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The direct selling industry is a huge contributor to economic growth in the United States. According to data published by the Direct Selling Association, more than 50% of American adults say they have having purchased goods or services from a direct selling representative. In addition, 1 in 5 American adults reports having been or currently working as a direct seller.
Many direct sellers are attracted by the flexible work hours and the ability to develop personal business connections. Yet, relatively few direct sellers ever achieve truly substantial earnings. Part of this is because of the time commitment that is required and the difficulty in selling productively.
However, a group of new productivity tools extending from web-based communication management systems, to sharing your desktop apps and free conference call services are most definitely making life easier for direct selling professionals. This review touches on three of the most important areas in which direct sellers can boost their productivity.
Tip 1: Use a newsletter management application
For many direct sellers, e-mail is a critical ingredient in 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, EmailLabs, and MyNewsletterBuilder allow direct sellers to create templates in which preconfigured content can be inserted.
This content might feature announcements about new product specifications, incentives for higher performance, updates on shipping schedules, etc. The key is that these systems enable direct sellers to create professional appearing content with a fraction of the time that earlier methods required.
The more sophisticated offerings provide tracking capabilities. These tracking capabilities can show everything from the open rates on e-mails to the click-throughs on links. These services also frequently manage the unsubscribe function in order to ensure compliance with spam regulations.
Tip 2: Use a free teleconference service
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 give you a PIN and a toll number to dial. If all participants dial the same number and enter the same PIN code, they are put into the call together. Active direct sellers can save hundreds of dollars monthly by using such systems.
The newer services offer extra functionality applicable to direct sellers. Examples include audio recording, listen-only dial in codes for training and education situations, and agenda archival. One such provider is Rondee, a conference call offering which enables web-based scheduling.
Tip 3: Use a desktop sharing system
Desktop sharing can be extremely helpful for the direct selling entrepreneur. Whether it’s sharing a PowerPoint document 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 just e-mail out the presentation or attachment to all the participants. But a desktop sharing application enables the organizer to control the presentation and pace of everything. And more feature rich applications such as those offered by WebEx or Yugma allow the presenter to switch control over to other users.
Some users choose a best-of-breed approach and use different services for conferencing and desktop sharing. Increasingly, however, teleconferencing providers are moving to bundle desktop sharing functionality into their core product. Either way, direct sellers can benefit.
About the Author:
Bob Letterman has frequently published commentaries on how communications technology increases productivity. He contributed to the design of Rondee’s free conference call service.
Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Direct Sales 2.0: Three Techniques for Enhancing Your Productivity
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