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

Flat_Eric

I feel for those reps who are placing orders and not receiving the goods - my avon rep dropped my book through the door with a note to say that the pjs I ordered have been substituted - I have been waiting weeks for these and this is the 3rd book through my door with the I will be delivering on ..... date with your pjs and your bill is .... except when my rep arrives - no pjs I think they are a new item too. also substituted is a bag I orderd from the sale booklet. Hmmm.

for the xmas gift - the chocolates in a little bag is lovely and I would be delighted with that. even an xmas card is a nice touch.

I'm shocked that some people will place orders then claim no knowledge when the goods are delivered ????

I hope you don't mind me posting - as a customer ???

MarsdenCuckoo

Beachview wrote: »

Are there any wax strips in C18? Someone has written wax strips on their order form but no page number/item code. I've searched the book but can't find any. Any ideas?

Use the search facility on your order page i.e. just click on the magnifying glass without any other details. You can then search both campaigns - if in both, add both to your order so you can check the prices and delete the most expensive one...

MarsdenCuckoo

Welcome 'aboard' FE; lovely to see some new people joining us. Everybody welcome! :j

Sorry you're having supply issues, hope you do get your pjs before Christmas. Stock shortages are always a problem in the run up to Christmas. There's usually a clearance book but some reps don't bother putting them out because quite a lot of things in there are already sold out and reps don't know until just before their order is due.

MarsdenCuckoo

MrsGSR wrote: »

Well thats me now. Finally finished with Avon. Have done my tax return and my actual earnings were £40 January to October ok so I only had friends and family and I did every other camp but it jst wasnt working for me anymore.
When I emailed my ASM she asked why I was leaving and if there was anything she could do to make me stay. I said why I was going e.g. crap SLs and ASLs, Avon messing up orders, call centte staff being rubbish, Avon never replying to emails and could go on.
She never replied.
Sad really when there are some really fantastic ASMs, SLs and ASLs on here who kept me going longer than my actual ones did!
Gives Avon a bad name imo.

Oh dear, not good but hopefully you picked up some good bargains for yourself. I always tell my new reps that they won't actually earn a great deal as a rep but it will impact favourably on their household budget simply because they can click into the HT offers e.g. shower gels 70p, etc.

Avon are now rolling out a new training system so hopefully all ASMs and SLs will receive the same training (if they care enough to turn up at the free seminars or check out their online training guides, of course..... ).

Little suggestion - why not have a 'little break' (6 months) and then consider joining again under a supportive SL? Sure you know one!

To be free of your current upliner you need to have missed 8 clear campaigns - work on 9 to be on the safe side. If you keep an eye on this thread we can let you know if/as/when there's another Rising Star scheme too so you could rejoin on a good team, re-energised and click into loads of freebies. :T

Good luck - whatever you decide to do.

MarsdenCuckoo

brednall wrote: »

GOod afternoon to all.

I was an avon rep when I was working and have decided to give it another go now I am a 'stay at home' mum. My SL came to see me on Friday and assigned me 7 roads within my area. She flagged 2 as 'red areas' that should bring me more orders. My hubby and I dropped 30 books on this road on Saturday and my kiddies and I went to collect this morning and only 15 were left out!! THe other 10 we left on another road and not 1 left out. Not the best start. THe ones I have collected in I have re-distributed today on another street to be collected on Thursday as any orders(!) I might get have to be in on Friday.

I think it may not have been the best time to start this just before Christmas but I will perservere. Obviously I don't want to end up out of pocket by having to pay for lots of books and not get any orders though.

THanks for all your hints and tips but any motivation and inspiration would be gratefully received.

Emma

Hi Emma,

As already said by others, try knocking and introducing yourself. It takes people a while to 'trust' that you will actually come back. A big part of Avon is 'customer service' - we all prefer dealing with people we 'know' or at least can put a face to.

Some SLs encourage their reps to 'stuff and run', others prefer to 'knock and ask' - pro's and con's to both routes but if one route isn't working for you, try the other!

The 'red areas' tend to be smaller houses/council estates, which are easier to cover so always a good place to start. Having said that it's your friends and family, who will support you at the outset so make sure you tell everyone you know personally that you're now an Avon rep. Just find the deal in the book that appeals to you most and 'spread the word'.

Lots of hints and tips on here so well done you for finding us! :T Good luck!

MarsdenCuckoo

Mrs_Jules wrote: »

I have about 25-30 regular customers and would like to give each of them a little gift for Christmas. Can I please ask, what do other Reps find are the best gifts to buy? I love the look of the pomanders on page 15 of brochure 1 but to have enough for my customers would cost too much. Am looking for something small and relatively cheap!
Thanks in advance

What about:

* The 2013 planners (£1 for 10) - bit of a strange size so not ideal but a nice 'token'
* Planet Spa do a face mask gift set - 12 x single treatments

Or a bit pricier - for your best customers:

* Choose whatever 99p offer is customer price - 75p nett to you
* Wrap Your Own Gift Set will let you click into 8 products for £7.50 if you hit HOV+ (and give you a free gift basket)
* £9 nett to you - 6 x roll-on deos p227 in C18 + free nail varnish, mascara and Little Red Dress purse spray

There may be other sets in your HT, which you can click into and split down too.

