Affiliate Reps - What Is More Important To You?

[Lee]

I just wondered, when you folks see an affiliate rep posting on the boards, what is more important to you about their posting style?

Do you prefer reps that only post when it suits their needs in a thread?

Do you prefer reps that post nothing but 'fun' stuff?

Do you prefer reps that post nothing but 'biz' stuff?

Ive been noticing that more and more as of late, affiliate reps seem to be heading the way of useless board whores, just posting in threads to have their sigs viewed, or posting crap that is no good to man no beast in order to get their name seen.

I just wondered when becoming part of a larger community stopped being of importance to these reps, instead of growing their business relations with people, they seem to go all out to be seen by anyone and everyone, more so on the straight boards.

I just wondered when you folks see a rep posting on a board, what makes you take notice of them and what turns you off about doing business with them?

Regards,

Lee

[Jasun]

Meh.

I take part anywhere I feel I can contribute but I try to not post "Me too" responses.

If someone asks to be spammed, sure, I'll go right ahead and post about Fratcash, but if not, I'll just take part in normal board discussions.

I find that the best affiliates I've got are ones that found me through regular board interaction anyway.

[JamesXR]

I think everyone's here to do business. I think there's a happy medium between the far extreme of someone putting up a picture of a model and a bunch of webmasters posting, "I'd tap that!" and press releases for the sake of press releases.
I think the best posts are ones in which you can learn from the experience of others, or involving cats. You want to mobilize a bunch of webmasters, you bring up their pets and they're there.

[basschick]

i'm a lot more likely to become interested in a program that a rep has in his/her sig if they talk business. there are far too many reps who have never been in adult before, never bother to learn anything about this industry and simply say great things about their program because they are paid to. they have no idea if the things they say about their programs are true - just that they get a paycheck.

since helping someone else earn a paycheck doesn't help me with sales, i prefer reps who either know their stuff or reps who are available on the boards and willing to learn. guys/gals who just post "me, too!" responses or spam their program without knowing or caring if there's anything special about that program couldn't possibly interest me less.

sure, regular chat means they are trying to take part, but a guy who can't even tell me without asking whether the program he reps has fhgs or whether the content in the sites he reps is exclusive or not (and this has happened a lot) doesn't - IMO - know enough to represent that program.

[JamesXR]

i'm a lot more likely to become interested in a program that a rep has in his/her sig if they talk business. there are far too many reps who have never been in adult before, never bother to learn anything about this industry and simply say great things about their program because they are paid to. they have no idea if the things they say about their programs are true - just that they get a paycheck.

since helping someone else earn a paycheck doesn't help me with sales, i prefer reps who either know their stuff or reps who are available on the boards and willing to learn. guys/gals who just post "me, too!" responses or spam their program without knowing or caring if there's anything special about that program couldn't possibly interest me less.

sure, regular chat means they are trying to take part, but a guy who can't even tell me without asking whether the program he reps has fhgs or whether the content in the sites he reps is exclusive or not (and this has happened a lot) doesn't - IMO - know enough to represent that program.

As someone who has ventured into some dark and shameful places (financial services) in times of desperation , I'd say say that companies with weak products look for employees who can stick to the script and aren't inquisitive about how things work. Hardcore, "A good salesman can sell anything!" salesmen prize sales technique over product knowledge.

[sanityana]

IMHO it’s more about knowing what the person you are trying to do business with wants/needs in order to move forward and feel comfortable with the product/service. I view it as being the most crucial of skills for any salesperson to posses. Sometime this is a very friendly relationship that extends well beyond business at hand, but it can also be very direct and statistical. Unfortunately it takes time for most to develop that ability and everyone has to start somewhere so I try to be understanding and willing to explain or ask in a different way if a person is unsure about a detail. I couldn’t imagine walking away from business based on one reps confusion/inexperience if I really want to work with someone or I have a vision in mind of what we could do together I’ll always wait for an answer or look up the food chain to continue dialog. Just my thoughts -Ana

[maxpower]

I don’t really like Rep’s at the phone company, at the DMV, at the car dealership or just about any other place you can name, sorry I really just don’t like Rep’s much all. If the owner does not want to talk to the public then just put up a list of rules for me to read. Might as well just read them myself rather than have a Rep read them too me, over and over again, and have to pay extra down the road for it.

[JamesXR]

I don’t really like Rep’s at the phone company, at the DMV, at the car dealership or just about any other place you can name, sorry I really just don’t like Rep’s much all. If the owner does not want to talk to the public then just put up a list of rules for me to read. Might as well just read them myself rather than have a Rep read them too me, over and over again, and have to pay extra down the road for it.

That's pretty mean maxpower, don't you know that whenever you say you don't like reps a rep somewhere dies. Hopefully you'll consider clapping your hands and repeating "I do so like reps!" over and over in order to reverse the damage.
On a more serious note this thread is dear to me as I do find myself representing NicheShops.com, as an affiliate sales rep, as some might put it, and simultaneously having a severe prejudice against salesmen. Here I even find myself falling into the old "But I'm not like those other guys!" routine.
I must point out though that some company owners don't have the time to talk to everyone they'd like to. The resources and manpower in many small businesses is often stretched to the limits. Going to a show, much less multiple shows is a huge expense of time taken away from many other tasks.
Of course the way that reps are programed varies vastly from company to company. A lot of reps are one way systems designed to block access to decision makers and redirect all inquiries to their program. Other reps are ambassadors for their companies, fully enabled to negotiate on behalf of their employers.
On a last note, what's the deal with DMV reps? Don't they just process your paperwork? I think I did my last registration renewal painlessly through the phone. It's not like they have people that call you up during dinner and want to talk about upgrading you to the Drivers License VIP program where you get to drive 20 miles over the speed limit, have a legal blood alcohol content of .12, and get one free vehicular homicide every year.

[maxpower]

See I don’t know personally I want to try to talk to “the man” like I am doing today. Its just more personally and productive if at all possible, we are in the net age does not take much to respond or make yourself available in some way. I am just not sure about owners that hide behind Rep’s as I do not know them at all, I guess this could be a good thing when your talking about me though :haha: