How to Control Which Program Gets Credit

When you run several partner tracks, each sale needs a predictable answer: which referral engagement receives credit, which programs compete for that credit, and which rewards should appear together. Program groups let you keep those decisions separate instead of forcing every collaborator into one commission model.

The double-payment problem

When you run more than one program, each program evaluates conversions independently. If a customer interacts with collaborators from two different programs before buying, both programs can fire. That is appropriate when the programs reward different contributions and both payouts are intended.

The problem arises when the programs are variations of the same referral incentive. For example, you might run a standard affiliate program that anyone can join alongside a higher-rate program for selected partners. If a customer interacts with both tracks before buying, both can credit the purchase unless you define how they should compete. That can create two commissions for a sale that should have one referral payout.

Program groups solve this by making competing programs choose one winner.

On Siren Lite, program groups are not available. To build tiers there, use stacked programs: put every affiliate in a base program at the lowest rate, then add a top-up program for only the higher tier. The combined payout reaches the higher rate without exceeding it.

A program group is different from a collaborator group. A program group decides which of several programs receives credit for a conversion. A collaborator group is a roster that a program or distributor can bind to; it supports tiered and sales-override payouts through cascades. If one sale should reward a collaborator’s upline or downline, use a collaborator group rather than a program group.

How a program determines the payout

You can enroll different collaborator types in separate programs, each with its own commission rate. A collaborator earns the rate configured in the program they are enrolled in; there is no single account-wide rate that applies to every collaborator.

A referral site visit creates an engagement that connects the customer’s action to a collaborator and program. When that customer buys through the engagement, the conversion creates an obligation. On separate $100 referred sales, for example, a collaborator in a 12% program creates a $12 obligation, while a collaborator in a 28% program creates a $28 obligation.

How program groups prevent double-paying

A program group tells Siren to treat several programs as one when deciding credit. Only one program in the group activates for a conversion. The winning collaborator still earns the rate defined by that program, but programs in the same group do not stack with one another.

Without a program group, overlapping programs can each credit the same sale. If a collaborator is enrolled in a 10% program and a 20% program, a $200 sale can produce two obligations: $20 and $40. Put those competing programs in one group and only the winning program receives credit at its configured rate.

To create a group, open Program Groups from the sidebar, then select Add New. Give the group a name and description, choose its structure, and add the programs that should compete.

Picking a group structure

The structure decides which program wins when more than one program in the group has an eligible engagement for the conversion.

Newest engagement wins credits the collaborator with the most recent interaction. If one partner shares a link on Monday and another shares one on Wednesday, the Wednesday engagement receives credit for a Thursday purchase.

Oldest engagement wins credits the collaborator who interacted first. Use it when the original referrer’s engagement should retain credit even after a later interaction.

For help choosing between them, read Choosing a Program Group Structure.

When rewards should stack

Group programs when they are tiers or variations of the same incentive and only one referral payout should result. A broad partner track and a higher-rate partner track are competing versions of one referral reward, so they belong in the same group.

Leave programs ungrouped when they reward genuinely different work. For example, a referral commission and a separate royalty-style reward can both apply to one sale because they compensate different contributions. On a $100 sale, a $15 referral obligation and a $35 royalty-style obligation can both result without conflict.

The practical test is simple: keep programs separate when you would want both payouts on the same conversion. Put them in a group when you would want exactly one.

Checking what one sale owes

Inspect the obligations tied to a transaction to see the payouts created by its conversions. This gives you one view of the obligations behind a sale, including independent rewards that were intended to stack.

It also shows the outcome when the sale changes. If a transaction tied to a $20 obligation is refunded, the transaction is cancelled and the obligation becomes rejected.

A two-track setup, end to end

Create a broad partner program that pays 10%, then create a gated partner program that pays 20%. Enroll the general partner audience in the broad track and enroll selected partners in the higher-rate track. On identical $200 referred sales, the broad-track collaborator earns $20 and the gated-track collaborator earns $40.

Because these tracks are competing versions of the same referral incentive, add both programs to one program group. If a collaborator is enrolled in both tracks and each has an eligible engagement for a sale, the group’s structure decides which track receives credit. Choose newest engagement wins when the most recent referral interaction should determine the payout, or oldest engagement wins when the first interaction should retain credit.

For the installable configuration to adapt, see the B2B referral program recipe. The recipe provides the configuration; this page explains how program-group rules affect credit when tracks overlap.