Thanks you to the participants in today’s briefing for your thoughtful questions and suggestions. As for yesterday’s briefing I have compiled a set of Q & A’s, some of which Alan was able to address during the Zoom call. Other questions I have followed up with him subsequent to the meeting.
Q: Can you send us the slides at the end?
A: You can find the slides here: https://steppingup.nz/partner-resources-hub/skinny-jump-partner-resources/
Q: Would there be a benefit to having conversations around returns – no value judgement but framed as beneficial to others when you no longer need the connection?
A: Most definitely, it’s an important part of the sign-up conversation. We will make this more explicit in the next version of the Jump Partner manual.
Q: Would it be easier to have a return envelope or drop off at your local library?
A: Yes, that’s an option. The Spark Foundation team is discussing this with other organisations as well as Jump delivery partners (who are already doing this with the pre-paid courier bags that DIAA sends for recovering faulty and obsolete modems).
Q: Could you clarify if a customer still needs to top-up each month? Does the 15GB free monthly top-up count if they are just a low user?
A: No, customers only need to top up if they need more than the free 15GB data in any calendar month. 15GB meets the needs of around 17% of all Jump customers who never need to top up; effectively they are getting a totally free service.
Q: Is there an ETA on when we will have more modems?
A: This is difficult to predict, because of continuing global challenges with the modem supply chain. Skinny is trying to increase buffer stocks, but at this stage demand continues to outstrip supply. Our suggestion is to add customers to the waiting list in your Jump GSheet register. This helps us understand the true nature of the demand, so that we can keep pressure on our suppliers.
Q: Would it be useful for you to list some of the issues and the potential solutions? E.g. I don’t know anything about what is available out there commercially and I suspect many customers aren’t aware either?
A: As a not-for-profit organisation, the Spark Foundation is not permitted to recommend specific commercial products. However, DIAA could develop some guidelines on where to direct people who do not meet the 6 C’s criteria.
Q: We’d be interested to know the churn for our District when the info is available.
A: As a first step, Skinny is exploring the best way to share churn rates with Jump delivery partners and provide regular updates. These will be added to partner GSheet registers when they are available. There are privacy issues in sharing individual customer churn details with delivery partners, although follow up support from partners would be welcomed. We must first work out the best way to do this without breaching customers’ privacy.
Q: Currently, the questions to ask the customers to see if they qualify are located at the end of the sign up in the profile questions. Sorry if I missed it but does this mean we should be having this conversation before signing up?
A: We envisage that the six C’s will be conversation starters to determine if Jump is the right fit for the customer, so yes, it does make sense for this checklist to be up front. Note the first point on the Partner Checklist in the Partner Guide (Page 5) is to establish whether customers are eligible for Skinny Jump. It makes sense to perhaps change this to “Is Jump the right service for you?”. We will also be reviewing the Profile Form and the Online Application Form to take account of the 6 C’s.
Q: Does anyone make contact with the customers to assess how they going with their modems? This maybe the opportunity to check.
A: Skinny Jump is planning to introduce seven touch points (by email) during the first 12 months of each new Jump customer’s journey, to provide helpful tips and solicit feedback. This will identify any challenges that customers might be having with their Jump connection.
Q: Could partners contact people they have signed up to do this follow up, especially for people who have stopped using Jump?
A: We would welcome this support from partners, but we appreciate this could involve a huge amount of effort, especially for partners who are signing up more than one a day. For privacy reasons, Skinny is not able to share individual customer data with partners (or anyone else for that matter). So, any follow up calls would involve contacting everyone who ticks the box saying they are happy to be contacted. DIAA would be happy to work with a partner to test this process, using a conversational approach based on the current surveys.
Q: We usually follow up with our customers to ensure they have connected successfully.
A: We would recommend a call after 2-4 weeks. We have noticed some customers return their modems within the first couple of weeks; we do not fully understand why they change their minds so quickly. We are concerned that many others may also change their mind but don’t bother returning the modem.
Digital Inclusion Alliance Aotearoa 