Item #4 -- KNOW YOUR PRODUCT

Item #4 -- SERVICE HAPPENS BECAUSE YOU KNOW YOUR PRODUCT

You've heard it from me before -- a knowledge of your product is absolutely necessary if you are to make this Avon business a success.

Let's put that information into a little different focus here -- and we're going to call it by this title:

IF YOU MUST GO FIND OUT, YOU REALLY DON'T KNOW.

Here's a tough question -- if asked, could you name the different foundation colors from memory? Probably not. Few of us could. That's OK -- but here's the real question -- do you have a color chart handy when you're talking with a customer about foundation colors? I'm not talking about the colors that are in the book that you're using. I'm asking if your tool box has a bona fide color chart. If not, how will you answer the "it doesn't look like that on me" objection?

What's that? You can't tell from a color chart? OK. Have you purchased a foundation color shade selector? Or do you merely go it blind? Selecting your customer's foundation colors in the blind can lead to embarrassment. We care less about your embarrassment than hers. Her embarrassment expresses itself in frustration (hopefully not anger) and her unwillingness to even try a product about which she is unsure.

ORDER TAKERS VERSUS SALESPERSONS

The order taker waits for her customer to specify a color. The salesperson makes suggestions as to what colors will most closely fit the customer. If she has samples, she gets them out and gets the customer to try them.

The order taker knows few of the answers to the questions the customer may pose. The salesperson has researched what she considers to be the possible and important questions that the customer might ask and is prepared either with an answer to the question or a ready reference to locate that answer. How does that happen? Get another Avon rep to play customer. Write those questions down and do the research. Write the answer with the question, type them up, practice them, and commit them to memory.

The order taker orders the product the customer requested. The salesperson also orders the bonus item that may accompany the customer's purchase. Seems simple enough. In many cases, the bonus item accompanies the purchase automatically. But when it shows up there in the box, do you know what customer it is for? At the very least, the salesperson emphasizes its availability on the sales slip.

The order taker may recognize that Avon provides a 100% guarantee. The salesperson, in addition to that, is ready to provide an alternate suggestion, if for no other reason than to protect the sale. And, interestingly, once the suggestion has been made, the sale -- now moving in a new direction -- becomes outstanding in its own right.

CONSIDERATIONS

Now here's a tough question -- must you always stop, in front of the customer, and read the ingredients on the package? What if you don't have the package? Do you carry with you a Product Reference Guide? No? Why not? It is your source of product information. But as you will see, I am going to recommend that you not simply whip it out and read it to the customer unless you are absolutely certain that only that missing piece of information will seal the sale. If you have some idea of what she will buy, it becomes reinforcement to your knowledge, and in that set of circumstances, use it. But if you do have some idea of what she will buy and you need the publication, make good use of paper clips to find your way around it.

And another tough question -- just how do you distinguish among the various competing products in our own line? When would you, for example, recommend Rich Moisture Hand Cream over Vita Moist? How are they different? How is the Skin-So-Soft hand cream selection different from the Moisture Therapy selection? Don't know? If you want to kill your sale, just say, "I'll see if I can find out." Do you get the impression that it is my feeling that if you are to do justice to the Avon business you have put yourself into? You would be right.

WHAT TO KNOW

Here are six things you'd better know if you desire to offer excellent service:

1. Know the basic ingredients of each class of product Avon sells. The word is "know," because you should at least commit to memory the primary ingredient. Here's an example: do you even know what an alpha hydroxy is? Do you think it is in all Anew products? You would be wrong.

2. How are those ingredients presented? Would you find the same ingredient in a different product? What carries the ingredient from one product to the next? Is it possible to get too much of a specific ingredient? If the customer is already receiving Retin A from a dermatologist, would you consider selling her a Retinol product? And if not, what product or ingredients would you recommend that could achieve the same results with the level of the Retin A that the customer is taking?

3. What extras can you combine with the sale that will enhance the look or feel that the customer wishes to achieve? Would there be a difference to the customer if you sold her a cleanser to accompany that moisturizer? Under what circumstances should a woman use or not use a toner? Find out.

