One of the most practical technical advances of the twentieth century is the development of the Internet. It has changed the way that people communicate with each other. It began with simple messages that could be sent and displayed to distant computers. Then chats became games, followed by technical information and a few business transactions. Today, individuals share digital videos and businesses make sales presentations across the Internet. Chapter 6 on telephone sales mentioned a few sales opportunities, but there are many more. And there are more to come in the near future. Your sales career may depend on them.

The Internet is the International Network, an interconnection of computers around the world. There are virtually millions of them, all connected by digital data lines. Many are connected directly to telephone services. Others connect to the Internet via satellite, cable, and other data lines. They all share data using various methods, called Internet protocols (IPs). Some of these protocols have been around for more than twenty years, allowing computers to communicate with each other following a common structure.

In 1991, a new Internet structure was begun, called the world wide web or WWW, commonly called the web. This network was established within the Internet to share hypertext documents that send both text and the instructions for displaying that text. At that point, the Internet that you use today was born.

The hypertext files could be shared and displayed because of the development of a special protocol that could read and interpret them, called hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP). The software programs that read them are called web browsers or simply browsers. One of the first browsers to become popular was called Mosaic. Microsoft Explorer is the most widely used Web browser program today. However, there still are many challengers including Mozilla Foxfire, Opera, and Safari (for Apple computers).

A browser reads and displays hypertext markup language (HTML) and other coding (such as JavaScript). The coding tells the browser where and how to display data, such as red text in a white box on the left side of the screen. The files also include the text to be displayed. As a salesperson, you don't need to write your own HTML code and design your own pages. However, it will help your understanding of this tool to know at least the basics of how the Internet, the web, browsers, and HTML have made communication and sales easier.

Some people never use the Internet as a commerce site; they don't buy or sell on it. However, they do use e-mail. It's the most widely used feature of the web. E-mail is suggested as a powerful sales tool in Chapter 6.

How does e-mail work? It, too, uses a protocol — a set of rules or guidelines. In this case, the protocol is called Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP). It's a text-based protocol that includes both data and directions. The message includes information on where it is being sent, from whom, the text itself, and how it should be displayed. The primary e-mail programs are Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express, Mozilla Thunderbird, and Apple Mail. The next section of this chapter offers a variety of ways that you can use e-mail to enhance your sales efforts and work smarter rather than harder.

As covered in Chapter 6, there are many other Internet tools available to salespeople. One is Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), which allows you to make voice phone calls over Internet connections.

The most useful Internet sales tool is web presentation software. With it you can conduct a full sales presentation in a distant office while sitting at your desk — or in your home. WebEx (www.webex.com) is a program that manages meetings over the Internet. It's similar to a visual conference call. Using Internet cameras mounted on the computer monitor, it sends videos of participants to each other so it seems like a face-to-face meeting. In addition, presentations can be offered and participants can use their keyboards and mice to point or add to the presentation screens. Fast Internet connections are required; dialup connections don't have the speed or bandwidth to transfer the visuals. Many sales offices use similar products to hold staff meetings or to meet with suppliers around the world without traveling.