Country Gourmet Home Consultant Handbook

Transcription

1 Last Update Country Gourmet Home Consultant Handbook Congratulations, and welcome to our Country Gourmet Home family! This handbook contains your independent consultant contract and current company policies. By purchasing a kit you agree to the policies pertained in this handbook and the additional documents located on the consultant download page. Please make sure to read through the documents carefully and call or your up-line or Shane and Amy Beth at the home office with any questions you may have. Country Gourmet Home Office Home Office info@countrygourmethome.com Consultant Download Page - Additional Documents Including Training Material, Online Show Instructions & Fundraisers can be found on the consultant download page. Country Gourmet Home reserves the right to make modifications to policies at any time. Consultants are responsible for keeping up to date on changes posted on our forum and Consultant Facebook page. The following terms are used throughout the document; Consultant refers to independent consultant Home Office or Company refers to the Country Gourmet Home Office

2 Page2 Country Gourmet Home Consultant Agreement I understand that as a Country Gourmet Home Independent Consultant I am working as a self-employed independent contractor. I further understand that I am responsible for all necessary federal, state and local taxes in my local area as may be applicable for my earned income from commissions, bonuses, prizes and any other compensation received from the company. I understand that I am not covered by any state Unemployment or Worker's Compensation Act. I agree to represent the company of Country Gourmet Home and its' products in a professional and honest manner. I will conduct myself in the highest standards of integrity. By purchasing a kit and placing orders using the consultant discount codes I am confirming that I am not under a contract with any other company that prohibits me from joining, promoting or distributing similar products to that of Country Gourmet Home. Country Gourmet Home is not liable for consultants who join and are under contract with other companies. Commissions will be deducted from Consultants orders prior to sending in for processing. Orders will not be processed if totals are not figured correctly. Please see Commission Schedule for correct compensation information. Orders placed through advanced consultant websites will receive the same commissions and these will be paid out on a monthly basis. You must be an active consultant to get paid commissions earned online. Leadership bonuses are payable only to those who are 'active' Consultants. Consultants must have a minimum of $100 ($25 for the basic consultant plan) in orders every quarter (3 Months) to remain an 'active' consultant. A consultant who becomes inactive in a 3 month period will lose any commissions, store credits, and any members in their down line. We ask that consultants understand that, because we are a small company, we expect our Consultants to stay in contact with us through our Consultant News (updated monthly) and our Consultant Forum or Facebook Consultant page. Consultant questions are answered via and by calling us. CONSULTANTS MUST ALSO UNDERSTAND - Country Gourmet Home manufactures their own food mixes by hand. Because of this process we have a 1 to 2 week processing time PLUS 2 to 5 business days for shipping. Our products often contain over 15 herbs and spices per recipe; we take pride in being preservative free and request your patience with our longer processing time in order to keep the integrity and freshness of our products at the highest quality.

3 Page3 Our Products & Business Foundation Country Gourmet Home offers a very unique opportunity for independent consultants. As a direct representative for our company please take a moment to familiarize yourself with our products and business practices. Country Gourmet Home is owned and operated by Shane and Amy Beth Pitcher. Their family owned business is nestled in beautiful Cache Valley along the Utah Idaho border. Our Commitment our focus each and every day is to provide three things for our consultant family; (1) personalized customer service, (2) handmade high quality products made from the freshest ingredients (3) business practices based on professionalism, honesty and integrity. As a member of the Country Gourmet Home family you will soon recognize the importance that you bring to our company. s are generally answered within the hour during regular business days. During most weekends and holidays this customer support continues, ensuring that you are never left alone with a question or issue unanswered. Because all of our products are created and tested in our commercial kitchen we have the unique opportunity to create new product editions from our consultant requests. New policies and changes are also based off of our consultant s feedback to ensure that we are meeting your needs. We go out of our way to ensure that you have wonderful products and owners that will back you up with customer service. We are here to help you achieve the ultimate success with your new business.

