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I Have A Dream!
Disclaimer – An example I will be using in this blog, www.connectmevoice.com is a client of Converseon, for which I am the Director of Affiliate Relations. It is very pertinent to this topic and a great example.
I have a dream! I have a dream that affiliate marketers will break out of the affiliate box we have put ourselves into and reach towards a new day where we can give our affiliates more than one way to drive sales, more than just a link, more than just the online cage they are currently in. I have a dream that we allow our affiliates to use all our resources to drive sales to our call centers, our stores and more! I have a dream.
I have a dream that affiliates will be able to say – “Hey, you didn’t find your answer online, then call this phone number!” and know that they are getting credit for that sale! I have a dream that affiliates will be able to send a customer directly to a brick and mortar store and not worry about losing the sale. I have a dream.
Where does affiliate marketing start? Where does it end and other marketing channels begin? Is affiliate marketing chained to a URL and a tracking link only? Why have we been consumed with limiting what affiliates can do, putting them in a small cage we call “affiliate marketing”?
Here’s the deal. A merchant typically has more than one channel; even online-only merchants have call centers. Why not make these highly trained customer service reps available to your affiliate team to convert new users into sales. The merchant usually regards their call centers as “theirs” alone. “Once that customer calls our call center, she is our customer. It costs us more when it reaches our CS rep so we can’t pay affiliates. And WE close the sale.” This is something I have heard from many merchants over the years. But does it make sense? Why not use those people you have trained to close affiliate sales? I’m sure affiliates could do more if they had more available to them.
One of our clients, www.ConnectMeVoice.com, a virtual PBX, voicemail, faxing and outsourced phone system provider, tracks all affiliate phone orders and credits affiliates as if it were an online purchase. When a user clicks through a link and gets to the website, a piece of code shows an affiliate identifier as the “Agent Code.” Customer service is trained to ask for the agent code and that follows the customer throughout their subscription period.
Think about it. Affiliates for ConnectMeVoice not only do not have to worry about losing sales via that pesky phone number on your site (which leads to more productive and happier affiliates), but they are able to promote the phone number in their ppc links, on their website, and in all their creative. It’s even possible to include the phone number, with the correct agent code, in banners for each affiliate. Then the customers won’t even need to click on the banner or other creative. They simply dial the phone number from where they see it. How much will that increase conversions? I’m betting quite a bit, but I’ll let you know.
I’m fairly sure that phone sales tracking can be done with just about any network or tracking platform. If you need a hand figuring it out, just let me know.
And what about brick and mortar retail locations? Why aren’t we incorporating affiliates in driving customers into stores? I only know of a few affiliates that offer this, but every merchant should be able to handle it. Most merchants have coupon codes or some sort of tracking similar to that. Why aren’t more merchants using all their tools together? If you have many locations, you should be able to provide physical location information to your affiliates. It also opens up a whole new area of local advertising.
I’ve asked a lot of questions and offered one solution. Let’s stop putting affiliate marketing in a silo by itself. ConnectMeVoice isn’t, and it’s working for them.
Affiliate marketing doesn’t live as an island unto itself. Affiliate marketing sends users to your brick and mortar stores. Affiliate marketing sends users through your call center. Affiliate marketing touches all the areas that your customers do. Why not start using it in conjunction with these areas instead of shutting these areas off? Supercharge your affiliate base and give them all the resources to convert sales. You won’t be disappointed.
Examples:
Link to ConnectMeVoice.com without an affiliate ID (look in the upper right hand side of the screen for a phone number)
Link to ConnetMeVoice.com with an affiliate ID (look for the Agent Code by the phone number in the same spot).
(Note: you may need to clear your cookies between trying these links)
Good thinking and ideas Jamie. There has been some forms of this type of implementation in the past.
BUT the silo effect you mention is key and why I think we have problems. With a limited array of mechanisms an affiliate can use to close the sale…people start pushing envelopes because they are entrepreneurs. So it is only natural they are going to look for creative ways to stack the deck in their favor. Unfortunately, due to the cage you reference, some of those ways aren’t always healthy.
regards,
Wayne
Hi Jamie,
Very interesting and thanks for Blogging this issue which Iv’e been very interested in for a long time.
Please don’t take the following comments the wrong way, I simply put on my Affiliate hat (which the smart ones will do and I encourage all of them to do) and then I clicked on the affiliate link you provided which is agent code 1007 with a phone number of (800) 206-3556.
Next, I dialed into the call center and before I reached a human the only question I was required to answer was my “Name”. Respectfully, why connect the call if the caller is not required to key in or speak the agent code and their name. Assuming, this data is retained. After a brief musac delay I reached a very knowledgable CS rep. I asked numerous questions about one of the services and in all cases they were handled properly.
Unfortunetly, we have 2 issues with this call:
1. My “name” was never used in the sales call. Why ask, if your not going to use it in a sales call with a human? This is really telemarketing 101 and also I was never asked for my name. I kept hoping that the rep would ask for my data to follow the sales call but that never happened.
2. The call lasted about 5 minutes and during this time I was NEVER asked for the Agent Code, inspite of the fact that I mentioned that I found them through the Net. Unfortunetly, this issue is of great concern to any Affiliate.
I won’t post the name of the rep I spoke to but I do have it written down. Perhaps this was a one time glitch but as I’m sure you would agree, all of us only get one chance
Perhaps the entire CS needs your talents to fine tune this issue.
Steve,
Thanks for checking that out. I do agree, you have one shot and one glitch could lose a sale. I just spoke with their customer service manager. If you have noticed, the phone number without the affiliate tracking link was different than the one with the link. Their system recognizes that the call is coming from an affiliate with an Agent Code. They had been waiting to ask for an Agent Code until the customer on the phone has agreed to sign up. I’m not sure how far you got, but that was the process. However, we often have new trainees and they sometimes miss a few things.
But, based on your feedback we are having that changed today. The CS reps will now ask at the beginning of the call to ensure the Agent Code is grabbed and will be going through another round of training to ensure that affiliate phone tracking integrity is maintained.
Wayne, thanks for reading. Your comments are always welcome.
I agree the that silo they are in is a problem. I’d like to see the day when all programs let the affiliates out of the box so to speak. At the end of the day the affiliates are great at finding customers and converting sales. Allowing them a greater number of resources and the flexibility to use other resources can really improve the overall performance of the program and allow them to push the envolope in more healthy ways.
Jamie,
Your new plan sounds great. I’m not familiar with their backend technology but if the CS rep has a way to see the “name” of the caller on a screen of some sort, then the “pitch” should start with:
“Hello Jim. This is Jane speaking. Which program were you interested in. (or something close to this
I presume ? that the CS backend can’t automatically log and retain the agent code and I suspect that this may be true for everyone else? In this case, requiring the agent code to connect would not be possible so your new solution sounds great.
Respectfully, I’m probably more sensative to some of these issues since I grew up with phone sales long before the Net. If I recall from my call, the ConnectAnywhere at a base of $14.95/Mon required a contract of some sort but I could be wrong. I mention this because gathering enough data to launch a follow up contact with the prospect who isn’t “closed” on the first call can sometimes produce more sales. Next, I think it’s safe to say that we aren’t talking about an impulse purchase like a Beanie Bag on ebay
However, 
it’s also tricky to gather the contact data in a manner which does not impede the sale.
Continued best wishes
Hi Jamie, great article! The top 2 URLs I clicked to find out about the service do not work though and need to be edited.
Thanks Linda, those urls have been fixed.
I have been responsible for setting up some affiliate 800 phone tracking and I agree with some comments above that one of the biggest problems are the human problems of training and policing phone reps to be sure sales are tracked.
But one other issue Ive discovered through trial and error is related to some consumer behaviour.
1) The term you use for the affiliate ID.
Standard WIIFM logic asks what’s in it for the consumer to give or remember the “Agent Code” and why should they care? The consumer could care less what “agent” gets credit for the call. We tried “Source code” once, but the same thing.
