Covid has definitely put a damper on business – not only our Avon business – but businesses everywhere.
Some states and cities are locked down and some are not.
But even so, there are all kinds of curve balls being thrown at us and our business during this crazy time.
Growing your Avon business is pretty simple.
There are only 4 main steps:
Prospecting for new customers & recruits.
Getting a brochure (either paper or digital) to every customer every campaign.
Following-up with every customer you gave a brochure to every campaign before you place your order.
Take the order, submit it to Avon and deliver to your customer, or send them to your Avon Online Store to place their order
And then Rinse and Repeat.
It’s really that simple. You just do these 4 steps over and over again, and you will have a strong Avon business.
We have our Daily 8 System to help you work on the activities that will help you grow your business.
The Daily 8 system is a proven formula
When followed consistently, the Daily 8 Plan will help you maintain the consistency required to build a thriving team and an exponentially expanding residual income.
Instead of working 8 hours a day, 40 hours a week your goal is to capture 8 POINTS a day, 5 days a week for a total of 40 POINTS per week.
Follow this plan consistently for 90-days and teach your team to do the same. At the end of 90 days, REPEAT and then REPEAT again. This is your Daily Method of operation.
The real secret to your Avon Business success is that there is NO SECRET!
It simply takes a simple plan and the dedication and commitment to WORK THE PLAN consistently! That’s it!
Everyone is welcome! Whether you’re on our Avon team or not, we welcome you & invite you to join in. 🙂
Today We’ll Talk About Weathering the Covid Storm in Your Avon Business
When Covid first hit, Ohio shut down their state, which immediately closed down Avon’s warehouse.
Avon quickly got to work and established our business as “essential” and were able to quickly re-open. But for about a week or so, we were completely out of business.
If we couldn’t ship any products, we presumably couldn’t sell any either.
Thankfully, Avon got that taken care of right away and we were back in business.
Avon also took proactive steps to help us thrive during the pandemic.
They brought in masks, shields, gloves, anti-bacterial products and more… providing exactly what we needed to take care of our customers.
Act “AS IF”
One of the most important things we can be doing for our business is to act “as if.”
That means, are you taking the precautions necessary to protect your business, without sticking your head in the sand at the moment?
When this crazy pandemic hit, we had to pivot fast!
Avon did that. They immediately pivoted, got the warehouse in Ohio opened and brought us some amazing pandemic-type products.
It is important that we do the same.
Yes, our Avon business stopped for a little while, but then for those of us who continued to work it, it started slowly coming back.
We started getting more online orders, and we learned how to provide “contactless deliveries” to our customers.
So, if you already kept your business going, or are just now thinking about what you’re going to do with the business you let go.
Here is your answer.
You have to act “AS IF!”
As If the world is not going to end. As If our business is not going to be destroyed.
Let’s take look at the worst possible scenario, make a plan for it, and work our way back from there.
Things are not going to be getting better with the virus anytime soon.
We’re right now facing the worst numbers of this crises in terms of new cases and deaths.
It won’t get much better until the vaccine is released and enough people are vaccinated – experts are saying that probably won’t be until Summer or Fall of 2021.
So how can we weather this storm without letting our business shut down.
The first step is to not wait. Get to work now!
I’ve heard some experts saying that we should be “ready so that when the pendulum swings back, you can come out and get back to business.”
I think that’s a big mistake.
If we want to have that successful Avon business that we’ve been working on, we can’t wait for the pendulum.
We need to continue to work our business. We need to continue to build now.
Anybody who is continuing to work their business, adapting as necessary is acting AS IF.
Anybody who is huddling in place, waiting for this virus to go away, is going to be left behind.
How do you act AS IF?
That’s a great question.
We are used to getting out there and meeting people as we go about our day and giving out brochures and collecting contact information.
We are acting AS IF people still need Avon.
We are following our normal automated systems – using Campaign Mailer to mail brochures to every person, using Project Broadcast to text reminders to every person either before we place our order and for our Avon Book Text List, and using Dial My Calls for reminder voice calls to those for whom we only have a landline phone number.
