About Birdie Jaworski
Birdie's Favorite Avon Adventures
Birdie's Personal Stories
Birdie's Star Trek Stories
Listen to The Avon Prison Blues
Avon As Big As Your Head!
I posted my formal essay saying Goodbye to Avon at BlogHer.
Thanks again for everything, for all the encouragment, the laughs, the fun blog parties. Please visit me at La Pajaro... I have some fun things planned once the dust settles.
Much love and kisses to all.
Today's Avon Lady Sales Tip is from Barbara, who sells Avon in Toledo, Ohio. Here is Barbara's tip:
"Dear Birdie,
This is a really simple tip for Avon Representatives. Include a little post-it pad imprinted with your name and number and a pen with every Avon brochure. This will make it easy for your customers to remember to write down their orders and call you."
Send your Avon Lady tips to Birdie and get featured at Beauty Dish!
Are you selling Avon? I love to present free Avon sales tips and advice for the new and experienced Avon Representative. Here is a list of my ten favorite articles offering sales techniques and ideas for any Avon Representative. Do you have an Avon downline? Working on recruiting new Avon Reps? Send them this page! Belong to an Avon forum? Post a link to these articles!
Three Creative Ways to Get People to Notice Your Avon Brochures
Three inexpensive ways YOU can bring some attention to your Avon business this week!
3 Avon Brochure Tips Your Upline Doesn't Know
Three fun ways to get your brochures opened by potential customers.
One More Fun Brochure Idea
The way to a customer's heart is through her... stomach?
50 Ways to Leave Your Number
Fifty - yes, fifty! - ways and places to leave your Avon business cards, Avon brochures, Avon fliers, or Avon sales literature. This article includes over 100 uses for Skin So Soft.
29 MORE Ways to Leave Your Number
A continuation of my long, long list of wonderfully creative sales ideas for Avon Representatives.
The Great Homemade Avon Business Card Experiment
Get creative to get new customers!
My Readers Best Avon Sales Advice
Beauty Dish Readers give some wonderful Avon sales advice for other Avon Representatives.
10 Easy Ways to be an Environmentally-friendly Avon Representative
It's easy to be a "Green" Avon Representative!
Insert Beauty Tip Cards in Your Avon Brochures
Give your Avon brochures a boost with some easy, fun beauty tips your customers can try with their new Avon purchases.
Great Big Archive of Avon Representative Tips of the Day
Read through the amazing archive of tips submitted by Avon Representatives from across the entire world!
I'm on a roll! I am determined to create the most comprehensive list in the known universe of highly creative Avon Sales Ideas and Tips. Of course, any sales representative can use these tips, even if they don't sell Avon.
I recently posted 50 Ways to Leave Your Number. Here are 29 MORE ways to leave that number, business card, brochure, or sales literature. Need even MORE places or ideas? I will be posting even more at the end of this week.
29 MORE Ways to Leave Your Number
Creative and easy places to leave your business card, brochure, or sales literature
1. Your doctor’s office is a perfect place to leave some “reading material.” If you are leaving a brochure, stuff a couple of your Avon business cards and favorite samples inside the pages. A doctor’s office is often an extremely stressful place for folks to wait. A little Avon can cheer up a patient by giving her (or him) something to look forward to. Add a sticky note to the front of your brochures that says “Nothing makes you feel more alive than the perfect shade of Avon lipstick!”
2. If you have young children, hand out Avon brochures and samples to the moms and dads at the playground.
3. Slip your brochures, fliers, and business cards next to products at the grocery your customer might purchase, such as skin care items and shampoos, near the baby care products like diapers and cans of formula. New moms, especially, don’t have time to shop often. If they realize they can stay at home to purchase some of their needs, they will be thrilled.
4. Does your city have an airport shuttle service? Ask if you can furnish brochures for the vehicles. If the shuttle has to travel a ways to reach the airport, your potential customers will thank you for providing some entertainment during the ride.
5. Be creative! Visit the sports bars in your town. Make a flier that says “Treat the Woman in Your Life” and feature a list of the hottest Avon fragrances, fashions, and jewelry. Sometimes men stay out a little later than they should. What a great way to get back into favor at home! Ask the bartender if you can leave your fliers and cards with him or her.
6. Stick a post-it note on the cover of your Avon brochure: “No Contest! Avon is best!” Drop these brochures and some free samples off at all the law offices in town. The receptionists will think it’s a cute touch, and waiting clients will be grateful for the samples and something to read.
7. Make a flier with the header: “Beauty is the Best Return!” and drop these off along with some samples at the Tax Preparation Centers in town. Taxes are another stressful situation for most people, and a little free sample can bring a smile and a potential sale.
8. Have a telephone call center or other telephone-based service center in your area? The people that work at these locations often end up with sore, calloused hands from the constant telephone work. Bring hand cream samples and Avon brochures and hand them out as they exit their workplace at the end of the day. You don’t even need to say anything! If you hold your hand out with free samples, you won’t be turned down very often. Always, always offer a New Customer discount.
9. Toll-booth attendants are stuck in that little box all day long! Why not surprise them on your next drive-through with an Avon brochure and some samples?
10. Slip your Avon cards into books and magazine in bookstores, and in the books and mags you see at the grocery, convenience store, and airport shops. Write on the back of your cards: “Next Chapter – Chapped Lips Solutions”
11. Parking lot attendants run around all day moving and retrieving cars. Don’t discount any of these professions – even if the worker is a man, he needs personal care supplies, and he may have a girlfriend, and he certainly has a mother!
