Affiliate Manager | Manual Sales and Commissions

Accurate tracking of affiliate sales is crucial for maintaining trust and transparency within affiliate programs. The Manual Sales and Commissions feature in the Affiliate Manager offers businesses the ability to record sales that may not be captured automatically. This ensures affiliates receive appropriate credit for all their efforts, creating a reliable and transparent system for tracking commissions. (Check out our other tutorials for thorough guides to get started.)

Key Features:

1. Add Manual Sales: Assign sales and commissions manually through the Affiliate Profile page.
2. Customer/Lead Filtering: Search for existing customers or create new leads directly from the interface.
3. Optional Fields for Customization: Add Event IDs for invoice or reference tracking and Event Dates for accurate transaction logging.

Step-by-Step Guide

1. Access the Affiliate Manager:
   • Navigate to Marketing on the left > Affiliate Manager on the top > From the Dropdown select Affiliate
2. Select an Affiliate:
   • Find the affiliate you wish to credit.
3. Go to the Commissions Section:
   • On the Affiliate Profile page, scroll down to the Table Tab under the Commission section.
4. Add Manual Sales:
   • Click on Add Manual Commissions to open the manual sales pop-up.

1. Search or Add Leads/Customers:
   • Use the search bar to locate an existing customer or click Add as Lead to create a new lead.

1. Enter Transaction Details:
   • Confirm the affiliate and customer details.
   • Enter the transaction's revenue amount, and optionally, add an Event ID and Event Date for reference.

1. Save the Details:
   • Review the information and save the entry to credit the affiliate.

How to manually add attributes to sales:

1. Go to the Affiliate Manager and navigate to the Affiliates screen.
2. Click on the three dots located on the right side and select "Add Manual Sales."

1. A pop-up will appear, requesting the customer's email. Enter the email of the customer that the affiliate referred.

1. Next, enter the Campaign Name whose configuration you wish to apply to that customer
2. All transactions made by the customer will be displayed, allowing you to select the ones you want to attribute to the chosen affiliate.

Notes:

•  Affiliate commission is tracked via a sale happening first in Stripe. The system does not currently track refunds for One-time products or Subscriptions.  
• For subscription cancellations, the Affiliate Manager administrator can choose to pay 15, 30 or 60 days after the sale has occurred. This allows for sufficient time for the administrator to deny commission if the subscription gets canceled. Once canceled the lead will move into the churned category and can later be re-activated by initiating another checkout or enrolling them again in Stripe. 
• The affiliate commission can be one-time or recurring depending on the Stripe product being sold. 
• Payments are either a manual process that would need to be done by the Affiliate Manager Administrator or you can now also pay your Affiliates using Paypal Auto Payouts please see the article titled “Automating Affiliate Payouts with PayPal: A Step-by-Step Guide”
• If a coupon is used during check-out, the discount value is considered revenue, and the commission is calculated off that discounted value

Use Cases

Scenario 1: Offline Sales

A customer purchases a product in-store. Use the Manual Sales feature to credit the affiliate who referred the customer.

Scenario 2: Post-Sale Adjustments

An automated system missed recording a sale due to a technical issue. Add the sale manually to ensure the affiliate receives their rightful commission.

Scenario 3: Special Promotions

Track and credit affiliates for sales made during a limited-time event where sales tracking was temporarily disabled.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. What is the purpose of the Manual Sales and Commissions feature?

It enables businesses to track and credit affiliate sales that are not captured by automated systems, ensuring affiliates are fairly compensated.

2. Can I add a new customer directly from the interface?

Yes, you can create a new lead by clicking on the Add as Lead option when entering manual sales.

3. What is the Event ID field used for?

The Event ID allows you to add an invoice or reference ID for tracking purposes, making it easier to link transactions to specific documents.

4. Can affiliates view their manually added commissions?

Yes, affiliates can see their commissions, including manually added entries, in their profile, maintaining transparency.