MANAGING SERVICE AFTER THE ORDER

You have your order and you're on your way out the door. You'll
be back in a few days with the product and then the 
service/sales/service cycle begins all over again.

Delivery service is a place where your service attitude can
really shine. It's something over which you have absolute
control. You know when the order is prepared, when delivery time should be, and what to do when you take the order to the
customer. With all that knowledge, one wonders why we don't do so good a job at it.

The process seems simple enough. On Wednesday there is a pile of Avon boxes outside your front door. You haul them in, set up the folding table, break the straps from the boxes, and begin to empty them onto the table surface, grouping like items. You get them all out, put your invoice on a clipboard, and begin to check off the products as received. It's all there! Will wonders never cease?

And then it hits you. Your paperwork isn't done. You must write
up the orders if they haven't been previously completed. If you
have helpers, you must segregate their orders and perhaps by
their customers. There is pen work and computer work that must be done before you can begin to assemble different orders into their respective delivery bags.

If your delivery was two boxes and your orders number five, there isn't much a problem. If the number of your boxes exceeds 50 and your orders exceed one hundred, then you have a problem indeed.  And, unfortunately, there are no shortcuts. Worse yet, some of your customers are outside the door or on the phone before the boxes have been unloaded.

If you have a computer, Avon eRep services will help you to
prepare your invoices. There are at least two other packages,
SmartShop and AV4. There are people here who can tell you how to find these.

And now you get your paperwork done. There are service questions to be resolved:

1.  How will you account for shortages and for items that are no
longer available (NLA)? Are you prepared for your customer's
depression because she can't get that Outlet item she wanted?

2.  Will the customer pick up her order at your house? If she
picks it up with you, will you give her a gift or a discount for
having done so?

3.  Must you deliver to her house? Or perhaps to an office? Will
you bag or box the delivery? How will you arrange transportation?

4.  Must some of the order be mailed, shipped by UPS, or conveyed through a third party?

5.  Will you deliver first to the people who prepaid you or to
the people from whom you must collect money? What determines which you will do first? People who have already paid for their products will be anxious to receive them -- and that will remove some of the clutter from your family room. People who haven't yet paid are of concern -- you must get to them before their money gets away from them. It's a service consideration for yourself.

6.  Have you mapped out any travel routes? In an era of
escalating gasoline prices, this will become increasingly more
important. Notification by e-mail? By telephone? Halfway meeting places?

7.  How will you ensure that your customer is satisfied with her
purchase? Will you wait to see? Will you arrange for a call? Will you assume that no news is good news?

8.  Are you prepared to handle returns? With cash? With
merchandise exchange? On approval of Avon?

9.  How will you handle returns and exchanges from people who didn't get that product from you?

10.  How will you follow up on back ordered items?


There are no doubt more considerations for post-sale service.
These seem to be the obvious ones. These parameters will change if you are involved with fundraising activities.

At this point, attitude becomes important also. Cheerful.
Cheerful. Avon has a 100% guarantee. So should you.


Some closing thoughts on what we've discussed here about service:

1.  You are the greatest resource to your business, but your
customer must have the benefit of your resource in order to
become a worthwhile sales and service outlet for you.

2.  One does not get to the top of the mountain if she doesn't
continually climb toward the summit. As your business grows, your service must likewise grow. For every major decision you make for your business to grow, plan also for the service issues we have discussed.

3.  Everything is relative. If you're just building your Avon
business, your service success will be measured. It simply hasn't had time to mature. Once you begin to see the customer's responses to the services you provide, you will begin to see the results that will take your business higher in giant steps.

4.  Every service you perform becomes an opportunity on which you may capitalize. Go the extra mile and you will find out just how elastic the demand for your service really is.

5.  In every sales opportunity, there is a service opportunity,
as well.

6.  Consider your interaction with your customer as a major part of your service. Spend time. Explore together. Learn about her.  Make the deposits now that will pay the dividends later.

7.  If you were to ask your customer if she wanted better
service, what would be her reply? Would you be willing to allow
your customer to rate you on the service you provide? It might be an eye-opener.

8.  The sale you make next week counts as much for the Albee as the sale you feel you desperately need today. The sale you made last week isn't diminished by one iota. Every sale you make; every service you perform, becomes a woven tapestry that depicts the story of your business. Make it a pretty one.

9.  Develop a thick skin. If the customer complains, don't let it
get to you personally. Smile and increase your service level.

10. The primary benefit of service is, as we have seen, increased and repeat sales. Benchmark your position when you begin a sales effort and then measure your progress against that benchmark.

11.  Of all the customers who might ever leave you, the ones to
whom you have given extraordinary service are those who will, so far as possible, maintain representative loyalty with you.

12.  A positive attitude is an indicator of outstanding service.
Go into the transaction with a YES attitude rather than a NO
attitude, and your business will rise to the top of the mountain
all by itself.

13.  Insofar as service is concerned, talking about it will not
get it done. Preparing to do it will assist you to perform it.
Performing the service will ameliorate any problem situations and bring those customers back to you over and over.

14.  Each and every customer represents word of mouth
advertising. They will tell their friends about how wonderful the
products are, of course. But if your service has been
outstanding, there will be only one representative in the world
from whom they can possibly obtain the product -- you.


You can improve your service, gain more customers, and make more money if you will remember the primary theme we've espoused here:  selling is serving is selling. But as you move along, recognize that the salesperson your customer saw last campaign looks suspiciously like the salesperson she saw this morning. The customer hasn't changed. She will have expected that you will be the same, as well. But you're on your way to provide new and improved service, so something must be different. Hopefully you have planned some new and different service, some better way to ensure that the customer is happy with the purchase, with you, and with Avon. Try different things. Not every day. Perhaps once a week --
or even once a month. It will be the different things that get
your service noticed -- and broadcasted.

Before leaving, we should also recognize that there is always the difficult customer, the one for whom no amount of service is ever right or enough. What can you do? Smile. Don't take it
personally. Do what you can for the customer. We won't blame you if you choose not to deal with this customer very long or very often. It comes with the territory. I just hope for you that your irate customers don't get you out of bed in the middle of the night. It has happened to me.

Ken the Avon Man -- AOL IM kenlordjr
Rose Circle member, Unit Leader, Certified Beauty Advisor
District 7286 -- Tucson, AZ
Book: Becoming an Avon Representative available for $15.