I used to sell Avon from the age of 16-18, and it was an interesting experience for me. I personally always loved Avon, not just because the products were great, but because my mother used to sell it when I was a child. I literally grew up around the business, and it has always been rewarding to be a part of Avon.
If you have just started your own Avon business, I have a few tips to help you make a great start. Hopefully a few of these tips will be useful enough to keep you successful.
1. How serious are you about the business? Before you get started in Avon (or any business), you must know exactly what you want out of the business. Do you want some pocket change or do you want a full time income? And to take things even further, would you like to have a supersized income? The best way to start this business is to figure out how serious you are about it and how much money you are trying to make with it. The amount of effort you put into the business will be influenced by the kind of income you desire.
2. Be dedicated. For your first 6 months to 1 year of the business, give Avon your best efforts. I know this because I worked for Avon and other direct sales company, and you must have to learn what the company is about and how to make the company’s products just as valuable to your customers as they are to you. It takes at least 6 months to start getting comfortable in Avon. So give yourself time to make the proper start by getting to know Avon and building your customer base for that first 6 to 12 months.
3. Buy the product packs. When you begin selling Avon, they provide the representatives with deals on the products. They group together product packs that are worth nearly twice or even three times as much as they are selling it to you for. Buy these packs. Choose the one that seems the most useful to you and use them as demonstration products or sell them at full prices to give yourself a quick income boost. Any amount of money is helpful when you are starting a business, so these products packs are a great help to a new representative.
4. Begin searching for customers. You can begin by selling to your co-workers, church members, schoolmates or any others that may be a part of the same groups you are involved in. Just stash the books and products in your trunk and allow your friends and group members to look through them after work, church, school, etc. You can also use social media in order to spread the word about your new business. An article that can assist you with that: Social Networking for Business Owners: How to Use Social Networking to Your Advantage .
5. Have (multiple) Avon parties. To launch your business, you can have a grand opening. This is when you invite as many people as you like to your home (or wherever you want the event to be held) and allow them to sample the products, look through catalogs, enjoy refreshments, and of course, make orders. But you don’t have to stop at there. You can have Avon parties whenever you like, especially for the launch of holiday specials.
6. Use the items yourself. Because Avon items are affordable, you wouldn’t have a problem acquiring them for yourself (especially with your discount) and wearing them in front of potential customers. You have to be a walking advertisement for your business. If you don’t use the products yourself, you can’t expect anyone else to use them either.
7. Work on your people/management skills. Because you will be dealing with customers and prospects all the time, you will have to have great people skills. But management skills are also useful in this business. Not just because you will have to manage your own business and finances, but because Avon offers you the opportunity to recruit other representatives. If this is a route you wish to take, you will have to know how to manage them too. A couple of articles that can help you with this are 3 Ways to Develop Your People Skills and Advanced Business Management: How to Increase Employee Productivity .
8. Provide an incentive for orders. What Avon advises is that the representatives aim to get a $20-25 order from each customer. Because Avon reps get paid a certain percentage according to the order volume, getting each customer to purchase about $25 worth can result in a decent amount of earnings for you. But you can throw in a gift for the customer by telling them that if they purchase a certain amount, they’ll receive a discount or free product. It can be whatever you want it to be, but those are just a couple of ideas that seemed to work for many Avon reps, including me, when I was selling it. Offering them that gift gives them more incentive to spend the $25.
9. Purchase the Leadership Success Kit. Whenever you feel that you have experienced Avon long enough, you may want to consider joining their leadership program. This is the opportunity that I spoke of earlier about being able to recruit new representatives. You will make bonuses on the amount of people you recruit and the amount of sales each of them have for each campaign (every two weeks).
10. Have fun. Avon truly was a fun experience for me. I loved the products, but I especially respected the business. Enjoy being a part of a business like Avon and make friends with your customers and recruits along the way. You may or may not stay with the business, but I am sure you will enjoy the experience.
With the right tips, anyone can be successful with anything. The great thing about Avon is that they provide you with a great kit to get started with. With these tips, plus the tips you’ve received from the company, you can surely make a great start with Avon. Good luck on your Avon business.