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

Flat_Eric

avocetgirl wrote: »

I'm dreading my next order as have two big orders all out of the sale book! I know what's going to happen...it'll be all out of stock! Think I will take the sale books out next time I take books round!

I like getting the sale books - and in fact the order I have just handed to my rep - well everything was from the sale book. (3 items). Why not stick a note to the front of the sale brochure to say that stocks of sale stuff are limited and you won't be able to guarantee delivery of those items but will try your best. That way you are not missing out on possible orders and it gives you some comeback if the items you want don't arrive. If I see something I like in the sale book then I might be more inclined to study the main brochure more carefully to see if there is anything else I want.

I,_Geek

Putting out sale books - last Christmas I didn't put them out because Avon sent out a special message in C15 about stock levels (and the items in that sale book featured again in the run-up to Christmas). The sale books are automatically "while stocks last" anyway and have the disclaimer in the brochure, so for them to send out a message wasn't a good sign. But as it turned out I still had stock issues from the main brochure.

This year I decided to put them out because I was seeing a good-sized chunk of my sales coming from the sale book. But so far, with just C1 left to go before Christmas, people haven't ordered much from them over the Christmas campaigns. :cool:

nicki_2

I've got items out of stock from the main book, so I can see me spending Tue & Wed trying to sort out the "item is out of stock and is no longer available" notes to go out to customers I have finally been sent the Lipsy bag and purses, only 2 campaigns late. All of them will be going back as I bought them elsewhere as the customer wanted them for going away.

Just wondering whether any of you set a deadline, particularly in the shorter campaigns/run up to Christmas, as to when orders have to be paid by? Last year I had orders from mid-November which I'd still been unable to deliver by the end of January and if it hadn't been for other people ordering the same items in January I wouldn't have been able to return them as I'd missed the actual return date. As it is now I have an order from c16 (waiting on c18 delivery due Wed) sitting here unpaid despite a few attempts to deliver it. I can't afford to keep this up, as its costing me nearly every campaign!

Also, if I do an additional order and it gets delivered by the courier, can I send returns back then, or am I better waiting until my main delivery?

I,_Geek

Nicki - when you say you'd missed the return date do you mean you'd already put the credits in and had to get them back within 36 days? If you don't put credits in the 90 day guarantee actually gives reps about 7 campaigns (longer than 90 days) to get stuff back, but that means paying upfront so I understand why that's not ideal.

When it comes to delivery attempts I try twice (always while out doing other Avon things) and if the 2nd attempt fails I set a deadline and leave a note saying if I don't hear anything by that point the goods will have to be returned. With Christmas orders I'd set it to pre-Christmas for a few reasons: people are likely to forget all about it if the deadline's in the new year, and I'd prefer to have money in the bank/credits in with Avon rather than having paid out for items. If they do get in touch and arrange and that still falls through I'd leave a note saying they're being returned, and then reconsider whether to keep them on my round. It depends if it's just a blip or whether it's always the same customers who mess you about.

Yes - returns can go back with the courier when they call with an additional.

lozza1985

I don't set a deadline as such, more judge it on the customer, size of the order, and what their reason is for delaying delivery. I don't mind hanging onto orders for holidays, sickness etc and if its a case of they don't get paid till x date. But if its just that they don't get back to you and you can't get hold of them - I give them a deadline on a note through the door saying if they don't contact me arrange delivery by x date then unfortunately ill be sending the order back to avon. Usually when I do this, it's when I know ill have to send them back, as if they haven't contacted me and have ignored my texts/calls it usually means they don't want/can't pay for their order. Don't feel bad about hanging onto stuff, keeping it longer than a couple o weeks is too much if they haven't given you a definite date or reason why they can't have it yet. Yes it means you orders will be smaller perhaps - but it you're waiting 2 months to get the earnings from it, you have to question when it's worth the hassle. I've been a lot more strict over the last year, not going back a second day to collect books, putting customers that aren't on my territory onto a 'contact us with your order book' to save us time & fuel collecting. Our sales haven't suffered noticeably, but we've been much happier as we get everything done a lot quicker so it makes it more profitable and less of an inconvenience. And the end of the day - think about yourself, and put you first - no other rep is likely to hang onto orders for so long so it's not like they can start ordering from anyone else as that rep would just return the order and not give them another book. Be firm with your customers and I'm sure you'll see the benefit, even if it means loosing a few customers for your sanity it'll be worth it

MarsdenCuckoo

sweetcarer wrote: »

Hello

Just thought I would pop in and say hello.

