Information technology has revolutionized the way the world does business. Automation is the keyword to success in all lines of business that need to process large amounts of data in a short time.
Which almost sounds like a definition of modern commerce in general? But perhaps this is especially applicable to MLM or multilevel marketing, the pyramidal structure of whose business model requires you to keep track of the affairs of hundreds and thousands of people working in your down line.
What kind of software do you need for your MLM office?
At the basic level you need some general purpose software that every office needs. You need something to write your letters and memos with a word processor.
You need to calculate your profits and losses, and graph the rise and fall in a number of criteria.
In other words, you need a spreadsheet. To impress customers and interest prospective down line recruits, you need presentation software.
A database would be nice for managing inventories. And all of this you need prepackaged into an easy to use suite that won’t need a rocket scientist to operate.
We’re talking about an office suite, as this type of software package is commonly called. You can of course go for one of the renowned commercial options like Microsoft’s Office’ software or Corel’s WordPerfect Suite’.
However, either of these shall set you back by several hundred dollars, the exact price being dependent on the number of people using it.
As an MLM startup, you can ill afford to invest in software that is just the first stepping stone on the way to greater things.
I can recommend https://www.openoffice.org/, which is a free download and can do all the things that the commercial packages can do, and sometimes do it better than them.
It is also fully capable of saving its files in other popular formats, like MS Word’s format or MS Excel’s format, so you don’t need to worry about compatibility.
Next comes more specific software relating to MLM business. Understand that the number of people below you on the pyramid increases exponentially at each step further down.
Soon, it becomes impossible for you to manually keep track of the various relationships, depths, affiliations, payment modes and amounts the whole nine yards.
But when you use software the unmanageable mess soon becomes smooth and understandable again, and harmonious and profitable.
If you’re looking for something with which you can manage your direct sales statistics, you can get the Office Automation’ suite from Prodigix.
It helps you to manage your inventories and receive and supply orders, and also to distribute rewards and benefits to your representatives according to the work they have done.
Put the pyramid on the web in a semi-transparent fashion, so that every worker down the line from you is able to maintain and modify their own down lines, while having only limited or no access to their upline structure.
Ordering, reporting and all else that is important in MLM can be done on your own website with the Distributor eCommerce’ program, also from Prodigix.
You can also try out the DH-MLM’ program from DH Software, with which you can manage a great number of down lines and affiliates, even up to nine levels deep!
You can also set the payment modes and amounts, make recurring payments, keep track of refunds, set arbitrary cooling off periods before crediting the accounts of some or all employees confirm or cancel payments, and a whole lot more.
There are still further options out there, and you shall need to evaluate the major products before deciding which fits your own particular business needs the best.
Thankfully, many of these companies offer free but time-limited demo versions of their software that you can try out to help you in your decision making.
