What is the future of direct selling, and what trends should entrepreneurs watch for?

You would want to hinge the purchase on a key feature that gives you a competitive advantage - and that is not fully incorporated in the trial version. I have advised SAAS Product Managers and your dilemma is certainly a shared one - getting customers to pick a) paid over free/basic/trial and b) getting them to pick the most lucrative package of the paid ones. If as you say, the software is complex, then we need some interface-based simplicity: try explainer videos for starters. http://www.powtoon.com/ So in sum - a friendly interface, and feature-based price marketing are two good places to start. Happy to have a conversation with you for further details.

It would be nice to know what you are selling, the sales cycle, the types of buyers, etc. This is important and would let me customize my answer for you. But, here are some generic thoughts. The problem with sales meeting is keeping it interesting for the people who are not speaking or giving their "update" and to make it a learning experience rather than an update of what they did. One thing that has worked very well with me to ask each person to come prepared to discuss these topics: 1. Give me three things you did this week that you think worked really well and you want to share with the rest of the group. 2. Give me three things you did last week that you won't do any more, that you think just are not working. 3. Tell us about the biggest sale you made last week. What made it close? What value proposition did the customer buy? How can you take what you learned from that and use it for all sales in the future. I work with a lot of inside sales teams helping them craft their messages and sales process with the goals of improving close rates and increased sales velocity. Bob

This is just some personal advice, based on my own experience, from one introvert to another. Your question really caught my eye. Years ago, I had started telemarketing sales for a coupon book. I really struggled being successful at it. A couple years later, I took a job an in-bound telemarketing job for student loan consolidation (before Direct Loans took over), and I was outrageously successful. My key take aways from the experiences shaped my successeses for the restimate of my life. As introverts; we tend to be more sensitive to the body language and feelings of other people, have less confidence in our abilities and knowledge in a social setting, and must have a clear understanding and good reason for doing so, before acting. It wasn't until I was selling something, I knew would truly benefit the customer, that I became successful with what I was doing. The more I learned about my product and it's benefits, the more I sold. The underlying kicker is..... that I became PASSIONATE. For us, passion is an absolute must for success in sales. Since you are selling your own knowledge, you are already well educated in your product. If you feel any of the setbacks above factor into what you feel is holding you back, then shape your approach to overcome it. Lack in total confidence? We tend to be more realistic and fact based than extroverts. No amount of self-reassurance can change that for us, so fill those gaps with more research and don't stop learning entirely, ever. Fill those gaps until you truly believe YOU are the best solution for a customer, and that in not choosing your service, they are at an unrealized disadvantage. Have a clear understanding (actually map out) the benefits of what you are teaching the customer and the advantages in choosing you (what can you bring to the table?). That is where you will find your confidence, your success, and your passion. As an extra take-away, I have found, that shaping your situation to reflect the best qualities and advantages of your self, leads to greater success in life, rather than seeking to change what you feel is a disadvantage. (Of course, bad habits and negative traits aside) It's like this... Someone that trains their lack of musical ability will never be as great as another who trains the musical ability they were born with. :) Feel free to call me if you are interested in talking more about our type in business. I'll send you my VIP link for a free call. You will be my first on clarity!

What do you mean you can't afford a base salary? What has a higher priority in your spend plan than bringing in revenue? If you don't have enough to cover a base salary you are probably not ready to launch your company. In many cases the founders will do the sales themselves. In some cases offering sales people equity might work. But, few will work without a base. Here's a tip I did with two startups. For the first five deals, do them at cost. This is essentially buying the business. BUT, they need to know that you are severely discounting the price and in return you must get from them an agreement to be a reference for you (assuming, of course, that everything works out). In the beginning, breaking even is a good thing. And, doing that while building a cadre of reference accounts is even better. Bob

There is a lot of points in your question which unless someone has the exact same setup as you - I don't think you will get the answers you are looking for. I believe you should limit it by asking yourself: What is the ONE thing the MLM plugin I am looking for can do so that it achieves the maximum amount of result to my business by using it? IMHO - it would be the ability to set commissions for the products you sell and award commissions to those affiliates that actually earn you sales. All other features, while nice, are ancillary features that from the perspective of the affiliate - don't really need in order to be successful. In that regard - I would suggest https://affiliatewp.com/. When it comes to running affiliate programs on WP sites, it wins out as the best in my experience. Hope this helps! Glad to assist any further if you need help.