Interest

   The third section of the Getting a Great Start with Avon is entitled
simply "Interest." I wish it had another title - "Motivation." I'd even
be pleased with "Passion." The word "Interest," while I fully 
understand why it is used, creates no impetus to dig in and get the process going.
Here are the statements:

I'm interested in an income opportunity that is flexible and satisfies 
my personal needs.

I enjoy using skin care, makeup and fragrance and frequently read 
beauty magazines.

My primary interest is selling beauty products: skin care, color,
fragrance, and personal care.

I like the idea of helping others build a successful business.

I enjoy sharing my success with others.

Earning while helping in a worthy cause is appealing.  I am interested in growing and developing my Avon business online in 
the near future.

   Now stop me if I'm wrong here - but there is nothing contained so 
far on the form about:

* Do you know anything about what is involved in building a business?

* Why would you wish to build your own successful business?

* Pursuing your business with any strength of interest.

* Achieving any personal or organizational goals.

* Obtain the rewards of such active involvement in an independent
business.

   It could be that many of the people with whom we come in contact 
have never undertaken to define any personal goals. The recruiting kit has a
form on which a picture of some object or situation can be 
superimposed, and from which a plan could be derived. It has not been my experience
thus far that anybody has even so much as located a picture, much less
given any concrete thought to a plan to accomplish it. There is a 
reason for this, I believe. It's called "fear of commitment," even though 
nobody is being asked to commit to anything much at this stage of the game.

* I'm interested in an income opportunity that is flexible and 
satisfiesmy personal needs. OK, this is a fair expression of interest. "Income
opportunity," seems pretty much self-evident. "More money" is an 
enticing entrée for some. So I take it upon myself to give the candidates what I
term as "visions of sugar plums," telling them what a reasonable amount
of  "more money" they can expect to obtain and the degrees of 
involvement necessary to obtain those sums. I think we make a serious mistake if we
fail to do that. 

If our candidate is a person for whom AVON is not to be a full-time
occupation, then sharing the available flexibility in our activities is
paramount. The mother with children in school is interested in the
ability to sandwich her AVON business in with the requirements to feed,
clothe, provide transportation, oversee activities and homework, etc. 
An AVON business provides that flexibility. Flexibility is another word 
that I'd assign to what I like to call the "falling off the log" business. 
The person who merely wishes to take the brochures to work, take a few
orders, get her own product at discount, etc., wants that kind of
flexibility.

Satisfying someone's personal needs is an entirely different matter. 
For some, the need is this week's groceries. For some others, the need is 
to obtain an item that otherwise would elude them, such as a new car. For
yet others, perhaps the need is fiscal solvency. At the time we're
sitting down with the candidate, we have no idea whatsoever what the
candidate's needs really are - and chances are that even with that as a
given, those needs will not be forthcoming. Yes, you'll get surface
answers. I'm suggesting that you forgo the digging for an answer and 
that you simply provide answers to the questions you haven't answered. "If
you're in need for funds to pay off some bills, this is an outstanding
way to get them." Or, "Are you looking for some relief from the
day-to-day grind not never having quite enough to do what you'd like - 
to buy Junior the glasses he needs." Or perhaps even, "Is there just too
much month at the end of the money?" And, be aware that you might even 
be presenting the candidate with an opportunity to get out of the house, 
and that might never be overtly stated.

* I enjoy using skin care, makeup and fragrance and frequently read
beauty magazines. This is, of course, a "blatant" attempt to entice a
female candidate population - the woman who has used these items since
she was a young teen and whose emotional life was wrapped in an issue 
of Seventeen magazine. I would seriously doubt that this would have any 
draw for a male audience. Granted he might be attracted by an occasional 
issue of Cosmo or Vogue, but I'll hazard a guess it will have little to do 
with "skin care, makeup and fragrance." And that's OK. This is, after all, a
company that wishes to attract, employ, and provide opportunities for
women. I do think that I'd like to see the statement modified just a 
bit along the lines of "I'd like to learn more about skin care, makeup, and
fragrance." Let's face it, a good many people of the male persuasion
populate the ranks of cosmetologists. In the short term, I give my
candidates, including some males, the "vision of sugar plum" things 
once again and talk about the wonderful training available from AVON in this
area.

