2. 2
Executive Summary:
The purpose of this proposal is to increase customer flow for Mrs. Potts Tea Party through the
use of marketing. Within this year it has become apparent that Mrs. Potts Tea Party is not getting
as much business as it could be. Mrs. Potts Tea Party hosts birthday, tea party themed parties for
girls. The company does everything so the parents do not have to, such as food, games, dress-up,
and entertainment. Currently, Mrs. Potts is only booking on average four parties per month;
however, Mrs. Potts is capable of hosting around twenty-eight parties per month. When parties
range from 150 to 300 dollars this means that currently Mrs. Potts is only bringing in 600 to
1200 dollars of revenue a month when it could be bringing in 4200 to 8400 thousand a month.
This shows the overwhelming need for Mrs. Potts to market themselves to bring in more
customers. This proposal contains the following:
Introduction pg. 2
Overview of marketing proposal pg. 3
o Audience Profile
Proposal pg. 7
o Benefits
o Competitive Comparison
o Meeting Agenda
Call to Action pg. 15
3. 3
Introduction:
Mrs. Potts Tea Party opened on May 10, 2002 and is located at 264 W. 2nd Street in downtown
Mesa, Arizona. We are a family owned and operated business, where girls and young ladies
celebrate birthdays, girl scouts hold troop parties, friends simply get together, and mothers and
daughters bond while engaging in the time honored tradition of a leisurely tea party. As the
assistant manager of Mrs. Potts Tea Party, I have created this proposal which outlines a
marketing plan to go in effect for the next year. To increase customer flow, Mrs. Potts Tea Party
needs to update their website to make it more interactive for visitors, have a Twitter and
Facebook page, post videos of our parties and Disney Princesses on our web pages, hand out
fliers mentioning sales, events, or coupons, and be present at major events geared towards our
target market such as the Arizona Kids Expo.
Overview of Proposal: Every customer who has been to Mrs. Potts Tea Party has given
us a mountain of praise for our work; however, Mrs. Potts is still struggling to bring in
customers. I propose for Mrs. Potts Tea Party to take a stronger focus on marketing their
business.
o Mrs. Potts needs to create a stronger presence on the internet through Facebook as
well as offer more interaction through their website such as deals, coupons and
events, and we should have videos of our tea parties on Youtube.
o Additionally, we need to be passing out fliers at schools and daycare centers as
well as send out direct mailers through the Mesa area to better reach our target
market.
o Finally, we should have booths set up at events such as the Arizona Kids Expo,
holiday festivals, and art fairs throughout Maricopa County.
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Audience Profile: In this section I have outlined who my target audience is for this
proposal. These people include Charla Chilcott, the owner and creator of Mrs. Potts Tea
Party, Patrick Chilcott, the additional owner, and Christy Elmer, a fellow employee at
Mrs. Potts Tea Party.
o Charla Chilcott is the owner of Mrs. Potts Tea Party. She makes the appointments,
buys all the products we need, creates the menu, and takes charge in promotions. I
have known Charla for over three years, this past year and a half I’ve worked with
her I have helped her hire new employees, worked with her on promotions, and
helped her decide new products we should include. We have a close professional
relationship to the point that she trusted me to run the entire Mrs. Potts business
for three months while she was away on vacation. I also know her children on a
friendly basis and have been asked to do jobs for her friends. I am comfortable
enough to talk with her about mistakes she has made within the business and any
new ideas I think we should incorporate.
I communicate best with Charla on a one on one situation where it is just us in a
relaxing setting so we know it is okay for us to talk about whatever we want and
not worry about what others would hear. Her individual interests are making Mrs.
