The main idea, which direct sales comprise, is to provide the buyer with the maximum possible service, which is additionally supported by personal guarantees from the seller. Abroad, the use of this technology is extremely common, because in most cases it provides a significant increase in the volume of sales of a product.
It is worth noting that the most successful direct sales, which were introduced into the work of domestic enterprises, ensured an annual turnover growth of more than three times, which represents a very, very serious result. At the same time, there are also quite a large number of not the best examples when the introduction of this technology only turned out to be an additional cost for the company. The standard scheme, according to which direct sales are often conducted today, has long ceased to work, and at the same time, it is not possible to transfer foreign experience into the reality of Russia in an exact copy.
How a promising company is losing perspective
The relatively successful company decided, in addition to the main office sales, to organize agent promotion of products, trying to hire everyone and at the same time providing them with a certain percentage of how efficiently they will carry out direct sales. The logic in this case is extremely simple, because even if the agent fails to work normally and sell the goods, then in this case the company will simply lose costs. Accordingly, in such conditions, only superficial selection is carried out and no one even thinks to engage in any training of these specialists.
Entering the market, such sellers begin to try to make direct sales, turning to the nearest major potential customer. If the company employs about 20 such agents and the staff turnover is about 50% per month (which is still a very optimistic option), then in this case the closest consumer will experience “attacks” of a huge number of such salespeople in one month. Of course, it is likely that he will still buy products, but most likely he will just do everything in order to exclude the possibility of such guests coming in the future. With this approach, it is small consumers who make real purchases, which reach about 2-3% of the total number of merchants who sell direct selling equipment. The rest just give up such a profession.
If we are talking about a more or less systematic approach to business, which provides for continuous replenishment of the staff, then this ensures at least a 20 percent increase in sales. At the same time, the company gains a strong reputation as an amateur, as a result of which it completely loses a possible development prospect. If the direct selling technique is implemented by a person for whom nothing is important, except for the sales themselves, then in this case he will tell the client any nonsense, if only he would acquire a “miracle tool” or device. The control mechanism in this case is completely absent - the goods need to be sold at any cost, and the rest will already deal with claims.
What else are unsuccessful direct sales?
The second option provides a more professional method of direct sales and the construction of the system itself.In other words, in this case, the company is engaged in a preliminary selection of personnel, delimits the territories into which the agents are distributed, after which an appeal to the buyer, a price list and the paper needed to fill out are carefully prepared. Detailed instructions are provided for each merchant, after which they all go to the designated points, but ultimately simply do not return from the market. Some bona fide can also call and say that such a method of direct sales for them was unpromising, since out of ten customers, at most, any one will listen to them.
How to sell successfully?
From the point of view of a truly successful sales agent, the main secret of the performance of this technology is how the seller treats his customers. In other words, in each individual case, you need to be extremely carefully prepared and only then start working with the client. It is necessary to understand how his name is, what problems he has, how to solve them, how much he is willing to pay, as well as a host of other factors that would make it possible to sell this or that product as productively as possible.
Thus, two of the most important elements forming the success of a direct selling company can be noted - this is the attitude to the buyer, as well as the general organization, and these elements provide a really high effect only if they develop together and are at the same level.
How to implement such a technology?
In this case, the most important, of course, is precisely the strategic target complex.
It is worth noting the fact that sales analysis, direct sales and other similar technologies from this category are all more effective for a strategy of long-term presence on the market, rather than accumulation of initial capital by the company. After all, if a start-up company is engaged in this, then quite often the system turns into a target conflict, as well as the occurrence of various failures in customer service, when deliveries begin to be delayed, the assortment is narrowed, you have to save on service, ignore customer complaints and much more. In most cases, these failures occur due to the fact that the company is guided by the principle of “money today”, therefore it is almost impossible to prevent them. Accordingly, in this case, any direct selling technologies will ultimately prove unproductive, and an attempt to implement them will lead to failure.
Who should work?
The strategy of a long-term presence on the market is initially consistent with the ideology of direct sales, but it is worth noting that in this case, everything should be verified in several directions beforehand.
If we are talking about a wholesale company, then there are two options for this technology, and in each case, its own direct sales system can be used. For example, if a company aims to achieve a situation in which high prices are maintained at the maximum possible volume of inventory, then its target group will be various small retailers, as well as end-users who are going to buy the entire range from a single wholesaler . If, nevertheless, the company is inclined toward the position of maintaining average prices and average volume of products, then in this case its goal is large buyers who are focused on the low cost of the goods provided.
High prices, high volume
This option provides for the presence of a sufficiently large staff of sellers, considerable costs for storage facilities, communications and transportation, but more importantly, there should be an extremely clear organization of direct sales.Those technologies that will be used in this case, in essence, are conveyor, as they provide for the maximum possible division of labor, as well as the use of standard technologies. The customer service is planned to be as detailed as possible, including the terms of delivery and payment, a well-thought-out system of discounts, claims work and a host of other elements, while this service must be guaranteed to be kept at a certain level.