Sure, we have had to make some changes in our business, but that is part of acting AS IF.
I make it a point to send cards to my customers to show support and remind them that they are not in this alone. Acting AS IF.
Yes, it is clear that some things we were doing to market our business before Covid don’t make sense any more.
And some of our customer’s buying activity and mindset has been changed by the pandemic.
Let’s look at some things you can do now to be prepared for later, and still take care of our Avon business now.
Don’t put your Avon business on hold
The only thing that’s holding us back right now in building our Avon business is we’re not able to go out in public and in large groups.
Yes, that for sure puts a crimp in our business, but there are so many other things we can be doing to help ensure that this does not put us out of business.
If you don’t slow down, your business will continue for now, and will speed up when everything is open again.
If you slow down now, you will have a pretty big lag of getting back going once the whole country is open again.
It’s all about momentum. If you keep things moving, it will be easy to ramp them up again when this is over.
And you’ll be in the right place at the right time when the economy is back up and running.
So, on that note, I have some quick tips for working your business in spite of social distancing:
Hygiene
While we can’t go out and congregate in groups, we are still able to provide our customers with the same service we’ve always provided.
Instead of making deliveries and going inside to have coffee with our customers, these days it will be more about collecting payment electronically and dropping their order off at their door. There’s no need for personal contact.
Richard and I have gone back to our Breast Cancer events in the mall. We set up a table in the mall, wear masks, use hand sanitizer, and continue to share Avon brochures with those that walk by.
Going back to our original days of selling Avon, I got permission from a K-Mart to set a table up outside and talk to the people who came by.
This might be something to think about again if you’re looking for ways to meet new people. Avon’s Breast Cancer cause is a great excuse to setup a table.
Or customers can safely order from our Avon provided Online Store as well. Products will be shipped directly to them, and you will be paid your commission 2 days later.
Build Your Avon Business Online
By taking advantage of the Avon Virtual Brochure, you can cut your brochure costs by sharing your Digital Brochure link.
You can save yourself time and money because your customers’ orders will be shipped by Avon directly to their door instead of you having to sort, deliver and collect the money.
The most recent current Avon Catalog is always located on your Avon Online Store which is 100% free for you to use to build your Avon business.
You can find it by going to your Online Store – YourAvon.com/YOURID – and clicking on Brochure / Shop Brochures.
If you haven’t setup your Online Store yet, go ahead and set it up in your web office on AvonNow.com – Click on My Office / Web Office / Online Quick Setup.
Find New Ways to Connect With Customers
Go live on Facebook. People need to see you and what you’re doing.
Start working on your Facebook Business page if you haven’t done that already.
You want to add Zoom to your arsenal. Zoom is fast becoming the default video conferencing app across the world. You can get it for Free here. The free version is plenty to help you get started.
Send a greeting card to let your customer know they are on your mind and that you appreciate them.
I look for pictures that people post on Facebook and put them on the front of a card and send it to them. My customers, prospects, even friends, love these.
You can just keep some note cards handy and write them personally if you choose. Or you can use a service like SendOutCards to make it easy and to be able to add those pictures.
Until this pandemic has run its course, opportunities for vendor events and perhaps even in-home parties will be limited. This means you’ll need to promote your Avon business online.
The way to do that without being pushy or spammy is ‘attraction marketing’.
Go through the Avon Social Training to learn more about how to share the real you on social media.
Give little gifts to your customers to let them know you are thinking of them.
I have been giving them hand creams and homemade face masks that I have been making. They are not difficult to make if you have a sewing machine. If you’re looking for a Facemask pattern, you can find one here.
Avon also carries masks now. And they have also brought back the Avon Senses hand sanitizer gels. These would also be a great gift for your customers.
Be Sure to Offer the Avon Opportunity
As the crisis lengthens, more and more people will suffer financially.
Hours will be cut, and jobs lost – at least temporarily.
