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

lozza1985

I would personally see how you get on with the 120 for a few campaigns before you take on more, even after a few campaigns you'll be getting new customers as not everyone will order the first couple of times you deliver. Better to cover those houses properly and see what sales you get before asking for any more, otherwise you might be taking too much on

Afitos

Thanks for your reply Lozza, I was also wondering if 120 is too many to start with. I know I can collect the books and re-distribute but obviously I will have to do that a few times unless I buy loads of books !

I intend to sit and re-read the whole thread on how best to do it.

jennmark

a new customer i just picked up on campaign 4 has asked me if i do parties. she is on the PTA of a local school, apparently they did a body shop one a few years ago to help raise money for the school and it was quite successful but body shop is a bit pricey for the demographic of my local area so they never bothered with another one. she reckons an Avon party would be successful as the price range is more attainable for the local mums and they have been asked a couple of times if they will be doing a similar event. anyway, i have never done a party before so there are a few things i'm unsure of, i have had a glance through some bits on here and on AC and get the general gist of how to run it, i'm not overly nervous about the presenting thing as i do that a lot in my other job but my main worries were: should i give a % of my earnings to the school fund? if so how much, they will be charging people maybe £5 to attend but will also be providing a buffet and drinks for them. also, i dont really wear make-up so really not confident about the idea of doing a makeover on someone, i saw a feet treats themed party, do you think that would work in this situation? i'm much more at home with the foot works and planet spa pamper sort of stuff, thought it might appeal to busy mums and teachers. and finally, how should i go about arranging delivery of goods and payment? although the school is not far from me its well out of my territory and i imagine most of the mums will be much more local to the school than i am, it would be a bit of a pain to have to get all the deliveries down there and go around to them all individually, i was thinking of asking for payment on the day and then delivering all the orders to the school for the mums to collect, do you think that sounds reasonable? it would also mean i could give the school their bit of the profits up front.
i said i would let her know this thursday if i was up for it, but i think i would be daft to turn it down, she said we would have plenty of time to prep for it it may even happen after the easter hols so lods of opportunity for getting in stock and would be good timing for those pretty new fit flops theyre doing this season!
sorry for the essay, any advice would be gratefully recieved!
jen

lozza1985

Afitos wrote: »

Thanks for your reply Lozza, I was also wondering if 120 is too many to start with. I know I can collect the books and re-distribute but obviously I will have to do that a few times unless I buy loads of books !

I intend to sit and re-read the whole thread on how best to do it.

You'll be surprised how quickly you'll get round those houses, it's roughly the amount most new reps are given as its pretty manageable. If you put a note with your books asking it people do / don't want a book in future that quickly narrows it down - though if they don't indicate otherwise I'd deliver them one a few more times just in case, some people don't pay much attention lol

lozza1985

jennmark wrote: »

a new customer i just picked up on campaign 4 has asked me if i do parties. she is on the PTA of a local school, apparently they did a body shop one a few years ago to help raise money for the school and it was quite successful but body shop is a bit pricey for the demographic of my local area so they never bothered with another one. she reckons an Avon party would be successful as the price range is more attainable for the local mums and they have been asked a couple of times if they will be doing a similar event. anyway, i have never done a party before so there are a few things i'm unsure of, i have had a glance through some bits on here and on AC and get the general gist of how to run it, i'm not overly nervous about the presenting thing as i do that a lot in my other job but my main worries were: should i give a % of my earnings to the school fund? if so how much, they will be charging people maybe £5 to attend but will also be providing a buffet and drinks for them. also, i dont really wear make-up so really not confident about the idea of doing a makeover on someone, i saw a feet treats themed party, do you think that would work in this situation? i'm much more at home with the foot works and planet spa pamper sort of stuff, thought it might appeal to busy mums and teachers. and finally, how should i go about arranging delivery of goods and payment? although the school is not far from me its well out of my territory and i imagine most of the mums will be much more local to the school than i am, it would be a bit of a pain to have to get all the deliveries down there and go around to them all individually, i was thinking of asking for payment on the day and then delivering all the orders to the school for the mums to collect, do you think that sounds reasonable? it would also mean i could give the school their bit of the profits up front.
i said i would let her know this thursday if i was up for it, but i think i would be daft to turn it down, she said we would have plenty of time to prep for it it may even happen after the easter hols so lods of opportunity for getting in stock and would be good timing for those pretty new fit flops theyre doing this season!
sorry for the essay, any advice would be gratefully recieved!
jen

Sounds like a great opportunity. If you aren't that happy about doing make-overs, as you say you could do foot treatments, and have hand creams & nail varnishes out (including the new "crackle" ones that are out soon) for people to try themselves, just have some nail enamel remover handy as well in case people make a mess or don't like the colour! Erm, hard to say how much you should give the school, you're only going to make roughly 25% on anything you sell (although if you manage to stock up on any bargains that you can price at a higher mark up you might make a bit more), so you don't want to give away too much of your profit - particulary if you think the customers you gain wouldn't be close enough for it to be worth your while keeping them as long term customers. I'd say give the school a bit of something - even if it's only some products for the next time they do a raffle/tombola etc - as a thank you for asking you (means they might ask again )

As for money/delivery - yes I think getting money on the night is a good idea, but might be difficult to give the school their cut that night, as you can guarantee if you do, then when your order comes something will be out of stock and you would have given the school their money based on what you thought was going to turn up. If a customer orders something & pays for it, but it doesn't turn up, it's easy enough to put their change into their order for them to get when they collect their order. Might be better to tell the school you'll give them their share when you drop the orders off, so that you can work it out properly.