12. Fast-food cashiers are other workers who are stuck in a booth all day – and most of these workers are women! Write on the cover of your Avon brochure: “The food is fast, but beauty is eternal!”
13. Gas station workers for self-serve and full-serve stations need Avon! You’re out of gas, and they are out of gel! Hand them a brochure and samples, and perhaps demo a beautifully-fragranced hand cream to counteract the smell of oil and gas.
14. Nursery workers work with their hands all day and end up with grubby, calloused hands. They are also out in the sun all day! The perfect candidates for a little Avon! Stick a handmade bookmark in your Avon brochure and stick it in the nail products section of the book. Write these words on your handmade bookmark: “If you work with plants, these Avon nail products will GROW on you!”
15. Whip out the Avon at your Parent Teacher meetings this school year. Add this tagline to your Avon brochure: “When it comes to beauty, there’s always more to learn!”
16. Leave a brochure at your Dental or Othodontic office. Add a stapled business card to the cover that says “Now that your teeth are straight and white, add some Avon jewels tonight!”
17. Chiropractic patients are usually in pain! Leave a stack of fliers, Avon brochures, and samples, and add this line to your literature in big, bold print: “Now that you’re back is cracked, treat yourself to a soothing Avon bubble bath tonight.”
18. Coffee Shops often have community bulletin boards. Stick your business cards here. Find the newspaper bin and add a few of your fliers. If you write your flier title in hand-drawn colorful magic marker, you will get more eyes taking in your words.
19. Fabric Stores that offer sewing classes have a classroom complete with bulletin board. These customers might make great recruits, too!
20. Bridal Stores and Tuxedo Rental Stores – what better place to find folks who want to look their best on their special day. Make a flier offering a free color consultation.
21. Call your local hospital’s Maternity Ward and ask if you can bring them some New Mom Diaper Bags. Find tote bags at the dollar store and fill them with the current and upcoming Avon brochures, a large selection of samples, and a couple of trial sized products such as lip balms, bath oil, and hand creams.
22. Donate a fancy Christmas display or hot new skin care product to you local public radio station to give away during the next Fund Drive. Not only will listeners hear about your exciting product, they will hear what a generous donor you are.
23. Pizza take-out waiting areas – leave your business cards near the free penny pincher newspapers. Add this line: “Don’t look cheesy! Call me for beauty tips!”
24. Insert your business card into the payment envelope when you send in your bills!
25. Staple your fliers to telephone polls around town. Don’t be shy! The more people who know what your business is, the more customers you will get. People respond to multiple messages.
26. County fairs, flea markets, antique shows – anywhere people meet to purchase or sell junk. Both the vendors and attendees are potential customers for you. Make a special brochure with this heading: “Clearing out your closet? Let me help you bring some new color into your life!”
27. NASCAR races are popular with men and women these days! Hand out Avon brochures labeled with: “Get your lip gloss up to speed!”
28. Cheerleaders need to look their best on the court or field! Go to a Cheerleader practice and offer a spritz of Avon’s latest fragrance. Hand out brochures stamped with “Rah rah rah! SCORE with Avon!”
29. Bring your sales literature and samples to the beach or lakeside. Hand out fliers or brochures stamped with “They all scream for sunscreen! Ouch! Try Avon SUN Sport!”
Do you know someone who sells Avon, or who sells another line of products? Send her the link to this site!
Today's Avon Lady helpful tip is from Bobbie Roland, an Avon Representative in Oklahoma City. Bobbie has been selling Avon for thirteen years. Bobbie sent in her favorite sales technique:
"Dear Birdie,
As you know, sometimes it's difficult to get a new contact to open that brochure. Often times our Avon brochures will end up in a pile of mail on a coffee table, or stuck in the backseat of a car with a pile of other forgotten materials. Birdie, you have written some wonderful ideas of how to get your customer to open the brochure. Here is my favorite way to get that prospect to stop, look, and open:
Personalize the brochure for your specific prospect. Now, this takes a little research and time. It isn't as easy as labeling multiple brochures and giving them out to any person. But this can pay off in a big way, because it shows you care about your prospect. Find out her name, and what she does for a living. This is easy to do if you are canvassing doctors' offices, for example. Then hand write a note on a pretty piece of stationary and tape it to the front of the brochure:
Dear Dr. Carol,
Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Bobbie Roland, and I am your local Avon Representative. I would like to provide you with a selection of hand-picked Avon samples. Please peruse this brochure and circle the items you are most interested in, then give me a call."
Birdie, this works every time. What busy professional woman wouldn't want to choose her own samples, and have them delivered to her door?"
Send your Avon Lady tips to Birdie and get featured at Beauty Dish!
50 Creative, detailed ways to leave your Avon (or other home-based business) brochures, samples, and business cards with potential customers! You can also download this as a FREE e-book here!
Hi! My name is Birdie, and I sell Avon…
I sell Avon door-to-door. Many of my customers work during the day, and with two young boys at home, I can't always make my rounds in the evening when folks are at home. Since sales have been slow lately, I decided to get a little crazy with my brochure distribution efforts. Every Avon Representative I know drops her brochures in the same places I do - schools, the senior center, nail salons. I decided I needed to get creative, get colorful, so that my brochures will stand out from the crowd.
