Let me just share with you our sad, frustrating experience with PLDT Home. Let’s call this post “our PLDT woes.”
I’m not writing this post to discredit the provider, but to document our frustrations on how they are handling our calls for support, and maybe, just maybe, they will strive to update their playbook on how to attend to fault tickets.
I can only go as far back as January, as it will be too much to include the reports we submitted back in 2020. It’s 2021, folks, so let’s focus on the current year. That is not to say that we are only experiencing this now. We have been at the mercy of PLDT’s inefficient service for a looooooooooooooong time. There are not enough o’s to express how long we’ve been suffering.
So let me share the series of fault tickets we have had since January this year.
A litany of fault tickets
January 25: 37154743 – we received confirmation of the report telling us we will receive an update within 24 hours, but we never did. The connection somehow restored, although on a crawl, but I’m all for looking at the bright side. Better a slow connection than no connection at all. So we did not call again. Saved us at least 30 minutes of listening to bad music.
February 11: 37416708 – we received confirmation of the report telling us we will receive an update within 24 hours. But only on February 13, at 7:37 am, did we receive an update that it was finally assigned to a field service team. Two other updates were received, telling us that our ticket has been assigned to their field service team, at 9:41 am and 1:31 pm on February 13, respectively.
Obviously, the fault was not resolved, because on March 1, we again called in a report.
March 1: 37689599 – this was not resolved. We called to follow up on March 2, because while the connection has improved from being intermittent at about 20 times a day, we are only getting disconnected at around 10 times, and when we are connected, it’s crawling.
Now here is the funny part, and I’m being sarcastic here, coz it’s not at all funny.
The person who took my husband’s call, Janice, had the audacity to tell him. “Sir, di ba ang report n’yo is wala kayong net? Meron naman ngayon e.“
So what was she implying then? That we don’t have the right to complain of a slow connection? Be thankful that we have connection? Yes, I think that’s what she meant when she said that.
Great customer service!
March 5: 37750639 – this was not resolved. And although we received a notification that they will send us an update within 24 hours, they never did. On March 7, someone called. He asked, “Sir, ok na ba ang internet n’yo?” To which my husband replied, “Sa ngayon, may connection kami, pero sobrang bagal.” The guy who called just said thank you, and ended the call.
March 10: 37825355 – We called again, to follow up on the March 5 fault ticket because why else would we call? The problem was not resolved! It’s not like we have time to spend waiting for someone to take our call.
But lo and behold! The March 5 ticket, according to the one who took the call, this time named Ice, has been closed. Closed! Without being resolved! When my husband asked when it was closed, Ice said it was closed on March 6. That was the day before that nameless guy called on March 7.
Why I think they are closing tickets
So, guys, this is how PLDT gets to avoid rebates for non-delivery of service. I don’t know what their Service Level Standard is in terms of fault resolution. Nobody from PLDT’s customer service could answer me when I ask them this. But in an ideal world, when a subscriber doesn’t get the service they’re paying for within a certain period of time, they should get a rebate. In fact, the old telecommunications company servicing our area before it were bought out by PLDT had a Service Level Standard of 72 hours. Meaning, your fault report has to be resolved within 72 hours, or you don’t pay for each day that you’re out of service in excess of 72 hours. But here is PLDT closing fault reports even when it has not been resolved so that if and when a subscriber complains, they will not be compelled to issue rebates.
This makes me wonder. I read on social media some people experience no service for weeks. Are they getting a respite from paying services not delivered? Hey, you’re welcome to comment below if not.
Intermittent connection
Our main problem has been the intermittent connection. Let’s not even include here the slow connection when we are fortunate enough to be connected, because again, I’m all for looking at the bright side. Being grateful for the little things.
Have you ever experienced opening an email and then not being able to send a reply because you just lost connection?
Or seeing that notification on Gmail saying “you are not connected, try again after xxxx seconds?”
Or being on Facebook and seeing that notification that says “you are offline?”
That’s how an intermittent connection manifests.
Troubleshooting
Please don’t think that we, as subscribers who are badly in need of internet service, were just sitting twiddling our thumbs while waiting for PLDT to give us the service due us. And may I mention, service we are paying for, on time, and in full?
My husband has been actively looking for ways to have our problem resolved from our end.
I know that I’ve said earlier that we are not going to include 2020 anymore. But it’s important to note back in December 2020, our modem was replaced after so many reports. And it somehow resolved the intermittent connection, at that time.
So during the call with Janice on March 5, my husband asked her, “Ano ba ang operating temperature ng modem n’yo?“
Sadly, she didn’t know the answer.
But my husband is my personal MacGyver. So he went ahead and got a mini fan just for the modem, and put the modem on top of two bars so that the modem is not touching the surface, allowing air to freely circulate and help keep the modem cool.
The intermittent connection was resolved, no thanks to PLDT.
But wait, there’s more!
Are we on intranet?
My husband and our son, Jude, now closely monitors the temperature of our modem.
But although it has resolved the intermittent connection, the speed (or lack thereof) is another matter.
