~Avon Hints & Tips (Part 7) ~

curlychick

Hi everyone,
I have been doing Avon for three campaigns, and have made HOV (just!) ineach of them, so really pleased.
I was wondering when you talk about Canvassing, what exactly do you do? do you drop a brochure in at every house, or knock and ask? I have been knocking so far, as I don't want to waste books. and what do you say to them?
Thanks!

I,_Geek

I put a list of pros and cons recently on Connects when it comes to canvassing:

I slightly favour dropping although it all depends on the rep. I don't think either way is worse than the other and they both have their benefits/drawbacks.

Knocking

Pros

- it's personal. People get to meet you and hopefully you can win them over. You can undo some bad Avon press caused by an unreliable previous rep, if there was one. The time taken for people to have the confidence to order could be shorter because if they get a good feeling about you at the door they shouldn't have any reservations about ordering.

- you save books by getting some "not interested"s straight away.

- even though you'll have written the collection day down for the customer, you can repeat this to them at the door and they might be more likely to remember.

- you get useful information like "I have a rep at work". Make a note of this and go back every so often because they're already an Avon customer and their rep could stop.

Cons

- you get some "not interested"s straight away. People might be going off assumptions about Avon (it's poor quality, it's only make-up) and a book may have changed their minds. Of course you're standing there ready to persuade them otherwise, but it depends on the rep whether this is something you're comfortable doing. Personally if I've said no to something on the phone or at the door I don't like it when they try again (and again sometimes) to get you to change your mind. I know they're only going off a script and have to do that - with Avon we can choose how much to push things. You can still make a judgement about who could be persuaded and who really doesn't look like they're in the mood.

- it can be difficult to catch everyone in even if you call in the evening/weekend. Your area could be half-canvassed and you'd need to try different days and times to catch the rest if you want to avoid dropping books completely.

- if you catch people on a bad day - children playing up, making tea, generally stressed out - they could be less likely to listen and agree to a book. Less likely to ask questions as well if something like payment (is it upfront?) puts them off.


Dropping

Pros

- you can cover an area quickly.

- you're putting a book into people's homes where they can browse at their leisure. They're not making a decision at the door. If they're worried about poor quality the Anew pages in particular should show that Avon do high-end products (but at reasonable prices). The endorsements from people like Reese Witherspoon, Jillian Dempsey, and magazine recommendations would help with that as well.

Cons

- it's less personal. I end up speaking to a few people anyway when I drop brochures, but most of them don't see me first. You can take steps to make it more personal by putting an introductory note in. Mine's a side of A5 introducing myself, saying I'm not there to do the hard-sell and there's no obligation to order every time, and explaining how it works. Pretty much what you'd say in person to put them at ease and overcome any assumptions.

- you lose books or put books out for several days that are un-read (so they could have been in another house being used). I put a "don't throw this away" note on every book going to a new house and hardly lose any, but that could just be down to the area.

- even though Avon isn't junk mail some people get angry about something being put into their home without being asked. They might just chuck the book (ignoring the note) or be rude in person. It's rare, though.

- you need to buy more books. Although I've wondered how it works if you're knocking because you won't have any idea how many people will say yes. You could over or under-order books.


You can do things to minimise how much of a con each of those points are, whichever method you choose. You could always knock to collect brochues if you've posted them, so you have to see people face-to-face. To reduce automatic "no"s you can tell people you're leaving a brochure instead of asking - nicely of course . A rep on Connects said she did that and only got a few nos before people even saw a brochure.

Even if you choose to drop you'll pass people in the garden or getting home from work and if that happens I'd feel wrong just striding past and posting a book anyway. Once people are onto their second book I've been knocking before delivering it if I'm not sure where I stand with the house.

Knocking only takes time the first time - after that you can just drop. I also found that people I saw face-to-face raised my hopes and then I never got an order. They'd be all keen then ask me to stop dropping books - sometimes after seeing only one.

Sorry if you already know this, but when it comes to canvassing we can only do that if the street's been allocated to us.

dawn1974

I'm a bit gutted today.

I went to the local shop to ask if they wanted any Avon.

It turned out that she did Avon from the shop and I used to work with her also.

Anyway she got me about £100 worth of orders at the end April.

Then when the delivery came the week after she had decided to sell the shop and the new owners were already at the shop.

I had to find the customers myself to deliver the items.

Anyway she said that Avon would be continued at the shop and she dropped some more order's off at my step-mum's a few weeks ago.

I received the Avon yesterday and I am going to try and deliver the items over the next few days.

I had 1 order on a post-it-note with just a name and that she wanted 1 lipstick.

