And the winner is…

It is Friday and I have been promising to tell you who the winner was in our Friday Quiz from a few weeks back.

Congratulations to Wendy Brock from Picton Library “I can only think of one thing – logging on! Logging on to their email, their skinny account, and modem password! Don’t know if this counts as one or more answers.” But Wendy also suggested a solution: “If they can’t remember their email password (as their phone has a cracked screen and cannot be used) they use one of our laptops and we help them set up a new email and write their passwords down on a piece of paper (which will probably get lost). That is after giving up on resetting their password as they don’t have the same phone number…. LOL.“

I was also impressed with the suggestion from Shantel Hennessy at Taitech in Gisborne. She nearly had the right answer, like many of you, but what impressed me was how she helps people remember what to do when it comes to top-up time: “I’m guessing the answer would be payment options. I’ve had a few come to me for help with  payment or renewing plans. I’ll ask the customer to pop into Taitech and we will do it together. I’ve ended up making a print out of step by steps on the payment options that I give them, I think they forget that there is that info in the booklet they first get when signing up for skinny jump.”

And here’s the handout that Shantel gives them:

So well done Wendy and Shantel. Thanks for your helpful responses. Now a visit to Moore Wilsons to see what treats I can find for you both.

PS. Thanks to everyone who responded to my quiz.

Ooops – it’s Monday

I promised everyone that I would give you the answer on Friday to my question posed on Friday 4 October concerning what Jump customers find to be one of the most challenging things about being a Jump customer. 

Most of you sort of got it right – something to do with top-ups using the app. But that wasn’t the exact answer I was looking for. What I wanted to know is what the particular barrier was that caused nearly 300,000 failed attempts last year and what partners can do to address this.

A couple of you really hit the nail on the head with the correct answer – people simply couldn’t remember the email they used to set up their Skinny Jump account or their password!

And what was even better, these partners had some excellent strategies for addressing this (I’ll share these with you when I get back to my office).

The Jump partner guide does recommend that you advise all customers to write down the email they have used for their Jump account as well as their password. What the Guide doesn’t say is where to write this down.

We strongly suggest that during the sign-up process, and before customers leave with their modem, you insist that these details are written down on the inside cover of their Partner Guide – the little booklet that is supplied with every modem.

Friday Jump Quiz

I wonder how many partners know what Jump customers find to be one of the most challenging things about being a Jump customer. Here’s a hint. During the 13 month period from 1 July 2023 to 31 July 2024, Jump customers tried to do this nearly 300,000 times and failed! And here’s another hint – this is something you can help your customers with.

Send your answers to jump@diaa.nz and any advice about what your team does to address this, and all will be revealed next Friday! Unfortunately, Cadburys is no longer producing chocolate fish, so that’s a challenge we (DIAA) have to solve by next Friday.

Christmas is coming and so is our annual Jump modem stocktake!

🎶 Time to stocktake, let’s get it right,
2024 Jump modems in sight,
Partners, count what you’ve got, check it with care,
Look at cell W2, compare what’s there! 🎶

🎶 If the numbers don’t match, don’t you delay,
List those IMEIs and send them our way,
We’re updating records, let’s make them shine,
Jump modem stocktake – it’s audit time!* 🎶

Last year it took over 3 months to hear back from all our partners; this year our goal is 2 months, ie. by 30 November 2024. This helps us to start the new year with a clean slate. If your Jump stock matches the number in cell W2, please send us a short email confirming this (jump@diaa.nz). If you don’t know how to access your GSheet, send us an email and we’ll remind you.

Our most frequent request from partners is about modem supply “we’ve run out of modems”. We do our best to try and avoid this but if your Jump GSheet is showing unallocated modems, we give priority to those who have run out. The most common problem is that someone has simply overlooked completing a Profile Form when issuing a modem. So the stocktake is really important in keeping the Jump wheels turning.

