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

lozza1985

elsbels10 wrote: »

Thanks for all the tips guys.. Also, do you order your books in advance? This will be the first time I have to order them.. is it best to just get C14 or C14 and C15 so you can go straight out with the next campaign after you've put your order in?

I always buy my books in advance, I use the week been submitting my order and get my delivery to get my brochures ready - means then when I get my delivery I can sort it and bag it up and the books are already sorted to pop into orders.

lozza1985

Mumtothree3 wrote: »

I have read such mixed reports about Avon, and DH is a cynic about the whole "Avon thing"... I am getting increasingly fed up and ready to ditch the idea before I have even started.. Some of the negative things I have read include Avon overcharging reps, not refunding reps, cost of brochures, returning stock, lack of orders... All of this is fuelling DH cynicism... :-(

For every company you will hear bad things - in some cases it will be genuine, others it will be from people who never put any work in and so obviously didn't make any money from it - it's a self employed business so if you don't work at it you won't make anything.

In my experience I've never had problems being overcharged for things, but have heard other reps have - they contacted avon and it was rectified ASAP. Returns are easy to do, and are one reason people are so willing to buy from avon as they know they won't be stuck with products that aren't any use to them ( foundation the wrong shade for them, bras that don't fit etc), its actually a good sales tool having a good returns policy. Cost of brochures - we get delivery free provided that you order over £10 worth of products, and aside from paper bags which aren't very much at all, brochures are our only real cost. Every direct selling company has some costs - whether it be a kit you have to buy, or brochures, but out of all the direct selling companies you will probably find it you research it that we have the lowest overall costs and a decent earning %. We are running our own business, and all businesses have costs, ours is brochures to use as our shop window.

The amount of orders you'll get is anyone's guess - it depends on your area, and can take time to build up people's trust. Now is a great time to be starting though as I find our sales are highest September - December as people buy Christmas presents.

All I can say is - you don't pay anything up front with avon so you can try it and if you don't put an order in you won't owe anything, and if you never try it you'll never know. As you can see I've been doing avon for a while now, and me and my Dh wouldn't both be reps alongside working full time (Dh does 56 hours a week) if we didn't find it worthwhile. It was obviously more work initially learning how to do everything and to build up our customer list but we couldn't be without the extra cash now. It obviously won't work for everyone, but unless you try it you won't know if it could work for you

elsbels10

Hello, is there anyone who can tell me my mail plan? I am area 371 thankss x

elsbels10

Ok, thanks lozza1958.. I will be doing this haha

lozza1985

If I have your postcode I could look up your mail plan for you, but if you ask who you joined with they should be able to tell you

I,_Geek

Ordering books in advance - another one here who does this. For my first few campaigns I didn't and it was stressful having to sort out deliveries and prep books. Now I use the week between ordering and delivery to get the books prepped (absolutely essential nowadays with a much bigger round).

Mixed reports about Avon

To add to what Lozza's said, I'll just run through the things you mentioned that you were worried about:

- Avon overcharging reps - the best thing to do is check your orders before your submit the whole lot. So, check that customers have written down the right price (sometimes they put the saving, not the price), make sure you've ordered it from the right brochure (prices vary from one brochure to the next), and then we can view a price breakdown before sending the order off, so that's a chance to make sure everything is as we expect it to be.

- not refunding reps - credits are easy to do through an online system. We can request a credit for about 6 campaigns after it was ordered (longer than 90 days), so that's plenty of time for customers to try something and get back to us. If you get re-charged because they claim not to have received returned items, that's easily sorted out with an email. This happens to me a few times a year and always gets sorted with an email that takes a minute to write.

- cost of brochures - I agree with Lozza, we have low start-up costs (£15 fee, only if you place an order) and ongoing costs.

- returning stock - we don't have to hold onto stock if we don't want to, and I'd recommend against new reps doing this. I do hold onto a bit (a tiny amount compared to the full range) but with some organisation this doesn't turn into a problem.

- lack of orders - if you're going to be a "friends and family" rep, you need a decent number of people in your immediate network. Lots of friends and family living nearby and a workplace. These mean it's really convenient for you because it fits into what you do anyway. It's worth asking around first to see what interest is out there. If you don't have a big network around you, or they are absolutely not interested when you ask, territory is important. If you ring someone about signing up, make sure there are free streets nearby. Some reps are signed up by people who know there's nothing available even though the rep needs that territory, so be clear from the start about how essential it is (unless you can get by without it).

I've met several ex-reps in my time and tbh there's always a clue as to why they're "ex". They're either disorganised, have no interest in the products, canvassed half-heartedly, had too high expectations of order frequency (one ex-rep customer said I should stop calling because she didn't order enough, but I thought it was fine), thought the costs were too high (making me think they spent on unnecessary things like samples and freebies), or had too small a customer base from friends and family and weren't prepared to do territory.

I,_Geek

To add to the above, make sure your upline gives you the training they're supposed to. This should help you avoid account problems (not entering the order correctly, sending off multiple orders when it should be just one, problems with credits etc...)

Mumtothree3

Thank you lozza and I Geek so much for taking the time to give such a detailed reply :-)

I am prepared to put in the hard work, I have a decent sized network of friends and family plus am prepared to do a territory.

Quick few questions: my DC play football and attend local primary School and I know lots of people through this. Can I post on the football club and School Facebook page advertising me as Avon seller? If so, what about other reps that might be selling to some of this customer base, worried about treading on other reps toes?

I Geek, you mentioned if I sign up, to check to ensure there are free streets near by as some reps are signed up by people when there is nothing available nearby. Thanks for this honest advice. How can I make sure that if I was to sign up, I was signed up by someone that gives this me the correct information and I'm not signed up by someone who know nothing available nearby..

Again, thanks to you both for such detailed and quick reply. Although the outlay is small I really want to think it through before committing. If I am to sign up, I would commit to it.

I,_Geek

Football club and school - it would be worth asking the person who runs the Facebook page whether this is okay. I think they could delete your post if they really didn't want it on there, but it's best to be sure first. They might say, "Okay, but once a month" because they think any more often would look spammy. Of course you're free to mention it to people when you're there in person. If they have a rep they'll let you know, but if they do say yes to a brochure it's a good idea to double-check ("Just to be sure, you're not used to getting a book from anyone else?") because people outside Avon don't always know how it works. This isn't stepping on toes because it's not territory and you'll quickly find out if another rep has those places sewn up. They might just serve a few other parents (child's friend's parents) and not do it on a bigger scale.

Free territory - this is a tricky one because some uplines are charming and useful, and some are charming and looking for a sign-up (even though it benefits everyone if you bring in decent orders and stay on long-term). So it can be hard to tell whether they're being honest or telling you what you want to hear. I'm not an upline so I'm not sure how much info they can see re. territory before you sign up.

Question for Lozza or any SL: could a SL bring their laptop to a sign-up and show the rep what free streets will be put in their name (assuming no-one else gets them first)? Would this be before sign-up or can it only be done once an account has been created?

chairing555

Hello everyone,
could someone tell me what a mail plan is?

thanks