Avon offers people impacted by the crisis a way to make some additional income during this difficult time.
And right now, you can offer that for FREE! Avon is offering free sign-ups through the end of the year, so be sure to take advantage of that.
I want to stress here that it’s super important to be sensitive and compassionate.
It would not be wise to come across as though you want to capitalize on their hardship. Make clear that you are offering an option to help them.
In fact, let them know that you don’t make any money for signing them up. You only earn money when you help them become successful.
It’s also important not to over-promise on your business opportunity.
Don’t make big income claims – they will have to put in some work into their new business.
But help them get started by providing them some brochures and tips to get started right away. I send a welcome kit to every new team member.
It’s just what I do anyway, but a welcome kit is especially helpful during these times because it shows that you’re not just out to capitalize on their hardships. Instead, you are helping them.
Just take them to your Online Store – Avon.com/?rep=YOURID and then click on Become a Rep.
Note, if you are brand new yourself, you will need to wait 24 hours before the computer will be ready for you to sign up a new Representative.
Once your website is setup properly, you’re good to go. Just send your prospect to your website – Avon.com/?rep=YOURID.
Mine is Avon.com/?rep=lynnhuber. Replace lynnhuber with whatever yours is.
Having them click on “Become a Rep” from your own Avon Online Store is the very best way to get someone signed up and on your team.
If you have them on the phone, it’s even better for you to say, “If you’re ready, I can get you signed up right now.”
Then while they’re on the phone with you, YOU go to Your Avon Website and then you click on Become a Rep and you get them signed up – just like a Customer Service Representative.
If you do it for them, you know it will be done now. You never know what’s going to happen between them telling you they are going to go sign up and when they actually do.
If you have any problems, there is a chat function on the website where you can chat with Avon Customer Service. Or you can call Avon Leadership at 866-513-2866.
You can even 3-way your new potential representative into the Leadership phone number, and a Customer Service Representative will help you get them signed up.
When in Isolation
If you are forced to self-isolate or your area is in lock-down, make the most of the time.
You can grow your business online – I’ve done it from a hospital room when I’ve spent time there with my mother before she passed, so you can certainly do it from home.
Continue to get brochures out to every customer, and follow-up with every customer every campaign. Here’s a post on how to automate many of these tasks so you can do them while staying at home.
Having some time at home is also a great opportunity to increase your business knowledge and do some self-development.
Go through the training on Avon U. This is a great opportunity to find the time if you haven’t already done it. Learn as much as you can.
Go back through the Avon USA Representatives Facebook Page and watch their Live Videos. You’ll learn tons about the new products and how to promote them.
Be sure to watch any replays of any Go to Webinar trainings that Avon has offered. You can find links on AvonNow under News / Business Calendar and on Avon U under Resources.
That thing you’ve been putting off?! The website? Email marketing? Your blog? Instagram? Batching your social posts? Now is the time to get to work!
Now that you have the time, maybe you’d like to start building your blog. You can find information about how to do this on OnlineBeautyBiz.com – click here for details.
This too shall pass
Remind yourself that it’s going to be okay. Do your best online during the crisis, but don’t forget it’s not the end of your business if your sales are not what they before this happened.
For now, just act AS IF and continue on with your business.
Then you will already be moving forward, and you can re-launch when the pandemic is over.
After I had been in business for quite a few years, I moved from California to Utah and had to start over.
Sure, I kept some of my customers who were willing to order from my website. But I had to re-launch and start over when I got to Salt Lake City.
You can re-start your Avon business and build it up again once this crisis is over.
And the good thing is it won’t be starting from scratch.
As long as you act AS IF, you will already have many of your customers that you’ve stayed in touch with throughout this time. They will be back as soon as they’re making money again.
Now is not the time to panic!
We’re fortunate with Avon that we can be flexible in how we conduct our business.
Using technology, we can be connected to our team members, our customers and our prospects – even when we’re confined to our homes.
Most importantly, take care of yourself and your family.
And please stay safe.
You’ve got this! I believe in you!
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