In our vertical (digital home services like satellite, cable, security), we can't afford NOT to provide accurate sales tracking from phone calls as such a large percentage of our sales occur over the phone.
The most simplistic form -- where a general toll-free number is used and then the customer has to provide the affiliate ID for the sale to be tracked correctly is horrific -- and anyone willing to leave the tracking of their sale to (1) the customer and (2) the phone representative -- neither of which has ANY vested interest in making sure the correct ID is entered into the system is BEGGING the merchant to not pay them for sales generated.
Our first step forward was implementing dedicated toll-free numbers to affiliates, which showed the rep the Promo code to enter, eliminating ONE fail point.
Our second step forward was implementing a system that AUTOMATICALLY forced the promo code into the order system without the rep having to manually enter the data. Reps can't even change the promo code if they want to now.
And for our third step? We will be ELIMINATING general affiliate toll-frees and EVERY affiliate will have a DEDICATED toll-free.
And then? Well, in the coming weeks, we're releasing subID tracking on dedicated toll-frees ... yup, yup.... so an affiliate will be able to have several toll-frees to use that will all map back to their primary account but will carry a secondard ID so they can track different campaigns from their side ...
Progress is a beautiful thing ...