Potts the best and most popular party place in Arizona and my interests match
hers. The more business we get the more I get paid. Our business challenges are
that we are in a secluded location that limits our exposure however Charla is
determined to support the city of Mesa and is unwilling to relocate. The objection
to more promotional planning for Mrs. Potts is the money. Charla is hesitant to
spend the money and time as well on promotions especially when last year we
5. 5
were on Fox 10 News and did not book a single party from it. Charla is the owner
so she has the highest level of buy-in. Charla also has the greatest influence in the
business because nothing goes unless she agrees with it; all decisions are up to
her.
o Patrick Chilcott is also the owner of Mrs. Potts Tea Party as well as the chef. He
helps make appointments, contributes to menu items, as well as makes all the
food and drinks at the house. Like Charla, I’ve known Patrick for over three
years. I probably have a more personal relationship with Patrick than Charla
because Patrick is more friendly and approachable than Charla. If any of the
employees have issues involved with work they go to Patrick first instead of
Charla. Since he leaves most business matters up to Charla we usually converse
more casually such as how their son is doing not going to college or how their
daughter is making out living in San Diego. Despite how easy it is to get
comfortable with him it is best to not be unprofessional around him since he is the
one who convinces Charla who should be fired.
With Patrick, I think it’s best to communicate with him in a group setting. I feel
he’s more comfortable making decisions after hearing every side first. His
individual interests are not losing money over Mrs. Potts. Business challenges
with him are that he disagrees with Charla’s way of supporting Mesa and thinks
we should do business outside of the city. As with Charla, his objections to
promotions and advertising are potentially losing money and wasting time. His
level of buy-in is very high but not as much as Charla’s. His influence level is
very high as well since he is often the bridge of communication to Charla.
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o Christy Elmer is an employee at Mrs. Potts. She has been there for over two years.
She works as a maid helping with dressing the guests, serving food, and teaching
etiquette. I know this individual very well, we are good friends and see each other
outside of work. We met at Mrs. Potts and hit it off really well because we share
the same work ethic as well as working at the same pace. We often share the same
ideas on hiring criteria as well as ways to run Mrs. Potts. We best communicate in
a personal setting usually outside of work on a one on one basis.
Christy’s individual interests are to get more hours at Mrs. Potts as well as have
competent fellow employees. Her business challenges are getting Charla to
approve of her ideas as well as getting more hours to work. A potential objection
to more promotions for Christy would be that she would not have much
involvement in them because she cannot be a Disney princess. Christy’s level of
buy-in is very low since she is just an employee. However, she has a higher level
of influence because she has worked at Mrs. Potts almost as long as I have and
presents herself, and her ideas, in a very mature and professional manner that
makes Charla willing to listen to her.
7. 7
Proposal:
Overview: Mrs. Potts Tea Party is an organization that has been opened for eight years
now. We provide dress-up and/or Disney princess themed birthday tea parties for girls.
We currently reside in a Victorian house in downtown Mesa and have received
recognition for our unique idea. We offer two parties: for three and up we have a petite
tea party where a Disney princess of your choice hosts the party, the girls get their faces
painted, play games, and have a tea party. We also have a dress-up party for 6 and up
where the girls get dressed up from their choice of our over 200 dresses, get their hair and
make-up done, and have a real English tea party with a manners and etiquette lesson.
Every customer who has been to Mrs. Potts Tea Party has given us a mountain of praise
for our work; however, Mrs. Potts is still struggling to bring in customers. I propose for
Mrs. Potts Tea Party to take a stronger focus on marketing their business.
Benefits of Marketing:
o By gaining a presence on Facebook including paying the money for a business ad
on the website, we can target our audience and increase our chances of booking
parties. We can advertise to people who live near our location therefore being
more likely to book a party with us as well as reach a larger number of people
rather than just by word of mouth.
o Furthermore, the Mrs. Potts website is outdated and basic; it needs to show how
far we’ve come along since we first opened as well as show pictures of our
Disney princesses and the entire parties we offer. The website also should have a
comment section so that customers can interact and share their experience. It can
also offer coupons or discounts on parties if you book through the website. The
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more people see the website the more likely they are to book parties when they
see what Mrs. Pott’s is all about.
o We should also have videos on Youtube of our princesses singing at the birthday
parties to show how much consideration goes into picking the right employee to
be as true to the Disney princesses as the originals. These videos will arouse
curiosity when they see Disney princesses. By posting videos on Youtube we can
put a link to the website so people can see who we are and want to book a party to
have a Disney princess at their own party.
o Again, we can also reach more people, especially a more focused audience of
children and parents, by posting fliers at schools and we can reach people closer
to the business by sending out direct mailers. Our location has us tucked away
down a small street and people just do not notice we are there; using the direct
mailers will give us exposure. Mrs. Potts should also be present at festivals where
families often frequent to again gain exposure as well as show the talent of our
employees who will be performing.