4 Page4 Country Gourmet Home Consultant Handbook Index Advertising, Logo Use, Social Networks and Restrictions Page 5-7 Shipping, Returns and Product Damages. Page 8 Leadership Opportunity.. Page 9-10 Commissions and Store Credit.Page 11 Ordering Information Page Consultant Plans, Websites & Back-Office Page Quarterly Requirements, Inactivity & Contact Violations Page 16

5 Page5 Advertising, Logo Use, Social Networks and Selling Restrictions Advertising & Logo Use Independent Consultants may use the company logo for use on items to promote their Country Gourmet Home business. The company logo may not be altered with the exception of changing the color. The Country Gourmet Home text and rolling pin may not be modified. Use of the logo and or Country Gourmet Home graphics is prohibited outside of family friendly environments. The home office reserves the right to request removal of the Country Gourmet Home name and or trade mark logo from any places deemed to be inappropriate and or unprofessional. Independent Consultant Consultants must identify themselves as Independent Consultants to include but not limited to business cards, contact labels, signature lines, and any documents where the Country Gourmet Home name, logo or any graphics owned by the home office appear in affiliation with the consultants name. Do not give the impression that you are the home office this is includes not naming social networking pages Country Gourmet Home. Selling Country Gourmet Home Products Country Gourmet Home products can be sold online*, through home based parties, vendor events, craft shows and in retail and consignment shops. Consultants may create personal websites and shopping carts. Please submit your website to the home office for final approval. It is the responsibility of the consultant to keep the website up to date. Country Gourmet Home is not responsible for consultant personal website listings out of date, product pricing or materials and is under no obligation to provide the out of date products or services. Country Gourmet Home mixes are not mass produced. In many cases you can see them at local farmers markets and juried shows. * Under no circumstances are independent consultants allowed to advertise or sell products online for less than the retail listed price on the Country Gourmet Home website. Social Networks Consultants may create social networking pages following specific guidelines; - Consultants must identify themselves as an Independent Consultant and can not appear to be the home office. - Do not name your page Country Gourmet Home The name of your page does not have to include the term independent consultant but you must have this listed with your personal information, for example on your about me or information page.

6 Page6 - Consultants can not advertise on pages specifically created for their Country Gourmet Home business any other company with gourmet food as their main product line. - Any conversations, posts or articles created on pages representing Country Gourmet Home must be family friendly and within the good standards of the company. In all instances, please keep a professional attitude when speaking to others and posting your opinions. Talking poorly about other companies, products and or consultants is never supported by Country Gourmet Home. Modification to Documents Or Printed Materials Consultants may not modify documents published by the home office with the exception to include their contact information as long as they represent themselves as independent consultants. Consultants may create their own documents to include flyers, sales material and product announcements so long as the consultant lists their independent consultant contact information on the printed forms OR if posted online it is clear who the consultant is. For example, if you post the image on your own Facebook page. Under NO circumstances may consultants print or distribute food allergen, food ingredients or nutritional information not published by the home office. This includes the creation and distribution of food ingredient lists. Modifications to these lists are frequent and customers with food restrictions rely on these documents to be 100% up to date. If they are not posted on the website do not distribute them. Standard Restrictions Do Not; -speak poorly of Country Gourmet Home, other consultants or other companies. -use unethical business practices for personal promotion or gain. -use Country Gourmet Home to promote other companies. -use Country Gourmet Home to recruit team members to other companies. -use customer or down-line information in the use of distributing or the promotion of other companies.

7 Page7 -use Country Gourmet Home as a promotion for your own business. Country Gourmet Home Consultants can not manufacture or make their own food mixes or wax melts to be sold alongside our product line. Country Gourmet Home products can not be privately labeled. You can not alter the company labels. Consultants may add their personal information to the products but do not cover the ingredient lists or company name.