Here are 50 inexpensive ways to bring some attention to YOUR Avon – or Mary Kay, or Tupperware business, or ANY sales business this week. I have added many original taglines that you can “steal” and add to your own fliers! Any of these can be adapted to your particular type of sales business.
At the end of this article, I am including a list of over 100 uses for Avon Skin So Soft – America’s Favorite Bath Oil!
1. Place Avon brochures, samples, and your Avon business card in the vestibules or community rooms of your local churches, temples, synagogues, mosques, and other places of worship. Include a flier explaining that you can provide a wonderful Avon fund-raising opportunity. You can add this line to your literature: “Your body is a temple. Show your respect with Avon.”
2. Traveling on vacation or for business? Leave a brochure and samples with your E-rep information and your Avon business card on your hotel nightstand along with your tip for the housekeeping staff. “Avon: Look Great, Make Money: The Best Tip Ever!”
3. Most cities and large towns have a Tourist information center or booth. Drop off a stack of fliers with a list of products a traveler to your town might need. Ideas: Forget sunscreen? Call me for Avon SUN Sport! Traveling? Call me for quality women’s and men’s toiletries!
4. Leave Avon brochures with lipstick samples at the Hostess desk at your local popular restaurants. Attach a sticky note: “Waiting for a table? Freshen up on me!”
5. Bus stops! Train stations! Leave a couple of brochures on the bus or train, too, with the added tagline in big, bold colorful print: “Beauty: Getting there is easy with Avon!”
6. Day care centers are wonderful places to drop some Avon brochures. Sometimes I make a special delivery with colorful helium balloons tied with curly ribbons, an Avon book tied to the end of the ribbon as a weight. Add a cute card with these words: “What about YOU, baby! Moms need care, too!”
7. I found one of my favorite regular customers by dropping off a brochure at the Fire Station! Firefighters use their hands to carry heavy equipment, and often find themselves with rough, scaly skin. This is a great place to demonstrate Moisture Therapy lotion. You can add this line to your fliers or brochures – and circle the lingerie: “Make your woman even hotter than the fire you put out today! Give her Avon! Call for free consultation!”
8. Does your town have a local newspaper? Reporters, advertising layout designers, paper boys and girls, receptionists – everyone who works on the paper - could be a great customer. Leave your brochures with some samples at the front desk. You can even ask the managing editor if you could pay a small fee and slip a business card or flier into each paper prior to delivery. Don’t forget the “Penny Pincher” types of rags and the alternative weekly. A great tagline to add to your flier? “Erase your “Headlines” with Avon Anew Line and Wrinkle Corrector!”
9. Slip a brochure or a homemade flier under the windshield wipers of cars parked at places your customers frequent. For Avon Ladies, that might include outside of grocery stores, craft stores, day care centers, elementary schools. If the weather looks cloudy or wet, you may want to enclose your brochure in a ziplock bag, and add a few samples, along with a card that says “While you’re driving, you auto know, that Avon’s gonna make you glow!”
10. Feed stores, pet stores, boarding kennels, and farm suppliers are a wonderful place to leave a Skin So Soft flier (See the end of this e-Book for over 100 uses of Skin So Soft!) listing all the bath oil’s amazing uses, including as a flea-repellent, a massage oil for your cat, dog, pot-bellied pig, horse, or goat. Your flier can say “Give your pet a new leash on life with Avon Skin So Soft!”
11. Tape a brochure or flier to the coin-input slot at your local carwash, along with the list of Skin So Soft uses. This miracle bath oil works great on cars, too! “Make your car a real beauty with Avon’s Skin So Soft – removes nearly everything from your car’s finish!”
12. Stop at all your local libraries and leave your business card or flier inside the front cover of EVERY beauty book and magazine. Don’t forget the cookbooks and romance novels! Any book that a potential customer might open is a great prospect. Leave a brochure and sample or two for the librarian, along with a card that says, “Who wrote the book on beauty? Avon. Every brochure is a New Chapter.”
13. You can find several locations at the gym to drop sales literature. The locker room is a great place to leave Avon samples – especially skin care products. Add these words to your brochure or flier: “After the workout, it’s time to play. Tone up with Avon!”
14. Read the event listings in your local paper. Place Avon brochures and samples in a pretty gift basket and drop it off at the start of each event. Works great for knitting groups, book clubs, wedding and baby showers – any event where your potential customers congregate.
15. Stack your brochures on the folding table of the Laundromat.
16. Hairstylists all have waiting areas where customers sit and read the latest fashion magazines. Why not add your own fashionable Avon brochure to the pile? Don’t forget to stuff a few of your Avon business cards inside! You can stamp them with “Your new look deserves completion. Avon. A thousand choices.”
17. Senior citizen centers are full of women and men who could use a little pampering and care in their life. Bring lots of free samples and brochures, and ask the receptionist if you can leave a stack at her desk for caregivers. You can add a sticky note to the front of your fliers that says “Avon: Since 1886. Not old. Perfected.”
18. The mall has an endless amount of places where you can leave your sales literature – the food court, dressing rooms, restrooms, the information kiosk.
19. Hand an Avon brochure to every clerk when you check out.
20. Leave a brochure for your mail carrier.
21. The community rooms and pool areas of apartment and condo complexes usually have a table and a bulletin board for residents’ use. Pin up your Avon flier, and place your Avon books and cards on the table. Always cover both bases – flier and brochure – when you can.
22. Have a college campus in your town? Leave your Avon brochures and samples in the dormitories, communal eating areas, lecture halls, administrative offices.