* My primary interest is selling beauty products: skin care, color,
fragrance, and personal care. This, of course, is aimed at recruiting
toward the Beauty Advisor program. Personally, I think it's a bit early
to think about beauty advisor training. This training is, I feel, the
kind of thing one does once she has begun to develop a market base for
the products she will be required to move if she is to make any money. 
I feel this may attract women in the high teens who may see this as an
alternative to hair styling school, but nobody else until they have had
time to test the products on themselves and to determine just how well
they will be received by their personal target audience. In general
terms, my concern would have to be just which opportunity we are trying
to sell as a beginning effort. It would seem to me to be the Classic
Representative. But at the same time, I will admit to signing up a
leadership member on the first meeting. So who knows? Perhaps signing 
up a person who is interested to go directly into Beauty Advisor training 
is not far-fetched. However, having paid the initial fee of $10 (as of
current writing), you may well find people who are reluctant to commit
themselves to an additional $75 for participation in the BA program at
this time, particularly if they become aware that an additional $250 
will be required to get a rolling kit. Further, if Internet loop responses 
are any guide, referrals for BA work haven't been as forthcoming as they 
were envisioned to be.

* I like the idea of helping others build a successful business. I 
wonder if this statement isn't just a bit premature. Many of these people have
little concept of what a business actually is, much less a "successful
business." To build a successful business involves the investment of 
time and financial resources that the candidate may not be willing to part
with at this particular time. The real question is whether or not this
should be divulged at this point in time. It is a truth that if the
entire story were shared at this point, the process would be
discouraging. However, to rephrase the statement in other times might 
be useful. Consider, perhaps, changing the statement to providing the help
and supervision necessary for others to become successful, as well. 
When I open the subject of leadership, I am very careful to point out that
there is work involved, yes, but that the rewards are so significant 
that the candidate might give serious consideration to them as a life's 
work.

* I enjoy sharing my success with others. I'm afraid I find little 
merit in this statement. Who in their right mind would be interested in 
denying themselves the right to brag about their accomplishments? The statement
is meant to identify those among us with "helper" tendencies. Perhaps
another statement is in order - and it is the way I approach the
interviewee: Would it be satisfying to you to be able to help another
person share the kind of success you will be able to realize? Would you
obtain satisfaction in helping another person to become successful?

* Earning while helping in a worthy cause is appealing. Again, who 
would say no? This is a "motherhood and apple pie" statement. Perhaps what 
you must do is to introduce the candidates to the great possibilities to
assist their children's schools, their favorite charities, their
churches, or other organizations and will be able to make a profit from
the effort.

* I am interested in growing and developing my Avon business online in
the near future. I see no serious limitation to the concept behind this
statement. Perhaps it is time to acquaint the candidate with the 
facility to provide service to family and friends who are distant because of the
capabilities of the internet.

And now, as you might imagine, I have some statements that I would wish
to add:

* What interests you in a business of your own? People beginning a new
business often have heightened expectations and shortened time frames. 
If you can get a good answer to this question, you may be able to 
determine the degree of passion the candidate will commit to this effort. Among 
the responses you might receive could be indications of independence,
self-reliance, control, or opportunity. I do think that it's important
for the leadership person to here emphasize that if this representative
business is in fact to be a bona fide business, he or she can expect to
make the same kind of commitment that would be made to working for
another organization. If the commitment is to be to a part-time 
business, it is useful here to get a good definition as to the meaning of "part
time," and to acquaint the person to the number of hours per day, per
week, or per campaign that must be necessary to come anywhere near
accomplishing the goals set by the individual.

* Have you any idea of what a business of your own requires? Often, the
budding entrepreneur has a glorified vision of what being in business 
for himself or herself involves. There may be no idea as to how much time 
is required. He or she may know how much time it is wished to commit, but 
as a leadership representative I feel I must be honest with the candidate.
If they want a full-time income from this activity, they must give it
full-time work. And returns are not linear. They can expect to not be
successful initially, as they begin the journey. Success is available,
given their effort and time. But in the meantime, you owe it to the
candidate to be realistic about the returns and their timing.

