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

bezybee

well i went to collect last of ma books, i still have 8 books out. i place ma order on thur.

i door i went to said she left it out for me, but i never got it, (heard there has been another rep around, so think she might have picked it up. ) told her that the delivery should be around 2nd nov, and gave her the book again, so if the items dont turn up i can back order for her. she has my contact details for that)

didnt know what else to do.

my order total (includin books and wee gift for laura) is £676.46 !!!!

Brown.Owl_2

I've had a few books go astray. Makes me wonder if there's a rep i don't know about in close proximity to me who is following me!

Also - has anyone had foxes steal books to play with? I lost 3 in one night - customers apologised profusely for not being able to return the books to me! lol!!! Made me wonder if there was a particular scratch n sniff page they liked the smell of in C17!

LilMissEmmylou

Brown.Owl wrote: »

Also - has anyone had foxes steal books to play with? I lost 3 in one night - customers apologised profusely for not being able to return the books to me! lol!!! Made me wonder if there was a particular scratch n sniff page they liked the smell of in C17!

This made me laugh a little too much

I live smack bang in the countryside in a wee village and am pleased to say that no, this have never happened to me :rotfl:

Bezybee - well done with the order total! And I am sure wee Laura will be chuffed to bits when she gets her Avon delivery lol

I,_Geek

LilMissEmmylou wrote: »

I,Geek that would irritate the life out of me! Do people actually respond to having a flyer asking to you know if they want to order? It sounds like a good way to stop books going awol, but not sure how effective it is?

Well that's the silver lining to this situation - I really don't think that (as a first contact) a flyer is an effective way of gaining customers. Even on fresh territory you'd only pick up people who: (a) know they like Avon and (b) can remember to call you. As it is, I've discovered from collecting books in this evening that she's covered about 1/3 of my territory. Most of that area I've had for over a year and it was last re-canvassed 3 months ago. A couple of streets are newer, but I've still done them since around May. They weren't re-canvassed 3 months ago because it felt too soon.

Another way of looking at it was pointed out by some customers this evening, when I was assuring them that contact from another rep doesn't automatically mean I've stopped. They said they just don't like Betterware so hadn't looked at the package (it was in a clear bag). The note faced out of the bag but they still hadn't seen it. So that's another positive sign. It was reassuring to see that my regulars see me as their Avon lady. I've always pointed out from the beginning that they'll only see me, and I brand all my notes and order form and collection bags.

I'm still in damage-limitation mode, though. I want to get on with my re-canvas sooner in C18 - starting on Wednesday for me - rather than later. It's split in two: people who can still get books and people who asked for no more books. I've got an advantage in the first group because they'll get a book through the door without having to ring for one. The people who don't want more books will get a "call me" postcard.

There are also some customers who told me to call only once or twice a year. I dropped notes to them in early summer saying I was still around and they would next see a book in November. I'm concerned some of these people will have forgotten about their request so I also want to get books to these people asap.

Oh and I've discovered the rep lives between 6 and 8 miles away. Even though they're coming here to do their Betterware round, that's some distance and you'd need a good number of reliable customers to make it worth while. I think they're both a new Betterware and Avon rep since a different Betteware person called about a month ago, and their Connects profile says 2011.

IAMKaren

This is great!! Been wanting to be an Avon Lady for so long!!

LilMissEmmylou

IAMKaren wrote: »

This is great!! Been wanting to be an Avon Lady for so long!!

Have you just signed up Karen? If so welcome to the team

I,Geek - fingers crossed they didn't get anyone. How stupid going that far to flyer somebody elses area along with their betterware books! (I don't like it either lol).

This morning seems to be a fairly sunny one (even if cold) so just setting the printer up to head out for a book drop on my new street only got 13 of my C16 books left though to cover it with and didn't really want to put my C17 books out in the new area incase lots don't make it back to me

trinity_enigma

Thanks for the replies as I only have one campaign to compare writing against the is my only option although might ask mil who knows the whole village if she recognises the writing- she's quite likely to lol

pinky2681

Hi, i'm after some advice please. I work pt 14hrs and i've been doing Avon too. What do i need to tell tax credits? I do about 2hrs a week on Avon and earn about £60 every 3 weeks - but out of this i have to buy my books, and use my petrol, sometimes it takes me a few trips to actually deliver the order / collect books. I also have to make calls to customers sometimes too. SO really i reckon i earn more like £30/£40 every 3 weeks for me to keep. Will tax credits need any evidence of this and if so what? Argh i dont know where to start!!

I,_Geek

Tax credits - your hours spent on Avon will help towards you earning your tax credits. WTC people will want to know how many hours you spend on Avon per week, and how much net profit you make per year (so after you've deducted all expenses). If you've already done a tax return for your Avon you can tell them that figure as a guideline - it's an idea of what you expect to earn in the coming year as well. My husband and I are both self-employed so when we first started claiming tax credits we estimated what our earnings would be, and then when we got our renewal pack I'd completed our tax returns and could give them an exact figure for the previous tax year. It was lower than we estimated to they owed us a bit more money and increased our monthly payments for the rest of the tax year.

When it comes to "evidence" they won't need anything upfront for the Avon. Just a figure. Keep all your Avon invoices, receipts, everything. You'll need them for tax returns as well and we're supposed to keep all self-employed paperwork for 6 years. They'll need an address and payroll reference numbers or something similar for your part time job. They just ask for single bits of info, though, and don't ask you to send off printed-out Excel documents or anything like that.

pinky2681

Thank you! How do i know what expenses i can deduct? I work 14hr a week in my pt job so hopefully with my 2hrs Avon i'll be entitled to WTC is that right? It varies but generally i earn £30-£60 without taking off any expenses etc. DO i need to pay any NI? I know i pay it on my PT job but do i need to do anything else? what q's do i need to answer on a tax assesment form? Thank u