MLM Software Is Your Heart

On the day I was hired as a software developer for a network marketing software company in 1986, I didn’t understand how important MLM software was to the success of direct selling companies.

My ignorance was short-lived. On my second week on the job, I was sent to Dallas, Texas to help a client whose business was exploding.

Back then, orders were submitted mostly by telephone, so the software needed to offer many ways for the home office to find a distributor (distributor ID, name, phone number, social security number, etc.) so that orders could be taken quickly. Genealogy reports and commission statements needed to be printed and mailed on a timely basis to provide distributors with information to help them to grow their businesses. Commissions needed to be calculated with the ability for the home office to audit the results of its compensation plan to confirm its people were paid accurately.

While the Internet was responsible for replacing telephone orders for orders entered by distributors online, the need for efficient and effective MLM software hasn’t gone away. In fact, today distributors depend on timely and accurate information more so than in years past.

For 13 years, I worked as a programmer analyst, compensation plan programmer, project leader, and business analyst. I visited companies in the USA, Canada, Mexico, Great Britain, France, and Peru. Small ones and big ones, network marketing, and party plan, all told I had the opportunity to set foot inside the buildings of more than 100 direct selling companies. In every one, MLM software was the system that enabled the business to operate.

Whether your company is an MLM startup or an established MLM firm, a party plan startup, or a party plan company, your MLM software is the heart of your business. Instead of pumping blood, this heart takes in and puts out information. For a business to be healthy, its heart must be working well.

Unlike your heart, which you didn’t get to choose when you shop for MLM software, you have a choice. And it’s best that you make that choice with a clear set of business requirements.

For a healthy relationship with your software provider, it is important to remember to be clear in your communication and to be reasonable with your expectations. Always follow up each verbal discussion in writing so that your software company has a written record of your needs.

Whenever a direct selling company decides it must replace its MLM software, it will undergo a heart transplant. While the goal of the transition is to obtain a healthier heart, this is a risky procedure.  The patient must be kept alive during the transplant!

Your operations as a network marketing company are administered by people and software. Together, they form the infrastructure that keeps your business rolling down the track. If you’re struggling to keep it all together or to build it, contact an experienced and competent MLM consultant. The experts at Sylvina Consulting can be there to help you. Helping network marketing companies is what we do best.

For more information about MLM software, go to MLM Software Advice.