@epixel-mlm-softwareSajin Rajan
A tech enthusiast who researches about new technologies like blockchain, AI, data visualization, etc
This isn’t yet another post that praises the greatness of technology and its effects on one of the million industries it has been implemented in. It’s about how small but wise applications of technology have remolded their industry to a realm that is accessible even to the ones from the lowest levels of the economy.
While people’s skill plays the central role in making a business really happening, bringing about technological innovations can be a catalyst to the aggregate business growth. Especially when it comes to an industry like direct selling, it gives you an edge over the conventional business models.
The tech innovations simply do one thing; it tremendously elevates the profitability of the business, while demanding a minimal increase in investment. For any business, word-of-mouth publicity still stands tall as the best and most effective promotion a product could get. What we utilize in direct selling is the same word-of-mouth publicity, in every possible way using technology. With the advent of advanced software platforms that enable us to spread our business into a prodigious network of distributors, direct selling has opened in front of us a tremendous opportunity to profit from.
Here are some of the biggest revamping that direct sales could attain with the aid of technology. Again, it’s not to flaunt you with technology, but to show how small changes you make, tremendously foster the direct sales business. Putting it in a simpler way, the advantages have been categorized into three groups of benefits.
- Business owner
- Distributors
- Customers
Business Owners
If we look back to the history of direct selling, initially products were sold through door-to-door sales. From there, today’s direct sales industry stands in a position where a person can single-handedly manage the business right from their home and deliver products to customers around the globe. This wouldn’t have been possible at all without the incorporation of technology in the business. Agree?
Social media is undoubtedly the most important tool that enabled direct selling to flourish across borders. It has given rise to a global market that is easily communicable and accessible. The fact that not even a day passes by without a person checking his or her social media platforms, makes it the most active market for the direct sales business.
Software platforms uncluttered the complexity of the recruitment process and made the task easy. Without requiring additional manpower to manage the expanding business, these software platforms allow you to seamlessly organize your network. An added advantage is that from prospecting to marketing, everything comes under its roof, to back your entrepreneurial efforts.
Direct sales have always been complex with compensation plans that allow business owners to decide their preferred formula for commission payments. The situation was like, even if someone had an innovative compensation plan, it was difficult to put it into practice due to the highly complex nature of calculations involved. Such complications have been wiped off with the advent of digital platforms that can flawlessly handle complex compensation calculations.
E-commerce being the milestone of business advancement of the 21st century has transfigured almost every single industry’s market opportunities. It’s indifferent to the direct sales industry too. Selling the direct sales product through a dedicated e-commerce platform that can be integrated with your direct sales network sees no bounds in expandability. The worldwide logistics network enables you to acquire clients from all over the world without being concerned about the deliverability of the products. Furthermore, such integrations give you an edge over the competitors and will be beneficial for the sustainability of the business.
Distributors
Distributors are the ones who make strides in your direct sales business. No matter how good your product is, if there aren’t efficient distributors who are skilled to make good deals with the downline members, you will be soon out of the game. But no worries, today’s technology has put forward some great tools to help them out in coping up with the changing market conditions. Note that all the tools supportive for the business owners are helpful to the distributors as well since network marketing is all about selling in identical groups of networks that have similar functionality.
Prospecting has never been easy without the help of technology in direct sales. To be able to refine the best potential leads from a plethora of contact bases, technological support is a must-have. From initial pitching to converting them into a quality customer, everything becomes a cakewalk with the help of technology.
Training is one of the most heavily invested areas in the direct selling industry. Sometimes, the cost of hosting such training sessions becomes unaffordable and when you have a client base that is far and wide, it’s not viable to keep separate sessions at different places all over the world. Thanks to the advent of online meetings. It has aided us to cut short the business expenses. Though the effectiveness of such meetings is questioned, this pandemic time has successfully proven its ability to stand the test of time.
Order management is yet another important aspect of the direct sales business. Timely and successful delivery of products is vital for the sustainability of sales and retention of customers. Being able to organize these sections from a single space will untangle the intricacies of the supply chain system.
Customers
Striving for customer satisfaction forms the foundation of a successful business journey. But it is equally important for the customers to have a transparent view of your business in order to get all their doubts cleared in the first place. If it wasn’t for technology, nothing else would have facilitated the opportunity for the clients in understanding your business in and out.
Online stores have successfully been able to replace the conventional brick-and-mortar ones and are better in a way that gives the customer more freedom to explore the products. Time is an important factor in the direct selling business and online stores are super helpful in the way that it helps us save a considerable amount of time. Technologies like Augmented Reality have been able to emulate real-like experiences in product display, making the virtual shopping experience remarkable.
Chatbots and virtual assistants have obviously revolutionized the customer service experience. While it has not been able to replace human proficiency in handling customer queries, it efficiently does the initial customer handling process with ease so that basic support is delivered, which is an important factor that improves customer acquisition and retention. Moreover, it gives one more reason for the customer to stay in your business.
Customer analytics is the state-of-the-art advancement in the industry that has given rise to a powerful concept; data-driven customer service. By understanding the user behavior and modeling the customer persona, it is now possible to provide a very personalized experience to the customers. This is yet another factor that nurtures customer satisfaction and keeps them coming back to your business.
Taking everything into account
No industry has ever been able to survive without innovating in their field of activity. Simultaneously, as technology has advanced in direct selling, people’s attitudes and interests towards the industry have also been consistently inclined. If your direct sales business has everything required to qualify as a legitimate business, then never be hesitant to embrace technology to your advantage.
Be clear with your goals, be evident with them in your business, and be optimistic with the use of technology. You will never be left behind in the game. Do what it takes to get there!!
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