In future, good idea to save 'freebies' during the year so you can then 'spoil' your customers at v little/no cost.

MarsdenCuckoo

alexlg wrote: »

Just collect the products (and free gifts etc) ASAP and give a full cash refund. Take details about the nature of the reaction and apologise. Explain that product sensitivity is a personal thing and 99.999% of product users are so happy with their purchase that they continue to buy it on a regular basis. Unlike your usual returns, you will have to call Avon to get the item credited to your account. In this case you don't physically return the item until Avon follow-up your credit with a phonecall (to you or the customer) from a more specialist internal dept, to find out more about the nature of the reaction. If there are any problems (eg Avon refund you, then recharge you by a mistake, because you haven't returned the item which you're not supposed to do with items that cause a reaction) then just call your Rep helpline and explain, and you WILL be recredited. Ie, keep an eye on your account balance: mistakes can happen and its important that you don't lose out after giving the customer their refund in full.
Its a shame when this happens. But that's the nature of the business, its happened to me once. The important thing is that you give a refund ASAP and Avon are able to find out a bit more about the nature of the reaction, to see if its anything sinister going on. There's no reason why your customer should react to other Avon products so as long as you continue to provide a good service, they should remain a customer.

'Information is power' and all that..... I had no idea we were supposed to deal with bad reactions any differently. Just thought we'd return it under code 65 and offer them an exchange/refund as normal. Having said that, if my customers are wary about trying something I tend to let them have a few samples first to try it out.

Thanks for the info.

MarsdenCuckoo

Beachview wrote: »

Just a few thoughts on how I've been getting on so far.

A few weeks ago someone put a note in one of my books telling me not to leave another book. How do they expect me to know which house they're in, they didn't leave their house number.

I got another one today from a house on the street I live on, telling me they don't want the book again - so I have managed to narrow it down to 2 houses, though I haven't figured out which one of them it was. All they had to do was put their name on the note.

I have a couple of orders to send back, so I'll have to look round the avon site to figure out how to do the returns. Not looking forward to that, seems a lot of hassle.

I took a delivery to a house and the woman came to the door and said she didn't order anything. Even though her full address was on the order form, signed an everything.

Another thing, I don't like the way Avon just throw the stuff into the boxes with no foam balls or anything to stop things getting broken. I got a handwash and the lid was cracked. And they don't protect bottles in any way in case of leaks. I order shampoo for my dog from an online company and they tape over the lids, another company wraps the shampoo bottles in cling film. Avon just put that sort of thing in the box loose.

We all learn from experience, just make sure you check your books as you collect them to see a) if you have an order and, if so, b) that they've completed the name/address details. Similarly, that's also the best time to make a note of the address if you get a 'No, don't want a book' type message.

Returns are easy - you have an online video guide on your website (+ your upliner should be able to help you)

As for your lady, who "didn't order"..... sometimes people place orders that they don't want their OH to know about (or more to the point, how much they are spending). Before returning the goods, try calling back at a different time of day with the next book and just double-check.

Finally, our orders are not 'packed' per se - boxes are placed on a conveyor belt and items drop down a chute into the boxes. That's why sometimes we get shortages (chute gets blocked) and, if we're lucky, surpluses (chute clears and drops down whatever was blocking it as well as what we ordered). Am told also that sometimes things drop down the chute, bounce into one box and out again (possibly into another one! LOL) Haven't seen the process myself but am hoping to do so next year.

Incidentally, was told today that boxes are weighed before despatch (like Tesco self-service check-outs) so if any rep continually reports shortages their boxes are very likely to be 'personally picked' to make sure they are 100% accurate.

lozza1985

Omg just checked my c18 invoice online and loads of stuff is to follow, which wouldn't be so bad, but there all things that were to follow in c17 when I Originally ordered them! Mainly gadget pens (7 of them) scarf holder & a necklace and earring sets, and a few odds and ends. Have managed to order some from eBay, which will cost me, but better than me feeling an idiot & having to tell my customers there stuff still hasn't arrived. Though the gadget pens seem to be impossible to find!! Grr!

lozza1985

Flat_Eric wrote: »

I feel for those reps who are placing orders and not receiving the goods - my avon rep dropped my book through the door with a note to say that the pjs I ordered have been substituted - I have been waiting weeks for these and this is the 3rd book through my door with the I will be delivering on ..... date with your pjs and your bill is .... except when my rep arrives - no pjs I think they are a new item too. also substituted is a bag I orderd from the sale booklet. Hmmm.

for the xmas gift - the chocolates in a little bag is lovely and I would be delighted with that. even an xmas card is a nice touch.

I'm shocked that some people will place orders then claim no knowledge when the goods are delivered ????

I hope you don't mind me posting - as a customer ???

Hi no it's useful to hear from customers to see what they like & don't like feel free to post