Affiliate Managers often ask… How do I get affiliates to listen and respond?
With lockdowns continuing, it’s getting harder to reach new affiliates to engage them and invite them into your program. For this reason, standing out is going to be key.
Understanding the different types of selling styles that you can use when trying to get new affiliates to LISTEN to you is a good place to start. You must be changing up the way you recruit and reach out to new partners who haven’t yet experienced who you are as an affiliate manager and what your brand can offer or deliver.
In this blog, we’ll look at some of these selling styles which Lee-Ann also mentions in her DriveTime Video this week. Check out the video below and then continue reading.
What are the main kinds of recruitment selling styles?
There are so many different recruitment selling styles but often, we see the same thing time and time again from affiliate managers. Here are some of the common styles that you might have experienced yourself as an affiliate or an affiliate manager:
The Competitive pitcher
Do you tend to point out all of the reasons why and how your product differs from your nearest competitor? This is a common tactic that affiliate managers use to try and convince affiliates to get on board and buy into what they are selling. Your main aim is to show why your product is different and the best option.
The Consultative Approach
Those who follow the consultative approach tend to lead with their hearts and put affiliate relationship values first. Do you talk about what your company offers affiliates and why you are contacting that partner in particular? This can also be known as the matchmaker style. This is about building a rapport with someone as quickly as possible to then get into a commercial discussion and it can be quite effective.
The Value Driver
Do you target the prospective affiliate by telling them what you think they are missing? By not working with your program, they are missing out on X, Y and Z and this is something that you might want to portray. Often those who follow the value drive approach will then launch into the values that they offer and that others don’t. The main aim here is to show how working with this particular program will solve all of their problems and pain points. This can also be known as the hero approach.
The Cold Caller
First things first, the cold caller approach is the worst approach on our list. Affiliates get cold call emails by the dozen and will often delete as soon as they reach the inbox. Affiliates are often experienced and can spot cold call emails a mile. Not only is this approach a waste of time for affiliates but it is also a waste of your time. Don’t be a time waster!
Each of these sales strategies and approaches can work when used in the right context in the right settings bar for the last one. The cold caller approach involves using a “spray and pray” strategy or volume-based mass email send in the hopes that at least a few on the receiving end might read or respond to the communications.
The key is to not start any conversation until you’ve researched your target, mapped out your plan, defined your USP, and understand your end goals (including price points and values). Do all of this before you send any emails.
Improve your affiliate outreach
There are plenty of tools and strategies and tactics that you can learn and apply to improve your affiliate outreach initiatives. We teach some of these on our AMPP Training program and we dive a little deeper into the psychology of selling and how you can learn to harness your selling skills to build better recruitment for your program.
If you want to succeed in growing your affiliate program this year, you’re going to have to get creative and consider each and every conversation opener as an opportunity to get a new commercial deal that drives consistent sales for your business. Lee-Ann will be hosting a free webinar that will help you to achieve this on March 25 so make sure to bookmark the event here.
If you haven’t yet – subscribe to our newsletter and make sure you don’t miss next week’s episode of drive time where Lee-Ann shares her top list of Affiliate Management Tools that help you save time, improve productivity and get more done with your partnerships and planning.