I have just joined Avon and hope to sell to the girls at work. I have asked the manager and he said as long as I leave in the canteen and not in the work place its ok. Also, that I register that I have secondary employment now. My line manager who has to sign my permission slip said "is it worth doing you only be earning pennies, as you will be taxed to high heaven". Put a bit of downer on me but I determined to succeed. I am the only one in the house working and some extra pennies is better than no pennies as hubby can't get benefits.

Any how - nice to meet you all - will have a look round and see what I can pick up in this thread to help me in my new chapter.

Kind wishes to all

sweetcarer

Welcome SC. Personally, think yr line manager is a muppet - on the one hand he asks you if it's worth doing and then immediately tells you it's not. Hope his management skills are better than his logic! :rotfl:

In my book it is always worth it! As already posted by Lozza, it will have a positive impact on your own household budget anyway by being able to click into discounted goods plus you'll be earning extra cash and benefiting from free goods. Maybe your line manager doesn't realise that you will also be able to claim for your 'cost of sales' so it's not just a matter of you paying income tax on your gross earnings.

Good luck with your Avon business; hope you enjoy it and do reeealllly well.
:beer:

alexlg

Hi - I've just posted an Avon comment on the MSE FLP thread, then discovered this one. I'm too new to be allowed to post a link, so I copy the whole thing below:

alexlg wrote: »

Hi - I'm an Avon Sales Rep and wanted to correct you there: there is no good reason why an Avon Rep would get stuck with something s/he is unable to sell to others unless they are in a mess of their own making and take more than 3 months to sort through unsold stock: most Reps only buy from Avon 'on demand' i.e. once they have confirmed orders from their customers. Even if a Rep does buy stuff in advance, they have at least 90 days to return it to Avon for a full refund.

I'm only a Rep, not a 'Sales Leader' ie I don't recruit, manage or make money out of other Reps but I've been doing Avon for about 18 months now and as long as you're realistic about the amount of money its possible to make from products which cost as little as £1, I don't see any harm in it. Fortunately, there ARE a lot of products which cost a lot more than £1 and a lot of people who want to buy them: my latest order (I place them every 3 weeks) came to over £1300, of which I will make 25% less my other expenses. Sometimes you can make more than 25% if you order carefully from an old brochure. Unlike FLP, Avon doesn't charge you postage (unless you place extra orders), sign you up to training courses for which you have to pay, charge you a subscription or make you buy a big 'intro pack' of products which are non-returnable. In fact, it would be pretty hard to make a loss selling Avon products. Unless you never distribute your brochures (for which you do have to pay and which can't be returned for a refund, understandably). HOWEVER I don't think its the best idea for people who are already having money problems: you NEED to have enough discipline NOT to spend the money you get from your customers BEFORE you pay your invoice from Avon. Otherwise, you risk getting into debt with Avon. Also, you need to be able to resist buying lots of lovely products for yourself (the 90-day money-back guarantee is a useful buffer against this)! People just need to realise it would be A LOT of work if you were trying to make a living out of it. For most Reps, its a 2nd income which amounts to little more than pocket money. However it gets you out of the house and meeting people, so for some that can be a little lifeline. NB: if anyone is reading this and thinks '£1300 every 3 weeks - WOW' - please note that I will NET less than 25% of that. So that's a little over £100/week. Probably less, because I've never taken account of the petrol I use. And that's my biggest order ALL YEAR because people are buying Christmas presents. If I was trying to live off Avon, I'd have starved to death in March! + Thank goodness my boyfriend doesn't charge me rent.

