What Do You Look For In An Affiliate Rep?

I know from a program owners standpoint they look for someone with good communication skills, some knowledge about the industry and, the ability to generate new affiliates on a regular basis however, what do affiliates look for in their reps?

When talking to affiliate program reps in the past, what has made you think 'wow this person knows what they are doing'?

Likewise, what is something that you dislike about affiliate reps?

I know for me i look for reps that are easy to contact, either through GWW, ICQ, AIM or email, being able to get hold of my rep at the drop of a hat is definately a good thing as far as i am concerned, i dont want to have to wait days (or even weeks) on end to get a reply to a support request about something as simple as changing an email address LOL

So what are your folks thoughts about what makes a GOOD affiliate rep these days?

Regards,

Lee

1). Awareness
Nothing perturbs me more than a rep that contacts YOU and does not have his/her facts straight!
- being hit-up by reps that tell us how we are losing out because we are not promoting 'X', yet we are.
- looking for cross sales, when we do not even use the processor.

2). Punctuality/promptness
Slow e-mail response/reply times REALLY get on my nerves, especially if a person is in our industry.
Monday to Friday, I expect a 24-hour return time, and on weekends, I expect a reply sometime Monday.

After that, they are merely rude and losing (or have lost) my dedication, which means traffic, and other things!

3). Attentiveness
(Some may think this can or should be included with my first point.)
I do not deal with reps that do not hear the answer to their question.
Why is it when I say the words BIG DICK, others hear things like anal or interracial?

4). One sided affairs
In the past we've sending a lot of traffic to programs that did not reciprocate - they do not send sales let alone traffic. Fine, if that is how thing go, increase the payout.
I do not put up with this very well (especially when I get the excuse "this is not my department..." what, your smart enough to handle traffic in, but not out? Run out of fingers and toes have you <-- uh, sars)!
If you are going to ping me/us and ask us to promote you, you best do one of the following:
- return what we give (I prefer sales, not clicks)
- increase payout
Not capable to making the decision, do not bother me, ask the person that can to hit us up!

For starters, I don't hear from most of my reps. LOL. For those I do, most of the time communication is as-needed with me initiating it because I needed help with something. Some proactive communication would be nice too.

I like the personal attention that some folks have given me. They come to me with new banners, content, or offers to generate sales. (Note: They created those offers for me in the first place, while some won't/can't do anything special). They offer ideas to improve sales after taking the time to look at my site(s). Their communications are personable and don't feel like cut-and-pastes.

It's also nice when they can make exceptions for exceptional situations. One time I was hoping to gear up for a big marketing push -- online and off -- and the standard revshare rate (which was sort of low by default) wasn't going to cover the cost of the advertising that I wanted to run. They wouldn't temporarily increase the rate, saying it would be favoritism. So I scaled advertising way back and ultimately broke even... while THEY enjoyed a "free" 25% increase in revenue. You're welcome, I guess? I would say the missed opportunity was a loss for everybody, but someone benefitted. I'm sure a program owner would be thrilled, but it doesn't do jack for us doing the marketing for them. This hurts dedication to the program.

communication - i prefer someone who both understands and speaks english well.

responsiveness - i've had reps with 2 large programs who couldn't even be bothered to try and get my stats fixed. one was actively offended when i went over her head after the problem had not been resolved after 2 months.

a clue - it doesn't happen often enough, but i love hearing from reps who knows what i'm talking about. i have reps who contact me who don't know what i'd get paid for certain linking options... 1 rep who didn't know - or care what a fpa or a fhg is... this list goes on but if someone hires a rep who is unfamiliar with our business and his/her new job, it would be nice if someone brought them up to speed.