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

slm6002

I am thinking of leaving or maybe going over to friends and family as i am having so many car problems (need this to reach quite a few houses) that i am becoming unreliable. We are thinking of just getting rid of 2nd car as it is mainly used for my avon bits and when i am being super lazy! I wonder if another rep might like to take over my roads with guarenteed customers? I only made £213 last year once petrol was taken into consideration and just dont know if its really worth it

Is it £10 the minimum order - realise i wont earn commission until £78 but at least friends and family would still have a rep. I just dont want to let customers down - what to do?

MarsdenCuckoo

You're v welcome, DLD; good luck.

SLM6: maybe you could make use of Personal Online Brochures now i.e. to cut down on the cost of fuel, etc.? For those long distance customers, sure if you talk to your upliner they will be delighted to have a ready-made customer list for whichever new rep they find nearby. Or might one of your customers like to be a F&F rep and look after the rest? Lots of different ways to 'do' Avon - feel free to 'brain storm' on here.

MarsdenCuckoo

As ever, much prefer this thread to AC - a few threads on there recently have got a few 'nasty' comments. Anyone else noticed? There's also now an element of Spam posts.

Long live MSE! :T

slm6002

Thanks i am speaking to her today to see if we can get around it somehow. I think my OH is secretly thinking hoping I will give up and concentrate on house and kids more as its taking up more and more of my time. I am also thinking how hard it was last year during the summer hols with the kids. The more i think about it the more i think i know what will happen

newbeginning_2

SLM - Let us know what you decide, Im in pretty much the same situation as you at the minute, But my Sales Leaders no use at all.

MarsdenCuckoo

Oh dear, if you're getting no support from your upliners have you tried 'reporting' it to your ASM and/or Avon?

In 'extreme' circumstances Avon will actually transfer you to another team but obviously they don't do that lightly. No ideas of the ins/outs but would seem logical that complaining about lack of support has to be the first step.

As for the problems re. travel/fuel costs, why not drop a note to the customers concerned and tell them what you're up against i.e. whilst you would still like to help them with their Avon orders it's becoming impractical for you. Chances are some customers may even choose to collect their orders from you and/or at least rejig how they order i.e. a bigger order every few campaigns.

Or... what about reverting to Party Plan (sorry.... Get Togethers)? If you did them in your own home your OH may come to realise he likes your current way of doing Avon after all! :rotfl:

Suppose one-stop selling would help re. the cost of travelling but will increase your costs re. brochures....

TBH, just work out how you can get the most out of Avon for the least amount of effort/expense and stick to it. Yes, you may have some disappointed customers but you have to be happy with what you're doing and make sure it's worth your while.

lozza1985

For my customers this year, I decided to put a note in with my books explaining that we were struggling with the cost of fuel...and asked if anyone would like to text/ring/email us their order to save us collecting their books...so that then the savings in fuel would mean they'd still get free gifts / samples....thankfully a lot of customers did. Some that are further away, I haven't given a choice in the matter - if they aren't on my territory, this is going to be their only option to order from us now, if they don't like it, they can find themselves another rep - sometimes you just have to be a bit tough, and open, with your customers. A lot of my customers I don't think even ever thought about us having to spend so much money on fuel, so a polite note pointing it out made them think - would they rather still have us as their reps and get there samples etc....or risk having no rep, or an unreliable rep? Lots of our customers have been great so don't be afraid to be honest with them

slm6002

still not heard from my lady although apparently she was ill yesterday so thinking she still may be, although need to make a decision soon. I think i will do this camp until she has found someone to take over and then go to friends and family as most of them are from school playground, so easy to meet up. We have walked miles today due to car breaking down yesterday and today buggy wheel kept falling off - really not helpful. My feet hurt so not sure how my DS is still running around

MarsdenCuckoo

Aahh bless; a lot of reps 'cherry pick' their customers. Sounds like that's what you need to do too. You do need to put yourself first sometimes.... know we ladies are not used to doing that but it IS allowed, OK?

Pips_Mum

I get a lot of my orders by text/email/Facebook now so it means I am only paying out fuel for the deliverys and then I group them so I make as few trips as possible.