4. Do you know the price of your products -- or must you look them up? This is particularly important if you choose to stock the item. But do you suppose that a little time with the brochure would allow you to make a list of the items that are on sale this time?

5. Know the value of that item. If you tell somebody how good an item from the Basics line is, can you tell the customer that the Avon or Anew lines are equally good? What distinguishes the product lines in your mind, because if you don't know that, neither will your customer be able to distinguish it in her mind. Telling somebody that the product is "good" or "Mary uses it" is really insufficient justification for making the purchase.

6. How will choosing the benefit achievable from a specific product line impact the customer? How adept are you at comparing benefits, as well as comparing prices? When would you attempt to sell the benefit versus selling the product with emphasis on the price?

KNOWING YOUR PRODUCTS: WHEN THE CUSTOMER ALREADY KNOWS

Knowing the products you have will allow the customer to use you as the reference manual. When she is doing that, she already has knowledge or suspicions of the correct answer. Knowing your products will assist you to upsell the customer on a line or even an entirely different line, provided the change offers an improvement. Fill in the blanks.

When the customer says:

I'd like a face product to get rid of my fine lines ____________________________
What do you have that will protect my hands in water? ____________________________
Have you a shampoo for my colored/permed hair? ____________________________
What fragrance do you have that has a scent of vanilla? ____________________________
What lipstick has color that won't come off on my cup? ____________________________
Before proceeding, give some thought to how you would answer these questions. My interest here is not that you can necessarily name a specific product, although that is important, but rather that you know why a specific product will fit the request.

For example: I'd like a face product Anew All-in-One has a low to get rid of my fine lines dose of alpha-hydroxy acids that will reduce fine lines.

What do you have that will Silicon Glove will protect protect my hands in water? your hands; Moisture Therapy will help restore the quality of the skin on your hands.

Have you a shampoo for my Advanced Techniques offers colored/permed hair? solutions for treatment of colored or permed hair. The best choice would be:______.

What fragrance do you have Far Away Cologne can provide that has a scent of vanilla? the vanilla scent you seek, with undertones of:______.

What lipstick has color that Many customers speak happily won't come off on my cup? about our Perfect Wear line, and we have recently expanded the line with lip ink.

How would you do if in order to sell Avon you had to pass a test, much as you might have to do to get a driver's license? Suppose someone asked you: "I've been reading about rejuvi-cell technology and I heard that Avon is the only company that has it. Tell me about the products containing it." What would you do?

Now the question arises -- in comes the customer looking for skin care. What do you recommend? Where do you start? How would you feel if you met up with you and asked about skin care and in return got something like this: "Well, we've got some pretty good stuff -- it's called Anew. But if that's too expensive, we have the Avon line. Not quite as good as Anew, but pretty good. And then if your budget is really squeezed, we have some really inexpensive products called Avon basic." Just how would you feel if you got that treatment? Probably not too happy about it.

AGAIN, KNOW THE VALUE OF YOUR SALE'S POTENTIAL

This is so important that I should like to present a tabulation for your consideration. This deals with Anew purchases:

THE VALUE OF AN ANEW CUSTOMER

Times used per year: 1, 2, 3, 4

Ultra Cream Cleanser: 14, 28, 42, 56

Retroactive: 24, 48, 72, 96

Day Force Extra: 22, 44, 66, 88

Night Force Extra: 22, 44, 66, 88

The value of your sale to your business: 82, 164, 246, 328

Now -- extend that to only 10 customers: 820, 1640, 2460, 3280

and to 20 customers: 1640, 3280, 4920, 6560

and to 30 customers: 2460, 4920, 7380, 9840 What has been shown here is the value of four products used annually, semi-annually, every four months, and every three months. Four products, served regularly to 30 customers, can put you into the President's Club. And it all happened because you have provided suggestive service to your customers.