It is important to practice the marketing opportunities listed above so that Mrs. Potts Tea
Party can continue doing what we do so well. Mrs. Potts Tea Party makes it easier on
parents because we provide the place for the party so you do not have to worry about
clean up as well as keep your children entertained while learning new things. At the rate
Mrs. Potts is going now we will end up going out of business. We only do about one
party a week every month and that is if we are lucky. The costs to keep up the house and
provide for the parties cannot be covered with so little business. This should not be the
case considering how many birthdays happen a day, our schedule should be full doing
9. 9
seven parties a weekend; one on Friday and three on Saturday and Sunday. Mrs. Potts is
the only party place in Arizona that gives such a special and personalized experience for
our customers we should be getting the business we deserve so we can continue to make
people happy for such an important celebration.
However, it will be difficult to convince the owners of Mrs. Potts to carry out these tasks
due to small funding. Mrs. Potts Tea Party is a small local business that has remained
under the radar for eight years and money is tight. We have enough to continue running
the business and paying the employees but barely any extra to pay for things such as
Facebook ads and direct mailers. Although, if we used personal money to pay for these
things the benefits would surely pay off. We are already a great business whose products
can speak for themselves once exposed. The customers we do have continue to do parties
with us until they are too old to keep doing so. All we need is to expose ourselves to a
greater audience and we will get more traffic. Furthermore, we have connections through
the city of Mesa as well as our customers who we could always network with to get what
we need such as gaining so many fliers and/or direct mailers for a free party. It’s a big
step for our small business but it’s one we need to take to keep Mrs. Potts Tea Party alive.
10. 10
Competitive Comparison:
Mrs. Potts Tea Party is a place that provides the best party experience in Arizona. We do
birthday tea parties for girls with a Disney theme. We have our dress-up parties for ages six and
up where the girls get to dress up in one of our dresses, get their hair and make-up done, and
have a real English tea party. We also have a petite party for ages three and up where a Disney
princess of your choice hosts the party leading games, face-painting, and a tea party. However,
despite our great services, Mrs. Potts has had a hard time drawing in customers because we are in
such a secluded area that not many people know about us. As an employee, my initiative for Mrs.
Potts is to increase marketing of our business. I propose that we update our website to make it
more interactive to draw parents and children to it, to increase our presence on the internet by
being on Facebook, Twitter, etc., and to participate in fairs, functions, and expos that are family
oriented. An analysis of other businesses that have had success through new marketing strategies
include:
A success story using social media to increase business, found on Rick Burnes article, “5
Surprising Social Media Business Success Stories,” is a start-up business in Boston called
Idea Paint. Their product allows you to paint on walls to create a dry erase board. To
market their product Idea Paint started a company blog where employees post videos,
photos, and stories of customers using their product while also posting them on Facebook
and Twitter. This allowed Idea Paint to directly interact with their customers and reach
out globally. The results of their strategies led social media to be Idea Paint’s largest
source of traffic and leads (Burnes 1). Although Idea Paint provides a very different
product from Mrs. Potts, this example shows how using social media can draw customers
by being able to have more personal relationships with them. In addition, Idea Paint made
11. 11
their blog more interactive to draw people in. By allowing customers to post videos and
photos and relating stories, the customers feel more intimate with the company and enjoy
being present on the internet. Even people visiting the blog who are not customers will
feel more intimate with the company after seeing personal uses of their products.