8 Page8 Shipping, Returns and Product Damages Shipping Policy Country Gourmet Home is proud to offer made by hand products. In order to provide the freshest product to you and your customers we do not store products for later use. All of our mixes are complete and in many cases contain 10 to 25 herbs and spices, our products require time to make but we ensure that the wait is well worth the taste. Please make sure that your customers are aware of the handmade nature of our products. We do not mass produce mixes. Normal product processing takes 5 to 10 days plus time for shipping. During peak seasons processing can be up to 14 days plus shipping. Please check with the home office if you need our current processing time. Shipping Rates Current shipping rates can be found online, These are the rates charged for all orders both for personal and customer orders. Shipping Charges For Home Parties Shipping for a home party is based on the shipping rate table It is suggested that consultants charge $3 per customer order to help offset shipping costs. An average $200 order with a $20 shipping charge has 6 to 10 customers. This is a SUGGESTED charge to offset shipping costs. Returns and Damages Due to the nature of our product line we can not accept returns. File claims for damaged products through the home office within 24 hours. Photos of the damaged boxes and products must be submitted before replacements will be shipped.

9 Page9 Leadership Opportunity Leadership Opportunities Advanced consultants have the opportunity to recruit members into their first down-line. A store credit bonus is earned on qualified recruits. A consultant is qualified when they have placed an order with a retail total of $30 or more, this does not include their initial kit purchase. You will receive a notification when a new member has joined your team. They will appear in your back office once they have filled out the form to have their website created. Consultants with team members also earn free catalogs each quarter. Catalogs are not automatically shipped and must be included with an order, please place a message in the comment box at check out when you are ready for your quarterly catalogs. Commissions are paid on the consultant s first down-line sales total minus discounts or coupons. Leaders are expected to stay in contact with their team members. We recommend sending out monthly newsletters to your team members and checking your daily. Please make sure that you are familiar with the company policies so that you are prepared to answer questions. We are always available should you need assistance. An end of quarter store credit is available for those that support their teams. In order to earn the credit for the quarter you must submit an stating that you have made contact with all team members monthly OR forward your team newsletter to the home office at least once a month. Please refer to the Leadership Plan for details on leadership status, Home Office Recruits 4- Star consultants can be promoted to Gourmet Leaders by the home office and may receive leads and recruits under the following guidelines, - The consultant may not be selling for another company with food products as their main line. - The consultant must be actively logging into the consultant forum or Facebook page. - When a home office lead or team member is received contact must be made with the new team member and a return sent back to the home office letting us know you have attempted a contact within 48 hours. Please let us know if you are not able to get a response from new a new team member. - The consultant must recruit at least one personal team member per quarter. Gourmet Leader promotion is based on the current needs of the home office for the management of home office sign ups. All 4-Star consultants eligible under the guidelines will be considered. Leads are sent based on the activity of the consultant with the company and the location of the consultant in relation to the home office recruit.

10 Page10 Changing Teams Recruits may not request to change teams, to change teams a member must go inactive and reactivate. We are not responsible for recruits who have made previous contact with a consultant who then signs up under another team. Consultants are placed under the team member whom they request at sign up. Consultants are 1 st assigned to the team the recruit types in the box, if left blank they are then added to the down-line of the link they used to sign up if tracked. You will receive an notification from the home office when a new member joins your team. The home office reserves the right to move team members when their up-line has become inactive or does not respond to the home office.

