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All companies treat their affiliates differently. In fact,your affiliates are your driving sales force. Unlike in theoff-line world, they don't get paid by the hour, they getpaid for the sales they make.

This means you, the business owner, only pay for what yousell, but it also means that you need to train youraffiliates to motivate themselves to dedicate their time tomarketing and selling the products that will bring you andthem a an above average income.

No matter if you're an affiliate owner or just aparticipant in some or other affiliate program, you makemoney when you and your downline make sales. Having 500affiliates will do you little good and bring in littlemoney, if they won't sell.

How can you successfully train your affiliates to achievethe best sales results on-line or off-line?

The key answer is- spread by word of mouth.

You can explain how your program works to people. Whileword of moth can be powerful when applied to other areas,advertising is very weak when applied to sales training.However, it can function as a good tool with other methods.Training by word of mouth works primarily on the mind byacquainting people with something either by confirming ordenying a certain way of thinking.

Sometimes even a single word or sentence read is enough tounleash an avalanche of new ideas or experiences. Although,when that happens, the person was already on the verge ofchange and just needed one final push to get there.

The Art of Repetition. Either you repeat what you said orrepeat what you've demonstrated. There are only twopossible consequences. 1) either the trainee will acceptwhat you are offering and build towards critical mass inthis new direction. 2) they will reject what you'reoffering and turn inward.

If you say or show things that this person is not yet readyfor pushing, every repetition will generate a new andgreater resentment. By doing this you are building acritical mass of negative feelings towards whatever it isyou are pushing the person to accept. The best way is toteach by example. This is the only way that really works inreal life.

People do not generally "do as you say," they "do as youdo." It's also the only method where you can't beaggressive and doesn't compromise the person's integrity.Speaking may be welcome if the person you speak to reallywants to hear what you have to say. They may feel unwelcomeand forceful if the person isn't yet ready to open up tonew information.

First, you must show how something can be done and theright avenue to achieve it. This means you lay out theexact steps your affiliates should take when marketing yourproducts.

Give them correct and trustworthy directions with real lifeexperiences of how those very steps worked for you. Givethem all the sales material you can generate and also tellthem exactly how each piece worked for you and how to useit best. But do not give them empty words and promises.Never show them something you yourself haven't tried beforeand cannot back up.

People will feel when you are just saying something to makethem sell harder, but haven't really succeeded with ityourself. This is especially important if you are a onlypart of some affiliate program and are trying to teach youraffiliates how to market more successfully.

If you try to teach them things that you are not 100%certain in they will get worn out and lose faith in you inthe long haul. Most affiliate programs offer theiraffiliates old steps that everyone already knows about.

People today are much smarter than before and most knowthey don't work anymore. This can be YOUR point ofdifference. The most important thing to remember is to saywhat you mean when you mean it. Tell your affiliateseverything you know. Show by example and provide them withall the information you can create. This will help build atrustworthy relationship.

By Abe Cherian

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