Yesterday, I took time to capture this.
Folks, we are paying for a plan that is supposed to give us 50 Mbps. And that screen capture above is a sad version of 50Mbps.
So here again is a funny thing… and again, it’s not really funny at all.
Remember Janice? The one my husband was talking to on March 2?
By the way, my husband always has his phone on speaker when calling. I am the subscriber, but my husband is always the one to call them, because between the two of us, he is the coolheaded one. I avoid calling PLDT at all because I just might die of a heart attack even though I don’t have any heart ailment.
So on March 2, Janice, who introduced herself as a a tech support, asked us to do a speed test. And we did, using a Singapore server. At that time, we were getting just 3 Mbps. Janice insisted we should do the speed test using the server nearest us, which is PLDT Lucena. My husband said, “That will not be realistic, Miss. If I do a speed test using just another PLDT server, then we are staying within PLDT. That’s not internet. Do you understand what I’m saying here?”
And apparently, Janice didn’t, because until the call ended, she was saying, “Sir, hindi po talaga namin ina-advise na mag speed test kayo using international server.” What the fudge!? Are we on intranet!?
But please allow me to show again yesterday’s speed test. Notice which server I used? And the speed is still not reaching 10 Mbps?
Should I be happy and dancing the jig because hey, it is at least not 3 Mbps!?
Even a saint will lose it
My husband is a saint. That’s why he is the designated complainant.
But guess what? He’s just about ready to explode, too. He’s been spoon-feeding these guys on what they could do. He’s been telling the PLDT guys, you keep doing the same thing, and the problem keeps reoccuring. Maybe it’s time to try something else. Like maybe buy a better quality modem?
He was just telling me a while ago…
“Hindi na pwedeng mabait ka lang. Baka matulad tayo sa kapitbahay natin na walong buwang naghihintay.“
My appeal to PLDT
So here’s why I’m finally writing this post.
May I just make an appeal to PLDT to add the following to their playbook?
Have a Service Level Standard. If you already have one, make sure that your frontliners know what that is, so that when customers ask, they will receive an informed answer. Or better yet, make your customers aware of this.
Train your frontliners to be customer-centric. When an irate customer calls, that means there is a problem that only you can resolve. So please, train your frontliners to answer in a way that won’t make an irate customer be more irate than they already are. Believe me when I say, we’d rather not call you. But we have to. So be nice.
Train your frontliners on the technical stuff. We have the “turn-off-your-modem-for-5-minutes-then-switch-it-on-again-what-color-is-the-light-on-your-modem” exercise memorized. We are not calling you to be coached on something we have already done prior to calling you. Instead, train them so they know what is the operating temperature of the modem should be, coz really, it just might be the one thing that’s causing an intermittent connection. And here’s a big thing. We are on a Fibr connection, so when a member of your technical support team tells us the reason that we are having an intermittent connection is that the line might be grounded, that makes you look bad. Guys, fiber doesn’t get grounded. Light passes through the fiber cable, not electric current. Give your people proper orientation, please, so they don’t give BS reasons to customers just for the sake of giving them a reason why their connection is sh*tty. Another reason why we’d rather not call you, promise! Conversations like this with your team would be hilarious if we are not so pissed already.
Train your technical support to look at every angle. Teach them to go outside the box. Consider every possibility. No one… not one of the technicians who’ve attended to our complaints have mentioned the possibility of an overheating modem as the cause of connection loss. My husband did his own experimentation and it has helped us avoid connection loss.
Get a better brand of modem. Our long-time suffering now points to the modem overheating. Although this is not to be considered a conclusion to our ongoing experiment, you might want to look into that, too. We are in a tropical country. And we can’t all afford to be in airconditioned rooms like you. I’m sure there are modem brands out there that can go up to 60°C. What additional cost you incur for better brands of modems will be covered by what you’ll save from paying manpower you need to attend to customer complaints.
Tips to my readers, all three of you 🙂
Don’t be a pushover. We have a neighbor who has not had internet for 8 months and they just keep on waiting… and waiting… and waiting… And they can afford that because they are a couple of seniors who only need the internet to do video calls with their children. So they go to a daughter’s house to make the call because they have no internet at home. But mind you, they are still paying for the service. My husband and I, we can’t afford that. We work from home. We need the internet, so if you are like us, then demand the service you are paying for.
Try to keep your cool. Better yet, keep your modem cool. So here’s what we’ve learned. On our own, mind you. Again, no thanks to PLDT. Their Fiber Home modem has an operating temperature of -5°C to 45°C. To monitor your modem’s temperature, go to PLDT’s internet router dashboard at http://192.168.1.1.
You’ll see that our modem’s temp now is at 53.08°C. And that is with the fan already. And room temperature is at 30°C. But so far, we’re holding on.
Maybe we’ll get our house air-conditioned.
But until then, do share your PLDT experience as a comment below.
Had a pretty exciting week. Friday last week, I was on a call with the founder and CEO of an organic, nutrient-rich, cold-pressed juice company in the US, and their business launch is happening soon.
