~Avon Hints and Tips~(Part 5)

Honest_John_666

lozza1985 wrote: »

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.

Cheers Lozza I really apreciate you reply, sorry about the abreviation confusion

Where would someone apply for some more info RE the self employed SL positions??? I like the basis of NWM I need to be sure that what I sell is ethical & achievable.

I dont do BS!!! :mad:

Thanks again :T
John

Honest_John_666

What I cant work out is........ how can you not have a territory management system in place??? How can you have a SL (Sales Leader) & A ASM (Area Sales Manager???) in the same area

Confusing???

Regards
John

claregre

I suppose the simplest way to think of it is as a hierarchy:

Reps
Sales Leaders
ASMs

In a simple world, Reps would be managed by Sales Leaders, and Sales Leaders would be managed by ASMs (Area Sales Managers).

BUT Avon is all about having reps to cover the whole country, so they also incentivise ASMs to recruit and manage reps as well.

ASMs manage particular areas of the country, and therefore sales leaders and reps within that area fall under them. I think I am right in saying that the whole of the UK is assigned to different ASMs.

There IS a territory management system, its just not updated very well. If used correctly, a road should only be able to be allocated to one rep at a time. The problem is, there are:

1. Reps who do not cover the whole of their territory, and just cover their customers, leaving lots of houses uncanvassed because they are on "dormant" roads.

2. Reps who stop covering their territory, give it back to Avon, and then think its fine to decide to canvas it again some months down the line, when it has (quite rightly) be reassigned by Avon.

3. ASMs (and some SL's) who give their reps territory, then do not allocate it correctly (or at all) on the territory management system. This means that another ASM / SL comes along and allocates that road again, so two reps are covering it.

Hope that makes sense. I am sure there are some other problems with territory allocation which have already been discussed on here, but you get the gist.

Kitten_Claws

HJ666 I was thinking about that too. The control is at ASM level. If they receive incentives for new reps signed up and the SL receives only a percentage on the commission earned from the reps they have signed up - then it is only in the best interest of the SL that the rep is motivated enough to continue. i.e given a decent unsaturated territory to start with. Whereas the ASM have already 'earned' their incentive.

Therefore the monitoring of territory becomes less of a priority to those ASM's who put their own incentives first. Have I got that right?

carlys87

dizzybella wrote: »

I should go out to deliver my books today but its pouring down.:( Ive got £183 in orders which im happy with but I am going to make myself go tomorrow with them and hopefully get them back saturday. So today Im going to have an avon free day and go to the white rose centre.

Dizzybella where are you from?!

Kitten_Claws

i've recruited sales reps (advertising sales) for a good many years - keeping them motivated is an ongoing affair. Then again I wasn't paid a commission for recruiting but for the overall sales targets met, which meant it was in my best interest to motivate and manage properly. It's always down to motivation.

Honest_John_666

Kitten_Claws wrote: »

HJ666 I was thinking about that too. The control is at ASM level. If they receive incentives for new reps signed up and the SL receives only a percentage on the commission earned from the reps they have signed up - then it is only in the best interest of the SL that the rep is motivated enough to continue. i.e given a decent unsaturated territory to start with. Whereas the ASM have already 'earned' their incentive.

Therefore the monitoring of territory becomes less of a priority to those ASM's who put their own incentives first. Have I got that right?

Hi Kitten

As I've stated I'm confused, so the SL position within Avon is managed by a ASM & limited by area???

What happens when the area is exhausted with reps. The SL cant recruit anymore & the ASM doesn't really have to push them selves too hard as they pick up gaurateed income.

ASMs seem to be the problem here IMO

Whats the point then :eek:

Regards
John

Kitten_Claws

HI HJ666

From what I can gather the ASM covers an extensive area - not sure of the geographical boundaries exactly. My ASM has hundreds of reps and SL's in 'her' area - which in fairness can't be easy to monitor day to day. My concerns, which I have expressed to her, is that to recruit new reps regardless of sales background and who do not have a regular line to sales (workplace or extensive f&f) then the motivation to build up her 'territory' will surely depend on being allocated one that is NOT saturated already. The question is HOW exactly are the areas 'managed'? Those reps who have a territory, then leave it uncanvassed for months - then unilaterally decide to take it up again, sporadically and at selected houses - as has happened in my case - are not being controlled.

I'm not so sure it is down to the ASM - but rather who the ASM answers to and their own support network. The ASM can only work with what they have and as already mentioned by the more knowledgeable here, there are good ASMs and not so good ASM's.

All that said, I do believe in the product and am figuring out how to reach the Avon user who is not being serviced properly. There must be thousands and thousands up and down the country.

Do AVON put their telephone number in the TV AD Campaigns - does anyone know?

I'm going to canvass my newly allocated road at some point this week or early next week and research who is receiving AVON service and who isn't. I shan't be sharing the information with AVON though - they should pay their own researchers for that.

claregre

Kitten_Claws wrote: »

Do AVON put their telephone number in the TV AD Campaigns - does anyone know?

I think they just say shop through your Avon representative, or go to www.avonshop.co.uk. The brochures have a tel no on the back (08456014040) but from what I can remember they don't put that number on the telly adverts.

Think they are cutting down on TV advertising at the moment, as the Herve Leger ads were cut. Plonking the Fergie ad slap bang in the middle of the TV Soap Awards must have cost them more than they realised!!

Kitten_Claws

It would make sense to get the most out of the telly ads - yes they cost a mint even at non peak times!!- Not every AVON customer is online. A dedicated advisory line would be useful. I wonder how many women, without internet access have wanted to buy AVON at the point they saw the ad and have no idea how to reach a rep?