~Avon Hints & Tips (Part 6) ~

moneysaver599

j.avon wrote: »

moneysaver599 - I think you would be better off printing ONE page of whatever leaflet you are going to be using, then paying for COPIES to be made of that one leaflet, at a newsagent or something like that. Printing things is more costly in terms of ink, so many times you may find that it is more expensive to print multiple copies than it would be to use a copy machine somewhere else. It is worth checking around.

Also, when doing leaflets which go inside the zip bag with your avon book, you can make them quite small... copy and paste the same thing over and over in rows in your Word document, so once the page prints, you can cut them all out and have something like 8-12 post-it-note sized messages. that cuts costs also. no need to have your messages take up a full or even half a page. even 4 per page is quite a generous size.

Even though you are shy, you will save a lot of time, effort and money by knocking on doors rather than putting the book through the letterbox. I have found the best day to be Saturday late afternoon, around 5. People are relaxed at that time, in a good mood 'cause it's the weekend, and usually are home to answer the door. I knock, and if they answer I give them a big smile and say 'Hi, I'm your local Avon lady and I am just wondering if you'd like me to leave a book with you?' and I have a book in my hand which I hold up to show them. If it's a man, I say 'would you like to take an Avon book for your wife or partner?' I even give them to kids.. I will say 'hi there, just give this to your mum please'. they are always very smiley and take the book away, shouting 'MUUUUM'... If a woman answers the door and seems excited to get an Avon book, I always offer a free sample and then say what day I will come back to take their order/retrieve the book.

I have had very good luck getting my books back because I print out sticky labels that I stick on the front of the book, saying to please leave outside if unwanted, and that I will re-use the books. I print them off about 40 at a time, pretty small labels that just get stuck to the front cover of the book.

I have not yet had someone be rude to me. I just make sure to give a big smile and not take up their time - ask if they'd like a book, keep it short and sweet and they won't be annoyed. I get told 'no thanks' quite often, which helps me not waste my time on that house again (or at least for a long while). Then I can save my efforts and books for the houses which say YES

Doing this helps you know what kind of products or buying habits the occupants may have, also. You can see how old they are and what their skin looks like, so you know what type of samples they might be interested in (esp. important for Anew skincare). I have had good luck doing this so far.

The 'sorry I missed you' cards, I also use for when no one answers, and i don't really want to waste a book but i also want them to have my number. so I stamp my name, number and email address onto the card (I have an ink stamp for this) and put it through the letterbox. That way they have a way of contacting me if they would like a brochure.

Hope some of this helps.

Thanks, that's a great help I don't have anywhere nearby where I can photocopy but I've redesigned them all so I fit plenty on one page. I'll print enough to do me 3 more campaigns and put money back each one so I can buy my own printer.

I will see if I'm brave enough to door knock next campaign! I found it really embarrassing dropping off the brochures when the people inside could see me as I felt like a bit of a pest. Hopefully being heavily pregnant (or having a newborn!) makes people nicer if I'm annoying them.

Seem to be getting more organised now, I've designed Campaign 18 special offers leaflets/newsletters and made up a decent spreadsheet. Just working on leaflet/newsletter for Campaign 1. I figure the more work I put into this the more I'll get back.

Can anyone help with some more ideas -

With campaign 17 I have offered a free gift with orders over £15.00 (Avon Care Xmas hand cream which will cost me about £1.00 if I back order from Campaign 16), hoping this will encourage my first customers.

With campaign 18 I was going to offer free gift with orders over £20.00 (choose bubble bath or hand/face/body cream which would cost me £1.80 each.) I thought I might lose a bit of money on this but hopefully offering the free gifts on the first two campaigns will get me some regular customers. Would it be better to leave this gift to Campaign 1 since I've just offered one in C17?

I also want to do a raffle in C1 or C2 but I can't quite work out how to go about it. I was thinking about offering a ticket with every order over £5.00. Should I just do one prize - I was thinking a little pamper set with a clearance bubble bath, jewellery item, foot cream, lip balm? Not sure if this would cost me more than it's worth though lol.

Thanks x

j.avon

Does anyone know if we can backorder from HT? For example, when I order my campaign 17 orders I would normally be ordering from HT1. But could i back order from HT18 as well?