I would call it a “Priority code” or something that makes them feel they will get special treatment or faster service or something by using the number. This can help the consumer to offer the code right away in case the phone rep does not ask for it.
2) One of the obstacles to phone tracking I have found is consumers who shop online at work. They write down the phone# and then call to order from home or cell later. The rep asks for the Agent Code and the consumer is not online to give it.
Using a Priority Code instead means it’s more likely the consumer will write it down along with the phone #.
3) There are other variations I have thought of or tried. You could call it extension # then they will be sure to give it or write it down. We have also tried phrases like offer code to ensure the consumer used or made note of the number, but it caused problems. Phone reps would complain about the extra time needed due to customers questions about how much do I save or whats this offer code – wheres my discount? Lessons learned. Hope this helps.
I forgot the big picture
Yep, your idea is great however it’s certainly not new BUT still needs to happen. As a matter of fact, roll back the clock to year 2001 and listen to Standard Internet and their thinking outside the box thanks to an affiliate. This is Cell Phones and plans in it’s early days.
Quote: “would we be able to setup a booth @ like a mall or a street corner with internet connection… and sell the phones there? I think i might do a full flegged campaign for these guys… cuz cell phones are getting BIG… Some magazine stated that 95% of teenage girls in japan have cell phones .. or some number like that.
Right now im sending 500 hits/day to:
http://www.somespot.com/click_here_f…ell_phone.html
its been 12 hours and ive had 15 clicks… no sales… i was making only $2/day on those 500 hits.. so even if i made 1 sale every few days.. id be getting much more money.
ALSO: I really think my little booth idea could go somewhere… if you just bought all 3 of those cell phones (to show them off @ the booth) and a laptop and wireless internet connection….. you could make some money ! Maybe like $37 – $74/hour…. Probly even more!
{Snip quote)
Source, circa 2001 at:
http://www.geekvillage.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11654&page=3&highlight=Standard+Internet+cell+phone
Note: Standard Internet was a CPM/CPC Network at the time. (cough)
Today, it’s still viable at your corner Mall. Think RE Loans as one example. Got it Diva Beth! 
Actually, I did this for a number of years when I had more hair and the leads/closes were fantastic.
Nice tweaks on the “agent code” isxsue.
Steve, great example. I hope this didn’t come across as me thinking I came up with the idea, more so just wanted to raise the subject that there is more we could be doing.
That is an awesome example. Affiliate marketing can be so much more than just a link and a tracking code. How do you want to find your customer today?
I had one affiliate of a program I managed a while back, print out business cards with a url to a sign up page we created just for them that tracked their affiliate code. They handed out those business cards at local networking functions, small local conferences and their list of current clients. It worked very well.
We’re actually about to launch our affiliate program and have delayed it slightly to tighten up our ability to track phone orders for the affiliates.
We’re using a multi-pronged strategy:
1. Controlling the salespath from entry point (all inbound calls related to ‘web’ come through specific toll-frees),
2. ensuring granular tracking through additional IDs (tracking codes, promotion codes, extension #s, etc. ) that are REQUIRED to complete the order,
3. Training the phone reps to ask for the relevant tracking ID,
4. additional measures to prevent ID ’slamming’ (reps continually using the same ID code).
of course, there are still fail points, but we’ve done our best to minimize them and have already begun mapping out v2, which we’ll hopefully be able to release before Q4 this year.
Obvious methods might be “coupon locking” e.g. where the code provides a benefit like expedited shipping, etc.
I do agree affiliate marketing has always had two thoughts-
1) Publishers- who focus on content first
2) Sales People- a true virtual sales force
I think many quality publishers are not truly interested in the CPS model however school of thought 2 is where development could be driven and the iron cage broken. I must think on this and some of Steve’s examples. We already seem some innovation in the form of web services e.g. Amazon- which is amazing and with things like AJAX (as Triple Jangro references) opens up really creative uses for not only sites but sales.
The tracking of a link to a sale if you think about a very crude methodology or rut that the industry has been mired in for years now (at least since 1997 when I started and having worked in about every type of capacity).