PS - Every Rep should always hold money back for possible returns. There are never many but Avon does sell a few clothes so if someone's paid £25 for a Hello Kitty 'onesie' and it doesn't fit, they are more likely to ask for a refund for that, than for the £3 eyeliner which isn't quite the right colour!

Thankfully, unlike FLP, I'm not selling a health aid/cure/promise etc etc. The most expensive thing I sell is branded goods (Hello Kitty, Storm, Lipsy etc) from which I make next to nothing (less than usual 25% on all branded goods, for some reason, so in fact their occasional return makes little difference to my NET) and Avon ANEW skincare which includes wrinkle serums. The latter are somewhere between No7 and Clinique and I believe skincare is a very personal choice. I have loads of very happy Anew customers. But some people just won't be moved from their (much cheaper) Avon Care or Vaseline, or their (more expensive) Lancome/Elizabeth Arden (etc). I would HATE a customer of mine to feel they were stuck with something they didn't like. Personally I'm delighted with my Avon ANEW face creams and can sometimes buy them for as little as £5 a pot when on special offer, so I'm very happy! I'd long given up on anything curing my adolescent skin, despite being in my early 40s. Then just when you're least expecting it: along comes just the thing!

Finally, I've just discovered the MSE (positive) 'Avon' thread, so thought best to include a link here but..... I'm a newbie (links not allowed) so: please do MSE search for 'Avon Hints & Tips'!

MarsdenCuckoo

Great post, alexlg! :T Welcome aboard!

Think you also hit the nail on the head when you mentioned about being disciplined re. the money side of things. One (now ex-)rep on my team went to debt with Avon and then started Body Shop, which she reckons she's doing really well with. Didn't seem logical to me so, being nosey.... :rotfl:, I asked her why BS is working for her but not Avon. Had to 'dig a bit' :cool: but eventually she told me that she does BS parties and people can pay BS direct using their cards so she doesn't get tempted to 'dip into' the cash. Also, she was tempted to buy too much of the Avon goodies for herself. (I did suggest right at the outset that she wait until she had all her customer orders saved and then limit herself to whatever discount/commission she was due but she couldn't resist just ordering masses of stuff for herself.)

One man's meat and all that.....

lozza1985

I have no idea what FLP is :rotfl:- but yes as both the posts above say, it's difficult to loose out with avon with having so few charges, nothing is hidden (unlike when I tried kleeneze, and you had to pay to order online, pay for delivery, order forms, you name it, nothing was free), whereas with avon we do actually get a lot free, or at least cheap. But as MC says, yes you do need to be strict with what you order yourself. When my MIL was a rep in my team, she was forever saying she'd only earnt £5 a campaign - we asked if she'd ordered herself anything, and yes she'd ordered herself at least one anew facecream which is obviously where her earnings were going.

With a bit of work & research you can do well with avon, even from a small order. So far from my C18 orders with a week still to go, I've worked it to be able to get myself a free party glamour set (I'll keep the perfume and the other bits will be going into my sisters xmas goodie bag), a free vanity case (will be used as a free gift for customers), and by ordering from the previous book, I can get myself a free anew beauty bonus set for myself without costing anything more. Sometimes it might not be extra cash you can get, but products for free/practically free that you can use yourself which is always a good thing :j

lozza1985

Well for the first time since I joined avon, my C2 order is due in december, rather than the start of January. Which means we'll have to change when we deliver those brochures, I'll need to get them back in before Christmas as my order is due in on the 28th, whereas usually we don't deliver them until after Christmas. Good job I checked my dates to make sure, I'll get my C1 & C2 books packed in the next week to get it out of the way, and maybe even my C3 books as well to get it out of the way, I just won't put in the slips yet saying what day the books will be collected. Will mean I can save some time in December & January when it's busy anyway and when it's the short campaigns.