How often do affiliate managers respond in a timely fashion?

[MichaelCorfman]

There are affiliate managers are very good about consistently responding right away to questions from affiliates. And there are other affiliate managers that are not always as responsive as we would like, and a few programs that can be downright non-responsive.

I thought it would be interesting to ask about how frequently members receive a response in a timeframe they consider reasonable.

And please feel free to post replies that elaborate your thoughts on the topic.

Michael

[mojo]

In order to be successful, a responsive AM is a must. Whether it's banners, payments, tracking, special offers or whatever. We can't do it without them.

There's nothing, well..very little..that will anger me more than being greeted with a large vat of silence when I need answers and help. Especially if you are in the middle of a project or campaign. I don't mean no reply for a weekend but sometimes there is a week or two that goes by, sometimes never. Sometimes they are on vaca for weeks with no replacement and no heads up. Some have even up and gone and we don't even know it! By then the desire to work with them has gone out the window.

Luckily this isn't the case most of the time. There are many AM's that are very responsive and in many cases I would "follow" them were they to move to another program. We rely on AM's with player issues as well and as long as we have that responsiveness we can deal with anything.

I imagine being an AM is a tough job however. So thank you to the outstanding Affiliate Managers!

[Potsie]

The majority of AMs respond in a timely manner. That being said, I have dropped profitable merchants due to poor response and service. If they cannot service someone who is directing hundreds of clients to them then I wonder how can they serve their players? I tend to think that there is a parallel between affiliate service and customer service. If you do not have the time to address my concerns then I don't have time to promote your site! Again, the majority are willing to assist you, but there is always room for improvement.

[matted]

This is kind of a tricky poll. I find many of the programs I work with are great. However, as affiliate managers change or programs merge, I end up with a few questionable ones. There are some that I can't seem to get a response out of and those whom I have a great relationship with.

Honestly, communication is the best way to get more push from me.

And on the topic of communication... It amazes me how few programs currently have regular newsletters worth anything. Only 1 program sends me a monthly email with new games! I get more newsletters from programs I don't work with than ones I do!

[slotplayer]

I don't really have a problem with getting a reply. What bugs me more is when they spin or dodge answering the question. Kind of adds a degree of mistrust and give me second thoughts about continuing to promote them.

I also found that when I ask too many questions at one time some don't get answered so I try and spread the questions out over time.

[aksana]

Usually I have no any problems with getting a reply. I have a lot of contacts of affiliate managers in MSN, Skype, and I always can contact them instantly. And also I always receive quick reply via email.
If I have problems with getting a reply I'll contact aff managers through the GPWA and CAP.

[Fortune Palace]

All my aff managers reply quickly and in detail. For the simple reason that I've stopped dealing with those that don't!

At the end of the day, that's their job and if they can't take the time out to help small-time affiliates (which everyone was at some point) then I've no interest in working with them or their program.

[Chips]

The majority of my AM's respond quickly, a good many are on MSN so for urgent info I have that channel. I do admit a few being slow or totally non responsive, I think that is what the delete function was created for.

Just yeterday I received an email from a poker site responding to my query from DECEMBER. All in all, 80-89% is a good range.

[robertmedl]

I went with the 70%-79% range. I think that the results may be skewed lower because of the fact that the poll was posted so near to many affiliate managers being in London last week, and they may have been somewhat less responsive than normal because of this.

Some good thoughts in this thread...

I have dropped profitable merchants due to poor response and service.

Totally agree. I think that there is a relationship/correlation between the responses and service that affiliate managers provide to their affiliates and the responses and service that the players can expect. I tend to think of it as a "corporate culture" kind of thing.

I also found that when I ask too many questions at one time some don't get answered so I try and spread the questions out over time.

This is a good policy for most emails. When I do need to send a long one, I'll usually preface it with an apology, explaining that the issues in the email warrant the length of the email.

[Doolally]

I generally have no problems receiving a timely reply from my Affiliate Mangers. Most are very courteous and eager to help with any questions of queries I may have.

There are one or two that are difficult to get a hold of but unless they convert above average and pay on time then, if I can't get a response quickly, I just pull their sites off mine.

[SharBear613]

I feel most affiliate reps that I have respond in a timely manner; however, there is a couple that do not. I think some of the poker affiliate reps tend to be slow in responding when it is a new site because they are bumbarded with freeroll and tournament request. I try to keep this in mind when I don't hear from them in a decent amount of time.

[ironman2000]

Well, all I can say is you must ask the people who I deal with for the answer to that question. I myself would say that I respond within 24 hour's for sure. I like to be involved with my people and help them all I can. The one's, who met me at CAP conference London, now know the person behind my words and I hope to meet up with the rest of you in the future.