I contacted the lady who used to own the shop by text message to ask if she knew where she lived.

This morning I got a text message back saying she was on holiday and that I was the Avon rep and she wanted to be left alone!!!

Oh well I will just have to send it back.

I am slightly upset at the nastiness in the text mesage because what was I supposed to do with no address??

Money_maker

Leave a note at the shop with the new owners? If it is continuing via the shop then it shouldn't be too hard to catch up with the customer at some point.

You could also do a thank you type scheme for the new owners to ensure they continue to promote your avon for you and for any trouble they go to.

dawn1974

Money_maker wrote: »

Leave a note at the shop with the new owners? If it is continuing via the shop then it shouldn't be too hard to catch up with the customer at some point.

You could also do a thank you type scheme for the new owners to ensure they continue to promote your avon for you and for any trouble they go to.

Just called in to the shop and left my number.

They didn't seem interested in books being left there.

Oh well! I found a couple of customers today but they were out.

So will try again tomorrow.

Tiggerlilly

barnesfamily wrote: »

I do the same thing with my books,the people that order always get the current book and I use the previous one to recanvass or find new customers.That way if they don`t give them back at least I don`t loose anything. Also, on the top of the leaflet that says when I will be back to pick up the book I got my husband to print a note that says- Please,leave the book outside as I have to pay for it,Thank you.In the beggining I was loosing almost all my books because nobody was giving them back.As I mentioned before my streets are rubbish,but the message seems to help.
I was delivering orders tonight and for the first time decided to try the Police station on my road.I walked right in there imagining what I am going to say to some big and scary policeman and then a young,blonde girl showed up.I was so surprised that just said -Oh,I am your local Avon rep.Can I leave you a book?She looked happy and I was relieved I did it.Hope it works...

Did you put in a couple of books and plenty of order forms or just one book and one form ? because it is likely several people work at that location (both Police persons and admin staff) and giving them a few extra books and order forms will boost your chance of more orders being placed.

Money_maker

Always worth persevering, perhaps a sweetner to the proprietor may help.

I recanvassed 26 houses in my area on tuesday. Had to pick up yesterday. Had DD with me who was a real pain in the bum. Result, me seriously stressed, only collected 10 books and only popped reminder notes in 3 houses. Got home in a foul mood even though one was a new customer with a £37 order. Only 1 left out for collection today so will leave the rest as a bad job and try again next year.

Will probably leave the next batch of houses for recanvassing 'til after summer and just concentrate on my current customers. C10 has been a good one for me even though I've not sold a single hair colour. Looked at C11 and think that will be quieter but guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Chazolate

Hi, I am a trainee SL started on this campaign and have 3 Reps. I think I need 5 Reps to earn commission and become a SL. Also I think you need to get HOV yourself, just mentioning this as you said your roads are pretty rubbish.

So far my advertising has been:
Gumtree (free ads site) - 0 response
Sainsbury’s (free) - 0 response
Facebook (free) - 1 response, but not sure if it's going anywhere
Local newspaper (unsure of cost as SL placed ad) 5 responses and 1 changed their mind, 3 singed up and waiting to here on the last one.

By placing the advert in the paper my SL has found me my first 3 Reps and has said I need to find the rest. If any more respond she will share the leads with other SL. Therefore I am now looking into the cost of an advert in the local newspaper, as that seemed to be the only way to get a response!
I am going in to town next week to ask people and handout the cards so I will let you know if I get anywhere with that. I am also knocking on doors/dropping leaflets on a road.:)

MarsdenCuckoo

Mumto2 wrote: »

Do you put your name on the back of each book, or just include the order form?

Just interested :-)

Personally I just put my details on the order form. What do others do?

MarsdenCuckoo

PRINCESSX87 wrote: »

Well after placing my order’s last night, I managed to make a whopping £4.26!! Lol

But I offered special’s to my customers which I had to buy, also I had to pay £7.50 & get some new books ect..

But I must say I’m really happy.

I think I was lucky with C10 - C11 for me I already know will be slow.

I currently share the road with my SL, during last week she said to me if I manage to work this road (Many rep‘s haven‘t been able too) She would give me the remaining part of the road, Totalling 300 homes.

Last night when she was here, I dropped the hint about having more - She’s told me I cant until I have paid my £15 in full??

Thanks for all the support peeps!

You have to start somewhere! LOL

Most reps start with 100 homes so work the houses you've been given and when you achieve the target Avon has set for that street then you have a case for increasing your territory.

Hope your taking advantage of Creative Ordering:j..... (your SL should've talked you through it).

Good luck.