I need to back order from c16 also and i have no idea how to do it.

moneysaver599 - I noticed that the demo of the wrap your own gift basket (in hello tomorrow) is quite nice and the items come to just over a pound each. You could always order the demo of that, then give those items away as free gifts. the basket and the wrapping paper could then be used to wrap your chosen raffle prize.

Aesop

Hi moneysaver

don't spend more than £1 on your customers for free gifts. You will find that after paying your first 2 halves of your fee, and paying out for free gifts, you may not be left with a lot of money for yourself. Then remember, in your 2nd campaign you need to order books for your 3rd campaign.

So yes, it is great to incentivise your customers to place high value orders, but you can't be out of pocket doing it.

As for photocopying, your library should have photocopier, and they are usually not too expensive, 10p for a photocopy is expensive, if you can find one for 3p that would be ideal.

As for a printer, contact your local Freecycle group, or Freegle group. People often upgrade their printers and do not want the hassle of selling on ebay, etc, and give theirs away for free. Some nice people will even deliver to you.

Aesop

j.avon wrote: »

Does anyone know if we can backorder from HT? For example, when I order my campaign 17 orders I would normally be ordering from HT1. But could i back order from HT18 as well?

I need to back order from c16 also and i have no idea how to do it.

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you can only backorder demo items from a previous HT. If you try to order clearance, they are either at a higher price or not in stock.

To backorder from C16, go to your account, go to place a regular order, when the form comes up on the screen to input your order codes, where it says 17, click on the drop down arrow next to it, and you can change it to 16. This allows you to backorder from 16.

Aesop

moneysaver599 wrote: »

I also want to do a raffle in C1 or C2 but I can't quite work out how to go about it. I was thinking about offering a ticket with every order over £5.00. Should I just do one prize - I was thinking a little pamper set with a clearance bubble bath, jewellery item, foot cream, lip balm? Not sure if this would cost me more than it's worth though lol.

Thanks x

see how many customers you have by now, and then see what they are spending. If they only spend £5, say if you spend £10,you will be entered into a free prize draw to win this (description) product. That will encourage them to spend more and hopefully raise your sales.

Try and keep the cost of the prize down, so you are not spending too much and out of pocket. You don't want to earn new customers and discount, and then find you have paid it all out on books and incentives.

lucyclare

aureol212 wrote: »

Hi lucyclare

is it ok to link to your blog from the first page, where I have the links about Avon parties please?

Go for it. I will try to have a look for the link tomorrow, or if youve found it, then thats fine.

lucyclare

moneysaver599 wrote: »

With campaign 17 I have offered a free gift with orders over £15.00 (Avon Care Xmas hand cream which will cost me about £1.00 if I back order from Campaign 16), hoping this will encourage my first customers.

With campaign 18 I was going to offer free gift with orders over £20.00 (choose bubble bath or hand/face/body cream which would cost me £1.80 each.) I thought I might lose a bit of money on this but hopefully offering the free gifts on the first two campaigns will get me some regular customers. Would it be better to leave this gift to Campaign 1 since I've just offered one in C17?


Thanks x

How about the shower gels from C16?

Theyre only 75p each and after HOV discount they are less than 60p each.

And yes, I would leave the next incentive until Jan or Feb.

I actually give a gift to all customers who place regular orders for 6 camps. That way, my 'bread & butter' customers get looked after and the fly by nights get a smile and a thank you.

moneysaver599

Thanks guys

I've decided to change it a bit.

I'm doing the prize draw in C18 with all orders over £7.50. Figured that hopefully a good few people will put in a cheeky order for £7.50 for the chance to win. Maybe it'll introduce them to Avon and they'll keep ordering. I'll make up my own little gift thingy of 5 or 6 products at 75p or something. Should I up the minimum order to £10.00?

C1 I'm offering 10% off C2 and trying to convince people to order up last minute stocking fillers before Christmas.

C2 nothing as it's the New Year sale anyway.


How much are brochures going to cost me if I want 40 for C1? I'm really struggling with just 20 as friends and family take about 5 or 6 and only leave me with a few for houses? Can I order some extra for C18 or should I just wait and see?


Thanks, this is so helpful!!

Kitten_Claws

How do we do returns? Do they go through the courier or by post?

Also can we return demo products?

Kitten_Claws

Also do we have to return the magic cashmere foundation? I ordered one for myself and not tried it yet.