B2B Mortgages – Affiliate commission changes

OMG Network · 30-05-08

Dear Affiliate,

We would like to make you aware that as from the 1st June 2008 the commission paid on B2B Mortgage products will be £5 per lead.

This decision has been made following close analysis of the quality of leads.

This is a temporary measure and we will of course be monitoring the situation very closely, I will keep you informed of any changes.

Should you have any questions or queries regarding this matter, please feel free to contact your account manager.

Kind Regards,

lauriebred · 31-05-08

"This decision has been made following close analysis of the quality of leads"

That's interesting, a huge drop from £15 to £5 particularly when I know of merchants who are crying out for this sort of lead and who would pay far more than a fiver under normal circumstances. A general inference that the leads they are getting are poor quality could be very damaging not only to OMG but to we affiliates as well so the important question is - why is this being inferred? If any affiliates are using underhand techniques to generate rubbish those persons should of course be kicked out, if the advertising material is poor and sends out the wrong message it should be re-vamped and if the closers can't close they should be replaced but for a merchant to even hint that we produce poor quality leads - under circumstances that make it necessary that this is published on a public forum - is a very serious matter. Hopefully some light will be shed on the reasons for this and the conclusions made public in the interests of confidence.
However I wonder - is it the same old story of poor closers blaming the leads? Or could it be that the leads are really no different than ever but the merchant is having problems placing the business? Is the business model no longer so viable now that because of the credit crunch the goalposts have been changed? Either way this matter needs clearing up so that a cloud over an excellent network and it's hard working, professional affiliates can be dispelled.

lauriebred · 10-06-08

Can we put this to bed yet? Forgive me if I sound pedantic but I hate seeing criticisms of lead quality when it's the business model that's at fault.

OMG Network · 11-06-08

Dear lauriebred,

We appreciate your comments, and in response to your posting I can advise that B2B decided to make the commission changes for this product due to the current state of the market.

Although the leads generated by affiliates were of the same quality we have previously seen, the number of these leads that are suitable to be passed onto lenders has reduced significantly. Also due to the credit crunch that we are experiencing the number of lenders available for these leads to be passed onto has drastically reduced as a lot of lenders are now no longer available.

Unfortunately because of this B2B are no longer able to sustain the commission at a rate of £15 per lead. Due to these circumstances B2B decided to reduce the commission to £5 per lead, until the market recovers, instead of suspending the programme completely.

If you would like further details on this please contact your Account Manager who will be able to assist.