Of course, you don’t have to wait until this becomes a problem. At any time during the year, you can check that your stock in hand matches the number in cell W2 in your Jump register. If not, just send us an email (jump@diaa.nz) with the IMEIs of the modems on hand and we’ll update your records.

Supplies of Jump Collateral

I am starting to receive requests for more supplies of the above “Stopped Using your Skinny Jump Modem” stickers; I suspect that this could mean other partners are also running out. We (DIAA) have a reasonable supply of these and can supply further copies (they come in bundles of 10). We are planning a further bulk supply over the coming months, but we can hopefully keep you stocked in the meantime. Remember to attach this sticker to every modem that you issue.

If you need more copies please send your requests to Shelley (shelley@diaa.nz) and she’ll get some on the courier for you.

And while we are talking about Jump collateral, do remember that you can order this online through our Stepping UP website: Stepping UP>Partner Resources Hub>Skinny Jump Partner Resources> scroll down to: Skinny Jump Promotional Materials

More on Jump modem packaging

We continue to get requests from partners for empty Jump boxes, so that returned modems, when reset, can be issued to new customers with the packaging. My previous posts explained that this is not a requirement; modems can be issued without packaging – the essentials are a power supply, an ethernet cable and a user guide.

My April blog post indicating that we could send partners boxes of empty boxes is no longer a viable option. For the last 2 – 3 years we have had courier sponsorship from NZ Post through their Delivering for Good programme and this made it possible for us to send out empty boxes, but this sponsorship unfortunately came to an end on 30 June.

Certainly, partners still have the option to retain some packaging that is returned with faulty modems; this could then be re-used with reset modems. Some library partners have ‘library bags’ for use by customers to carry home books; these would be a good sustainable option.

The Skinny Jump team has offered another solution – their Skinny Jump ‘zero’ bags – these are tough re-usable carry bags that scrunch up to almost nothing – see photos below.

We don’t have huge supplies, so we will only be sending these on request; please contact jump@diaa.nz with any requests.

Why we ask you to return all unwanted modems

During the week a partner notified us that a Skinny Jump modem had been returned in a very poor condition and questioned whether it was worth the cost of a courier package to return it.

While the primary motivation in recovering unwanted modems is to refurbish them so that they can be used for another family, equally important is the need to keep electronic waste out of landfills.

I am not sure how the partner who raised this issue was planning to dispose of the modem, but New Zealand is still facing many challenges in having robust ways for us to dispose of our e-waste. There are three particular challenges:

  1. where do you take your e-waste;
  2. what does the organisation accepting your e-waste do with it; and
  3. who pays?

There is a solution, called Product Stewardship, were suppliers of electronic goods are required to not only pay for the recovery and processing of e-waste, but also meet robust environmental standards for the processing and disposal of recycled materials.

Most manufacturers of electronic goods are happy to pay these costs; they simply add recycling costs to the price of new goods, so the consumer actually pays. But, in countries where they do this, they insist that governments create mandatory product stewardship regulations. This ensures a level playing field for all suppliers. And this is what is missing in New Zealand. There have been calls for this for nearly 20 years, but successive governments have failed to get this across the line.

The previous government made some progress and there are hopes we could see mandatory e-waste product stewardship schemes in operation within the next couple of years.

In the meantime, we rely on suppliers to take responsibility on a voluntary basis. Some already do this, but it is not that straightforward when most of the electrical and electronic equipment used in New Zealand is imported. We then rely on local equipment distributors or local authorities to assist with recovery and recycling.

Spark NZ has made a commitment to take responsibility for the recovery and refurbishment or recycling of all Skinny Jump modems. They can then ensure that no unwanted equipment ends up in landfills or with recyclers who do not comply with good environmental practices.

So, yes, it is worth paying the courier charges to recover all unwanted modems.

Jump training for new staff

I had a call this week from a staff member in one of our Jump partners who had been asked to take over managing the Jump programme because the person who had been managing this had left. Not surprisingly, she had a number of questions about our processes.

