Time Crush Reduces Her ‘Ding-Dong’

Retail sales

Marge Burns uses Avon’s Anew skin care line, wears the fragrance Mesmerize and lines her eyes with Avon’s Glimmer Sticks eyeliners. Her favorite shade of lipstick is the marbleized Wild Violet.

Eighteen years ago, Burns didn’t even use Avon products. Today the 66-year-old Spokane Valley resident is one of the company’s top representatives, selling more than $100,000 worth of Skin-So-Soft, Anew moisturizer, makeup, gifts and other Avon merchandise each year. Her sales volumes have earned her trips to Hawaii, Las Vegas, Acapulco and the Bahamas.

When she began, Burns went door-to-door with a basket of products to demonstrate and little lipstick and fragrance samples to pass out.

But “Ding-dong, Avon calling” has since been replaced with twice monthly Avon catalogs in the newspaper tube or on the doorstep.

Eighty percent of Burns’ customers now call their orders in and only see her when she delivers the products or when they visit her Valley home to pick up their orders.

“People are too busy now,” Burns said. “They don’t have time to sit and talk to the Avon lady. They’re working or out running errands. No one’s home.”

And they aren’t the only ones who don’t have a lot of free time. Burns has far too many customers to visit each one personally.

Over the years her customer base has grown to about 3,200 Spokane Valley households, the equivalent of about 30 typical Avon territories.

Another evolution in the business is that she and her husband, Eddie, approach Avon as a team effort. Eddie does a lot of the behind-the-scenes work - ordering, sorting and packaging - while Marge takes orders and visits customers. A typical work week for the couple is 40 to 50 hours. It takes them 16 to 22 hours just to unpack and repackage each biweekly shipment.

“It’s like Christmas every two weeks.”

Avon’s product line has grown, too. The company began in 1886 as a perfume company, then focused for years on cosmetics, fragrances and personal care products before expanding to jewelry, collectibles, aromatherapy products, even clothing.

But when Avon discontinues a product, Burns said she hears about it from her customers.

“Fortunately, Avon usually replaces it with something comparable or better,” she said.

Today Avon is traded on the New York Stock Exchange and is ranked 312th on the Fortune 500 list.

Of course, some of Burns’ customers still like her to visit them, especially shut-ins and retired women. Burns enjoys the interaction.

“I know who they all are and allot more time for those who like to talk,” she said. “You hear a lot of stories.”

Later this month, Burns will sell Avon in yet another way when the company launches its E-representative program.

Sellers like Burns will be able to host Web pages on Avon’s Internet site.

Each representative can customize her page to feature products popular in her territory. The program also features tools that will make it easier for Avon ladies to monitor particular customers’ preferences and notify them of sales or special promotions.

Burns, who doesn’t have a lot of computer experience, looks forward to venturing into cyberspace.

“Avon keeps pace with the times,” she said, adding that some things about the business, however, will never change.

“You have to be outgoing, and if you want to make money you have to spend a lot of hours.”

Staff writer Amy Cannata can be reached at (509) 459-5497 or by e-mail at amyc@spokesman.com