Webmaster & Customer Support
Brian - TotemCash

My personal experience has lead me to believe that the importance of webmaster contact and customer service is not talked about enough on resource sites, boards or at seminars. The harsh reality is that it is often put at the bottom of the priority list when running pay sites or cash programs. Here are a few points which everybody should think about when organising their webmaster & customer support.

Take your members seriously!
Taking both your webmasters and clients seriously is a crucial step toward better sales for everyone. You show them respect, they'll show you loyalty. They appreciate your effort and both parties will benefit from the good relationship.

A great affiliation program packed full of all the tools a webmaster could possibly need or a sophisticated customer service database which handles large quantities of client email will obviously make your job a lot easier. But let's not forget that nothing beats human contact.

Advise your webmasters!
Here's the deal; if your company is where it is today then that's because you know how to make money with your site. So if you know that and you want your webmasters to make money with your product, why not give them inside advice on the best ways to make cash with it! You can do this through newsletters or special announcements sent out exclusively to affiliated webmasters. Tell them what has worked for you; after all you're the one who's supposed to know what works and what doesn't with your sites!

Be available!
Whether this be by email, telephone, ICQ or whatever, let them know you're there to help. At the same time teach them as you go along so they won't have to contact you for every little thing. Having someone who really cares about their daily problems means a lot to a webmaster or paying client. Someone who strives to keep everybody happy (with limits) by answering emails and ICQ messages in a speedy efficient manner is projecting a very positive and professional image of your company to members. Nobody likes waiting around for days before their problem gets fixed, so keep those airwaves busy!

Be Patient!
The job of a webmaster contact or a customer service rep is not an easy one. This is especially true when your cash program or site has several thousand members. Patience is a virtue people, and that goes for webmasters, clients and cash programs alike. Always remember that without paying clients and webmaster partners, your site or product would not exist! So as tiring as it may be at certain moments, their queries still deserve your attention, energy and time!

TotemCash's webmaster and the VirtuaGirl customer service team deal with hundreds of queries from affiliates and members everyday. The team must be well organised and the structure of their systems dynamic in order to supply the best possible service to their members on a daily basis.

Brian - TotemCash