The direct selling industry is a huge engine of economic growth in the US. According to data published by the Direct Selling Association, over fifty percent of American adults report having purchased services or goods from a direct sales representative. In addition, one in five American adults say they have been or currently are working as a direct seller.
Many of these individuals are attracted by the flexibility of work hours and the ability to develop personal business connections. Yet, relatively few direct sellers ever achieve truly substantial rewards. Part of this is because of the time commitment that is required and the difficulty in selling productively.
However, a number of new productivity tools extending from online communication management systems, to sharing your desktop apps and
free conference call offerings are most definitely making selling easier for direct sellers. This article touches on three key areas in which direct sellers can work more productively.
Tip 1: Use an e-mail management application
For many direct sellers, e-mail is a critical component of maintaining relationships and prospecting for new ones. We have moved well beyond the era of mere Outlook mail merge! New offerings by companies such as Constant Contact, MyNewsletterBuilder, and EmailLabs enable direct sellers to generate templates in which preconfigured content can be easily added.
This content could outline announcements about new product availability, incentives for higher performance, updates on shipping schedules, etc. The main point is that these tools enable direct sellers to generate professional looking content using a fraction of the time that earlier methods would have required.
The more advanced offerings provide tracking capabilities. These tracking capabilities can provide a range of data from the open rates for e-mails to the click-throughs on links. These services also typically manage the unsubscribe feature in order to ensure compliance with spam regulations.
Tip 2: Use a free conference calling system
In the last few years, there have been literally dozens of companies launching free conference calling services. All of them work on the same central principle: they provide you a personal access number and a toll number to dial. If all users dial the same number and enter the same PIN code, they are put into the call together. Active direct sellers can potentially save hundreds of dollars monthly by using such systems.
The newer services offer additional functionality applicable to direct sellers. Examples include audio recording, listen-only PIN codes for training and education situations, and archiving of content. One such service is Rondee.com, a
conference call system which provides web scheduling.
Tip 3: Use an application to allow desktop sharing
Desktop sharing can be extremely helpful for direct selling professionals. Whether it's sharing a PowerPoint presentation showing the benefits and features of a new product or a spreadsheet showing the performance of down-line members, desktop sharing can be quite useful.
One could simply e-mail out the presentation or attachment to all the participants. But a desktop sharing application enables the presenter to control the presentation and pace of the material. And more sophisticated applications including those offered by WebEx or Yugma allow the presenter to switch control over to other participants.
Some users choose a best-of-breed strategy and use different systems for conferencing and desktop sharing. Increasingly, however, conference providers are moving to bundle desktop sharing functionality into their core product. Either way, direct sellers can benefit.
