Introducing our Referrals Manager

[#1]

Funny you should mention that.  When Mark moved over, he was looking forward to getting stuck into some of the Black Sheep, but since moving has found a taste for Timothy Taylor's Landlord which is rather pleasant

[#2]

Oh how ones loyalties shift.
I used to think that Blac Sheep was the best thing since sliced bread. But Those Keighley guys have it well sussed. Timothy Taylors Landord rocks
Now, time for a pint.
And before the mods give us all a rollicking, I think we have to swiftly bring this back on topic.

[#3]

I asked this question yesterday, but it seems to have vanished.
When you said "Apologies are not enough", what did you have in mind?

[#4]

I think Mark is referring to the fact that we absolutely need to actually perform.  Simply apologising is not enough to rebuild customer confidence.  To do that we need delivery, a quality product-set, a stable platform, demonstration that we're not going to break again. 
Above that we need to ensure that the referral community are listened to - and that their feedback is taken onboard, and we also need to review the benefits that our referrers receive.

[#5]

Not impressed with the spam webmail incident. I had refered friends with young children who have been receiving and still are receiving obscene and indecent spam email. Even with the spam filter activated. As everyone else has said more to be done before I refer anyone else.

[#6]

Quote

Not impressed with the spam webmail incident.

Nor were we I can assure you. It was a horrendous time for many of our customers and I can promise that we have learned a great deal from this incident. As I mentioned previously, apologies aren't enough to rebuild customer confidence. As Liam has said above, us delivering stability, quality products and services and showing that we remain customer focused with an open and honest approach is what will instill confidence. Not mere words.
Have you read the follow up report here on the further improvements we have made.
http://community.plus.net/blog/2007/06/07/webmail-deliverables-follow-up/
The measures now in place and the improvements which we have made in how we handle spam in general, should be massively reducing the amount of spam which hits your and your referrals inboxes.
The feedback we have had regarding these improvements is encouraging and our focus on delivering these improvements has been massive.
If you are not benefiting from these measures, then post back and we'll be only too happy to examine what exactly is happening and hopefully resolve it.

[#7]

Morning all.
You asked and I have delivered. http://www.plus.net/referrals/offer.shtml
Let me know what you think.
This is the first of many improvements in the pipeline so keep the feedback coming. I'm all ears.

[#8]

Hi Mark,
thanks for the email to introduce me to this site.  My longstanding ISP is F-oL to whom I pay my b/b subscription, but I am also a user of Plusnet. ( You may think they are the same!)  Years ago I suggested that the discussion forum be combined.  The idea did not go down very well at that time.  I asked if I could transfer my account to Plusnet and was told that was not possible.  Why the heck not?  It is not the same bank account!
Now, if I make a referral I prefere make it to Plusnet (of some reputation!) so now I have referrals on both sites and that is a nuisance.  Could you do your best to combine them please?  At the same time I would appreciate transferring my b/b account to Plusnet.

[#9]

Hi Walter.
Thanks for responding and welcome to the Community site. This site gives the forum community, from across the PlusNet family of ISP's, one central point of discussion and feedback. You'll hear news in the very near future about our long term plans for the site.
With regards your transfer of account issue, if its ok with you, James, one of my team members, would like to give you a ring, preferrably tomorrow. I would have phoned you myself, but I am heading home for a few days.
I am confident that James will resolve your issues to your satisfaction.
Once again, thanks for getting in touch.
Mark

[#10]

Hi Walter,
Could you possibly send me a PM with your username and I'll try to give you a ring?
I can't think of any reason why what you're requesting couldn't be done.