In other words, you cannot improve or degrade the given service for any specific clients in the process of work, as this is unprofitable. The costs ultimately pay off due to a serious margin on the products sold, which buyers are willing to pay for the fact that you provide them with excellent service, as well as a sufficient range. Effective coverage of such a segment allows the company to feel as stable as possible in the market, in particular, because competitors would need to build an equally complex system for direct sales to ensure competitiveness. Reviews about your company will also make themselves felt, because you provide each client with a service that he considers individual, and this is also an important principle.
Average prices, average volume
In this case, a point search is carried out with the subsequent processing of each client. Professional specialists in this field deal with the solution of even non-standard consumer problems, and your task is to correctly plan representation costs, and in this case, the cost and service are the subject of discussion in each individual situation. Of course, here the direct sales market makes us not make such large margins on commercial products, but the profit is ensured due to the fact that large volumes of products are sold to individual consumers with a minimum of overhead from the company.
Since the target audience is sufficiently mobile, the company does not have a margin of stability, however, in the process of organizing direct sales, a rather rapid increase in volumes is ensured, because each individual client in this case can provide a considerable increase, up to 10% of turnover.
Comparison
Despite the fact that these direct sales (types) are quite similar to each other, since the same product is sold and similar consumers are found, they need a completely different organization, incentives and specialists. If we are talking about a company that focuses on a mass client and uses only the "conveyor" type of work, then agents can spend effort on "finishing off" a large client, but in the end they will not be able to achieve the desired result. In addition to the missed opportunities in the mass "low-volume" segment, among other things, the factor of disappointment in one's profession, the selected product or the implemented sales technology also often works.
Exclusive agents are already expensive enough to simply launch massive direct sales. Peculiarities of choosing a goal become the first problem in the process of organizing such sales, because the overwhelming majority of managers try to cover the entire market, profit from major transactions and at the same time secure income from small consumers. As a result of this, an extremely costly mixed system is formed, which is uncompetitive in the current market.
If there is too much desire to immediately “kill two birds with one stone”, then in this case, one direct sales department should be separated from the other, and each should be engaged exclusively in their specialization. Of course, this method is quite risky, but it is far from necessary that it will in any case be a failure.The best option is to choose a specific segment, and then focus on the main direction, which often direct sales in insurance and many other areas.
The company can introduce the technology of direct sales both in the old market familiar to it, and it can also try to develop new ones. In any case, the implementation of such a technology is quite costly and involves passing a number of steps for the final implementation. At the same time, regardless of how agents are familiar with the previous buyer, a thorough market research should be carried out initially.
How should the study be conducted?
The study provides for the implementation of a certain number of tasks:
Identify customer
It is far from a fact that the target group was initially determined from previous experience in office sales, since in fact it was the contingent that interested the company that might not respond to the advertising provided to it. Moreover, it is far from a fact that the “best” client at first glance will ultimately become the main goal. In this case, acts as a determining factor market volume, which is potentially affordable for processing at an acceptable cost. For example, a certain product can be sold through a variety of outlets with different sales volumes. Thus, making up a full-fledged idea of the actual sales volumes of each individual category of sellers, you can also choose the most preferable client to whom the advertisement can be addressed.
Determine the conditions under which you enter the market
If you are just starting to develop a certain market, then in this case you can increase its share due to the rich assortment, low prices, professional service, high quality products and other factors. The company will be interested in certain conditions under which the client will be able to work with the supplier, as well as unmet needs or any comments and complaints to this organization.
This information can be obtained directly from the client. The easiest way is to find among acquaintances a potential consumer from the target group who will be able to advise you on a full range of issues. The standard way is the work of qualified marketers and interviewers. The lower entry bar is the current conditions of the client, while the upper limit already depends on the cost of the process.
Interim Settlement
Having determined the capacity of the target segment, we should approximately predict the volume of sales next year at the level of 10% of this value at the prices that exist today. After you find out on what conditions you start working in the market, the costs that are required for their organization are calculated. Determining the complexity of the processes, it is necessary to establish agent service standards, as well as the need for the hiring of a particular staff and, of course, the cost of hiring it. Advertising support costs can be carefully planned in accordance with the practice of competitors.
The main goal of the interim calculation is to adjust the goals, because if the company cannot create competitive advantages with an acceptable profitability of the whole process, then in this case the strategy should be radically reviewed.
Database
It is hardly worth delegating customer searches for sales agents, especially if the strategy is aimed at the mass sector. In order to ensure effective system operation, it is not enough just to manually draw a map. It is necessary to create a single database that will allow us to summarize and thoroughly analyze the data, make any adjustments and additions. In addition, you should ensure the storage of customer history and thorough forecasting of sales.This can only be achieved using an electronic system that is configured to perform certain tasks.
Functional organization
The functions of sales agents may vary depending on the situation and include servicing the transaction from the initial contact to the final acceptance of the goods by the customer. The closer a company is to a strategy for working in the mass sector, the greater specialization should be present in the system.
In any case, the main load that a sales agent has is direct contact with the client, and the constructed structure functions to support it. Accordingly, it is necessary to provide a technical link through which routine operations related to amending contracts, sending reports and many other procedures will be carried out. Also, a person must be present who will receive calls from customers if the agent is absent.
At the same time, the main office sales, which the company carries out in the current mode, must also be kept. The tasks of control and planning should be solved by a professional manager who has complete information for each individual territory. Among other things, there should be a main leader, whose tasks will include coordination of internal and external interaction structures.