* What kind of time are you willing to give to this business? New
candidates often have a distorted view of what this will involve. There
is time required to prepare brochures. There is time required to
distribute them. There is time required to do follow-up. There is time
required to prepare the paperwork, place the order, receive the order,
package the orders, and distribute the product. As a leadership
representative, I would not wish for the candidate to have unrealistic
expectations about the time requirements.

* What kind of resources are you willing to commit to this business?
Again, the extent of the candidate's involvement should be identified. 
I find, for example, that many of the new representatives I sign really
think that brochures should be provided free of charge. The fact that
they must spend a little money in order to make a little money seems
foreign to many. An ancillary question must be the extent to which they
wish to take their business. If what they wish to do is to merely take 
a few books to work, then they should be advised how they have limited
their returns. Draw to their attention early on that if they buy a
limited number of brochures, their business has a point of maximum
growth. Further, advise them that it is consistent and not random
distribution of these advertisements that will bring the business. Time
is, of course, a resource to be committed to the business. Advertising
monies for brochures, flyers, and newspaper ads may also be necessary.
They need to know this.

* What, to your mind, would make your business successful? Success is
different things to different people, of course. I really think that 
you, as leadership representative, should acquaint the candidate with the
various levels of success. If you can identify this, perhaps you can
overcome the reluctance to establishing a goal. Success is a worthy
target for any candidate. Just ensure that the candidate is left with a
means to measure that success and to establish new boundaries of 
success.

* Do you have the support of your spouse or significant other in 
building this business? This is, I feel, a crucial question to be asked. If the
start-up monies are coming out of the household accounts, then the 
spouse had better be supportive or he (or she) may be the fly in the ointment
and will put pressure on the new candidate to quit because the payoff
isn't either immediate or as significant as it is thought the effort is
should be. Supportive spouses mean not only the availability of
resources, but also the assistance to do the work - distribute the
literature, make the orders, receive the shipment, bag the orders, and
deliver them. By seeking the answer to the question, you, as leadership
representative, can help to define the commitment that must be made by
all members of the family at the time the new work is undertaken.

* Are you willing to undertake the training offered by AVON and AVON
people in the building of your business, to include district and 
downline meetings? This is a hot button for me. I personally think that this
training and participation should be mandatory. I find an awful lot of
people who quit for reasons that could have been overcome had they 
merely made the hour or two necessary to attend a district meeting or downline
meeting. Because it is not mandatory, many people avoid it, and when 
they do, they are sowing the seeds of their own failure. I may not be able 
to overcome the perspectives, but I will certainly do my best to instill 
the importance of the activities in the candidate's mind. And I see to it
that the candidates are apprised of the availability of such 
activities.  As I have said before, if it were my railroad to run, such meetings 
would be mandatory and the economic return available would be predicated on
that attendance. There's probably a lot of people very glad that it 
isn't my railroad to run.

* How can I, as your upline, assist you to build your successful
business? It is perhaps not possible for the new candidate to have any
inkling about how to respond to this question. It is merely a lead-in 
to my making a commitment to going with them to show how to make calls,
handle problems, open new frontiers, etc. The number of responses I get
from such an offer have been few. I will not force myself upon these
folks, but at the same time, I will continually renew the offer. I 
need, at this point, to emphasize that these people's success is my own
success, and that I'm perfectly willing to pull in harness with them.

* Are you willing to stand by your business until you are receiving
enough orders to make it worthwhile? When anyone begins a new endeavor,
discouragement comes early and plentifully. To the best of my ability, 
I wish to be there to help the new candidate deal with that. At this 
point, I want to acquaint them with the possibility that success may not be
instantaneous, that it requires work and repeated effort. I will 
acquaint the candidate with the tools, tips, and techniques that I have used to
make the effort successful. I have found it interesting that of those 
who have failed, they have failed while refusing to take the advice that 
has been offered to them.

   It is important to note that getting a great start with AVON 
requires the leadership person to be directive, guiding, and openly honest. 
Those candidates who find otherwise may well be resentful at not being told 
the entire story and the time they have been recruited.