11 Page11 Commissions and Store Credit Commissions Consultants must use their discount codes to receive their credit on orders they submit for themselves or their customers. Qualifying orders received without discount codes will receive a credit in the back office as a store credit, this is not redeemable for a cash payout. Current discount codes and the commission schedule are located on the consultant download page, DO NOT GIVE YOUR DISCOUNT CODE TO YOUR CUSTOMERS. Doing so will be subject to immediate cancelation of your agreement. Customer orders that are received through your website (advanced consultant) or affiliate link (basic consultant) are collected into your back office. These orders will appear once they have been approved through the home office within 48 hours. Please note, this is not an automatic process, please make sure to stay informed on the Facebook page or Consultant Forum or any delays. Commissions are not earned on the following orders; personal orders placed for deals of the day or tickle your taste buds bundles. Commissions are also not earned on consultant kits and kits purchased by down-line members. Orders are closed out on the 15 th of the following month and payouts are sent between the 15 th and 20 th. You must have at least $10 in your account for a payout or the commission will roll into the next month. Please ensure that you have selected your preferred payout option in your back-office. If you choose PayPal they will charge you a small fee, we are not responsible for refunding the fee. Once a store credit option has been selected and the 15 th of the month has passed that credit can no longer be redeemed as a cash payout. For example, if you select you would like a store credit in Nov, Dec, and Jan and then change it to a cash payout on Feb 4 you will only receive Jan commissions as a cash payout. Nov and Dec will remain as store credits. Store Credit Store credits are earned through recruiting team members and as bonus for participation on the Consultant only Facebook page and Forum. When you are ready to redeem your store credits send the home office an for the amount you would like to use and we will generate a gift voucher code. You may use your store credit gift voucher and discount code on the same order. Store credits do not expire and are not eligible for cash payouts.

12 Page12 Ordering Information Placing Orders Orders are placed using the current discount codes found in your welcome as well as on the consultant downloads page. If you have a website link please use it when placing your order so that the order will be tracked to your back-office automatically. If you don t use your link or you don t have a link your order will still be added to your account. Consultants DO NOT need to wait for their website to be created before placing their first order. Using your link simply helps us in processing your order into your back-office. If you know the item number of the product you are ordering you can place it into the search box located at the top right of the screen. You can also find the products by browsing through the product categories on the left side menu bar. Business supplies and host bonus items are found in the left menu bar below the product categories. Please refer to the host bonus chart to determine if your order qualifies for free products. After adding your selections to the cart proceed to the checkout page. Click on the shipping button, ONLY select local pick up if you are physically picking up your order. Please add any additional comments to the box to include if your purchase is for a craft show or event. Enter your discount code from your welcome to receive your consultant discount. Please put the order in your name and your host or customers in the shipping box if it is shipping to them. If you have a voucher code for your store credit enter it as well. USING A CREDIT CARD WITH SOMEONE ELSES NAME when paying with a credit card that is in someone else s name DO NOT put their name in until asked for the credit card information (there will be a specific box asking for the card holder s name). If you do not put your name on the initial checkout page your order may not be credited to your account as we don t know which consultant it belongs to. SUBMITTING ORDERS WITH MULTIPLE CUSTOMER CREDIT CARDS if paying with more than one credit card, select the I will be calling in with multiple credit cards. Consultants MUST keep a carbon copy order form on file for the order. If your customer submits a dispute and you are unable to provide a detailed sales receipt you will be responsible for the charge.

13 Page13 Host Bonus Items Current host rewards are located on the main website under the host bonus tab toward the end of the product category list. Consultants who do not select their host bonus items will be sent an assortment of items by the home office. Host items are available for both consultants and orders consultants submit for their hosts. These items are not available on orders submitted directly by customers. Sales levels are not accumulative; please refer to the corresponding row for your current sales level on the chart. Deal Of The Day & Tickle Your Taste Buds Bundles These product specials were created to give consultants an opportunity to advertise specials to their online customers. These products CAN NOT be submitted with consultant discount codes. Consultants may place two separate orders, one that contains the deal of the day or bundle and a separate order with products using their discount code. These orders must be submitted sequentially in order for combined shipping charges to be credited. In certain cases combined shipping may not apply depending on the order total (refer to the shipping chart). Consultant Kits Consultant kits are available only with the initial sign up process. They are NOT eligible for a discount code. Please do not submit orders for recruits, they must be submitted by the person signing up. Business Supplies Business supplies are located in the left column toward the bottom of the product categories. You may use your discounts on consultant supplies. Drop Shipping Orders placed by consultants that are shipped to customers will be sent with packing slips with discounts and shipping prices removed. You may use your consultant discount on these orders as they are not viewable by your customers. Please put drop ship in the comment box.

