First, the definition of direct sales
"Direct" is an extensive discussion, but is often misunderstood. Some people will confuse direct marketing, and some people will compare direct sales and mice. Although direct sales can be said to be the earliest business migration method of humans, but direct sales have not been known. In the literature in the marketing, it is almost ignored, for example, in a textbook in 1993, very popular retail management, there is no direct sales; in addition, there is no direct definition in the commercial dictionary published in the United States in 1994 .
Some scholars have been defined in direct sales, but most of them are mixed, and there is no real characteristics of direct sales. The most famous two scholars in the United States is the Professor of Robert A. Peterson, the University of Texas, the University of Texas, and the professor of Thomas R. Wotruba, San Diego State University. Their two papers published in direct research were mostly valued. They discussed the definition of direct sales in a paper published in 1996. A simple but appropriate definition of direct sales: "Direct sales is a face-to-face sales that is not carried out in fixed retail." This definition and the Direct Selling Education Foundation definition in 1992: "Direct sales is a transient contact through personnel (salesperson paying buyers), not fixed commercial location, consumer products mainly at home Or the service's madness is very similar; but the latter emphasizes "consumption" and "distribution methods".
There are two main points in direct sales definition: "Face-to-face sales" and "not fixed retail point". "Face-to-face sales" allows us to understand that direct sales is a process of two people face-to-face; this face-to-face sales feature is the main difference between direct sales and direct marketing. Direct marketing uses mailing types, telephone / TV marketing, direct response to advertising or recently rising network marketing, etc., without people's face-to-face contact. The characteristics of "not in fixed retail points" make direct sales in the sales of general retail stores, so direct sales are also a non-store retail method.
Second, the advantages of direct sales
Compared with other marketing methods, the direct sales have many advantages, more important: "Elastic", which is not limited to time and space, with consumer and direct sales, at any time, location; "information Quality and quantity ", through the face-to-face communication, all communication sensory: auditory, visual, smell and tactile can be applied, while consumers can explain their needs, and the direct sales provide products or services for customers' needs, Enables consumers to have a full understanding of the product or service. Therefore, from the perspective of activity, direct sales is fully applied to the concept of "relational marketing". A successful direct sellor must learn how to establish a long-term relationship with customers, and maintain a stable performance by repeatedly purchasing in existing customers.
Third, the direct sales operation
From the perspective of operation, there are many factors that can be discussed, and three discussions are as follows:
1. The sales staff is the company's employee or independent direct sales, because of the independent direct sales can save a large fixed personnel fees, the vast majority of direct sales companies use independent direct sales. However, independent direct salesers are not employees of the company, and the company is more difficult to control their requirements or controlled.
2. Directors are full-time or part-time, because the work of independent direct sales is very free and very flexible, attracting a lot of part-time people to join; according to a survey of the US Direct Site 1995, there are more than half of the direct salesman Work, about 8% of the direct salesman is full of direct sales. (Full-time is based on 3 hours a week to do more than 30 hours), and about 42% of the direct sellers are different ways (no other work, but spend less than 30 hours a week).
3. It is a single-layer or multi-layer direct sales: Direct sales company uses multi-level system (Multi-Level, NetWork, Hierarchical Structure), with direct sales personnel, in addition to selling products, it can also absorb and train off the line through the bonus system. Design, direct sales can obtain partial bonuses from their offline performance. Multi-layer direct sales, also known as "MLM" or "multi-level pyramids", in fact, in the world's universal nouns, single-layer or multi-layers are direct sales. Since the multi-layer system has a higher incentive effect, most direct sales companies use multi-layer systems. However, the design and implementation of multi-level institutions must be very careful, because it will become a hunter head-in-law, a hunter, and Illegal Pyramid Operation. Four, direct products
According to the research research, the products suitable for direct sales passage must have three features: "Differences", "Require Demonstration", and "Repeated Buy"; those who have successfully selling at least two products Item features. However, rough inspection of the products sold in direct sales companies, almost any product can be sold through direct sales. For example, in Japan, almost half of the new car is the direct sales of the households; in the United States, customers from the salesman to the long-distance telephone company have exploited direct sales. One survey in the United States shows that consumers are willing to purchase products through direct sales, the top 10 in the 22 items, in turn: 1. Beauty maintenance 2. Kitchen supplies and containers 3. Toys, handicrafts 4. Home Cleaning Products 5. Insurance 6. Cutlery 7. Reference book, encyclopedia 8. Hand tool 9. Vacuum cleaner 10. Vitamin, nutritious food. Refer to the four products of Taiwan direct sales 1. Nutritional health foods 2. Beauty maintenance products 3. Family cleaning supplies 4. Net, water filters, you can see that nationality differences will affect direct sales products.
Five, direct sales consumers
Consumers who purchase direct sales products in the United States are more likely to be women, more young, and more income is much more likely to be female, more young, and more income, and the investigation and research of Central Europe also got similar results.
6. Characteristics of Directors
The characteristics of American direct sales, according to the survey, only 8% is under 25 years old, 63% is between 25 and 44 years old, between 45-64 years old; most of the high school diploma, few There are research institutes. In terms of personality, the active direct sellers are more outgoing, active, enthusiastic and affordable; they also like their own boss. A successful direct sellor must be a good communication, and there is a strong working motive. A study found that the speed, pause time, and the high and low tone of the tone affect the effect of communication; in other words, communication methods are more important than content. Another study found that the achievements of the sales of direct sales have nothing to do with the satisfaction of work, but work efforts can improve work results and work satisfaction. Directors get more detailed, he will work hard, but they have no more effort to work more than those who don't have a detailed work.
Direct sales rate is a very worthless issue. According to a research report, the US direct sellers have a flow rate between 150 and 200% a year. Among them, some direct sales are actively engaged in direct sales, otherwise they temporarily stop the activities. But another reason is that due to the recruitment of direct sales, some direct sales are bored to direct sales because the bonus system is attracted to the short-term, and there is no need to pay too much time and effort. Through a period of time, people will definitely disappoint, thereby negating direct sales, exiting direct sales, and no direct sales will never accept. This phenomenon is worth paying attention to direct sales companies and direct sales and seeks prevention.
