If You Were a Customer

The first thing I do when evaluating a merchant’s affiliate program is put myself in the shoes of their customer. If you were a prospective customer would you buy products or services from this merchant?

Some things you may consider as a potential customer:

• Are they a reputable company?
  
• Do they have good pricing?
  
• Do they have a good selection?
  
• What is their return policy?
  
• Is their website easy to use?
  
• Is their website secure?
  
• What makes them stand out from their competitors?
  

Before I consider promoting a particular merchant, I visit their website and use it like a customer would. In many cases, I’ll even buy something from the merchant so that I can evaluate their shopping cart and checkout processes.

Real Life Example:

In early 2005 I had considered promoting a skin care company. Before I invested time and effort into promoting them, I decided to checkout their website. Everything looked good initially. The site was easy to use, their offer was compelling, and the site was secure. I decided to take it a step further and actually order some of their anti-wrinkle cream. As I was checking out there was a big red message on their checkout page that read: “We do not currently accept Visa”.

I was blown away! How could any website not accept Visa as a form of payment? Visa is the most popular and widely used credit card in the world. Why would I bother promoting a company that doesn’t accept Visa?

As you can see, putting yourself in the shoes of the customer can help you eliminate problematic merchants up-front. Think of what may have happened if I had started promoting this merchant without first doing this important research.

Tip:

I highly recommend doing a test purchase with your prospective merchants. You don’t have to spend a lot of money to perform a successful test, and the information is invaluable. If you’re not planning on keeping the merchandise that you buy, I suggest you buy something ultra-cheap that can easily be returned or cancelled*. I didn’t need the wrinkle cream that I attempted to purchase, but I had nothing to lose because it was a free sample. I only had to pay a small charge
for shipping.

* Make sure you’re aware of the Merchants return or cancellation policies.