May 17, 2010

Twelve Years and Going Strong


Recruiting and growing Customer base are key for this successful Representative.

Elena Maldonado researched the best possible way to operate a home-based business, but it wasn’t until she saw an ad in her local paper that becoming an Avon Representative came into focus. After a phone call and a visit from her soon-to-be District Sales Manager, Elena became a Representative. “Needless to say,” says Elena, “my life has never been the same.”

Fast-forward 12 years later, and Elena has become one of the more recognizable and successful Leadership Representatives in the country. Elena’s journey in Leadership began in 2001, but it was two years later, while sitting in a college class of all places, when she finally realized what she needed to do to become the success she is today.

“I was a titled Advanced Unit Leader (AUL), but I wasn’t completely happy with how my Leadership business was going,” she says. “So, I decided to enroll back in college. Education and self-improvement have always been very important to me and I wanted to keep my options open with a potential future career choice in education. But, while I was sitting in class during the first week and taking notes, it hit me and I started to think: If I become a teacher, I would be working for someone else and I would, at least initially, be tied into a set income. I wouldn’t have the freedom or flexibility to set my own work hours and potentially earn as much as I wanted. That is when I realized that I loved being my own boss.”

From that point forward, Elena refocused her strategy in her approach toward her Avon Leadership business. She devised a specific plan, and within six months after titling as an AUL, Elena achieved Executive Unit Leader status. In 2007 she was appointed a Senior Executive Unit Leader (SEUL), before settling in as an Executive Unit Leader for the past two years.

She hasn’t looked back on her career choice since.

Dollars and cents are important when running your own business, but there is an even more basic element that is needed to succeed: Customers. “It’s a cliché to say it, but building Customers is the most important step in becoming a successful Representative,” she explains. “I try to pass this on to my Downline by teaching them to always think of everyone they come into contact with as a potential Customer.”

Elena lists several key points that help her find Customers. They are:

* Always have samples and current Avon brochures available.
* Become an eRepresentative.
* Engage in the Beauty of Knowledge training courses at yourAVON.com.
* Use and demo the new products that become available to Representatives before selling them.
* Follow up with each potential Customer.


Elena’s last point is important, as she explains. “I firmly believe that the key to building a strong Customer base and maintaining that base is in the follow-up process. I always tell my Downline and team partners to follow up with each potential Customer that they hand a brochure to, either by phone, e-mail or both.”

In addition to her focus on finding new Customers, Elena emphatically endorses the recruiting process, which she believes is just as vital. She encourages everyone in her Downline to schedule a grand opening which provides the ideal opportunity to meet people. Elena herself often attends as a cohost to get the ball rolling. “I believe that enthusiasm builds in a group setting, so getting together as a group is extremely motivating,” says Elena.

Of course it isn’t just the business aspect that drives her. A stay-at-home mother in Murrieta, California, Elena credits the strength, love and backing of her family as key components of her success. “My partnership with Avon has allowed me the opportunity to be a stay-at-home mom while running a successful home-based business at the same time.”

She has one particular goal in mind for 2010, and she is not going to let anything keep her from reaching it. It’s to reach SEUL status again. She emphatically states: “I will make it happen.”

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