Monday 27 January 2014

Being an Avon Rep changed my life.

As I'm sure you all know, I am an Avon representative, but is it really worth the time and effort you put in? Many Avon reps give up after the first few months, it's as if people expect money overnight!

I can honestly say from the bottom of my heart, that becoming an Avon rep changed my life for the better!

In March 2013, I was out of work, as I had been in and out of jobs for around about 3 years. I noticed something a lady had posted on one of the Facebook selling groups, I figured i'd ask for more info.

My Sales Leader came over that week with a free trial and we had a long chat about how Avon works. She gave me my roads which had been allocated and invited me to a Facebook group which included every member of her Avon team and others.

The way it worked, I had been given a few books to trial some houses along with family and friends etc. You leave the book and order form in the letter box, then let them know when you'll be back to collect it.

This is the most frustrating part! You often find many people will not leave books out, some may bin them, some may just forget. The books do in fact cost money, I will get to that in a moment.
Trying to get people who haven't left books out can sometimes be a chore, particularly if like me you put all your books out at once. Its always best to order a few extra for the first few campaigns til you get regular customers.

I have found that when you ask a customer to leave a book out, and check back three times over the next week and they still haven't left it, if you check back 3 months later that book will most likely be there! Its frustrating to say the least.

Regular customers are hard to come by, some order once every few campaigns, some order every time. It is sometimes best to re canvas a few houses that you know don't mind having a book despite not ordering for four campaigns, that fifth book might get you an order!

As expected with door to door selling, you do get the occasional person who is ignorant of the fact you are trying to earn a living, that's unavoidable sadly.

Cost wise, Avon is very reasonable, they only take £16 for a start up fee, which comes from your first two campaigns. Basically if you place an order over £80, the commission you receive is 20%. £8 is taken from this in the first two campaigns. The books have recently changed price they were £5.48 or something similar for 20. With an extra 20 being £2. Which definitely helps for the first campaign if not the second also.

If you place an order over £150, you are instantly given 25% commission which is great! Basically if you can place the first two orders at a minimum of £80 then your fee and books are paid for.

I have found that I rarely make more than £20-£30 a campaign, which when you take off the items I buy myself doesn't work out as much, but its definitely a nice way to treat yourself.

I have found that it can be difficult with some customers never in, and you find yourself texting them saying they'll be there and they aren't some, you just cant get the money from and other things are frustrating. But I put so much time and effort into getting to know my customers and advertising through Social Media such as this blog and Twitter for example, that it does eventually pay off.

I really enjoy Avon, I have met some wonderful people and learnt new things. My customers are all very lovely ladies and gentlemen who remind me why I put in so much work for not a great deal of income.

The main thing to remember with Avon, is that money doesn't come over night, it takes months to build rapports with customers and other reps. Its not something which will give you loads of money for little work, but job is these days?

I have never regretted joining Avon for a second and I love that it keeps me occupied and active. My confidence in myself has also grown so much since I started joining Avon. I used to just get out of bed in the morning, not care how I looked and not leave the house or see anyone during the time off work.
Avon gave me a reason to get up in the morning and so much knowledge about Make Up that my friends and family have become very surprised at how I have adapted to it.

I would highly recommend being an Avon Rep as it gives you a nice incentive to pursue Avon as a secondary job, or even a primary one if you progress to Sales Leader.


No comments:

Post a Comment