When Avon Doesn't Call: A Lesson For Internet Marketers

Probably most of you have heard of Avon Products, Inc.
Founded over 100 years ago as a small perfume company, Avon has grown
into a huge multi-billion dollar corporation that sells products ranging
from cosmetics to clothing, jewelry and knickknacks to customers in
nearly 140 countries.

Like many women, I have my own "Avon Lady," someone from whom I have
ordered on a regular basis over the last couple of years. Mary works in
the same office building as I do, one floor below mine.

I suppose Mary makes a nice little side income from her Avon customers.
But Mary has a bad business habit that I think we can all learn from,
and avoid.

Whenever I order items from an Avon catalog, Mary always delivers them
to me promptly, in one of those little white Avon bags that the company
provides. Inside the bag, along with the items I've ordered, she
conveniently includes a copy of the newest Avon catalog. So far, so good.

But here's the thing--if, for whatever reason, I don't happen to order
anything from the new catalog, Mary seldom drops me off a copy of the
*next* catalog. Or the one after that. Or the one after that. In fact,
if I don't order during a particular campaign, the only way I get a copy
of the newest Avon catalog is when I call and ask her for one!

Now, how much business do you think Mary loses from me each year due to
this oversight? Then, multiply that number by the amount of business she
loses if she handles all of her regular customers the same way, which I
imagine she does. Failure to follow up with her regular customers probably
costs Mary hundreds of dollars each year. Maybe more, if any of her
customers decide to switch to another Avon distributor.

You might wonder why *I* don't try to find another, more reliable Avon
Lady. The sad fact is, Mary's unreliability saves me money. Because I
don't always have the latest catalog, I don't make impulse Avon
purchases. When I start to run low on a favorite product, I give Mary a
call. If I had an Avon Lady who followed up with me regularly, I'd
probably buy twice as much as I currently do. The money I save, however,
turns out to be Mary's loss.

In order to be successful, we cannot afford to take a Mary-like approach
to our businesses. We need to keep in touch with customers who have
purchased from us in the past--let them know about any new products or
special offers. If we do, many of them just might purchase from us again.
If we don't, many of them might wonder how we stay in business in the first
place, and look to other people to purchase the goods and services they
need.

Here's to your business success.