by Melanie Cossey

Created on: August 28, 2010

Avon is the number one direct sales company in the world with over 8 billion dollars in sales annually. There are many woman making a success out of it everyday and you can join the ranks and start a successful career with Avon too.

How to Sign Up

The initial process of signing up is very simple. Log on to www.avoncompany.com/world/ and navigate to the Avon site for your country. Fill out a request for information for becoming an Avon representative. Within a short time you will be contacted by an Avon manager in your area who will visit with you to discuss the Avon earning opportunity. She will offer you the start-up kit for the low price of $20. The start-up kit contains all you need to get started in Avon, namely the current campaign brochures, the demo and samples catalogue, order books, training videos, product samples and other information to get you started.

How It Works

Avon is sold by rotational deadlines, called campaigns, which usually last 2-3 weeks. There are about 24 campaigns per year. There is a new brochure for every new campaign, introducing new product. You must put your new brochures out at the start of each campaign and collect orders and place them by your deadline. Orders are placed online by logging into the Avon website and following the prompts for entering the product numbers and quantity. This is where you also order more brochures for the upcoming campaign as well as additional samples and demos. Delivery usually takes a week and then it is up to you bag the orders, deliver them to your customers and collect the funds. You then submit the cost of the goods back to Avon a few days before the order goes in and retain your profit. This way you get paid right away without waiting for the company to send you money.

Training

Avon offers sales training in the form of regular meetings given by your district sales manager. During these meetings you will get to sample new product, learn about upcoming sales incentives and product releases, and learn valuable information about the product and its uses which will help you to sell to your customers. You will also receive timely suggestions on how to find new clients, sell more to existing ones and also meet other representatives which will prove to be an important resource to you.

Building Your Business.

Once you have familiarized yourself with the process of selling, ordering and delivery you will need to get out and build your business. The most natural place to start is by selling to your friends and family, but at some point you will need to branch out from there. One of the time tested ways to sell Avon is by purchasing bulk brochures and dropping them at every door in the neighbourhood. Start with a few blocks and for three consecutive campaigns, leave the brochures with a brief letter all about you and how the Avon ordering and delivery work. After a time, move on to a new neighbourhood.

Make a list of all the places you go in a three month period; work, school, clubs and organizations, shops, hairdressers, doctors, dentists. Talk to people about your new business or ask if you can leave brochures in the lobby.

You can also hold home parties, inviting clients, friends, family and neighbours where you can offer the products to sample in a fun and relaxing way.

These are just a few ideas to build your business. Networking with your manager, other representatives or surfing Avon sellers message boards on the web will help you find fresh ideas to build a successful Avon business. Keep at it and believe in yourself and you can make a success of it, just like millions of other women worldwide.

Learn more about this author, Melanie Cossey.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.