Dont you think merchants should support their affiliates

[its_me_shaners]

Recently I pm'd my affiliate merchant asking for instructions on how to go about uploading a sales page that he offers as part of his affilate marketing program, to my blogger blog thingy.

Heres the response I got: As you can imagine, I receive more private messages than I can handle, so I'd really prefer that you ask questions on the forum. I just about killed myself in the past acting as a free helpdesk, and I'm determined not to do it again

Ok fair enough hes getting lambased with all kinds of questions about god only knows what.

BUT you would think that hed also want to support his affiliates.
Yes I could have post the same question in his forum and waited an eternity for a response. OR gotten a half baked response from a member who isnt entriely sure how to do it, or has some idea.

What I wanted to know from this merchant was HOW CAN I MAKE MONEY SELLING YOUR PRODUCT . I like the product so I'm not going to drop it. But that is certainly a quick way to peeve your affiliates and lose potential sales.

theres a lesson in this: SUPPORT YOUR PRODUCTS

If you arent going to support your product on your forums then please indicate it with a sticky message on your forum board.

I was personally not surprised by the response. Its seems like with the net as in the outside world theres little support for products.
It's rare that you find good customer service.
I see this on a daily basis in my industry. No support from sales people for their products. (thanks for your money now go climb a tree)

[Jim Hutchinson]

Sure the merchant could have been more polite and in less words, said he will work on an affiliate page with example ads and/or pages. There's a point too, about using the forums. Why would a merchant want to answer the same question many times through PMs when it can be answered once in a forum for all to see?

The reply you got from the merchant does not mean the affiliates are not supported. It simply means that he prefers that you use their public communication system to get your questions answered.

There's a lesson in this: Support is provided by following proper procedures.

[Zoikster]

I personally would have been offended by a response such as that one. If that be the case, then have a Frequently Asked Questions Post stickied on the forums, that way his work gets cut down. Then all he has to do is link to the post, AND it saves him tons of time, his affiliates time, he doesn't have to send rude e-mails such as that ....and its a win win situation.

[captkirk]

Hi All,

I would have felt blessed that he responded at all.

Since I have been on the net, I have worked with some successful programs with no support from Admins as for as getting anwsers to questions asked.

To date, I would consider it a plus to get a response from the admin with instructions on how to get anwsers to my questions.

If the program you're promoting is successful, the webmaster could very well be swamped with work.

So, you should be concerned when you don't get a reply from the webmasters.