[#11]

Quote from: Mark

Hi there. My name is Mark Kelly and I'd like to introduce myself to the Community as the new Referrals Manager for PlusNet.  This is a new role that the business has created to solely manage and improve the service offered to our Referring customers.  I would like to thank our referring customers for the massive part they have played in the growth of this company. I’ll give you some background about me. I used to be a referrer.   Before coming to take up a new challenge at PlusNet, I was a partner in a successful IT Consultancy company in Northern Ireland.  As a PlusNet customer, I referred many of my clients up until early 2006, when the quality of service deteriorated and I, unfortunately, lost confidence. Being heavily involved with the PlusNet online community, I had close contact with PlusNet and I was also an active member of the PlusNet UserGroup.  From these associations stemmed an opportunity to join the team back in October 2006, initially as a Technical Support Manager in the Customer Support Centre.  It was a hard decision to make, leaving my business behind and relocating to England, but it has definitely been one of the best decisions of my life! My primary responsibility in my new role is to build a relationship with our referral community, enhance the service and benefits that our referring customers receive and, ultimately, to give our referrers the support they need and the confidence to refer again.  I will be involved in everything we do internally too, with the intention of improving and driving benefits to the customer experience. Over the coming weeks you will hear more from me about a revamp of our referral programme with enhanced benefits and offers. Before we get to that point, I really need to hear your thoughts, ideas and suggestions. You are the people who are referring and I need to know what I can do to help you continue to refer our products. My team and I will be on hand in this forum and I am really looking forward to the discussion.

Hi Mark,
I just wanted to say good luck in the new job,  but I'm thinking plusnet has now missed the boat these are my points on what I see about the service :
Good
1) Local support
2) Friendly people
3) Referral Monies
4) seem willing to try
Bad
1) 40GB limit (£5 at sky) and get a free router  The £10 option is rumored to offer 250GB although you'll never get them to say this.
2) Referral Monies not enough I run a computer support business and this don't come close when you talking about reseller discounts of 30% plus
3)  Speed seems very slow still really on BT and the service is really bad and slow at peak times.
4) also why don't look at things the other way,  if I want a customer to use your service have to tell them to subscribe and have to tell them to use my username (btw ianpage) and  this gets them thinking what I'm getting from this (I laugh and tell them 50p or something like that)
So why don't you have a referral where I can fill someone email address in and you send a invite and this way you already got my details.  Also I could implement this on my website and get people referring from here....
Anyway good luck.
Ian

[#12]

Hi Ian,

Quote

1) 40GB limit (£5 at sky) and get a free router  The £10 option is rumored to offer 250GB although you'll never get them to say this. 2) Referral Monies not enough I run a computer support business and this don't come close when you talking about reseller discounts of 30% plus 3)  Speed seems very slow still really on BT and the service is really bad and slow at peak times. 4) also why don't look at things the other way,  if I want a customer to use your service have to tell them to subscribe and have to tell them to use my username (btw ianpage) and  this gets them thinking what I'm getting from this (I laugh and tell them 50p or something like that)

1) Unfortunately we can't compete with Sky's prices as they're offering an unsustainable product (if on it's own).  We don't have the massive financial backing of Sky so we have to offer something a little more realistic   We do however dso our utmost best to offer a good value product.
2) Are you aware of the Great Summer Giveaway?  We're offering bounty payments of £5, £10, £20 or £25 depending on which product your referrals signs up for, once they have been with us for 90 days.
3) If you have a specific fault I'm more than happy to look into  it.  In the meantime, you might want to have a look at this post which may help you gain a better understanding of the way that MaxDSL works and suggested troubleshooting methods which may help with your speeds.
4) Again, I'd remind you of our bounty payments and also the ability to try us risk free for the first 90 days.  More details here and  here.
Hope this helps!

[#13]

Quote from: Mark

So why don't you have a referral where I can fill someone email address in and you send a invite and this way you already got my details.  Also I could implement this on my website and get people referring from here.... Anyway good luck. Ian

They do, here.

[#14]

To the Referrals Manager ...
You may care to review the content of my Ticket Number 25053691. Both your new customer and I are not impressed.
Regards, Ed

[#15]

On review of the details on the ticket you have quoted, the account have been handled properly.
The requirements to add the referral in question, has been set out clearly to you and have advised this has been followed. Unfortunately, a thorough inspection of the account in question does not contain any record of the request.
Without the ticket in question being raised, it would open up the opportunity for simply anybody to claim a referral when one may not exist.