Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Doris Christopher's Million Dollar Party

By Lenora Wyanth

The multi-level marketing company we know today as The Pampered Chef was born in suburban Chicago in 1980. Doris Christopher obtained a set of professional chef kitchen tools and began to offer them to potential clients through in-home cooking demonstrations. She was skilled at teaching and cooking, so she met with great success.

Haven't we all been invited to a Pampered Chef party at some point? And most of us have gone, whether we intended to buy anything or not. Each party provides a plethora of cooking tips and some delicious recipes. So even if your wallet stays closed, you can benefit from a Pampered Chef party through its free cooking demonstrations and recipes.

Ms Christopher's good fortune depended in part on timing. She began her company at a time when there were many more women cooking at home with fresh ingredients than there are today. There was also more extra income to spend on such things as specialized kitchen tools and accessories. In 1980 there were not many choices in professional cookware available to the average homemaker.

What's in a name? The words 'pampered' and 'chef' have worked well for the company. What sounds better, a pampered chef or a spoiled cook? See what I mean? It is a catchy phrase that conjures up a nice picture of a happy cook in a well-equipped kitchen. Learning to use professional chef tools is a great way to feel like a pampered chef. Ms. Christopher had done ample research into obtaining the most useful kitchen tools she could find.

Quality of the Pampered Chef products is another reason for its success. Ms. Christopher kept prices reasonable and purchased high-quality items. Adding lifetime warranties to the items only increased the confidence of the consumer. Her quality offerings and progressive warranty policy ensured the success of the Pampered Chef.

Ms. Christopher personally trained the first generation of Pampered Chef Consultants, bringing her products and techniques to homes all across the United States and Canada. Because her company stressed family time, she set up the marketing through in-home demonstrations that every homemaker could control, thus keeping family time intact.

The very slogan and mission of the Pampered Chef is to provide the tools to keep cooking fun and easy, so there is more time to spend with family. Ms. Christopher made sure her consultants were able to advance financially through unlimited direct marketing opportunities. Every consultant was able to arrange as many Pampered Chef parties as she or he had time for.

Ms. Christopher's books have added to the success of the Pampered Chef. In 1999 Warner Books published Come To The Table, in which she describes her direct marketing success. Ms. Christopher has also been interviewed by Fortune Small Business and CNN-TV.

You deserve to be pampered in your kitchen, so go ahead! Try some unique kitchen tools and free up some leisure time for the whole family. Have fun preparing delicious and healthy meals with the Pampered Chef products.

About the Author:

No comments: