September 27, 2005
Cancel your AOL account: New York AG Eliot Spitzer slams AOL for slimy practices.
AOL agreed to pay $1.25 million to the state of New York in penalties and costs. They also agreed to clean up their act and stop using low life practices and not honoring customers request to cancel their AOL account. The lessons and techniques which AOL used can guide all of us when we deploy a "cancel" with any third party.
Inside AOL: A culture of deceit.
Their is nothing wrong with trying to "save" a customer with a reasonable sales pitch. The problems occur when you pay commissions to your employees to retain customers and then fail to properly audit the actions of your employees. Spitzer says it better than I can:
"Under the system, consumer service personnel received bonuses worth tens of thousands of dollars if they could successfully dissuade or "save" half of the people who called to cancel service. For several years, AOL had instituted minimum retention or "save" percentages, which consumer representatives were expected to meet. These bonuses, and the minimum "save" rates accompanying them, had the effect of employees not honoring cancellations, or otherwise making cancellation unduly difficult for consumers."
Source: http://www.oag.state.ny.us/press/2005/aug/aug24a_05.html
The AOL/NY AG agreement to stop these practices and clean up their act.
My "cancel" procedures with any third party.
These procedures apply to all types of cancellations. Your ISP, your hosting account, your Newspaper, your Cable TV, and numerous other subscriptions you have.
1. Prepare to take notes before you call or click. This means paper and pen, the full name of the person you spoke to, position, the date and time you called or clicked, and print any forms which are related to your cancel.
2. Conduct yourself in a VERY POLITE manner. Don't use profanity, gutter talk, slang, or other socially repugnant techniques.
3. Expect a sales pitch in an effort to retain you. This is business and no one likes to loose a customer. Even if you hate their guts, try using a simple reason for leaving like, "I no longer require your services" and say no more. Some services like your dedicated server may require written notice as per the contract you signed. Don't fight city hall, just do it and confirm receipt and save your paper work.
4. Get precise with these questions and write it down: Exactly when will my last charge appear on my credit card? What is the effective date of the cancellation? Are their any additional charges?
5. Save all your notes and documentation. Carefully monitor your credit card statements and insure that a new charge for a canceled service does not appear which is contrary to the question and answer you received in Item 4 above. If the vendor continues to bill you, just dispute the charge with your CC provider and don't bother calling your service provider.
Posted by Steve_S
September 20, 2005
The $3,000.00 email: Secrets your Affiliate Program doesn't want you to know about.
Reader "frogtrain" tells me how he used the techniques in my recent entry titled "Secrets your Affiliate Program doesn't want you to know about" to earn significantly more money from his current CPA programs. The article link opens in a new window so, I suggest you read the original article as well as the email which I received and have edited at the senders request. The reader was generous enough to include a few tips which I failed to document.
The email I received: Certain sections of this email contain my edits to comply with the senders request which I always honor.
Hello Steveo,
I was skeptical as hell when I read your blog entry titled "Secrets your Affiliate Program doesn't want you to know about". I kept asking myself why such a valuable tip is rarely available on other sites and why the hell I should believe YOU. I run a number of sites at: (redacted) which together generate monthly CPA revenue for (redacted CPA Networks Name) me of around 4K per month. That's a one year average of my commissions and some months are a little less and other months like the Holidays are way more. All of these sites have been on line for years and occupy top 3 positions in their respective niches.
Since I'm a cautious dude, I Googled your name to see exactly who you are and what you have done. Nothing to worry about with your history. A multi-year look back on you with lots of transparency. Next I called my AM to start the ball rolling. She seemed not only nervous but shocked that I would call. In later conversations she seemed far more at ease and I even sent her a birthday card which prompted her to call me and "gush" and giggle like a high school freshman. hahahah
After a couple of weeks of chit chat I popped the magic question during her review of my numbers. Word for word just like you said: "(redacted), I think I'm producing some great numbers for both of us and I enjoy our relationship. How can I earn more money from these results?
You could have heard a pin drop. Silence and silence and silence. Her first response didn't even remotely answer my question. I let her babble and then immediately returned to my original question. She said: "Let me check with my boss and see what we can do."
Her first offer involved VIP status and the promise and review of a soon to be released "Contest" where I could win a free trip for me and the wife to (redacted). In either case it only amounted to around a one or 2 point (percent) increase in my commissions for the same results I was generating and it was a one time deal and not the duration of my relationship. Lets please forget the Contest and groovy VIP title I muttered. ALL I want is more of a cut on the revenue I'm generating. Again, the AM didn't answer my question so I told her again using different words and ignored the other babble she spouted.
