Avon is Vendor's Ticket to the Top

by Elizabeth Anderson

According to Avon, the company has over 2.3 million sales representatives worldwide. Kobey's vendor Vickie Stiner is just one of the 440,000 reps in the United States. However, she's hardly your typical Avon lady. Vickie is #3 in her division of 1,100 reps and her yearly sales are in the six figure range.

How does she do it? From the beginning Vickie took selling Avon very seriously, treating it just like a store, a business with inventory, a cash flow and future.

She started as an Avon rep in 1991 after selling her own real estate business and after another company she managed folded. She found herself without an income and a desire to start anew.

"I felt I had to pick a product that had name recognition. That's why I chose Avon," she explains. "We put out books in the neighborhood and at businesses but when it wasn't growing as fast as I needed it to I went to swap meets."

When she moved to San Diego from Arizona in 1993 she brought her Avon business to Kobey's where she's been selling for six years. Today she's built the business up to a level where she's seeing the payoff she hoped for.

Because her sales are high, Vickie has won many trips around the country from Avon as well as received monetary bonuses and corporate recognition. She's been to the Bahamas, Hawaii, Washington DC., Nashville and New Orleans. In August Vickie was honored as one of the top 300 reps in the United States at an Avon convention in Orlando, Florida.

"I've been in it for a while and I like that they give good recognition to their top sellers. It's important to me. They also give us great training. If you have a question the company helps answer it. Avon has treated me very well," she maintains.

Another thing that's helped Vickie make her Kobey's Avon business work is she offers her customers savings of 30% or more off catalog prices year round and charges no sales tax. How she does it is confidential but the discount keeps customers coming back. She also honors Avon's 100% satisfaction guarantee, a company return policy which has been in place for 111 years.

The degree of accomplishment Avon ladies (or men) experience depends on the goals they've set for themselves. Vickie is proof that a small business can make notable profits if you have the right product and approach.

Vickie explains, "I think why I'm still here and successful is I ran my Avon like a business from day one. I had the experience so I knew how to do it. I really worked on my customer relations. I think knowing my product helps me help my customers discover what they need for themselves."

"I talk to them. I look at their age and I look at their skin type. Then we discuss what they want in skin care," she adds. "I've been doing this so long I can look at someone and tell you what kind of makeup they use. I think a lot of my success comes from taking time with my customers."

Because Avon is sold "door to door", some may find it surprising that the company is recognized in the cosmetics industry as an innovator. For example, in 1992, Avon became the first major beauty company to introduce alpha hydroxy acid technology. In 1989 it stopped animal testing. In addition, the company currently operates a trendy day spa in New York City.

Vickie is one woman who has taken full advantage of Avon's benefits, but she's prospered because she's built on its reputation. She asserts customer service, product knowledge, a professional image and paying bills on time are keys to long-term success.

Looking towards the future, the next step for Vickie's Avon may include a name change. Vickie is currently lining up daughter Sandy Davis to take over the business when she retires in a few years. Even with the knowledge, her goal is to make it better.

"Believe it or not we're going through a period right now where we're thinking of changing the whole booth. We're trying to figure out a new way to display things which will give us better visibility. We're revamping the look. This business is challenging for me because I want to continue to make it grow," she insists.