Welcome to the second issue of The Affiliate Manager Weekly Strategist from Affiliate Classroom. Each week, we’ll discuss an affiliate management strategy and ask you for your input.

Modules 5 and 7 of our AC Certified Affiliate Manager Training and Certification course are devoted to the topics of New Affiliate Recruitment, and Communicating with Affiliates. Today, we’re plucking a strategy out of those sections - the best way to communicate with your newly recruited affiliates – picking up the phone and calling them!

We know that you’re probably thinking that picking up the phone and calling your new affiliates sounds more time consuming than it is worth. We believe that the benefits of a real person to person phone call far outweigh the time it takes to make them, and here’s why:

#1 Reason to call – Make a good first impression

Just like you, affiliates are constantly inundated with emails. We all know how easy it is to set up an email template and send it out, but a telephone call takes more effort - and it shows. Let your affiliates know you are there for them from the get-go.

#2 Reason to call – Opening the lines of communication

Your affiliates need to know what you are looking for, and you need to know what your affiliates want from you. When there is a direct and open line of communication between you and your affiliates, you will find it much easier to share, understand, and reach your goals.

#3 Reason to call – Proactive Outreach

If you want to keep your affiliates happy, let them know that there is someone to help them when the need it. You can do this with an email, or – better yet, a real, live person on the phone.

#4 Reason to call – Retention

If you want to retain your affiliates and keep them loyal to you rather than moving on to a competitor, you have to build a relationship with them. Picking up the phone and giving a new affiliate a call will help you to stand out from other affiliate programs with weaker affiliate relationships.

#5 Reason to call – Fraud Prevention

Nothing helps weed out a potentially fraudulent affiliate quicker than calling the number they supply and hearing “BEEP – The number you have reached is no longer in service…” Of course you should give the affiliate a chance to supply you with a corrected phone number – or try to find one on their site – but chances are, you’ve found a potential cheater in your program that assumed you were like most affiliate managers who wouldn’t ever think of calling them.

Questions for the Week

Do you have a plan for contacting new affiliates?

If so – does your current plan involve making personal calls to new affiliates?

What could you do to make room for phone calls in your contact plan?

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