else!

The Pampered Chef Kitchens employs home economists, chefs, product developers, dieticians and food scientists who work to continually develop new products, tips and recipes. They strive to make products that are not only time-saving, but multifunctional, so that kitchens are not cluttered with tools that are rarely.

Products are primarily sold through home demonstrations known as Cooking Shows. One million shows are held in the U.S. each year. Customers can also purchase products through an online catalogue on The Pampered Chef's website.

At the Cooking Shows, the consultant prepares a recipe selected by the host so that the tools can be demonstrated before the audience. As guests are nibbling away at the finished product, the consultant answers questions, takes orders and books parties. If you decide to market The Pampered Chef, you had better like toting your wares, cooking and talking!

Hosts receive free, discounted and half-price products, a 10% discount for a year, and free shipping. There are also monthly host specials, like 60% off of selected items.

It costs $155 to become a Pampered Chef Consultant, which is slightly pricier than startup costs for most network marketing opportunities. The fee covers 25 popular products from key product lines, a tote bag to carry them in, and business materials to help get consultants started.

Consultants can earn product commissions, dream vacations, jewelry and free products. There are eight consultant career levels progressing from Pampered Chef Consultant to National Executive Director, so the set up of Pampered Chef is relatively simple compared with other mlm companies.

Unlike most mlm opportunities, with Pampered Chef you actually make less on the sales of your downline as you advance in the company. So the best way to make money with Pampered Chef is to sell a lot of product, rather than to focus on recruiting.

Pampered Chef is suitable for those who are comfortable with personal sellling, cooking and home party settings. However, this type of direct sales opportunity may not suit someone looking to build a business beneath them to create residual income from a large downline.

About the Author:

No comments:

Blog Archive