23. After you load your groceries in your car, return the grocery cart and leave a brochure in the basket.
24. Movie Theatres! Leave a business card, Avon brochure, samples on your theatre seat, in the restrooms, next to the video games, hand them to the concession workers.
25. Bring plenty of samples and a few brochures to any Bed and Breakfast establishment in your area. Tell the proprietors that you can furnish them with samples for their guests if they place regular orders.
26. Banks! Leave Avon brochures on the table where you fill out your deposit and withdrawal slips.
27. Courtrooms – many people spend hours waiting during trial – why not give them something to read and something to try?
28. Massage therapists and other bodywork professionals can become great customers for skin care products. Drop off brochures and samples for products they would use in their practice.
29. Hospice. I often bring samples and trial-sized products and donate them to the hospice. I never ask for a sale here, but have had grateful family members call me to order more products.
30. Visit every party planner in your city and drop off brochures with cute gift items, sample-sized fun products like seasonal lip balms, and jewelry items circled.
31. Don’t laugh, but plumbers, garbage collectors, and electricians make GREAT Avon customers! When you need your home serviced, prepare a special package for your workman or woman. Include a demo tube of Moisture Therapy hand cream, samples of fragrances, and a complimentary lip balm. It’s hard working with your hands all day, and a little pampering feels so good.
32. Property management companies often have to show rental properties. Bring them the latest Avon brochures where you have highlighted home care items that can help any rental look and smell wonderful.
33. Make care packages for all the teachers in town. Include the latest catalogues and samples, plus a few sample-sized products. Include a flier that explains that you offer a 10 percent “Educator’s Discount.”
34. Leave brochures and samples at the Police Station. You would be amazed at the traffic through any Police Station in the course of one simple day – men and woman filing reports, requesting information, bailing out friends and relatives – all potential customers!
35. Skating rinks and bowling alleys! Leave brochures and samples in the café area as well as the places where parents watch their children.
36. Every sports season hold Avon opportunity! Attend the local soccer, baseball, basketball, and football games. Parents come out in droves to watch their children play – and you can hand them a brochure and sample.
37. City pool in the summer, and indoor pools in the winter. Perfect location to leave sunscreen samples.
38. Dance studios, yoga studios, Pilates studios – all exercise locations.
39. Airport waiting areas are great places to leave more “reading material” and skin care samples. Leave your youravon.com e-Rep information so that any traveler can order from you from anywhere in the world.
40. Campgrounds – drop off Avon brochures and samples or demo products of SUN Sport sunscreen and Bug Guard insect-repellent.
41. Most churches have social events such as potluck dinners, lectures, Bingo, rummage sales, etc. Bring your brochures and samples to these events. You can either ask if there is a place for you to leave them for others to enjoy, or you can mingle with the crowd and hand them out one by one.
42. Leave recruiting brochures and sales brochures at the local Unemployment office. You can arrive early in the morning when most folks arrive to check the job openings and hand them out in person, too.
43. Have a fishing hole or lake in your area? Drop by on a sunny Saturday morning and give the fishermen and women Avon brochures and discount coupons for SUN Sport sunscreen and Bug Guard insect-repellent.
44. Golf Courses – another great place to leave that sunscreen and bug-repellent! Some fancier courses have powder rooms for the ladies. Drop your Avon brochures here.
45. Hostels – a terrific place to leave those little free Avon samples. Most hostel travelers could use a freshen up, and will be thankful for the free treat. You would be surprised how many of them are working men and women looking for ways to save on travel costs. After leaving samples in the Santa Fe hostel, I received over 10 orders for items folks left at home or lost along the way, such as deodorants, shampoos, and fragrances.
46. Landscape workers have been some of my most loyal customers. One you demonstrate one of Avon’s amazing hand creams – or leave a handful of free Avon samples – they are hooked! Everyone – men and women – wants to have soft, touchable hands. In addition to landscape workers, visit the landfill (more thirty, calloused hands!), masonry workers, the cemetery (don’t laugh – these guy work hard digging those graves!), and the road crews picking up trash and mowing the city parks. Most of these folks have never had anyone give them this kind of gentle attention. You’ll be amazed at how grateful your new friends will be.
47. Housecleaning services usually use fairly harsh chemicals and bleaches to clean their clients’ homes. Why not drop by their sales office and drop off a flier describing the many uses of Skin So Soft, along with a small discount coupon?
48. Visit the Welcome Wagon office in your town. Give them a box of your Avon brochures along with a “Welcome to town, let me be your Avon Rep” letter. Stuff each brochure with at least ten good samples, and include a New Customer discount coupon. These will be distributed to every newcomer to your area!
49. Bring Avon business cards with a free sample taped to the back to Rock concerts. Stamp them with: “Rock and Roll on some Avon deodorant, baby!” Opera? For a night attending Bizet’s “Les Pêcheurs de Perles,” stamp them with “Throw on some Avon Pearlesque jewels!” Country concert? Stamp your cards with “Get your Dolly on with Avon!”
50. Vintner’s and wine tasting events are a great place to subtly hand other attendees one of your Avon business cards. One the back, hand-write “Red or White? Avon has all your colors.”
100 + Uses for Skin So Soft
Personal Uses
SSS is a bath oil and after shower moisturizer.
SSS can be used to remove make-up. Just apply to a cotton ball and rub into your skin.
