Affiliate Manager Interview Series: Claire Leighton - PartnerLogic

[casinocitymatt]

In this weeks Affiliate Manager Interview Series we talk with Claire Leighton, Affiliate Manager for PartnerLogic. These fun and informative sessions are an opportunity to get a personal feel for the people who run the affiliate programs, and we hope they will foster rewarding and productive relationships between GPWA members and sponsors. Please Welcome Claire!

Name: Claire Leighton
Position: Affiliate Manager, PartnerLogic
Age: “You want to ask a woman her age?!”
Hometown: Kent, England
Favorite Sports: ”Sports?!?! Does shopping count as a sport?!? Shopping can be very competitive and exhausting, you know!!”
Favorite Travel Destination: “I recently got whisked away to Venice for my birthday and I thought it was an absolutely beautiful place. The weather was very nice, the food delicious, and the surroundings were some of the most beautiful I have seen. I almost didn’t come back! I would recommend this to anyone.”


Could you tell us a little bit about your program?

PartnerLogic promotes the award-winning InterCasino, InterPoker, VIP Casino, and the recently added PlayboyGaming brands. We were very proud to be awarded the Casinomeister Affiliate Program of the Year 2006, and are working hard to get the award again this year.


Since passage of the UIGEA – what has changed and how has your program adapted?

UIGEA affected everyone in the industry. It was a shock, but as a company we were very quick to recover. We were already very strong in other markets, especially with our European and Japanese casinos already established over four years earlier. We are working with a lot of our affiliates who were huge in the US market to help them break into other markets.


How do you approach working with portal webmasters?

I have a very personal relationship with a large number of our affiliates. I think this helps in the business relationship, and makes the working day a little nicer for everyone! I don’t agree with the “hard sell” approach a lot of my affiliates have complained about receiving, and I feel this does more harm than good to your relationships. With a personal approach, webmasters remember you above others and will come to you with any ideas they have, instead of you always asking things of them. I very much believe in joint partnerships and base all my work with affiliates around this.


What has the withdrawal of Neteller meant to the industry and your program?

For PartnerLogic, we have been monitoring this situation for all of our US affiliates, and this doesn’t seem to have hit us as hard as we expected. We have a lot of payment solutions for our affiliates, which means I could probably count on one hand the reports of problems in withdrawing money.
“Post UIGEA, we have been working with our affiliates who were huge in the US to help them break into other markets, and we’ve also been monitoring the Neteller situation. It doesn’t seem to have hit us as hard as we expected, and we have a lot of payment solutions for our US affiliates. I could probably count on one hand the reports we’ve had of problems in withdrawing money.”


What do you hope to accomplish being a GPWA sponsor?

I believe in providing affiliates with as much information as I can, as quickly as possible. Without regular updates from affiliate managers, the affiliates are not able to do their job properly, and therefore we are not doing our job properly.

I think the forums are a great place for affiliates to see exactly what we are up to and also contact us with any questions and comments they have. The more ways they can contact us, the better it is for both parties.


What advice would you give to new would-be gaming affiliates?

I would suggest that new affiliates do their homework before setting up their website. There is a lot of competition in this industry, so the better prepared they are when setting up their site the more successful they will become.


What makes your program a unique experience for its players?

Our casino and poker rooms have a lot of benefits. Receiving the award for “Best Online Casino” for each of the last 5 years from the readers of Gambling Online Magazine speaks for itself. We have great loyalty programs and a fantastic customer support centre, all of which keeps our players coming back month after month.

[Best Odds Corp]

Claire, you rock! I've had the chance to meet Claire in Las Vegas and she is one of the funnest affiliate manager's around this side of town

[Claire-AffiliateClub]

ahh thanks herofist.

I have been told i am quite funny....for a girl!