~Avon Hints and Tips~(Part 5)

lozza1985

Ah I see - yes Avon have a mlm side. Sales leadership was started about 7 years ago in the uk. Thankfully it isn't pushed as much as with say kleeneze - which me & oh tried and from day one it was if you sign up x people you'll earn x amount...hard to see when we couldn't even break even ourselves, which is why we sold the books on eBay after a few weeks to get some of our money back.

With Avon - there are area sales managers (asms) they sign people as reps (those that apply through the official website), and look after territory, sorting any problems out. Or at least they should sort out territory problems as that's part of their job. They targts to hit, which help them keep their jobs, as well as earning bonuses.

Sales leaders are self employed. There are good and bad asms, the same as there are good and bad sales leaders. It is possible to earn a lot of money as a sales leader - google Debbie Davis - however the high earners started years ago, it would be difficult to earn that amount starting out now.

Money_maker

Don't think the word Kleeneze should be used around John!

[Deleted User]

Well couldn't go check if any more books were left out/ do a new drop today as I didnt end up going to sleep until 7am due to being very unwell. Hopefully any that forgot to put them out yesterday and left them out today will not bin them by the time I come round tomorrow!

Aesop

Hope you feeling better now drinkuppretty.

[Deleted User]

aureol212 wrote: »

Hope you feeling better now drinkuppretty.

Thank you. Still full of cold, but stomach bug has passed. This is what I get for spending the weekend with a bunch of students who have just started back. Freshers week is a breeding ground for germs, I hoped being a graduate would make me immune but sadly not

Aesop

ok, for those keep asking about ASMs and territory and being an SL.

Avon aren't perfect. They have their faults and they have their good sides. Although sometimes it is hard to see it.

ASMs as has been mentioned are salaried but have targets to meet, if they meet their targets they get nice prizes, like holidays abroad. One of their targets is to sign up x amount of reps each campaign. Hence the fast turnaround of Reps.

As Lozza says, you get good ASMs and not so good ASMs. Let's not sit here making a huge debate about it. Yes ASMs are supposed to keep SMA upto date. This is the recording apparatus - computer program for marking which Rep has territory where and where free territory is. Some ASMs allocate without updating SMA and then re-allocate same territory as they forget they have already allocated it.

Yes there should be measures in place to make sure this doesn't happen. Don't know if there are or aren't. Yes, ASMs are supposed to check in with the team of Reps with territory and ask when they last canvassed and how many customers they have. NO, they don't all do this or do it regularly.

If you want to sign up to be an SL, this is what it is, you may be lucky enough to sign up an SL in a good ASM's area, and they will be spot on with territory allocation and there may not be any problems. You might sign up a rep in an area with a not so good ASM and you may have all sorts of problems allocating free territory.

I always tell people not to just rely on territory for their customers, advertise, and sell Avon wherever you go, or at least ask if people would like to see a book. I gave 3 people a book on Sunday at a church event, I don't even go to Church, I was there as it was told to me that there was an event for kids, so I took DS along. When I got there realised what it was about, and thought no harm in staying and listening, and DS had fun. At the end, I asked 3 ladies, if they would like an Avon book to look at and they took it. One said she already bought from an Avon lady but she had placed her order and hadn't received it and couldn't remember when it was due.

I picked up a new customer at work today because the current office Avon Rep, wouldn't give her a book because she didn't order last time. So I gave her a book and picked up an order for £57!

Where can you advertise? anywhere you like, in your area, out of your area, as long as you are not actively canvassing roads, as these may already belong to reps and wouldn't be fair.

You can advertise in Newspapers, magazines, shop windows, baby groups, church groups, anywhere with a noticeboard, where they give you permission, supermarkets, newsagents, etc. Yes you have to pay to advertise in certain places, others will let you do it for free.

Kitten_Claws

aureol212 wrote: »

ok, for those keep asking about ASMs and territory and being an SL.

Avon aren't perfect. They have their faults and they have their good sides. Although sometimes it is hard to see it.

I don't think it is a critique of AVON as such. Certainly not from me in anycase. I happen to like the brand and have used their products for many years. That said, I don't see how it benefits anyone working for AVON to over recruit in an already saturated area without warning the new rep.

ASMs as has been mentioned are salaried but have targets to meet, if they meet their targets they get nice prizes, like holidays abroad. One of their targets is to sign up x amount of reps each campaign. Hence the fast turnaround of Reps.

Which is causing the problems. That the territory assigned may already have presence by other reps in that area is one thing - but not to warn a new rep who is 'assigned' that territory is quite another.

As Lozza says, you get good ASMs and not so good ASMs. Let's not sit here making a huge debate about it. Yes ASMs are supposed to keep SMA upto date. This is the recording apparatus - computer program for marking which Rep has territory where and where free territory is. Some ASMs allocate without updating SMA and then re-allocate same territory as they forget they have already allocated it.