KICKING THE AVON TIRES

Walk into any car dealership and tell the salesman that you're looking for four wheels and a motor and what does that salesman do? Does he put you into the no frills sub compact with the four cylinder engine guaranteed to go 90 mph downhill with a tailwind? No, chances are he will first show you the largest, most well- appointed vehicle on the showroom floor. He whets your appetite for that outstanding color, air conditioning, global positioning, CD changer, automatic transmission, 300 horsepower, capable to tow a boat with no sweat, able to leave the competition in the dust THIRTY-TWO THOUSAND, SEVEN HUNDRED TWENTY EIGHT DOLLAR sport utility vehicle. You know you can't afford that. He knows it also. But he knows something you don't -- he knows that even though you may not be able to afford that SUV, there is no way that you will now accept four wheels and a motor. You may move somewhere in between, but out of the corner of your eye you are looking at that SUV, all the time trying to work out just how you would pay for that road locomotive.

The same is true with skin care. Make your first offer to the customer a $4.99 jar of Vita Moist face cream and then compare it to a $24 jar of Retroactive, and the Vita Moist will be the sale more times than not. The Vita Moist gives you, at best, a $2.50 commission. The Retroactive gives you, at best, a $12 commission. Where should you spend your time? After all, both creams are white, the jar sizes are comparable. Must be the same stuff, right? But start with the Retroactive and broadcast the capabilities of this wonderful product, and it becomes so appealing that if there is possibly a way to afford the product, the customer will try to find that way.

WHEN PRODUCT IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN PROFIT

We tend to think that we need the profit on every sale. Perhaps we do. But perhaps there are circumstances under which it is more important to move the product than to make the profit on that product. Once we have made our $12 profit on the Retroactive, could we give away the profit on an Anew Cleanser and sell it for cost? Your profit hasn't increased, but you've covered your cost on the second item, the customer has tried a second product without which she'll never again be happy, and when she comes back for her next Retroactive, she'll be ready to deal not only on the cleanser, but also some of the other products in the line. And you've both increased your cash flow and your award sales.

THINGS TO REMEMBER ABOUT SERVICE THROUGH PRODUCT KNOWLEDGE

There are a few things it would be useful to remember when your customer begins to test your product knowledge:

1. You cannot always know everything about everything. But when you do not, don't "hum a few bars and fake it." If you know and can answer the questions immediately, your expertise will show and your customer will respect you for that. If you do not know and you make it up as you go along, sooner or later something will not ring true, the customer will see through it, and then you're in trouble. If you sincerely do not know, make a note of it and tell the customer that you will research it and get back to her. In this situation, do not dig into your tote for the Product Reference Guide, pull it out, lay it on the table, and begin to read. When that happens, your customer is no longer involved, is free to talk herself out of anything you have already closed.

2. Don't impose your experience on the customer. If you use the Anew line, extoll its virtues, but don't condemn another of Avon's product lines that the customer may feel she can better afford. Just because you like the best does not mean she could not gain benefit from something you feel is not the best. Give the top of the line the initial try, but if you strike out, move down and go on. You can always move down the product line. It's far harder to move upward.

3. Make no judgment about what a customer is capable to buy. You will have customers for whom money is no object. Looks may be the object and anything that will improve those is open to negotiation. But you will also have customers who are church mouse poor and couldn't afford the SUV you are offering and for whom anything more expensive than a bicycle will be a stretch.

Sandwiched between the two are two other categories:

(1) the customer who is so tight she squeeks, who could easily afford the top of the line but for whom an expenditure of such a magnitude is against her fiscal religion; and
(2) the impulsive and perhaps compulsive purchaser who will have it at any cost, even allowing her kids go without shoes. You have no right to impose any standard upon any customer. Of the four you will experience emotions ranging from compassion to scorn to caution to exhilaration. As you deal with this person, be careful always to distinguish between the help you will give your customer and the opinion you have of either the customer or the product line.

NAME THAT PRODUCT

Perhaps it's time for you and a good Avon friend to play a little game -- name that product. Person A describes a product. Person B identifies the product. If the answer is correct, a congratulatory expression is in order. If the answer is not correct, some mutual research is in order.

Next time we'll spend some time discussing the kind of service you can provide by simply guiding your customers from the point where the two of you met to the point where you would like the transaction to go. We'll discuss how you can recognize and capitalize upon your service opportunities.

Ken the Man

Please Donate To Help Keep This Site Open!!
Thank You!!