Affiliates, sometimes you come across a merchant you really want to work with that has a big 800# commission leak. You contact them and it turns out they didn't realize the problem the way an affiliate sees it - as potential lost sales. They see the light and want to do the right thing, just aren't sure how.
Where do you send them to get a clear overview & possible solutions? I've blogged several times about
leaks & phone tracking to try to educate merchants. There are lots of forum posts about it. Almost everything I can find is more about why affiliates get upset about it (rightly so). I can't really find what I could call a guide for merchants about how to fix the problem, til now.
Linda Bustos over at the Get Elastic Ecommerce Blog just wrote a really good article with the some great suggestions. The info is geared specifically toward merchants, to help them understand the various options for handling phone tracking and plugging that leak.
Tracking Affiliate Orders For Telephone Sales "A major tick-off for affiliate marketers is merchants who prominently display a toll-free number on their websites or banner ads. If a customer decides to pick up the phone to place the order – the affiliate is not credited with the sale unless proper telephone tracking is used. This is called “leakage.”
Some merchants only show the toll-free number on the contact page or in the checkout process itself, nevertheless it’s a leakage opportunity.
High ticket items and B2B supply or software purchases are often completed over the phone, meaning hard working affiliate partners lose their commissions. Good affiliate programs should be ensure that commissions will be paid where commissions are due.
But how can you effectively track telephone conversions driven by affiliate marketers?" Get the answers, read the rest.
Any merchants out there, that haven't figured out this essential element for setting yourself apart by showing how affiliate-centric your program is - I hope this helps!
Affiliates - bookmark this post for future reference, as it's bound to come in handy some day.
Again, I have other really good resources about buried in other blogs I've written about
affliate leaks and phone tracking.
If you know of any other good solutions to the phone tracking issue or find any other good articles or resources for merchants, please comment below.