Avon Hints and Tips (Part 2)

Stephsreps

lopez75 wrote: »

Hey girls,

i was just wondering how long you leave your books out for?

I'm recanvassing my new area and am putting out my books tomorrow (wish me luck!) I am going to pick them up on Wed morning after I have dropped off my little girl at preschool. I would usually leave them out for longer but I have a big area with 50 books.

Do you think thats enough time?

Thank! ;-)

I've always left at least 3 days and a lot fo the time people said that wasn't enough!?!! These days now I have established customers one of my areas I give them the books on a thursday and collect on a tuesday, my road I live on I give them the books on a thursday and pick up on the thursday, if anyone finishes earl they often post them through my door, but no one can say a week isn't long enough lol!

Stevie xx

Stephsreps

MiniLauraRocks wrote: »

ok, if you are unable to contact your area manager whats the best way to contact avon about this? email? one of the phone options? speak to a customer service agent?

Just wondering if anyone else has done this - im now on third email unanswered

I'd ring if I was you hun, email can take a while to respond. Phone lines usually quite busy though so can take ages to get anyone to pick up, best time to call is when Coronation streets on I find lol x Stevie x

Larumbelle

blackwidowz wrote: »

Just tried them on the order form and it comes up as HT items and the offer price, thanks anyway.

It will come up as HT price online, but they will correct it on your invoice I tried that one already

Nicky, slow and steady wins the race, you are doing really well! From little acorns and all that. My first order was only about £150 - a few campaigns on they are far higher, yours will be too!

ASMs can be hard to get in touch with, it goes with the job and its not necessarily their fault. They are paid for a 40 hour week and are expected to recruit 10 reps per week. That means 10 first, second, third, and fourth appointments in any given week, which are supposed to last an hour each. That means their whole week is in theory mapped out without any allowance for travel, canvassing or support outside of those appointments. The maths don't work, however you look at it.
Oh, and if they miss their targets two campaigns in a row, they are dismissed. :eek:
Not making excuses for them, but it's a stupid situation where ASMs can never give the level of support they should. The only ASMs I know who are helpful manage to be because they do masses of unpaid overtime. I hitched a lift with my ASM and in 30 mins she had 20 calls - I know, I took them all for her!

MLR - are you a sales leader? If so, sales leader line is the best place. If not, call head office and get the number for your BDM (ASM's boss).

Lopez, I leave mine as long as I can - 3 days minimum, but a week if possible with customers who have ordered before. I use the campaign before to backorder to save on books, I also ruthlessly strike off my list anyone who says they are not interested - that trims the territory substantially, and at the end of the day you're only wasting your time giving books to those people anyway. I will recanvass periodically but I do keep an eye on who's moving in/moving out and will recanvass every now and then, buying in extra books to do so.

Hope this helps

Stephsreps

nickynoo08 wrote: »

Evening everyone.
Got a few more orders in today so my total now stands at £96.75, not much when i look at some of your order values but i must remember i've only been a rep for 5days. Having no joy with my territory. Lost loads of books had no orders from the few who put their books out n i still cant get hold of my asm for anymore. Desperate for some new roads to try. Will keep at it tho.

Well done :beer: £96.75 is ruddy good for 5 days! Onwards and upwards and all that Last year my campaign orders were £200 for campaign 16 this year they are on £550 so far with more books due in :j Just goes to show it just takes time to build up Hope you get some more decent territory too, it halps when you have a good area, I have my own housing area and have gotten to know loads of lovely neighbours thru avon so I love this job!!!

£550 is my highest ever sales, not looking forward to lugging that lot round the houses plus my C17 books though!!!!xx

Stephsreps

katchambers wrote: »

The good thing is I have £313 in orders with 2 more to come in before I place my c16 order on tuesday, I am very happy with the overall total.

Kat x

That's a fab order total hun, especially when you are still building your business up It takes some people a while to order because as people say on here they have been let down by other reps, its a shame but the more you show the customers how reliable you are the more they order and they'll start showing books to friends etc!

One lady thins time gave me an order for £100! My highest ever single order x Stevie x

Elliebee_2

I find that if you leave books too long, people just forget about them (and my own experience as a customer in the past confirms that).

Personally, if I deliver on Monday, then I collect on Thursday; Tues/Friday etc. If the book isn't out the first time I go, I pop a note through the door saying I'll call back the next day. If it's not out then, I knock, and if no answer, leave a note saying the book is still valid for a while - contact me if you want to order. I always point out that if they want to keep the book longer they only have to ask. I try to avoid leaving books over a weekend, as no-one is thinking about Avon books on a Monday morning

I think it's just a matter of finding the right system for your particular area and establishing a routine.

Pinzy

nickynoo08 wrote: »

Evening everyone.
Got a few more orders in today so my total now stands at £96.75, not much when i look at some of your order values but i must remember i've only been a rep for 5days. Having no joy with my territory. Lost loads of books had no orders from the few who put their books out n i still cant get hold of my asm for anymore. Desperate for some new roads to try. Will keep at it tho.

Hey Nicky, like you say it's only been 5 days! That's pretty much what I had after the same amount of time! Keep plugging, like others have said, a lot of people have had problems with high rep turnover, so may take a while to wait and see if you stick around.

Mousie_2

Elliebee wrote: »

I find that if you leave books too long, people just forget about them (and my own experience as a customer in the past confirms that).

Personally, if I deliver on Monday, then I collect on Thursday; Tues/Friday etc. If the book isn't out the first time I go, I pop a note through the door saying I'll call back the next day. If it's not out then, I knock, and if no answer, leave a note saying the book is still valid for a while - contact me if you want to order. I always point out that if they want to keep the book longer they only have to ask. I try to avoid leaving books over a weekend, as no-one is thinking about Avon books on a Monday morning

I think it's just a matter of finding the right system for your particular area and establishing a routine.

I find the opposite with my customers. I deliver books on thursday and collect on monday.
I find if I leave them to collect during the week they forget because they are busy with work and family, where as at a weekend they have time to sit and look through the book!
Like you say its finding what works best for your customers.

I havent delivered to every house this time only houses who have ordered in the past, this is my 5th camp so I figure if someones not ordered in the last 4 they arent going to now! Going to email me asm and ask for some more streets to canvas :T

Elliebee_2

As I said - right system for the area! I don't think there is actually a right and wrong, just what works for you

I wonder if there are any newbies out there in the East Herts/West Essex area who could use C15 books. Mine will be expired by the end of the week, and I hate taking them down the tip (added to which, I always expect a tap on the shoulder to tell me it's business waste for which I should be paying :eek:). PM me if you're interested.

KazLA

I've been reading this thread with great interest!

I started doing Avon last summer, just by chance as I was stopped in town, didn't really expect to get anywhere, but realised I had nothing to lose. I just joined at a friends and family level, but am really enjoying it!

A year later and with Christmas coming up, I thought it might be good to take things up another level. I don't think I really want any streets to do, but really fancy getting the book into some other offices etc - my best orders are from my husbands and mother-in-laws offices.

I'd like to ring some local offices and ask for a contact name to send the book to (read the tip on here about posting them and sending a S.A.E. for return - thx!).

My question is, can I do this on the friends & family level, or do I need to do something else first?

(I have loads more questions - some just little things that come up and hardly seem worth asking, but will perhaps post them on here later!).

My Camp 16 order has just arrived - I'd better get unpacking!

My