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

brednall

Afternoon all. Well, I am already losing heart with Avon. I submitted C18 on Friday but with only 2 customer orders. THe rest of the cost is made up of brochures and sales aids for.

I have been assigned 7 streets and only had time to canvass a couple of them for the C18 submission so I have used C18 brochures to canvass the other streets toward C1 order. I have collected 17 books (several ones not returned) and no orders. I have 2 more streets to collect on Thursday (but one of which had someone elses books outside waiting to be collected!!!!:eek:) and one more to canvass and collect next Monday.

At this rate, any orders I put in will be for brochures only so I will always be out of pocket. I plan to try it for a few more campaigns but if it's costing me money, it's surely not worth it. I am missing C2 and ordering C3 brochures to put out after Christmas but I would think that buying Avon so soon after Xmas is far from most peoples minds.

Need encouragement please!!!!!!!!!

Emma

I,_Geek

Brednall - I think you've signed up at an unfortunate time of year. We're all told the pre-Christmas campaigns of C17, C18 and C1 are when things really pick up - and they do, but you really get those higher sales if you've been working a territory for a few campaigns before that. My first was C14 and I think that was about the latest I could have started to get a good run-up to Christmas and establish myself. Some reps are lucky with territory in that the customer come through quite easily and I'd say I've been one of those, but still the "getting established" phase helped (and has helped every year since).

And to add to that we've now got the short campaigns coming up. For us they're more awkward but on top of that customers are holding back after spending over Christmas. We just have to see it out until things improve again in the spring. I've done 2 new years and both times it took a while for things to go back to 'normal' sales levels.

On my first campaign I got a handful of orders from a territory of 100 houses and my profit was about £10, but sticking it out, recanvassing, and asking for more streets has got me into PC.

aggypanthus

Ladies, can you tell me what you think- as a new customer of a new avon lady, I gave some small orders, £12/15 ish. I returned a shampoo as the smell was unpleasnt to me, then a nail polish which was streaky, after 2 coats, it was nailwear pro. .it really was terrible. the next polish came, I sent it back as the color was not like the brochure colour at all. So, 2 valid returns.
It seems now the she has dumped me as a customer- when i asked for the last brochure she said they were all out!
I was never given one.
subsequently another 2 nailwear pro , I find to be rubbish, i put 2 coats of the nave on, using the setting spray, 2 hrs later I had a quick bath, not soaking for ages- one entire nail covering floated off in the water.

1, why would she dump me? is she not making any money on small orders?
2. why does everyone rave about nailwear pro? its rubbish as far as I have tried. who do I complain to now? the person is very young, I dont want any trouble or to bother her.

MarsdenCuckoo

aggypanthus wrote: »

Ladies, can you tell me what you think- as a new customer of a new avon lady, I gave some small orders, £12/15 ish. I returned a shampoo as the smell was unpleasnt to me, then a nail polish which was streaky, after 2 coats, it was nailwear pro. .it really was terrible. the next polish came, I sent it back as the color was not like the brochure colour at all. So, 2 valid returns.
It seems now the she has dumped me as a customer- when i asked for the last brochure she said they were all out!
I was never given one.
subsequently another 2 nailwear pro , I find to be rubbish, i put 2 coats of the nave on, using the setting spray, 2 hrs later I had a quick bath, not soaking for ages- one entire nail covering floated off in the water.

1, why would she dump me? is she not making any money on small orders?
2. why does everyone rave about nailwear pro? its rubbish as far as I have tried. who do I complain to now? the person is very young, I dont want any trouble or to bother her.

Oh dear, AP, sounds like you and your Avon lady are not exactly a 'good match'....

If, as you say, she's new it may seem like a big hassle to her to return items. To be fair there is a lot to learn when you first start so whilst in my experience it's actually very rare for customers to return items, she may now have a jaundiced view thinking that she is going to have a lot of problems to sort. Equally, she may be embarrassed by your first experiences of Avon and be actually avoiding any chance of recurrences.

For your info, orders of £12/15 are not small and any rep should be pleased to have them. We earn on our total order value i.e. from all our customers, but when a customer returns an item the rep loses their earnings on that sale and, of course, have extra work to do. In my opinion she is wrong to be avoiding you/not dropping you a book but she is self-employed and it is her decision how much effort she is willing to put in if she's getting no reward.

You could try going on www.avon.uk.com or www.avonconnects.co.uk to find another rep near to you or at this time of year retail customers via www.avonshop.co.uk quite often get free delivery for orders over £15/20 We have a new concept now too of 'Personal Reps/Shoppers' where customers click into discounted goods for their own use by sharing their books with their immediate friends/family. With a few pointers from a good upliner it's totally self-financing and you can click into discounted products with free delivery for life.

