In the mid-1880s, David McConnell was a traveling book salesman in New York. He went door-to-door trying to convince women to purchase his books. Many women refused to open their doors to him because their husbands were away at work. The ones who opened their doors to him were too uneasy with a man they did not know being in their homes to actually make a purchase. Most of them became irritated that he had stopped their work for a sales pitch.
Word spread quickly when David made it to a new neighborhood, and even fewer women opened their doors to him. David altered his introduction, added more charm, and tried different approaches, but sales remained dismal. David realized that unless he came up with a way to sell more books, he would soon be out of business.
David searched for a way to make women feel comfortable with letting a strange man into their homes and to make them comfortable enough with him so they could consider purchasing a book from him. But how?
He considered several different gimmicks but discounted each for one reason or another. He considered giving each woman who opened the door to him a free sample, but a sample of what? He could not just give them a page from a book. He needed something that most women would be interested in immediately to make that most important good first impression. Items for cooking and cleaning were okay, but he wanted something inexpensive that would make them feel good, something that would take their minds off their household chores. Finally, he settled on perfume.
In 1886, David put his new plan into action. He knocked on the first door, met the woman with a charming smile and a free perfume sample, and she let him in. So far, so good. She was happy enough with the perfume to listen to his book sales pitch, but she did not buy a book. Neither did the next, nor the string of perfumed women that followed. Now David’s business was in worse shape than before. He had the expense of his book inventory plus the expense of the perfume that he was giving away, but he had few book sales to show for it.
Then, in September of that same year, David had an epiphany. If the women he was trying to sell books to were more interested in perfume, why not sell them perfume. David began redesigning his sales strategy, but there was one issue he was unable to overcome on his own. Most of the women were still uncomfortable allowing a strange man into their homes. He solved this issue by hiring 50-year-old Mrs. Persis Foster Eames Albee. He invested what little money he had left in his new idea. If it failed, David would go bankrupt.
David sent Mrs. Albee out on her first day and waited impatiently for her return. Women welcomed Mrs. Albee into their homes as if she were a lifelong friend, and perfume sales went beyond David’s wildest dreams. David named his new venture the “California Perfume Company” purely for marketing reasons, hired more ladies to sell perfumes, and profits grew exponentially.
Through the years, California Perfume Company expanded to a full line of beauty products, all of which were sold, not in stores, but in homes. In 1928, David renamed the company after the birthplace of William Shakespeare. David, the traveling book salesman who continually altered his failing business model until it became successful, was the founder of Avon.