14 Page14 Consultant Plans, Websites & Back-Offices Consultant Plans Country Gourmet Home offers two consultant plans, advanced and basic. Consultants may change plans at any time with an notification to the home office. Advanced Consultant this plan allows consultants to build a first down-line and receive a free company website. There is a $100 retail quarterly sales requirement. Consultants earn full commissions through website sales. This requirement can be met through any orders placed by the consultant or their customers through their website. Basic Consultant this plan does not include a free website and consultants can not build a downline. There is a $25 retail quarterly sales requirement. Consultants can earn 5% on orders collected through a company generated affiliate link. If an advanced consultant moves to the basic plan and then requests to move back to the advanced plan there is a $10 fee to set their website back up. Consultant Websites Consultants who have signed up under the advanced consultant program will receive a free website. It is essential that you use the link that will be sent to you in an in order for your page to track the orders. Not using the link with the /uid/ tracking code will cause your orders to be entered into the system without a consultant name. You may also have your customers enter your name in the box at checkout to receive credit for the order. It is highly suggested that you purchase an individual domain name from a hosting company and have it forwarded to your link provided by the home office. If you need assistance with this process please let us know. Consultants with at least 3 members in their down-line may have an About Me page added to their website. You must provide the home office with the design for the page. The home office reserves the right to request modifications to the design. Locate A Consultant Page Consultants listed on the company Locate A Consultant page are direct representatives for our home office. Consultants can be listed on the page when they have placed an order with a retail total of $30 or more. This does not include their initial kit purchase. Consultants must also, (1) be on the advanced consultant plan and (2) can not be a representative of another company with gourmet food as their main line. Once qualified, a consultant can request to be added to the locate a consultant page on the main website. Consultants must keep with the company standards in order to remain on the page.

15 Page15 Using Your Consultant Back-Office Once you have filled out the website form per the instructions in your welcome please provide two business days for your website to be complete. You will not be able to login until you receive a conformation that your website is complete. Make sure you use the link exactly as it appears in the you receive. IF YOU COPY and paste the link that you see when you are on your website page it WILL NOT track the order. We are not responsible for missed orders to your account for the use of the wrong website link. However; if you have a customer who has placed an order and you do not see it in your back-office simply send us an and if it is in the system we will be happy to add it to your account. Viewing Your Orders An is sent with a notification that you have received an order from your website. You will also be forwarded a copy of the customer s order. The information contained in this is confidential and protected under our privacy policy. You may not use the information without your customer s permission. To view the order in your back-office, click on the Consultant Statistics tab found in the top navigation bar of the back-office website. You will see a list of website links showing where your hits have generated from. Click on the small $ found on the top right of the page. A new page will appear with your orders. Click on the transaction ID number to view the details. You will see your personal orders and recruit kit orders show up as $0.01. We must assign a monetary value to the orders so that they will be visible.

16 Page16 Quarterly Requirements, Inactivity & Contact Violations Quarterly Requirements Country Gourmet Home sales quarters are; Dec-Feb, Mar-May, Jun-Aug, Sep-Nov. Advanced Consultants are required to place a retail total of $100 per quarter. This includes orders from online customers BUT does not include down-line sales. If an Advanced Consultant becomes inactive they must place a $50 order to re-activate and there is a $10 website fee for the re-creation of their website. Inactive consultants lose any commissions earned during the quarter and any active team members. Basic Consultants are required to place a retail total of $25 per quarter. To re-activate basic consultants must place a $25 order. Consultants are exempt from sales requirements during the quarter that they sign up. Termination of Agreement Consultants may terminate their agreements at any time. Commissions owed will be paid out on the next pay date. Store credits may not be turned into a cash payout. Country Gourmet Home reserves the right to terminate a consultant s account that is found to be portraying unprofessional conduct or violating company terms. Consultants Violating Policy Or Misrepresenting Country Gourmet Home Country Gourmet Home is not responsible for independent consultants misrepresenting the company or policies. This includes but is not limited to incorrect pricing, printed material or electronic documents that conflict with Country Gourmet Homes printed policies, product pricing or information.