Rosie's Story
My name is Rosie and I have been an Avon Representative for almost 8 years.
My first contact with Avon was when my son was in 7th grade. He's now 23. His teacher was wearing a beautiful necklace. I said "Kathy, I LOVE your necklace!" She replied "It's Avon...here's my book." I had never been given an Avon book. I wondered if it would be different than Mary Kay.
When I first moved to Hawaii, I sold Mary Kay. BIG MISTAKE! I paid over $400 for the kit and was advised to "invest" $1400 more dollars into my business to have an inventory base. I hated it! I had to guess what colors to order to keep in stock. I ended up selling my inventory on Ebay and washing my hands of Mary Kay!
I went home and looked at the books Kathy had given me. I called and placed a $70 order! I WAS HOOKED! I was one of those customers who had an order ready every campaign! If my order was under $50, I felt embarrassed and felt like I was letting Kathy down. After several months (of being Kathy's best customer) I asked her how I could sign up to get discounts. She said she would find out, but never did.
I finally went online and "expressed an interest" in selling Avon. The District Manager called within minutes. "Hi! My name is Jan and I'm a District Manager with Avon! I'll be in your area on Tuesday or Wednesday ... which works better for you?" OMG! I had to meet someone???? All I wanted to do was shop!!!!!! I set an appointment for Wednesday. When Jan called back to confirm, I told her I "cough cough" was sickand couldn't make it. I didn't want to meet with anyone! I didn't want to sell!!!! I only wanted to shop!!!!
"Let's go ahead and reschedule for next week" Jan said. I figured there was no way of getting out of it; so I set another appointment with her.
We met at Starbucks near my home. She gave me so much information about Avon my head was spinning! I signed up and went home with my kit. I took a brochure out and started writing up my order. I put the rest of the books under my bed!
When my husband came home, I said "Honey, I'm going to start doing Avon."
"Oh no you're not!"
"Oh yes I am!"
"Oh no you're not!"
"I am!"
He said, "Don't you remember what happened with Mary Kay?"
"Of course I do! But this kit is only $10 and there's no quota!"
"Well...we'll see how that goes!"
Let's just say, when I started my journey, he wasn't very supportive! He wasn't negative; he just wasn't going to get involved!
Every campaign I had an order! It was all mine of course...but I had an order! In my head I justified the shopping by taking the amount I would had spent with Kathy less my discount and added that number to the total! I was able to buy so much more with that discount!! I was the "secret agent Avon lady!" NO ONE KNEW I SOLD!
One day at school, one of the teachers admired a necklace I was wearing. "Oh, it's Avon! Here's my book!" I had actually given out a brochure! She placed an order with me right away. HMMM ... maybe I should give out some books to other co-workers and see if they wanted anything! Maybe I could make a little pocket change! What a concept!!! I took in my brochures and left them in the teachers lounge. I soon reached President's Club! Yea!! My discounts increased and I could now buy 3 of each demo! I was in Avon heaven!
In Hawaii, school is year round. We didn't get very long summer breaks, but we had several other longer breaks. In June Avon announced an incentive for a Bahama Cruise. I looked at the dates and realized they fell exactly on our Fall break! I was going for it!!! I called Jan and asked her what I needed to do to earn the trip!
She gave me the dollar amount I would need to sell to be a Bahama Mama! I broke that number down into how many campaigns the incentive ranl! I was determined and I tracked it every campaign. If my numbers were down one campaign, I knew I had to work harder the next campaign! I went to summer schools (along with my dear friend Diana who is now on my team) giving books to teachers and asking them to please order if they needed anything. I told them I was working for the cruise! Guess what ... I earned the cruise and spent my break on Avon's dime!
The cruise changed the way I (and others) thought about Avon!
As soon as school was back in session, one of the girls in the office said "Rosie, I want to sell Avon too!" OH CRAP!!!! NOW I HAD TO JOIN LEADERSHIP!!! I knew if I didn't help her get started, she would do the same thing that I did! That's how my team began!
Team Kulia I Ka Nu'u (translated from Hawaiian means Strive for the Heights) has been #1 Unit Sales Volume in the District 7 times and #1 Sales Increase in the District 6 times!
The men and women on Team Kulia make me realize that Avon can bring so many things to it's Representatives! It can bring confidence to people who are painfully shy! It can bring friendships to a lonely person! It can put your child through school! It can do whatever it is YOU determine it can do! All it takes is planning your work and working your plan!
Aloha!