Thursday, May 12, 2016

A Few Suggestions as You Begin Your Avon Business - New Cloud Climber Email #3

This is the third of my emails sent to my new team members to provide information and advice as they begin their businesses.

Good afternoon, _____!

I hope your day is going well and that you are already working and studying in order to have a successful business as an Avon Representative. Here are some tips and suggestions for you as you begin your business. 

1. Take the training under Avon University!! I cannot over emphasis this, because that training will answer almost all of your questions about getting started, placing orders, managing money, printing invoices, etc. I can explain things to do, but the training can show you how to do them. See tip #5 for more on this.

2. Taxes on the products you order are charged to you based on where you live, not where your customer lives. If you do not know your local tax rate, go to www.zip2tax.com and enter your zip code in the "Look Up The Tax" bar. You do not have to register or log in to do this. When your first invoice arrives from Avon, look to see that you have been charged at the correct rate. You can set up your invoicing system for customers in the YA Web Office to charge the correct tax on printed invoices. 

3. It is not required that you use the Web Office to print invoices, as you can use the free order books you can get from Avon under Supplies, but if you enter your orders under the customer names the system will save all invoices for a year and you will be able to have a record of what customers ordered. 

4. Be award of the Hot Points as you get ready to turn in your orders. If you are near a hot point, you may be able to add a small item or two to your order and actually pay less for the order, thereby earning more. I am attaching a file with the hot points so you can print it if you like. 

5. Know your products. Skin Care sales have the greatest potential for building a solid business, so take the skin care training as soon as you can. Let your customers know that they can sign up for Auto Replenish of their Anew skin care regimens to get the best prices and free shipping. You will find the information you need on that by looking at your eStore under Skin Care.

6. Consider using Helpers in your business. A helper is someone who takes one or more brochures to their place of business and collects orders for you. Most of my helpers asked me if they could be my helpers, and I also let my customers know they can receive 20% off of their own orders if they become helpers. It is up to you to work out the system you will use to thank your helpers, but most reps I know do the discount on orders - 20% on core products and 10% on fixed earnings products. If a helper just brings me one other order, I give them a 10% discount on their own order. I do not pay my helpers anything and they make no profit off of the orders they give me. If a helper wants to make money, they need to sign up as one of your team members! 

7. If you would like to promote your Avon business with Avon logo merchandise, click the heading "My Community" and look to the bottom of the page under Avon Advantage and then Town & Country. There are a lot of things offered, including business cards. You can also print your own business cards or book labels under the Avery heading there.

8. Look at all the different links on the YA home page to see what is being offered and news that will benefit your business. Read the Representative Insider News which you will find under Tools & Info on the YA homepage. This is updated every Friday evening.

9. You get one free shipment of returns per month, so you can save your returned items for a couple of campaigns and return them all at once. You use the Process Returns link to do returns or exchanges and they must be done within 120 days of purchase. The Avon guarantee says that customers have 90 days to do returns, and then you have an additional 30 days to get them back to Avon. 

10. Keep good records of all your expenses, including how many miles you drive to do any Avon work, so you can report those on your income tax at the end of the year. 

11. Manage your money wisely, especially if you have received a credit limit with Avon. (Some reps. have one, others do not, and whether you have one or not is determined by several factors when you are appointed.) Make sure that you do not spend the money you receive from your customers before paying Avon what you owe. None of us want you to go "bad debt" with Avon. That is not good for you, me, or the company. If you have credit and miss getting your payment in, Avon will hold your next order for 10 business days. If your payment is not received, the order will drop from the system and a $10 late payment fee will be added to your account. If payment is not received within the next 10 business days, another $10 fee will be added, and a third $10 fee will be added 10 business days later. If payment is still not received, your account will be marked "Inactive-Delinquent" and will go to Accounts Receivable.  

If you think of something that I should cover with new reps. but have not included in any of these emails I have been sending you, please let me know. 

Thanks for the hard work you do!

Sandra Moore
Avon Gold Ambassador



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