The core question here might be- can “affiliates” truly be empowered and graduated into the ranks of a REAL sales force that have an array of weapons in their arsenal to even the equasion and make the relationship HEALTHY and not antagonstic as it often seems to be??
Note- again, as a publisher, I consider merchants my affiliates and not the other way around. Also acting in the role of a merchant (at least in my vertical) I see quality publishers as my “merchants by proxy”. This is, at least, where I am trying to push it. Still ways to go. Good stimulating discussion.
regards,
Wayne
This is a thought-provoking article. I am going to take a step back to a place where merchants can do something more easily today… returns.
With most merchants, a return means a credit to the affiliate and a lost sale. If the customer buys something else while speaking with the CSR, the affiliate does not get credit for the sale.
If it is the same call, why not credit the partner that drove the sale?
That may be one reason that Publishers have chosen a second revenue source… AdSense.
Wayne, that is an interesting segmentation. Content publishers really wouldn’t be interested in new and creative ways to sell a product. They publish content. Interesting point.
So now we shift to the affiliate. We discussed a few ways in which merchants can empower their affiliates and give them more ways to earn, but can affiliates actually do that. Great question. Maybe that is the evolution of this industry. Maybe we’ll see a more drastic deliniation between content publishers and sales force affiliates. The affiliates that can adjust and become part of your affiliate sales force will thrive and grow. Others that can’t may be regulated to where they are now?
With a former employer, I had an affiliate attempt to do something a little out of the box more in line with a sales force then a typical affiliate. They wanted to host parties like Tupperware parties or Pampered Cheif parties (I have to admit, being a bit of a cook, I love these Pampered Cheif). They wanted to sell our new line of clothes to thier friends, and have their friends hosts these parties. Now, it really didn’t work for this company, but we weren’t even able to handle this type of thing. Now imagine if you had a few affiliates that did that sort of thing. You could have your own landing page and sign people up right there at the party. There would be possibly a little more up front overhead, purchasing product, but the merchant could provide catalogs and such. Sorry I was thinking of that example this weekend and thought I would share. Now if only I could get one of my clients to do that, any affiliates interested? I appreciate your input Wayne.
Great point David. Every merchant uses the return process as a way to get an upsell. Why aren’t affiliates getting credit for that additional sale? It may be more about technology than anything. Your phone tracking has to be rock solid and customer service people trained. But I am sure there are many ways to skin this cat.
Jamie,
“I hope this didn’t come across as me thinking I came up with the idea, more so just wanted to raise the subject that there is more we could be doing.”
Not at all. Kudos to you for raising the issue which ,as others have noted, is a thought provoking and valuable contribution to the industry.
“Maybe we’ll see a more drastic deliniation between content publishers and sales force affiliates.”
I think you hit the nail on the head! Respectfully, content Publishers are fine but lack “dirt world” experience in direct sales. Not all of them, but a significant number. While I’m sure your comfortable with this “sales force” procedure from a Networks standpoint, I’m woundering if other Networks would be comfortable with the “sales force affiliate” concept? Thinking outloud and putting the potential abuse and or tainting issue aside for a moment, I would guess that someone inside a Network and or the Merchants consulting firm needs dirt world direct sales experience to embrace, launch, audit, and control the sales force concept?
Jamie:
Great subject and particularly of interest to me as my company has been a direct marketer for 40 years. Catalog sales, phone sales, fax, and now affiliate marketing.
I guess in an organization such as mine a true corporate culture shift would have to take place not to mention the technological undertaking.
Is there any data to support such an integration from cost/benefit analysis? I know that is what it would come down to in many organizations to implement such a program.
Sal, great question. When I have more data about this particular merchant I will let you know. We are also looking at doing the same for a client with a more traditional background like your company with Catalog and other channels. That might make a great case study and revenews blog. Anyone else out there have any data like Sal is looking for?
I may be way off here since I have not visited them for some time but I seem to recall QuinStreet, at least at one time, exploring some of these alternative methods.