Those at the heart of Avon's business model and past success - direct sales representatives - were experiencing a growing discontent with the company's policies, objectives, and initiatives. They felt that the company was putting too much emphasis on recruiting new representatives instead of focusing on expanding relationships with current and prospective customers. In addition, representatives were not happy with the increasing cost of sales materials and felt that sales commissions should be increased. These grievances made the opportunity to be an Avon sales representative less and less appealing, as evidenced by the decline of representatives.