Ah so there is a facility? Aureol, I have to say at this point that no one is making a big debate out of anything. Those newbies amongst us are just looking for some clarity. I have wasted hours of precious time on a road that is already cherry picked by two other reps. Had the ASM informed me that there were other reps present, I wouldn't have bothered. I am hopeful that my ASM is of the genuine persuasion and this has been an oversight

Yes there should be measures in place to make sure this doesn't happen. Don't know if there are or aren't. Yes, ASMs are supposed to check in with the team of Reps with territory and ask when they last canvassed and how many customers they have. NO, they don't all do this or do it regularly.

A great shame for the new reps - and again, the long term negative impacts on the brand.

If you want to sign up to be an SL, this is what it is, you may be lucky enough to sign up an SL in a good ASM's area, and they will be spot on with territory allocation and there may not be any problems. You might sign up a rep in an area with a not so good ASM and you may have all sorts of problems allocating free territory.

I don't think I will be pursuing SL at this rate as I am not at all confident in the territory allocated to me. I don't think I'd sleep not knowing if I'd allocated an area which was already exhausted to someone all fired up and optimistic.

I always tell people not to just rely on territory for their customers, advertise, and sell Avon wherever you go, or at least ask if people would like to see a book. I gave 3 people a book on Sunday at a church event, I don't even go to Church, I was there as it was told to me that there was an event for kids, so I took DS along. When I got there realised what it was about, and thought no harm in staying and listening, and DS had fun. At the end, I asked 3 ladies, if they would like an Avon book to look at and they took it. One said she already bought from an Avon lady but she had placed her order and hadn't received it and couldn't remember when it was due.

I picked up a new customer at work today because the current office Avon Rep, wouldn't give her a book because she didn't order last time. So I gave her a book and picked up an order for £57!

Where can you advertise? anywhere you like, in your area, out of your area, as long as you are not actively canvassing roads, as these may already belong to reps and wouldn't be fair

Now that is good news to me. I will build up my own client base and have asked my ASM just how many reps are in my area. She has allocated another road, though has informed me there are reps with presence there too. She has suggested knocking on doors to ask if they already buy AVON from another rep.

You can advertise in Newspapers, magazines, shop windows, baby groups, church groups, anywhere with a noticeboard, where they give you permission, supermarkets, newsagents, etc. Yes you have to pay to advertise in certain places, others will let you do it for free.

I was going to put an ad on my car...and OH's car..

Aesop

Kitten_Claws wrote: »

I was going to put an ad on my car...and OH's car..

oh yes forgot about that! You can get magnetic "forget the word" ads(?) that stick to your car, and you can remove them. Ie when you are going out in your car, put them on the doors, and when you reach your destination remove them, so no-one nicks them. Vistaprint do them.

You can advertise that you are an Independent avon rep and your details, ie mobile an e-mail. And right now, who knows how many customers you may pick up? Takes one to see your cars and triggers...ooh I want to buy this that and the other from Avon.

Aesop

can't quote your post quoting my post, but MarsdenCuckoo had a suggestion for knocking on doors to ask if they already had an Avon Rep. She did this, there is some kind of survey you can conduct that basically finds out if they have a rep and would like to see a book.

Problem with SMA... as I said, it is upto the ASM to keep it upto date. I know mine doesn't for me. But then I am not sure if she still is my ASM as she was off sick for a while and other people kept popping up in her place to jolly us along.

I don't know if an ASM is going to tell a new rep that the road I have just allocated to you, there are 3 other reps living on that road, they do F&F only, or they have territory too. I know where I live, we are saturated with Reps but I only found by talking to customers, one rep taking a delivery for me, and when asking for territory, my ASM kept saying that is already allocated, and by becoming an SL saw there were 2 reps living on the next road. One however is only F&F, the other is territory but she never canvasses hers.

AND I had a rep on my territory become a rep as I hadn't delivered an avon book to her, she bought avon anyway and thought why not make money out of it. No one told her that I covered her road before signing her up, our ASM told her to go wherever she liked and see if she picked up customers. hence how I found out she was a rep and living on my territory road! she was putting books down on my territory and upsetting my customers. I found 2 roads not being canvassed, told her and ASM, suggested they get allocated to her, asked her about it recently. She said, no, someone else does those roads, so I don't do them. No-one I know does those roads, as my substitute ASM gave them to me, I have picked up customers and only one lady said I buy from a rep waving her hand up the road.

So I know how it feels! The only thing is if there is a local meet near to you, mine is on a tues when I am working, to go along and hopefully meet other reps and maybe find out who covers your roads, and there and then you can discuss with ASM. Except my meet, is run by another ASM!

As to the answer of territory ? cannot help - the system is not perfect, I can only suggest people try to find other customers and not rely on territory alone. Or use Aon Connect to get assigned customers looking for reps or Facebook/Twitter, or any other medium for advertising.

I know I sound really negative. Having a very hard time at the moment, and all this stuff about territory is such a downer. In a perfect world, it would all be recorded, there would be no Reps stepping on each other's toes (accidentally or on purpose) and we would all benefit from making extra money

Aesop

cocktailsavings wrote: »

I only properly signed up with SL last night and so still waiting for account number, can anyone please sent me the electronic link for HT18 as I understand you can order from that when I place my first order for C.16, my rep has only given me HT17. Thanks

HT18