In a first for the company, the workshop, called Quickstart Leaders, finishes up today but is also one of three regional venues, with a similar event held at Port Macquarie last week and one to be held at Coffs Harbour next week.

It’s to teach Avon representatives how to build a team of representatives locally – but then reach out and take the business nationwide, if that is the leader’s desire, Avon national sales manager Julie Murphy said. Mrs Murphy has been with Avon for 27 years, since before immigrating from the United Kingdom.

She said that old, familiar chorus of “Ding-dong, Avon calling” had been replaced with “Avon tweeting” as

the 126-year-old company brought itself into the 21st

century.

“We need to bring a very old-fashioned, successful concept into the modern world,” Mrs Murphy said.

Representatives now went into the high street or dropped recruitment leaflets into letterboxes, rather than knocking on doors.

“It’s interesting for me, over 27 years, to see the change – (decades ago) people were at home during the day, there were a lot of housewives ... now, people are all working,” she said.

So, in response, Avon was going through a transition.

Avon district sales manager Pauline West said: “We’re moving on from cold calling ... We still have our wonderful Avon ladies out there dropping brochures but, I guess, we’re moving into the 21st century, sending brochures via email, using Facebook, networking.”

She said Avon had been emailing brochures for the past 12 to 18 months.

Mrs Murphy said many people also signed up with Avon as a second job.

Avon products could be bought at a “very reasonable price ... people are very mindful of what they spend these days”, she said.