~Avon Hints & Tips (Part 8) ~ Please read first post :)

I,_Geek

Splitting your round - there are 2 ways to split your round, either by area (so a whole street is either on current or backorder book) or by reliability.

By area keeps things simpler for you, however by reliability means you can lose fewer books. Give the current books to reliable people who you know will return them to you 9 times out of 10. You can also use backorder books for recanvassing.

Splitting by reliability means you need to keep a list of who's on what book. Excel is ideal because you can keep track of every campaign - who's ordering, who isn't etc... and it becomes more than just a list. I have one worksheet showing people on current, and a separate worksheet showing people on backorder. When prepping books, I label my order forms so I know which book is going to which house - there's no way I could remember who's on current and who's on back by the time I'm out on a round. I prep all the current books, then go back to the compuuter, look at Excel, and prep all the backorder books.

I've never had someone say, "why is number 3 on a different book to me?"

joyfull

Customers who get new books -

• leave them out out when asked to
  
• have a porch, so books are not left in puddles
  
• have a close friend who also gets a new book (just incase they compare books!)

The remainder get back books. Before I drop off books I make a list of house numbers which I carry around with me, and CIRCLE in red the houses that get back books. I keep a clear separation of the two books in my trolley & it works well.

magicbunn2106

joyfull wrote: »

Customers who get new books -

• leave them out out when asked to
  
• have a porch, so books are not left in puddles
  
• have a close friend who also gets a new book (just incase they compare books!)

The remainder get back books. Before I drop off books I make a list of house numbers which I carry around with me, and CIRCLE in red the houses that get back books. I keep a clear separation of the two books in my trolley & it works well.

That's similar to how I do mine. I also put them in my trolley in order so the houses to be delivered first are at the top and then I do my back order which is the street nearer to me they are at the bottom. If I have any over or sometimes I get people asking me for one, the just in cases, I have them in a carrier bag , which is kept separate, also I collect my reliable customers at the same time as delivering mew ones so the collected ones get put in a bag to be kept separate. Xx hope all that makes sense. :eek:

MarsdenCuckoo

Mumto2 wrote: »

MC - what date is this delivery due? I don't know what letter mailplan I'm on. But am due to have C1 delivered on 22nd Dec!

Hi Mt2,

Looks like you're Mail Plan N then so should definitely apply to you. From what I gather it's not just at Christmas time, it's all year round. Are you in touch with your upliner? If so, easier to go via them but ring Fast track or email Avon for confirmation as to what you need to do. Any probs, get back to me and I'll see what I can find out but, of course, due to the Data Protection Act they will only talk to me hypothetically about queries re. anyone not on my immediate team.

Let us know how you get on please - am guessing this could be really useful for a lot of reps in the run-up to Christmas.

Cx

MarsdenCuckoo

magicbunn2106 wrote: »

Hi all, have not been on since page 55 and have just caught up with everything , so sorry to hear about the bunny rabbit and goodlck with the RSPCA, hello to all the new additions and to tell everyon e, I disappeared for a bit as I have just signed up as a SL.
I have signed up 3 people in 10 days, so my asm has given me another person for my team.
I also have another 2 people to sign up this week.
Hoping it all goes ok.
Anyone got any tips for new SL's. ????

Good luck, MB; best tip I can think of is to keep in touch both with your upliner/ASM and your team. Be prepared for a few to fall away early on but don't take it personally; SLship tends to be two steps forward, one back (if you're lucky! :rotfl:)

MarsdenCuckoo

I,_Geek wrote: »

Splitting your round - there are 2 ways to split your round, either by area (so a whole street is either on current or backorder book) or by reliability.
.....
I've never had someone say, "why is number 3 on a different book to me?"

I have and had to think on my feet - turned out they were related and living on different streets but only 100yds away from each other. Told them because they were special customers I made sure they got both books I could order from i.e. so they could check the prices in each and get the very best deals. From then on I never had to worry about whether to let them know or not if I managed to get a better deal than them. :rotfl:

MarsdenCuckoo

joyfull wrote: »

Customers who get new books -

• leave them out out when asked to
  
• have a porch, so books are not left in puddles
  
• have a close friend who also gets a new book (just incase they compare books!)

The remainder get back books. Before I drop off books I make a list of house numbers which I carry around with me, and CIRCLE in red the houses that get back books. I keep a clear separation of the two books in my trolley & it works well.

This is where the Calling Book comes into its own too; provided you put the campaign no. at the top of the column it's easy to see at a glance who's on the current/back books.

7roland8

Anyone noticed how rubbish all their handbags are these days - had one delivered this morning which isn't fit to be a free gift - let alone £15.
Also their jewellery not a patch on what it used to be. Bought the sterling silver key (supposedly for a gift) but it was so soft and bendable I sent it straight back.

missminx

7roland8 wrote: »

Anyone noticed how rubbish all their handbags are these days - had one delivered this morning which isn't fit to be a free gift - let alone £15.
Also their jewellery not a patch on what it used to be. Bought the sterling silver key (supposedly for a gift) but it was so soft and bendable I sent it straight back.

I think with both the jewellery and the handbags it is hit and miss. I have a handbag that I love and use all the time, and the pythong print bag I use to cart a lot of my avon stuff around in! I have a couple of pieces of jewellery I really like, but have returned quite a few as well. trial and error I guess.
Avon needs to give us more of an opportunity for feedback. They could allow the option to comment on returns, not just codes. Then if they have a load of returns for the same item they can see if there is a pattern to it, and resolve the problem.

MarsdenCuckoo

missminx wrote: »

I think with both the jewellery and the handbags it is hit and miss. I have a handbag that I love and use all the time, and the pythong print bag I use to cart a lot of my avon stuff around in! I have a couple of pieces of jewellery I really like, but have returned quite a few as well. trial and error I guess.
Avon needs to give us more of an opportunity for feedback. They could allow the option to comment on returns, not just codes. Then if they have a load of returns for the same item they can see if there is a pattern to it, and resolve the problem.

Good idea. Why not email them and suggest it?

Agree with both of you, a lot of the bags are a 'bit iffy' - do like my Antler quilted hearts bag though and the Hannah laptop bag is now my new fave because it holds loads but isn't as bulky as the hearts on. Both great for delivering books.

As for jewellry, I can't wear any of the earrings anyway so I tend to stick the necklaces and bracelets; some are good but if a customer orders something I know is not exactly up to the mark I usually steer them to something I hope I won't have to return!