Good luck with it, feel free to ask any other questions you have

qwertykeys92

Hi all, could I ask a couple of questions, please?

What are HTs? I saw this on the first page of the forum, and wondered what they are?

Also, all the brochures that are linked to on the first page, are they literally all of this year's brochures?

And about returns - I have the link to the returns form for Avon. If someone orders something and I take it to their house, then they turn round and say they no longer want it, can I still return it? Will I have to pay Avon out of my own pocket?

I read somewhere on this thread that someone was having problems with returning items to Avon and not getting the amount knocked off their 'credit allowance'. I read that they used a courier. I'd personally prefer to use my local Post Office, is this possible? How do I prove that the Post Office has received it off me? And will I need to pay anything or would there be a 'pre-paid' label I could use?

Sorry for so many questions! My sales leader is coming tomorrow to set me up and running, but I don't want to bombard her with too many questions!

MarsdenCuckoo

qwertykeys92 wrote: »

Hi all, could I ask a couple of questions, please?

What are HTs? I saw this on the first page of the forum, and wondered what they are?

Also, all the brochures that are linked to on the first page, are they literally all of this year's brochures?

And about returns - I have the link to the returns form for Avon. If someone orders something and I take it to their house, then they turn round and say they no longer want it, can I still return it? Will I have to pay Avon out of my own pocket?

I read somewhere on this thread that someone was having problems with returning items to Avon and not getting the amount knocked off their 'credit allowance'. I read that they used a courier. I'd personally prefer to use my local Post Office, is this possible? How do I prove that the Post Office has received it off me? And will I need to pay anything or would there be a 'pre-paid' label I could use?

Sorry for so many questions! My sales leader is coming tomorrow to set me up and running, but I don't want to bombard her with too many questions!

Bombard her away but stop worrying..... you are making it too complicated. Avon is easy peasy and your upliner should show you how to make it even easier!

All the queries you list should be answered tomorrow (and if not, come back and ask us again then :rotfl:)

Enjoy!

MarsdenCuckoo

Afitos wrote: »

Hi,

I hope it is ok to post this on here. I have been reading and thinking about doing Avon for a while now. Well today after reading this thread again I sent an email to my local sales Leader who rang me immediately and is coming round tomorrow !

My question is how many houses is manageable to start with ? She said on the phone that she could instantly see there were 120 in my area but there may be more if I want them ? I currently work 40 hours a week also. I have 2 days and a couple of evenings off, so should I go with the 120 or more to start ? Should I see if I can do it before taking on more ?

I would be really grateful for any advice

To add to Lozza's comments, Avon is 'your' business so you have the choice whether to do territory or not (and accept the territory offered or not). Am actually coming round to the thought that - certainly this time of year - it's a good idea to start off just showing books to your friends/family/work colleagues as they will certainly be the ones to support you initially and help you get your Avon business off to a good start.

If you do decide that you would like some territory to cover (as some know) am a great believer in knocking and asking if people would actually like to see a book. Chances are that out of 140 houses you will only find 20 people, who say yes so whilst it takes longer to knock and ask initially it does mean you will cover your territory in one go rather than drop 20 books to the first 20 houses and hope that you'll find 2-3 people actually prepared to even look at a book. Others prefer to 'stuff and run', believing that if an Avon book is dropped through the door some people will actually look at it rather than just say 'No' if asked if they want one.

No right/wrong way; just be reliable, look after your customers and your business should naturally grow.

Good luck!

MarsdenCuckoo

claregre wrote: »

Thanks MC. Its not just since Christmas - I was expecting that - but to be honest sales have probably dropped over the whole of last year. In my biggest campaign at Christmas this year I only sold about £300, whereas last year it was over £1000.

Delivery has also started to be a bit unreliable over the past few months - it used to come before I had to leave for work, but its been later and later and me being late for work has started to be noticed! Nobody locally either who can take it for me, and ASM hasn't come up with a rep locally who could take it either. Grrr. Nearly asked the delivery man at one point if he could tell me of someone, but thought that wasn't fair on him really!!

I've got I couple of people at work who I can order off, so should be OK. Its just clearance stuff in HT I'll miss!!

Thank you, C xx

Long shot but have you tried speaking to the carrier's office a day or so before your delivery is actually due? Ours are really good here and if they can will happily work deliveries around mum's needing to do the school run etc. so they may be able to accommodate you..... If you don't ask, you don't get and all that.

Failing that, could you get your order delivered to work?

As for HT clearance, why not just keep your a/c open as a personal rep - smaller orders are sometimes sent via Royal Mail so maybe that would be better for you?

qwertykeys92

Lol you're right - I'm being rather impatient for tomorrow to come and for me to be able to get started!

There are a couple of q's that she might not know, as they're from this thread. I've included them below, could you help with those, please?

qwertykeys92 wrote: »

What are HTs? I saw this on the first page of the forum, and wondered what they are?

Also, all the brochures that are linked to on the first page, are they literally all of this year's brochures?

Thank you!