BINGO! After I through a few numbers into the conversation we finally agreed on an increase in my revenue of about $249.00 per month or about 3K per year for the very same results I had averaged over the last 12 months. That's a dandy BINGO of about 6 percent and I have it in writing. The easiest money I ever made.
THANK YOU :)
My Response:
Hi frogtrain,
Thanks for the email, the PI work on me :) and most importantly of all, taking the time to document your fantastic results and provide your tip on Contests.
Not only am I happy for you but grateful for the fact that you analyzed the "Contest" pitch and equated same to points (percent of earnings). Real Producers like you should ignore "Contests" and focus on an increase in your earnings for the entire term of your relationship. Your additional revenue is reflected in an increase in your cut of the sale. Contests are much harder for an affiliate to monitor for Network abuse, sometimes contain catch terms in favor of the Network, and are of primary benefit to newbies and average affiliates.
Continued best wishes.
Posted by Steve_S
Catch Affiliate Program Abuse: Pay a Bounty to Your Affiliates and Advertisers.
All affiliate programs are full of Publishers who cheat. All affiliate programs include advertisers/merchants who engage in Spyware techniques to steal commissions, insert virus laded creatives in the banner stream, and sometimes don't pay their affiliates. Catching these criminals is paramount for the long term viability of any Network. Their are numerous procedures to combat this problem which I have previously covered. In this installment, a detailed look at a Bounty for your reading pleasure.
What is a Bounty?
Lets look at an example from The Dish Network:
"b. We will refuse all applications or signups from affiliates which we believe participate in spyware, adware or parasiteware techniques for driving traffic. We reserve the right to research and investigate affiliates and their activities and, at our own discretion, determine whether or not these practices are in place. Affiliates found in violation of this policy will be immediately terminated from the program and will forfeit all commissions. We encourage affiliates to report suspicions of such relationships and upon receipt of sufficient proof, as judged by i-DISH.com, we reserve the right to assign an amount equal to the unpaid monies earned by the offending affiliate (or a part thereof) to the reporting affiliate as a bounty. Violation of these policies may be reported to affiliates@idishnetwork.com"
Source (Section 3-b): http://www.idishnetwork.com/myaff-agreement.php
Please read it again and take special note of the "tone" of this paragraph, the use of the word "encourage" and the short statement about driving traffic. No secrets in this paragraph. We already know what you may try and we are even aggressive enough to state it.
My Bounty Procedure.
A given Network's primary responsibility is to aggressively monitor and catch abusers. A Bounty is not meant to replace this obligation. It's purpose is to augment and enhance abuse control. The goal is to create a virtual army of both Publishers and Advertisers who will be financially rewarded if they locate and properly document non compliant activities in the network. Don't kid yourselves, Advertisers network and some are acutely aware of the non compliant activities of not only their competition but other advertisers. Networks should create a secure page (https) which contains a submission Form to report this abuse. Require them to enable a few check boxes which indicate they have read your Bounty FAQ/Help Guide for properly applying for a Bounty along with a crystal clear TOS statement on exactly what will happen to them if they abuse this procedure. Require the Publishers unique affiliate ID and the Advertisers unique ID. Auto respond to this form submission. Investigate them and acknowledge same with a human created email. This Forms page is the only way you will accept Bounty reports.
Expect a few malcontents to abuse this procedure. In these cases just lock them out of the Form submission, warn them once, and if they insist on wasting your valuable time with either Bounty reports which they have previously submitted and or reports that lack evidence, ban them from the Network for the rest of their lives.
What Networks currently deploy a Bounty?
I could not find any other Tier 1 or Tier 2 Networks who presently offer a Bounty. Why? Many Networks are turning a blind eye. Many Networks only rely on a 20 something AM to catch fraud which is tantamount to lip service. Many Networks have a short term view and think that as long as they can continue to abuse their advertisers they will remain viable. Some don't like the implied message that a Bounty offer might send, and others have absolutely no intention of ever trying to effectively control Publisher and or Advertiser abuse.
Editors Note:
This Bounty entry was inspired by an outstanding entry from Ben Edelman titled How Affiliate Programs Fund Spyware. I strongly suggest you carefully read this outstanding research.
Posted by Steve_S