SSS is a wonderful tanning oil – but be careful you don’t burn yourself.
SSS is a hot oil treatment to soften cuticles.
Pour a little SSS in the water when you soak your feet to help moisturize your feet and relax you.
SSS is a great massage oil for tired muscles.
SSS cleans off tape marks from bandages on skin.
SSS cleans ink from the skin.
SSS is a famous insect repellent!
SSS helps relieve itching caused by insect bites and dry skin. (And has been said to help the sting of wasp bites.)
SSS cleans heavy oil and grease from the skin.
Painting something? Use SSS to remove paint from your hands instead of turpentine.
SSS sooths light sunburn.
Rub hands with SSS before washing. It helps get them cleaner and stay softer.
Rub SSS on dry, cracked, and bleeding skin. It stops bleeding and heals skin in two or three days.
Put 1 or 2 cap-fulls of SSS in liquid soap and use it for shaving legs and underarms. Helps razor glide over and leaves skin feeling smooth.
SSS removes chewing gum from hair and skin.
SSS takes tar right off the skin without irritation.
SSS helps remove tight rings from fingers.
Animal Uses
SSS is a great insect repellent for your pet.
Mix five parts water, one part SSS and mist on show animals. Brushing it in makes their coats gleam and keeps insects off so the animal doesn't fidget in the show ring.
Mix SSS in pet's bath water. Takes the fleas off them and in between baths, spray them with same mixture described above.
Rub SSS on your hands before and after working with your pets and farm animals. It will remove the strong smells.
Household Uses
Sponge SSS around doors, windows, and on screens to keep crawling bugs out.
SSS removes ring around the collar.
SSS removes scuff marks from patent leather shoes.
SSS is a good wood cleaner and conditioner for natural wood.
SSS removes soap scum from shower doors, shower curtains, windows, and bathroom and kitchen fixtures.
SSS removes lime and hard water deposits from fixtures, tile, shower doors, and windows.
SSS is an oil lubricant for fitting pipe joints that won't slip together.
SSS cleans ink from most vinyl and painted surfaces.
SSS cleans heavy oil and grease from non-porous surfaces.
SSS takes gum off clothing and carpets.
Rub SSS on brass ornaments or figurines to help keep them from turning dark.
Removes crayon from appliances and most painted surfaces.
Wash cupboards with SSS mixed in your cleaning water to keep ants off and out of the cupboards.
Use SSS to discourage hornets from building their nests. After using a hornet killing spray, remove the nest and keep the area sprayed with SSS. They will not rebuild in that area.
Use SSS to clean leather - it will keep it soft and supple.
SSS cleans paintbrushes easily, and leaves them soft as new.
SSS cuts grease and cleans dirt from range hoods and cabinets.
A little SSS drizzled down the sides of 2 glasses or glass bowls stuck together will make them easy to pull apart.
SSS removes lime and hard water deposits from windows.
Automobile Uses
SSS removes tar spots from car finishes without damage to the paint.
Use SSS to clean vinyl dashboards seats and tops. It not only cleans, but it softens to prevent cracking.
After washing your car, use SSS as a tire dressing to keep tires looking like new.
Use SSS to wipe down vinyl surfaces in your car. It removes smoke odors left behind by smokers.
SSS will remove oil and grease stains from car carpets.
Camping Uses
Spray SSS on the outside of the tent, especially near the door & windows and it keeps mosquitoes away!
Beauty Dish: True Underground Adventures of an Avon Lady:
web: http://beautydish.typepad.com
©2007, Birdie Jaworski
Today's Avon Lady Sales Tip is from Jessica, who lives and works near Washington, DC. Jessica counts U.S. Senators and Representatives among her customers! Here is Jessica's tip:
"Dear Birdie,
Around here, many business people use their vehicle license plates like a business card. I think more people have vanity plates than the regular state-issued plates! I decided to get my own "Avon" license plate, so I just registered "AvonLdy" for my brand-new Lexus - which, I'll have you know, I am purchasing strictly from my Avon profits. I think most states allow you to have seven letters or numbers on a vanity plate. How about registering AvonLdy in your state? Or AvonGrl, Avon4U, MyAvon, I can think of many others."
Send your Avon Lady tips to Birdie and get featured at Beauty Dish!
Today's Avon Lady Tip is from Vicky D. of Martinsville, Indiana. Vicky sells Avon part-time to help pay for her children's sports and music programs. Here is Vicky's tip:
"When Avon discontinues an item or reformulates it, sometimes I am left with half a dozen tubes or so of the older version. It can be difficult to sell these. I have to deal with the hassle of returning items, so I came up with a great solution. I donate any of these older products to my church's rummage sale. I make sure to put a big sticker with my contact info on the side of the items that says "Donated by Your Avon Lady, Vicky." If someone is buying Avon at a rummage sale, they probably use and enjoy Avon products on a regular basis. It's a great way to make some new customers and help your church or other organization out at the same time."
Send your Avon Lady tips to Birdie and get featured at Beauty Dish!
Today's Avon Lady Tip is from Pam V. of Vancouver. Pam has been selling Avon for five years - first in Seattle, and now as a Canadian Rep after her marriage and subsequent move. Here is Pam's tip:
"Dear Birdie,
This isn't a new tip, it's an old tip that came from you! It has worked so well for me that I had to tell you how much your idea increased my business.
I started making a CD each campaign of the best deals in the brochures, plus a few customer testimonials for both me as an Avon Rep and for some of the new products. My customers love listening to the CD. Some of them slip it into their car deck on their commute to work. It has increased my sales by at least 30 percent, Birdie. Thank you."
Send your Avon Lady tips to Birdie and get featured at Beauty Dish!
Today's Avon Lady Tip is from Elle "Duckie" Dupre, an Avon Representative in Toronto. Elle is just beginning her Avon business again after taking three years off to have a set of triplets! Here's Elle's tip:
"Dear Birdie,
I have triplets, two boys and one girl. It can be very crazy around my house, and I need to keep all of my Avon extremely organized otherwise I would never keep up with it.
Some customers call me with their order, and some of them send me emails. Often times a customer will forget to say which brochure she is ordering from. Sometimes she might forget her product number or the color of the makeup. I used to give customers the order form that Avon sends us for our customers but it is so small and the print is too tiny for some of my older customers. To help keep me organized I made a simple LARGER PRINT easy-to-follow order form for my customers. It has a clearly-marked space where customers fill in which brochure they are reading so I can match up product prices, and each line instructs the customer to fill in product number, color, size, and quantity. So much easier! I rarely have product mixups now."
Send your Avon Lady tips to Birdie and get featured at Beauty Dish!
Today's Avon Lady helpful tip is from Jill Williams, an Avon Representative in Los Angeles. Jill has been selling Avon for six years. Jill sent in her favorite sales technique:
"Dear Birdie,
I don't ever visit a customer unless I bring a snack to share with me. Even if I'm just dropping off an order or a brochure, I bring a little bag with homemade biscotti. It's a small gesture, but it really makes my customers see me as a real person. I bake biscotti once a week and wrap them in that nice colored plastic wrap, and tie it at the top with a pretty color-coordinated ribbon. A few biscottis can make a customer's day. Some of my customers are addicted to the goodies, and I even think they order sometimes just to get one of my double chocolate biscottis! Here is my recipe. I would like to share this with all of my fellow Avon Representatives because these biscotti taste so good and they really keep those customers wanting more Avon.
Double Chocolate Biscotti
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup ground cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup walnuts, chopped
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar
Preheat oven to 350°F. and butter and flour a large baking sheet.
In a bowl whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. In another bowl with an electric mixer beat together butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and beat until combined well. Stir in flour mixture to form a stiff dough. Stir in walnuts and chocolate chips.
On prepared baking sheet with floured hands form dough into two slightly flattened logs, each 12 inches long and 2 inches wide, and sprinkle with confectioners' sugar. Bake logs 35 minutes, or until slightly firm to the touch. Cool biscotti on baking sheet 5 minutes.
On a cutting board cut biscotti diagonally into 3/4-inch slices. Arrange biscotti, cut sides down, on baking sheet and bake until crisp, about 10 minutes. Cool biscotti on a rack. Serve to your Avon customers. "
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Today's Avon Lady Tip is from... me!
One of my customers up and moved without telling me, leaving me holding a super-size bottle of Skin So Soft and six tubes of hot red lipstick. I left the Skin So Soft in my backpack for a few days, thinking perhaps I would try to sell it to one of my Skin So Soft regulars - the good Lord knows I will NEVER resell that gaudy firetruck lipstick.
This morning I grabbed my backpack and shoved my guitar music in the back flap, forgot the Skin So Soft was resting in its depths. As I walked into the classroom, I noticed that my students were huddled in a corner. One of the boys had a fat wad of Juicy Fruit stuck in his hair. I opened my mouth, ready to tell him to run to the kitchen and fetch the peanut butter, when I remembered.
Skin So Soft!
I twisted the top and removed the safety seal, poured a capful into my hands and rubbed them together.
"Sit still! C'mon, stop squirming!"
I massaged that poor kid's hair until the gum released its death grip. Yay for Skin So Soft! By this time a small crowd had gathered around us, including two moms who were assisting the younger children with remedial reading. They each ordered a bottle, and the school ordered six bottles!
On the two-mile walk home I stopped in every shop and demonstrated how Skin So Soft can clean, erase, soften, shine any dirty, scratched, dull surface. I'm the Skin So Soft Sales Queen!
So many times we read that carrying a demonstration product can create a sale - but I never realized I should be doing this EVERY time I leave the house, not just on my regular door-to-door cosmetic jaunts. Get a big bottle of Skin So Soft, fellow Avon Reps, and pour it wherever you go! Once a customer purchases Skin So Soft, he or she is more likely to consider other items, too.
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Today's Avon Lady Tip is from John - who has never been an Avon rep, or used Avon of any kind! Here is John's tip:
"Dear Birdie,
I want to add a helpful tip to your growing sales advice column.
As the sales manager of a BMW dealership, I often meet with men and women who have many questions they want answered before they are ready to make a purchase. I see too many new salespeople interrupt their potential customers in order to handle an objection. They think they are being smart, but they are, in fact, turning off their customer.
If your customer - whether it's for a high-end BMW or an inexpensive lipstick - has something to say, just take your time and listen. Wait until your customer is finished speaking before you voice any portion of your sales pitch."
