Avon - The Company for Women - Corporate Responsibility

Representatives are the heart of the Avon business, and their engagement is the critical “flywheel” on which Avon success depends. Worldwide, there are 5.5 million Representatives, including over 500,000 in the United States. Avon maintains frequent contact with Representatives to ensure the company policies, procedures and processes provide the maximum satisfaction and earnings opportunity to the Representatives, and that they have the tools, knowledge and resources to succeed in their Avon business.

Representatives are supported by a variety of engagement tools that communicate information to and from them. The exact template of support varies by country according to the needs, size and nature of the local business. Communication tools include the following:

• A dedicated intranet website
• Templates and IT support for their personal sales websites
• A unique Representative email and telephone support line
• Regular “eNews” updates
• Representative Times newspaper
• eNewsletter for Avon Leadership Representatives
• Monthly conference calls for our Advanced Unit Leaders and above
• Support and training from their District Sales Manager (also called Zone Managers in some parts of the world)
• Regular sales meetings supervised by a District or Divisional Sales Manager
• The opportunity for specialized training in sales or beauty
• A regular focus group of selected high performing Representatives
• Annual conference and special events throughout the year with marketing and sales executives for Avon Leadership Representatives

On a more formal level, the Avon Customer Care team undertakes research through a third-party research company among Representatives several times a year, gathering critical feedback on Avon’s processes and support for the Representative experience. In the most recent semiannual U.S. survey, completed in November 2008, Representatives showed increased satisfaction with the benefits, awards and prizes, and commissions and money earned, underscoring Avon’s commitment to economic opportunity. They also reported increased satisfaction in service areas such as the receipt, correctness and punctuality of orders as well as customer care. Representatives in this same survey were most satisfied with the ordering process, advertising and the product offerings, and indicated need for improvement in areas such as shorts (unavailable products), samples and waiting time for out of stock items. Research such as this affords management a snapshot of the company’s performance in critical areas and identifies opportunities for focus and improvement.

For information on the email and phone contact points for use by Representatives, click here.