Staff changes in our Jump delivery partner network are not unusual. We met with the Skinny Jump team this week and spent some time discussing the on-boarding process for new Jump partners. But what we quickly realised that everything we were discussing applied equally to new people joining the Jump delivery network.

We have some excellent resources for supporting new Jump delivery staff, but the challenge is to work out how to engage with them and let them know what is available. So here are a few questions for you – if you are reading this, then you are probably an experienced Jump delivery partner and can help connect us with Jump newbies.

  1. Do you know that there are three types of Jump delivery partner?
    • Jump referral partner, knows about Jump but is not involved in the issuing of modems;
    • Jump connector, issues modems and helps customers set up their Skinny Jump accounts and understand the top-up process;
    • Jump specialist, understands all the Jump processes, including modem supply and recovery of returned modems.
  2. Have you completed a Jump Partner Pathway online course?
    • Course 1 is for everyone involved in the Jump delivery process (referral, connector and specialist);
    • Course 2 is for everyone involved with the issue of modems (connectors and specialists);
    • Course 3 is for at least one person in each delivery partner organisation (specialists)
  3. Do you know who to contact for support with Jump processes?
    • Sue for training and promotion,
    • Shelley for day-to-day operations, and
    • Laurence for modem supply and recovery
  4. How should you contact the Skinny Jump team?
    • As a delivery partner, you shouldn’t contact the Skinny team directly
    • Partners should contact the DIAA team for any support required (jump@diaa.nz for modem supply issues; 0800 463 422 for other day-to-day operational issues; sue@diaa.nz for training and promotional resources)
    • Customers should be encouraged to contact Skinny directly if they have a problem using their modem, topping up their accounts and for reporting faults
  5. What are the most important tools for Jump partners?
    • Jump Partner how-to guide and FAQ, February 2023 edition
    • Skinny Jump Partner Resources, incl Partner Pathway training modules
      • Jump Profile Form, to be completed for every modem issued (except replacements for faulty modems)
      • Modem Returns Form, to be completed for every returned modem or when partners encounter a problem during the modem setup process
      • Partner Google Sheets, activity record for each partner (key document for managing supply of modems); contact Laurence or Shelley if you can’t access your GSheet.

And a final word – if you are planning to move to a new role, please let the team at DIAA know (contact Laurence, Shelley or Sue) so that we can update our records and help the team member replacing you get up to speed with Jump.

We’ve run out of modems!

This is probably the most frequent message we get from Jump delivery partners – and while I have your attention, please send these messages (in fact any messages relating to modem supply or returns) to jump@diaa.nz.

Do not send messages about modems to others on our DIAA team or to the Skinny Jump team. This just adds to email overload and delay in responding to your request.

Our goal is that partners should never have to send us any messages like this. The modem supply process depends on Profile Forms being completed for every modem issued – the only exception is when replacements are issued for faulty modems. Provided the replacement modem details (IMEI and BB number) are included in the Modem Returns form, there is no need for partners to complete a new Profile Form. We update your GSheets using the information you provide in the Modem Returns form.

If you don’t complete a Profile Form, we have no record of the modem being issued. Skinny knows when modems have been activated, but for privacy reasons, they cannot share this information with us, so we totally rely on the profile forms. So, we think you still have the modem and this suppresses (or at best delays) further supplies being sent.

Our stock replenishment process tries to estimate your likely demand for the next four- five weeks, as this is the current lag in modem supply. At any point in time we have as many as 1000 modems in the supply pipeline. When re-ordering, we also take into account the number of people on your waitlist, as recorded below the blue line in your Jump GSheet.

We know some partners keep a separate record of people waiting for a Jump modem, but unfortunately, if we don’t have this information, we can’t take that into account when re-ordering, so this creates an ongoing problem for you in always running out of modems.

But having said all that, we still prefer that you contact us and let us know when your stocks are running low. Please check your Gsheets first as we record modems on order for you there, including the date that we placed the order. You can expect new supplies to arrive 4-5 weeks after the recorded date.