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Today's Avon Lady Tip is from Caroline, who has been an Avon Rep for 41 years! Caroline is new to the internet, and is excited about all the new Avon Rep connections she is making. Here is Caroline's tip:
"I made a one-page flier with my contact info and the latest Avon brochure specials, and then place one in every book and magazine related to beauty, in every library within driving distance ;-)"
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Today's Avon Lady Tip is from Drew, who is a brand-new Avon Representative in Thousand Oaks, California. Drew just placed her first order, which included over $200 in customer sales - AND she signed up two new reps! Way to go, Drew! Here's what Drew sent in:
"Dear Birdie,
I signed up to sell Avon because my husband was laid off of work three weeks ago after he had some health problems that caused him to miss several weeks of work. I am working full-time as a bank teller. There is already a coworker who sells Avon in the office, so I can't bring my brochures to work without causing a problem. I have such limited time, as I also have a little girl in the first grade. We need some extra cash to help get us through the next few months while my husband gets better and is looking for a new job.
My husband, Brian, is actually the one who came up with my idea. He has been at the unemployment office every day this week, looking for what new jobs are posted. I spent my lunch hour every day over the past two weeks at the unemployment office, too. I handed out brochures and samples to every person. I didn't care if they were a man or a woman. I had to get some extra brochures and samples from my upline since I went through my kit's books in the first day. I'm going to continue canvassing here. There are so many people laid off or looking for work. Avon is a great way to earn a little extra money while you look for another job. It's working for me, so why not anyone else?"
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Today's Avon Lady helpful tip is from Georgina, an Avon Representative in Austin, Texas:
"Birdie,
My tip is about recruiting. I recently made Unit Leader. I have had a lot of luck recruiting. I make a folder for each potential recruit. I put all of the regular recruiting literature in it, but I also add a booklet with your daily sales tips. I can't believe how much these make new reps feel like they can do Avon. A lot of new people find the recruiting literature to be a little intimidating, and a little home spun humor helps make them much more comfortable. Of course I credit you in my booklet and tell my new people to read your site every day. I think you should make a PDF file of all of the tips that Leadership reps can download and print out. Would you consider it?"
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Note from Birdie: Yes, I love this idea, Georgina! I will put together a booklet of all the helpful tips - both from the Avon Lady Quote of the Day posts and from my large archive of newsletters and published articles. I never thought of offering these tips in a printable format, and I love the idea. I will make it easy to follow and understand, as well as pretty to hold and read.
Today's Avon Lady helpful tip is from Ronda, an Avon Representative in Paris, Texas:
"Birdie,
Around here, some of the restaurants have those drawings for a fee lunch. You have to drop your business card in a fishbowl or can, and one card a week is drawn. I drop my card in every restaurant's bowl, but I tape two samples on it so that it will get looked at, and on the back I write:
I don't want the free lunch, I want to treat YOU instead!
I get calls every week from these business cards! I hope this helps other reps, I just love your site."
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Today's Avon Lady helpful tip is from Trini, an Avon Representative who just made Unit Leader in Miami.
"I was still afraid to go door to door or to speak to strangers, and as a stay-at-home mom with a six month old boy and a two year old girl, I don't get out often enough to make new friends. I didn't think I could ever make Unit Leader when I started Avon a few months ago. I made up my mind I was going to do it, and I figured out a way to get potential Avon Reps to come to me. I remember that the hospital gave me a gift basket filled with samples of baby lotions, formula samples, and smoothie mixes as well as some literature and coupons from businesses around town. I found out who put those baskets together and made an arrangement to give them Avon samples and a letter. I printed the letter on nice parchment paper I bought at Office Depot. I rolled them up like a fancy scroll and tied a pink and blue ribbon around them. The letter said:
Dear New Mom,
Congratulations on the birth of your beautiful baby! As a new mom myself, I know how hard it is to make friends and to find time to pamper yourself. I am starting a group of new moms who want to make some extra money and who want to connect with other new moms in the neighborhood. Give me a call when you are feeling rested and strong, and I will make sure that you get some more Avon samples to enjoy while you are enjoying your new precious bundle.
Birdie, I made Unit Leader in just three weeks! I also made a lot of new friends with new babies!"
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Today's Avon Lady helpful tip is from Julia T., a fifteen-year-in-the-business Avon Representative in Indianapolis:
"Sponsor an Easter Egg hunt in your yard and have eggs for the kids with treats inside, but have special eggs for the parents with special Avon goodies. You can stuff the eggs with special coupons and samples and small, inexpensive products like the Easter-themed lip balms. Choose a specific color for your Avon Eggs so that the moms know which eggs to find! Watch those women run!"
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From Jenny who has been an Avon Representative for eighteen years in the greater Orlando area:
"I live near the big Disney park. I know not everyone lives near a big tourist destination, but if you do, I have a good tip. We have so many small hotels around here. I go to the hotels that don't belong to a big chain and give them a big basket of sample cards stapled to brochures. Some of these hotels can't afford to offer complimentary trial size lotions to their guests, so the Avon samples can make a hotel guest feel pampered. Housekeeping puts my brochures in each room. I have gotten a lot of new customers this way."
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From Mimi who is an Avon Representative for eleven years in Boca Raton, Florida:
"I found that a winning combination is to place some food item in a little baggie and place that in the plastic bag with the brochure. A favorite in some of my neighborhoods, is a bagel. You should see the husbands wrestle the wives for the Avon brochure! I'd stay away from the onion bagels, but trust me, bagels work."
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From Bessie who is an Avon Representative in Palatine, IL:
"Take your brochures and go on a Saturday or a Sunday morning to barber shops and walk in and give them to the men to give to their wives or girlfriends. Tell the men "Let me give you a tip. Are you married or have a girlfriend?" and when they say "Yes," you say "Tell your wife or girlfriend you'll give her fifty dollars to buy anything in this brochure. They won't believe what a great guy you are!" Birdie, this works every time."
