GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 22 - October 2012

By Jeremy Enke T hroughout the past decade the gambling affiliate industry has seen an enormous amount of change. The industry as a whole has been faced with countless challenges and obstacles to overcome. Through these turbulent times, however, one thing has remained constant for affiliates, and that is the importance of maintaining healthy win/win relationships with our affiliate managers. Many operators and gaming executives often take for granted the importance of having a rock star affiliate manager representing their brands. These are the individuals in the company who are essentially the name and face of the brand to the affiliate public. Likewise, the top affiliate managers who have invested their time and effort over the years to build personal relationships with affiliates can often be accountable for driving millions of dollars in revenue to the operator. Most of the top affiliate mangers in the gaming industry consider their affiliates to be more than just a number in the program; instead they view them as partners. And in any partnership there are certain expectations from each side. Obviously the expectations of affiliate managers can vary depending on the affiliate or what type of deal has been negotiated. At the end of the day, however, affiliate managers want to partner with affiliates who are loyal, ethical and consistent performers. While the roles of affiliates and affiliate mangers can be quite different, one thing is the same: both are driven by performance and share a common goal — drive more traffic and revenue to the operator. Affiliate managers want nothing more than to see their affiliates be successful. Among the affiliate managers I have spoken with, nothing is more exciting than seeing one of their affiliates have a record month or land a huge player. But here is the challenge many affiliate managers are faced with on a daily basis: The affiliates who are driving the majority of the revenue are usually the lowest maintenance and easiest affiliate accounts to manage. On the flipside, the affiliates who can’t seem to send a single real-money player are the ones demanding all the affiliate manager’s time and resources. As professional gambling affiliates we must realize that an AM’s job usually entails dealing with thousands of affiliates and issues. If the AM hasn’t responded to your e-mail in 30 minutes, it’s typically not intentional. So let’s discuss some dos and don’ts with respect to negotiating deals with your affiliate manager. And to be clear, just because an affiliate manger might tell you that the rate is nonnegotiable, if you can send quality traffic with high player values, it will magically become negotiable real quick! 1 Don’t over-promise and under-deliver I can’t even begin to imagine how many times a week affiliate managers get promised that if they bump the commission for a certain affiliate, said affiliate will send hundreds of new sign-ups a month, only to find out weeks later (after they bumped the commission) that the affiliate has only sent a couple dismal sign-ups. Be realistic in your estimates. Your affiliate manager will have more respect for you and be willing to go the extra mile if you’ve been honest and realistic with him or her from the beginning. If you end up sending double what you estimate, then you’re both happy and the affiliate manager will perceive you as someone who surpassed your goals instead of having fallen short. 2 Understand traffic and player values When attempting to negotiate a higher commission rate, the first thing you need to have is at least a modest estimate of what type of players you are currently sending elsewhere. While player values will indeed differ from room to room or casino to casino, any good affiliate should be able to give the affiliate manager a range to work with. One of the easiest ways to negotiate a higher commission rate without having to make The art of the deal – five tips for better negotiations with your affiliate manager The art of the deal – five tips for better negotiations with your affiliate manager 23