Tough Cookie Mommy
This afternoon, I attended an Avon Red Carpet Event. Basically, it was a large luncheon at a nearby restaurant where Representatives from four districts got together to learn about up and coming items that will be available through Avon. The invitation promised door prizes, raffles, and an exclusive sneak peek at three exciting items that will debut in Campaign 24.
As I arrived, I was pleasantly surprised at the turnout as the restaurant was almost completely packed. Also, I enjoyed the casual way that everyone was just mingling and networking. The District Representatives introduced each item and went around so everyone could check out each product individually. In between the presentations, we were all eating and talking about some of the techniques that we use to make our Avon business successful.
I am extremelly excited about having the opportunity to offer these new items to my customers. First, we were introduced to the new Reese Witherspoon perfume, "Bloom", which is comparable to many of the high priced brands that are available at retail stores. The perfume itself smells heavenly and it comes in a beautiful bottle with a flower shaped top. Second, we smelled Patrick Dempsey's new cologne, "Unscripted II", which has a very musky and manly scent sure to entice a lot of men. Lastly, we viewed a demonstration of the new Sharper Image palm sized camcorder. I can definitely tell you that the brochure picture does not do this item justice as it is simply amazing.
Besides the added bonus of learning about upcoming items, I really had an opportunity to network and to speak to other independent Avon Representatives about what things work for them. It was great to see how eager everyone was to share their selling ideas with each other. I really left the meeting with a lot of good new ideas about how to market my products and my business.
The wisdom that I would like to impart here, to my fellow Avon Representatives, is not to pass up the opportunity to attend sales meetings and other networking meetings that are offered by your district. This is now the second event that I have attended that has been hosted by my district and I am all the better for it. I firmly believe that it gives me an edge over other representatives to be actively involved in district events. Additionally, the opportunity to network with veteran representatives is invaluable as they have vast experience in reaching new customers and retaining them. I would love to hear about some of your experiences with these kinds of events...
Tough Cookie Mommy
One of the things that I really love about being an Avon Independent Sales Representative is that you are not obligated to pay any hidden fees to Avon aside from your 10 dollar start up fee when you join Avon. This gives you a lot of freedom to run your business and incur overhead costs at your discretion. You can choose how many brochures you choose to purchase during each campaign and you can choose how many samples you want to purchase to distribute to your potential customers.
While we are on the subject of handing out samples, I would like to talk about my noticings with regards to how important it is to give out samples of Avon products along with the brochures that you give out. Today, I had a doctor's appointment and I took my Avon tote bag with brochures and samples with me to give out to the staff at the office. As I stated in a previous post, I recently purchased the Ebook, Secrets to Explode Your Avon Sales by Tracey Edwards. I'm not going to give away the information in the book because I think it is a great tool and she deserves to earn the meager amount that she charges for such great tools and information. I will, however, go on to say that she stresses the importance of giving out samples to potential customers in her book. This seems logical considering that most consumers like to test products before they commit to buying them and women, especially, love to sample beauty products before they purchase these items. On the flip side, however, I guess some Avon Reps keep their sample buying to a minimum in order not to waste too much of their profit.
My position would be one that agrees with Tracey Edwards. So I took her advice and I gave the Office Manager at my doctor's office a handfull of samples along with some brochures. I cannot even begin to tell you how happy she was to receive the product samples! She proceeded to hand them out to the rest of the staff and to pull out the ones for products that she was interested in and dropped them in her purse. She seemed genuinely shocked that I was giving her samples and told me that nobody had ever offered samples of their products when they tried to sell items in the office before. I quickly realized that I had made the right decision by giving out the samples and that it is going to set me apart in the minds of this woman and the rest of the staff. Purchasing these product samples is an investment in my business that will pay off in the long run and I will continue to carry samples in my bag from now on.
Tough Cookie Mommy
It was so exciting to attend a sales meeting tonight and to be able to network with other like minded and goal oriented individuals. This was the first time that I attended a sales meeting since I became an Avon Rep almost a year ago. The atmosphere was very friendly and productive and everyone was eager and willing to share best business practices that have been working for them.
The beginning of the meeting was interesting because we had an ice breaker to allow everyone to introduce themselves. It was clear to see that all of the representatives came from all walks of life and that they all had very clear reasons for embarking on their own Avon journeys. This just reaffirmed for me that this business opportunity is truly beneficial to everyone. It is great for people who want to build a business from home and set their own hours and it is great for people who already have jobs who have short and long term financial goals and are looking to make some extra money. This puts a lot of ideas into perspective for me in terms of how I can approach others about recruiting them to sell Avon.
I was very impressed by how professional and knowledgeable the District Rep was. Additionally, I was very happy to be able to share how I have been putting effort into organizing and decorating my Avon website. One of the things that I noticed is that a lot of the other representatives are either not using their websites at all or not using them to their full potential. I think this is definitely a mistake. As entrepreneurs, we have to be able to keep up with the pace of how technology is evolving. What's the point of using old methods of keeping business records when you can do everything online.
I now realize that it is going to be very important that I attend as many sales meetings as possible. They gave us free samples for our customers and they conducted a raffle with Avon products for prizes. I must be a lucky duck tonight because I won! My raffle ticket came up during the fourth round and I chose a Spectra Color lipstick to add to my product demo kit.
I encourage all of you, who are already selling Avon, to make time to attend sales meetings. You will definitely receive a lot of information and tools to help you grow your Avon business.
Tough Cookie Mommy
The past couple of weeks have been amazing in terms of boosting my self esteem and confidence as a businesswoman. When I started selling Avon, last November, I really was only interested in getting their products at a discounted rate and having unlimited access to their products, which I have loved for years anyway.
Low and behold, I started selling a lot of products and turning a profit. This was totally unexpected because I really wasn't putting all that much effort into it. Basically, I just told my family and friends that I was selling Avon and then they told other people. Eventually, people started approaching me to ask me if I sold Avon. In all honesty, the products are really good. I wouldn't sell anything that I don't like or that I wouldn't use myself.
This empowered me to finally start looking at my Avon business as a real business with the potential to make me a profit. As I start this blog, I am experimenting with a variety of ways to get the word out about my Avon business. Hopefully, I can share my experiences and they will help someone else just starting their Avon business be more proactive. This past week I gave brochures out at the park that my boys play in. It was hard, at first, going up to complete strangers and introducing myself but I found that most people were very friendly and receptive.
This evening I purchased the Ebook, "Secrets to Explode Your Avon Sales" by Tracey Edwards. I am excited that this book will give me more insight into how to promote my business from someone who is more experienced. I will be reading it and definitely reporting back to let you guys know what I thought about the book and whether or not the tips in there will actually help me to get more customers. Any of you guys who have any tips or suggestions, please share...