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From Britta who is an Avon Representative in Amherst, Massachusetts:
"I live in a neighborhood with lots of young children and here's what I do whenever there's a birthday party. I got a small tank of helium at one of the party supply stores, and a big package of small balloons. I make up a bunch of labels for my brochures that point out the pages where stuff for kids is available. Then I punch a hole in the corner of some brochures and tie the string of the balloon onto the brochure to use it like a weight for the helium. When it's time for the mommies to come pick up the kids, as each kid comes out I give them a balloon and hand a sample to the mom."
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From Linda who is an Avon Representative in Loveland, Colorado:
"Birdie! I live just outside of Denver, in Loveland Colorado, and we've had tons and tons of snow this winter. Most of the time as soon as the snow stops, the sun comes out and everything melts, but this year we've seen a lot more accumulation than usual. The last time it snowed, I was out shoveling and realized that half my neighbors were out shoveling too. Even though I've been around my own neighborhood a lot, I ran inside real quick and brought out a tube of Avon Sun Sport Sunscreen. I walked all around my neighborhood demonstrating the sunscreen, with brochures of course, and reminding everyone that even though it's really cold here right now, the sun can be very strong at our altitude this time of year. Every single person thanked me, almost everyone put the lotion on right away, and one elderly man, who probably shouldn't even have been out shoveling in the first place gave me an order for two more tubes right on the spot! I felt so good about helping my neighbors, and the next time it snows I'm gonna forget shoveling my driveway and will start early to make the rounds of other neighborhoods right away."
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From Claudette who is an Avon Representative in Minneapolis:
"Hi Birdie, I don't think enough Avon ladies realize how big the market is for men's products. There's a park near me where a big group of older retired men gather several times a week to fly remote control model airplanes. I stopped to watch one time when I was coming home from a run, and started talking to one of the men who was putting his stuff away and getting ready to leave. I noticed his hands were kind of rough and neglected looking, so I told him I sell Avon and that I have samples of some things that might help. Maybe it was just because he was pleased to have someone hold his hand for a minute (or maybe it was because of my cleavage, who knows?!) but he agreed to let me come back the next time he was there so I could give him some samples. Before I did, I made up a bunch of flyers saying "Avon's not just for the ladies!" and highlighted the pages of men's products. My new friend was waiting for me right on time, along with a few of his buddies, and I ended up leaving brochures on the windshields of all the cars parked where the RC guys were gathered. I got quite a few big orders from these man (this was right before Christmas) and it was real easy to deliver since they were all in the same place at the same time. This idea would work for all sorts of places where men gather for things like Chess and Checkers, Lawn Bowling, maybe even golf. I read your story about the time you went to the bowling alley and that's a great idea too, but unfortunately there's no bowling alley around where I live. And besides, I don't think I'm quite as brave as you are about trying stuff like that! I hope you can print this suggestion, since it will make me feel great to maybe help some of the other reps as much as their ideas have helped me. Thank you, and good luck to all our fellow Avon Ladies out there!"
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From Rita who is an Avon Representative of fifteen years in Houston, Texas:
"Hi Birdie, I have a feeling this tip isn't really sanctioned by Avon corporate, but since your blog isn't either, maybe you can print it anyway. In my town the drugstore is right next to the grocery store, so every time I have to go for groceries I allow a few extra minutes to stop by the cosmetics section of the drugstore. There's almost always someone standing in the aisle looking over the beauty products, and it's real easy to strike up a conversation with them. "Have you tried that product? Do you like it? Have you ever tried Avon? You know, they have a line that offers something very similar. I can arrange to drop off a sample for you to try if you want to find out whether it would suit you." If they don't want to give me their contact information, I just hand them a brochure and ask them to pass it along to a friend after they are done with it. People always seem open to talking about the different products, and heck, I still even cheat on Avon and buy some stuff from there too so I'm real honest about my opinions. You've set a good example that way for all us other reps, Birdie. Good luck with your own sales!"
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From Betty, who is an Avon Representative with #1 Sales in her district, and recipient of the prestigious Spirit of Avon Award:
"Last week on the CBS Morning Show, they did a segment on skin care products. Some of the products cost up to $250.00! Avon's Anew Clinical Thermafirm was the only product showing a noticeable difference!!"
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From Janice who is a brand new Avon Representative in Detroit:
"Hi Birdie,
This weekend my neighbor had her dog entered in a dog show, and I remembered the story you wrote on your blog about how you were in charge of getting a customer's dog ready for one of those. When I went to the show to see my friend's dog, I stuffed my bag with Skin So Soft since it's great for repelling fleas, brochures and my contact information.
As I walked around I talked to lots of the owners and told them I was an Avon lady and that these products could be used on dogs. So many of them asked questions, that when I went home, I made up a bunch more cards with the URL for your site and the story you wrote about the dog show, and I went back on Sunday to hand them all out. I hope you don't mind, but I figured it would help my sales if people could read about how this stuff has already been "tested on animals", so to speak, and really works.
So, if you get a lot of questions now from readers who have dogs and live in the Detroit area, I guess you can blame me for it. Thanks a lot, Birdie for all the help you give us "newbie" Avon reps. The corporation may not appreciate you as much as they should, but we sure do!
Love, Janice"
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