As for Nailwear Pro, Avon have now launched the improved Pro+ range. Strong colours particularly should always be applied after a base coat and then followed with a top coat. Am a particular fan of the mosaic effect - lasts minimum of a week. Never actually tried the Colortrend range but I gather their top coats (silver/gold plated and fuchsia dazzle) are particularly good at 'staying on' - cheaper too so maybe they're ones for you to try.

Sorry you've had these problems, hopefully my comments help and you can find a more experienced rep to guide you through what products you will actually like.

PS: Which shampoo was it that you didn't like the smell of?

MarsdenCuckoo

brednall wrote: »

Afternoon all. Well, I am already losing heart with Avon. I submitted C18 on Friday but with only 2 customer orders. THe rest of the cost is made up of brochures and sales aids for.

I have been assigned 7 streets and only had time to canvass a couple of them for the C18 submission so I have used C18 brochures to canvass the other streets toward C1 order. I have collected 17 books (several ones not returned) and no orders. I have 2 more streets to collect on Thursday (but one of which had someone elses books outside waiting to be collected!!!!:eek:) and one more to canvass and collect next Monday.

At this rate, any orders I put in will be for brochures only so I will always be out of pocket. I plan to try it for a few more campaigns but if it's costing me money, it's surely not worth it. I am missing C2 and ordering C3 brochures to put out after Christmas but I would think that buying Avon so soon after Xmas is far from most peoples minds.

Need encouragement please!!!!!!!!!

Emma

Hi Emma :wave:

To add to IG's excellent post I'd suggest you concentrate on your friends and family at this time of year. They're usually the ones to support you when you first start as a rep anyway i.e. even if they have a 'territory rep' chances are they will want to help support you in your new business if they know you personally.

Secondly, am guessing you're 'stuffing and running' - quicker to drop books but as you've found there's a much lower order level per book (if you get them back at all). If you only have a few books I personally think it's better to knock and introduce yourself to at least establish if there is any interest at all in Avon. No point leaving books where they're not wanted..... Others recommend the 'stuff and run' as people may say No if asked but then on reflection have a look if the book is on their doorstep when they get home. Both routes work but if you've tried one and it doesn't, deffo try the other.....

Other tips:

* Make sure you use your books for both campaigns i.e. utilise your back books
* Don't leave your books out too long - the more times you can get them in/out/in/out again per campaign the less they cost you
* Put notes with your details on through doors to let them know you've been back to collect the book and ask them to call you/leave the book on the doorstep on .......day
* If you have a printer, putting a note on the front of the book as to when you are due to collect your book helps too
* Don't be disheartened when you see a single book from another rep on your territory - chances are it's a F&F customer. If, however, you see multiple books on one of your streets from the same rep, report it to your upliner for them to sort.

Finally, if you are a new rep and having no success with your territory it's worth talking to your upliner about it. They should be able to help in various ways i.e. release the streets not working for you and ask the Area Manager if there are any others nearby (ask if there are any 'red' ones - in Avon terms they're the 'best' streets for customers). Also don't go spending lots of money on books.... ask your upliner if they have any spare ones (chances are they will be the back campaign but any useable free books are worth having!)

HTH.

lozza1985

Just to add - I know some people have had problems with the setting spray making it seem like their nails are dry when they aren't, which could possibly be a reason why you had trouble in the bath.

Perhaps your rep knows about Avons return policy, but doesn't realise they can send the products back for credit even when they've been tried? Could be another explanation for why she appears to have 'dumped' you as a customer as isn't getting the credit from avon that she's entitled from.

brednall

THanks for the help and MarsdenCuckoo, my SL gave me two 'red' streets but they only generated one order!!! Will have to see how I go on after Christmas

Emma

chairing555

HI everyone, I have been a rep for about 4 months now, i did not get to meet my SL as she didnt make our meting time and never apologised nor returned my calls or texts. I also only got 10 books from her, i understand you should get about 40 books? Am i right in saying that? Also, i am still supplying only to friends and colleagues at work so not making much but i would really love to make some money out of it but basically its a hobby for me, can anyone give me some tips on how i can get another SL as i think some support is needed to be honest.

Thanks

chairing555

Just to add ...am also a newbie on MSE.

aggypanthus

Thanks for the replies, most informative, sorry cant recall which shampoo it was.
Yes, she does know the returns policy..its her loss, shame too as I was trying to give her orders to help get her started.
Re the setting spray, it lackes clear direction of use on the bottle. is it to be used after 1 coat, or only after the 2 coats have been done?
I do the latter, but with a few mins natural drying time after 1 st coat, then 2ns, then the spray.