Glad to see more companies are hiring

ummmmmmmmmmm think good

work is always good : )

I think they are completely doomed if they continue to hire and recycle the same people. I find it ridiculous that in a time when everyone is hurting to some extent most of these company reps still perform their jobs like they are doing their company a favor by working there.

This past week I have e-mailed at least 10 different companies for various reasons, and I have received exactly 1 response back. That response didn't even answer the question I asked. I'm sure people will come in here and say "E-mail, spam filter, blah, blah, blah" but I refuse to believe that when I e-mail people from a Gmail account it is automatically going to their spam filter, never to be seen again.

This industry is in desperate need of an enema to flush out some of the dead weight, and an infusion of new, hungry employees that know what customer service is all about. If not it's going to be same shit, different day...

Good points.

example of customer service in adult:

cardholder: hi there, I had $150 worth of charges on my card, I just wanted to join the XXX site, not 5 others...
customerservice: hangs up

Yea , great point of view Profits of Doom , I totally agree with you,for example I still waiting one sponsor approval for my account two weeks already , that is not profesional at all

Some awesome points there - there is a great deal of waste within certain companies on people who sometimes are hired as friends/family/lovers that have no clue how to be in business much less understand the adult business. I hear all the time about webmasters who are annoyed by rep's who don't even understand their own program much less how to proper respond instead wait for a trade show to get them drunk hoping that is all it takes.

I remember in late '06 when I left running brick and mortar adult stores full-time and decided I was going to make a go of it online. I knew I had stronger customer service skills than most because I was used to dealing with people daily on a face to face basis, so I started applying for positions that I saw offered on here. I made it very clear that my webmastering skills were still a work in progress, but when it came to sales and customer service my skills were second to none.

I was up for an affiliate manager position for a large company that was just getting off the ground (which is now owned by hahaha), and it was between myself and another person that had been an affiliate rep with at least 5 different companies, all for short periods of time. That person ended up getting the job, and within 2 months was gone from the company. I've seen that person blow through 3 other companies since.

I think too much is made of experience when it comes to hiring an affiliate manager/rep, and it always ends up being the same people recycled over and over. If you have a strong customer service background you can be trained to handle the other stuff, but if someone has gone through 5 different jobs in a few years there is a reason...

Well the reason can either be their poor skills in webmaster care or they are woo'd and sought after by other companies who offer more money. A rep's thought is obviously money, some offer their personal service and respect while other's feel having an attitude will bring in the sales. It is an interesting discussion, but I totally agree that business today in the adult marketplace does not call for the way rep's use to gain attention.

Well said, and oh so true.

Great thread and good points by all. Personalized customer service is what has set Naked Hosting apart from our competition

Well THB, support when dealing with webmasters using your services vs a customer who likes your content is a 180 degree difference. Once I put my stuff on a merch and dealt with support myself, I realized all the bullshit they pull which 3rd party processors allow. I doubt someone using your hosting is going chargeback saying it was their kid, or their ftp didnt work and therefore they couldnt access the server and want a refund.
But, nevertheless, it's good to see you guys take support seriously.
Duke

It's good news for sure

Funny, i had this very conversation with one of my guys today.
Especially managers in companies seen to be swamped either doing nothing!!! or swamped from tasks given to them from upper management that has nothing to do with what they were hired for (In which case the upper management needs to go)....

Contacted a company the other day about traffic and the person was busy doing designs.....i mean what the HELL is that all about?
Blowing me off because you are busy doing work you are not hired to do LOL

If companies manned up, structured right and had some balls we would "and they would" be better off.

In my opinion, there are only a few reasons a program rep will bounce around from job to job:

- They got fired
- They got offered more money
- They had personal issues or issues with their employer and quit
- They were moving and their present company wouldn't accept them working remotely
- They want to start their own program/company

The majority, I believe, fall into category one. How they keep getting jobs is simple, they can sell themselves very well; unfortunately, they can't sell with the same level of success for whoever hires them. Some companies may also hire someone in the hopes they bring their competitors' affiliate lists with them; it happens all the time and not many programs, if any, will follow through with taking action, legal or otherwise (when applicable).

Those who fall into category number two, I think it depends on the individual and the situation. However, if you see them moving more than once or twice in a few years, you can bet it's not a matter of getting what they feel entitled to, but simply a matter of chasing a buck.

The third category, hey stuff happens once in awhile. If its happening often, why would anyone hire them?

The fourth one is the most legitimate reason I can see, as long as it's not happening every other month. Nothing to say here really.

The fifth reason is hit or miss. Some reps do head off to form their own companies and succeed; others fail miserably and are back looking for work again quickly.

I agree with the sentiment that companies need to stop recycling the same reps and get some fresh blood in the door. It will only benefit them.

A-Fucking-men nig.

Once again a great point is brought up in that the rep sometimes isn't the problem but upper management that were never trained to be management so they are uncertain how to properly motivate or run those under them much less properly hire and giving tasks unsuited to the persons ability then fire them because they were unable to do a job that their skills weren't listed on their resume.

Management runs the company on fear and threats - never accepting their own responsibility for the companies downfall along with hiring people that were not properly vetted because again, few adult companies have a proper human resource department that knows how to sift through the crap and hire - place the proper people for the job.

There are some good points about the overall labor force, but as far as an increase in available jobs, that's always a good thing. I do think we're a few years away from a complete workforce revolution though (in terms of ideas and effort).

You can't find anyone worth a shit in this business. I'm not just talking from my experience, but the experiences of all of my friends/associates in adult.

So i figured I'd move to costa rica & hire a team of tico's/tica's.....nope, lazy as shit.

So i figured I'd hire some Indians......nope, lazy & rude as shit.

Lets see if Romania works out this time. I'm only like 6 months behind on work right now, due to the inadequacies of others.

Maybe I'll have a decent team put together sometime in the future.....then I won't have to do every single fucking thing by myself. I can't keep employees right now, because I might end up killing them for being too lazy

Correction, you can't find anyone worth a shit if you stick with hiring the online industry "lifers" that have been constantly recycled since 2001, and are used to not having to provide any type of support, or do any kind of actual work.

Unfortunately, if you think outsourced workers are the answer it's only going to get worse. Don't get me wrong, I've found some decent outsource guys on Digital Point, but it's still like putting perfume on a pig...

Now doubt there is a difference in the type of support you giving and the issues that will come up. I will say though that I believe our personalized hosting support is one of the key things that has kept our turnover to a minimum.

Glad to hear that you took a stand and are handling your own support now. What difference did this make in your cb %?