Managing Industrial Affiliates Programs: For Directors and Staff

Setting fees: Be aware that companies expect a lot more benefits when Program fees are relatively high. “Selling” Program membership to the company usually is more difficult with fees of $100,000 and over. Also, company personnel interested in the Program have to justify these higher fees internally. 

Program agreements: If they intend to use an agreement, directors of new Programs should have an approved agreement in hand when they recruit new members. Revising agreements and changing Program benefits to suit each new member is not possible and engenders protracted negotiations and misunderstandings.

Companies that join multiple Affiliate Programs may expect those Programs to use identical agreements, even though the Programs may vary widely. Using an invoice that points to the Program website instead of a written agreement can avoid this problem. Programs that do use agreements are advised to adopt a short, standard, uniform agreement for all members.

Websites: Accurate and up-to-date-websites are useful for advertising your Program and preventing misconceptions among potential members.