Hi Raphaela. Great question and one that we see often at
ujet.cx as we have an affiliate program and two different types of referral programs (one-time payment vs. recurring) . Also funny that I cover this briefly in the new SEBS Partner Ecosystem Foundations Course we’re launching in early February (I’m an advisor for the company). There is crossover between the two. More here if you’re interested in going deeper into the Jay McBain/Canalys partner ecosystem model for your career development:
https://sebschool.com/p/foundations
To answer your question directly however, with very limited information…some things to think about:
Affiliates aften throw junk over the fence and see what sticks (very useful in high volumes if you can close transactionally) whereas referral partners may provide more of a warm introduction, thus more likely to close. Important 1st to define the difference between the two for your company. Assuming you’ve got that done…
Definitely not ideal to run a referral program and an affiliate program from two different systems. Some options:
• Depending on your sales cycle, shorten the cookie duration for the affiliate program so it lowers the probability of this happening (and make sure your affiliates are still making money of course)
• Ideally a referral has to be “accepted” manually before it can be registered and could then be tracked against whether the affiliate account has been identified. The user can register a referral with the link, but it must be accepted by you, before it is protected. If this an option in your system and can you check your affiliate accounts against your to-be referral registrations (depends on when in the funnel accounts are identified…ie. lead form or sale). If you’re getting so many referrals that this can’t be manually done, that’s a great problem to have.
• Is the referral registration most-likely “warmer” and more likely to close than an affiliate link (it should be)? What are your close ratios for both (are you measuring?). What’s your close ratio if you have a lead from both (should be super high). What’s the sales cycle difference? All important data to track to make that case to your exec team that it makes sense to pay both (many financial variables here that I’m not privy to of course). The data is your sword and shield in this realm.
• In summary, I’d say give it a test for both. See if it’s a “problem”. If it is a problem, see if its REALLY a problem, or possibly an opportunity instead. A margin hit for higher volume, a higher close rate, or a faster sales cycle may be a gift.
• Many companies pay channel (referrals) and the AE on a deal, paying double-commissions because the value is there. Not unheard of to do it with two different channels.
• If you still have to make an either/or decision, look at the data to see which is more important, and engage your legal team to include stipulations in the contract that are clear…and be prepared to potentially damage a relationship. But be very up front about it in onboarding.