2020 Direct Selling Leaders’ Guide to Selecting the Right Software

With constant technological advancements, business model transformations, and the ever-changing ways of how people live, work and learn, no industry can remain the same, direct selling included. The business world is becoming more complex and companies are facing unprecedented challenges. The ultimate way to stay agile and competitive lies in supporting your business growth with a simple yet intelligent direct selling software.

The goals of any direct selling software lie in processes optimization, smooth distributor management, scalability, and cost-efficiency. However, most solutions currently available in the market fail to accomplish these goals. The reasons can be different, from the scattered nature of tools and outdated technologies to systems’ inability to grow with a business and vendors’ lack of expertise in the direct selling industry. 

The solution is to, first of all, clearly understand what specific goals your company want to achieve and then thoroughly research the direct selling software tools you’re going to need to accomplish them. The Rallyware team is here to help you get things moving in the right direction. 

The top 5 issues direct selling software must be able to solve

Through our seven years of experience in developing smart, personalized solutions for direct selling companies around the globe, we have obtained a deep understanding of the primary issues that stand in the way of achieving business goals. Make sure that your current direct selling software or the one you’re considering to implement addresses the key issues that the companies in the industry tend to face. 

Data integration 

In a business world constantly shaped by digital transformation, there’s no such thing as a standalone platform-island. For sure, you may have some existing systems that contain critical data for your business, so the integration process with your direct selling software should be painless and smooth. 

Unfortunately, many direct selling software platforms experience ‘communication’ issues with the current systems companies use, which leads to difficulties in data migration and their further utilization. So, it is of utmost importance to ensure that your chosen solution is integration-friendly. It should serve as an integral part of your digital business ecosystem, since data flowing from one system to another is crucial to driving desired business results. 

Technology scalability 

If your direct selling software fails to grow alongside your business needs, the number of distributors, content, etc., then it’s time to get a solution that is agile and scalable to deal with a growing number of tasks and resources. The platform’s ability to timely accommodate your needs is the definition of sustainable business growth.

Just imagine the dire consequences for expanding into foreign markets if, upon adding 2,000+ new users and training resources, your direct selling software crashes down: lost distributors, lost business opportunities, and lost investments. Ensure that your direct selling software does a great job of managing large amounts of data and users to foster business agility, since the reliability of your digital tools contributes to your brand success.

Performance improvement

As previously mentioned, the right direct selling software should help companies optimize business processes and make distributors’ business-building journeys as easy as 1-2-3. This can be achieved through a combination of relevant training, data-driven engagement initiatives, and on-demand support from Day 1.

Your chosen solution should help you align onboarding programs and ongoing training activities with specific business KPIs. Additionally, it should also address concurrency issues by handling multiple activities within the platform simultaneously without any lagging issues in order to drive desired behaviors. So make sure that the digital experience your system provides saves distributors’ time and helps streamline their business-building activities.

Training personalization

Personalization is a decisive success factor. For direct selling companies with a large distributor network, this is especially true. When you welcome a new member, their experience with your company has to be tailored to their goals and needs right from the start.   

The right direct selling software should provide every user with fully customized business-building journeys. They will make your distributors more engaged, active and, most importantly, productive. Our research shows that those distributors who’ve enjoyed personalized business-building experiences are 47% more engaged, 32% more productive, and 43% more loyal. Upon choosing the right solution, be sure that it coordinates activities in a personalized way.

Field support 

Behind an effective digital solution always stands a dedicated team of professionals. Does your current vendor provide you with regular customized support? Do you utilize aggregated industry data to drive your field performance? Do you know the ROI from your existing direct selling software?  

If you have any doubts about whether you have the most efficient software to support your business in any unpredictable situation or adapt to rapid growth as fast as possible, it’s time to look for one that can. Ensure that the team behind the solution has extensive experience in the industry and related fields to provide you with relevant, on-demand support.

Do you feel like your existing direct selling software fails to overcome the above-mentioned issues? Or are you in the process of choosing the right vendor? Let’s get into software selection tips to avoid the costly mistakes of making the wrong choice.

How to avoid choosing the wrong direct selling software

A little note to keep in mind: don’t ever underestimate the importance of demos of the potential solution. You will never be 100% sure if direct selling software is right for your company unless you see for yourself how exactly it will help your company meet business needs. There’s no room for “I don’t have time for this”. It’s better to spend more time looking for the right solution rather than suffer from the dire consequences of choosing the wrong platform. 

Also, make sure that the below-mentioned features are present in your chosen solution to guarantee steady business growth. 

• Your direct selling software should be customizable and flexible to the core. The Rallyware Performance Enablement platform meets every company’s specific business needs by designing and deploying ultimately unique solutions based on our robust platform. This way, all of the system’s tools work towards driving real ROI.
• Your direct selling software should give you complete control over what you can do within a platform as an admin. Be it designations and functionalities you want to assign to a specific user, the segmentation of distributors according to certain criteria (location, ranks, language, campaigns, etc.) or any other aspect, it’s up to you to decide how the system is functioning.
• Your direct selling software should be mobile-optimized and user-friendly. Reaching your people at the right time no matter where they are or what kind of device they use is key for process optimization. Distributors are deskless, they’re not regular employees, they want the freedom and convenience of building their business on-the-go.
• Your direct selling software should incorporate business intelligence tools like Machine Learning to turn data into actionable steps to success. The Rallyware ML-engine drives real-time insights from user’s interests, goals, activities, sales productivity, etc. to predict possible challenges for every individual and prescribe the right activities in advance. Such personalized activities drive desired distributor behaviors that lead to desired business KPIs.
• Your direct selling software should automate core activities at scale. Scalability is all about the ability to keep up with business growth and the increasing number of users and data. Automation features are there to remove any ‘inhibitive factors’ to ensure the smooth flow of each individual’s business-building journey. 

All in all, your platform should handle data flows, industry insights, and technology integrations to accelerate business growth and unlock the full potential of every distributor. 

Request a demo of Rallyware’s intelligent platform to maximize distributors’ productivity, optimize core processes and achieve sustainable business growth!