Originally Posted by Varius

For the reps out there, here are a few bits of advice:

- If someone requests something, give them a reasonable deadline. The easiest example is a banner; don't say "right away, you'll have it in 15 minutes" - then vanish for 10 days. I guarantee the affiliate would rather hear "Honestly, our designers are overloaded right now, but I've added it to their list and we'll try to squeeze it out by friday".

- Don't string people along. If someone presents you an idea, or is trying to sell you something, be direct in your answer. Instead of "we'll think about it, meet on it, sleep on it" and then never get back to the person (when you had no intentions to actually think about it for a second), simply say "we don't think we have any interest at this time, but thanks for considering us". Don't make people keep chasing you, wasting their time and yours.

- Answer ALL emails in a timely fashion. Even if you are too busy, sending a reply of "I got your email, but am really busy and will reply to it within the next few days" is a LOT better than no reply at all. Of course, if you reply that, make a note to actually follow-through.

- Don't give out your IM info if you are never online. It frustrates people for no reason to always see you as offline.

Bottom line, while it's true that 95% of people who contact you at shows or via emails are going to waste your time and never deliver on their promises, it's your job to take each case as if it could be a winner. You never know if the email you disregarded fell into the 5% and could have been big money, to both your company and yourself.

I think these reps get away with such a poor performance, mostly, because the owners aren't hands-on enough. How many times do you see the same people circle around, jumping from company to company, always "mutually parting" and getting quickly scooped up again based on the fact they worked for "x" big company in the past; so they must rock.

The truth is, most of those who "part mutually" got fired when the owner finally notices they have brought nothing to the bottom line, and they ask around and beg for a new position, citing they will bring over their rolodex/contacts and usher in tons of new business and they left the old job because their owner was an asshole, or wouldn't pay them their worth, etc...; the new program buys this and months later, sees they were full of shit and they are on to the next sucker.