Furthermore, according to Burnes, another company with success using social media is
Neenah Paper. Similar to Mrs. Pott’s issue, Neenah Paper was having a harder time
bringing in new customers. Realizing that most of their customers were graphic artists
who spend most of their time on computers, they needed to be on the internet. Now
Neenah Paper has a sales team that interacts with potential customers via Twitter when
before these interactions needed to be done in person. Although Mrs. Pott’s customers are
not graphic artists, they are moms who are always on the computer especially when
searching for birthday ideas for their kids as well as the kids themselves who are on the
computer more than any adults. By gaining a larger internet presence we can reach out to
more potential customers and interact with them via the web that takes out the trouble of
having to meet face to face but can still see what Mrs. Potts is all about through our
photos, videos, and chats.
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Meeting Agenda:
Meeting Purpose: The purpose of this meeting is to discuss marketing tools and
strategies to increase customer flow for Mrs. Potts Tea Party. During the meeting we will
discuss the benefits of increasing our presence through the web including a Facebook and
Twitter as well as updating our website to enable more interaction. We will discuss the
possibility of posting videos on our web pages of our Princesses singing and face painting
to highlight the talent of our employees. We will also discuss getting ads and/or articles
in publications of our choosing that we see will best fit the image of Mrs. Potts. We will
also discuss more family oriented events we can be a part of. This meeting is a way to
highlight simple yet effective ways to market Mrs. Potts in a way that appeases the
owners and fellow employees.
Private Meeting Outcomes:
o To highlight the importance of marketing to Mrs. Potts while demonstrating how
it can improve customer flow and image.
o Demonstrate the value of any time and additional spending needed for marketing
to gain faith from owner, Charla Chilcott, who is hesitant towards the
effectiveness of marketing.
o To gain support from the owners and employees on this endeavor because
interaction between potential customers and all of us at Mrs. Potts is important to
fully show what Mrs. Potts is about through our marketing tactics.
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DesiredMeeting Outcomes:
We will go over all possible marketing endeavors as thought up by me, Leah Boles,
assistant manager. Honing in on specific publications and events we will be featured
in.
Hear from both owners, Patrick and Charla Chilcott, for their ideas and/or doubts
towards the proposals as well as any feedback from the employees present. Any
feedback or other ideas will be greatly appreciated to help towards the success of
these marketing proposals for Mrs. Potts Tea Party.
Review which actions we can start working on immediately and which ones need
more planning and the amount of time needed and the budget for each action to
obtain success.
Next Steps:
Begin creating a Facebook and Twitter page for Mrs. Potts Tea Party and decide who will
be in charge of updating them and how often.
Have the re-designed Mrs. Potts Party website running by January 7, 2011.
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Marketing Actions for Mrs. Pott’s Tea Party Agenda
November 13, 2010
Meeting Attendees:
Charla Chilcott, Owner
Patrick Chilcott, Owner
Leah Boles, Assistant Manager
Christy Elmer, Employee
Christina Martin, Employee
Meeting Location:
Mrs. Pott’s Tea Party Tea House- 264 W. 2nd St., Mesa, Arizona 85201
Meeting Agenda:
Saturday, November 13:
10:00-10:30 a.m. Tea party. Employees encouraged to grab snacks and tea as well as
time to mingle.
10:30-11:30 a.m. Walk through the proposed marketing actions, highlighting their benefits
for Mrs. Pott’s.
11:30-1:00 p.m. Q&A- Answer any questions and discuss any further ideas or concerns.
This time is also to be used to discuss our next steps.
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Call to action:
I will be asking all Mrs. Potts employees to contribute to the marketing tools discussed
previously. The value of my initiative is that it will help us reach out to more potential customers
thereby increasing our revenue. By marketing, Mrs. Potts can reach more people in Arizona who
have yet to hear about us due to our seclusion. Although our current location is a great spot
because it is the exact cottage look we are going for, the house is in Mesa tucked away in a
neighborhood where there is very little traffic. Because of this, it is imperative that Mrs. Potts
Tea Party gets their name out there using different methods such as the internet and going to
events across the state to promote ourselves. Our services are great enough to pull in customers
from Queen Creek and Avondale but with so little customers now it is hard for our wonderful
services to reach others just by word of mouth. Therefore, we need to market ourselves to push
our excellent parties to the public.