And why am I telling you about this?
Yes, you guessed it. I joined their team on Monday!
While preparing my independent contractor’s agreement, I got to thinking. What can I do to help their business launch a success?
And so I came up with a list of things a business owner should consider when launching a business and decided to blog about it.
A business launch can both be exciting and challenging. Getting started means the possibilities are endless. You have nowhere to go but forward. And opportunities abound.
On the flip side, because it’s new, most of the things you need to do and attend to are possibly overwhelming to you. So many tasks, so little time. And If you spread yourself too thin, you risk getting nothing done and not meeting your goals.
You probably have a lot on your mind and aren’t sure where to give the most time and attention. The following ideas will help you identify what you should be focusing on as you launch your business. Make these items a priority, and you’ll be on your way to creating a long-lasting and successful business that you can be proud of.
Hiring A Team
That CEO of what’s to be America’s favorite juice did the right thing right the first time. He sent me an email and asked if we could talk. And we did. So now he’s taken the most important step to success. He’s taken in some help.
You may be the boss and the person with all the ideas, but you can’t possibly have the time to do all the work yourself. Instead, you can opt to hire a team of professionals who can help you execute your business plan. Hiring mistakes can be costly, so make sure you do your homework and only make offers to people who you feel are the right fit. Set expectations early on and schedule performance reviews so you can track your staff’s progress.
Attracting Customers
Have you done your homework in identifying your target market? How are you going to attract your ideal customers?
It would help if you can be ready with a marketing plan. Build a strategy that includes elements such as having a blog and running paid advertisement campaigns. If you need help creating and distributing these ads, you can learn more about setting yourself up for success in this area. There’s a lot of noise to cut through, so you need to get creative and ensure you’re spending your marketing dollars wisely.
Your Competitors
Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.
It’s the same thing in business. Know your customers, but know your competitors better.
Know what your competitors are up to. What strategies are working for them? How? Why? Find out where they’re falling short, so you can step in and fill in the gaps in these areas. Study them so you know what you’re up against and what products or services you should be working on and developing next.
Future Growth
When you’re starting, there’s nowhere to go but up and forward. Keep your eyes on the prize. Growth is inevitable, so plan ahead. Be ready to expand.
I just finished an online course on Business Continuity Planning, and it was awesome. It reinforced my belief that we should always have a plan. Coz when we do, we are not just preparing for growth. We are also preparing for business setbacks, like a pandemic, for example.
Having a solid plan will allow you to make adjustments to your course of action. Educate yourself on what to consider when planning a business expansion, so you’re ready when the time comes to move forward or pivot your business.
Conclusion
Launching a business can be tough and it will require a lot of your time and energy. However, if you do your due diligence preparing for it, it’s going to be a walk in the park. Have a solid plan, then get some A-rated help. Know that you’ll make mistakes along the way but instead of dwelling on them use these setbacks as learning opportunities and keep powering forward with optimism.
Public relations, or what is more commonly referred to as PR, is a persuasion business. Having a good one is what you, as a business owner, should aim to maintain so people will buy your products or services. So you and your product will stay top of mind for consumers.
But what does good public relations entail? What do you need to do?
The Public Relations Society of America defines public relations as a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics.
If you want your business to grow, then consider maintaining good PR as an essential part of your business. From the small online sellers that sprouted during this pandemic, to the big, established businesses that are trying to survive the economic downturn, good, if not excellent PR, is a necessity.
If you are a small business and are just starting, gaining visibility through multiple social media platforms might be enough. Partnering with bloggers who can create a story and make people follow that story might just work.
But if you are already a established business, and you are neck deep in competition with other big businesses, this is not enough.
Working with a Knowledgeable PR & Branding Agency
PR professionals generate positive publicity for their clients. They keep the public abreast of the activities that your company is doing. They write speeches, they write and distribute press releases, they conduct market research, and they craft responses to negative opinions about your product or business online.
What you need to keep in mind is that PR is different from advertising. While advertising will tell the public to “buy this product,” public relations will say “this product is important.” Advertising builds exposure. PR builds trust. While ads are mostly visual, PR uses language. And if what I’m saying is confusing to you, I’d say, collaborate with a PR & branding company that specializes in your business area because they know what they’re doing.
There is a PR company for every niche. So let’s say you are a law firm. When your law firm collaborates with a company like Elite Lawyer Management, for example, you will benefit from the national media outlets they already have relationships with. They can get your law firm’s name in front of a bigger audience. They can also help you with content marketing to help you promote your organization widely and effectively.
Collaborating with professionals who are experts in the public relations niche allows you to concentrate on what you do the best: running your business. It also takes away the high cost of having to do trial and error, and the stress that comes with it.
Gaining Credibility
One the things that a good public relations firm will do for you is establish your credibility. There are two sides to public relations: the story-telling side, and the damage-control side.
The storytelling side cultivates a story that establishes your reputation as a business. They tell a story about your ideas, your products, your projects, your accomplishments. Then they reach out to established news outlets that will feature these stories about you. This will help attract customers to do business with you.
This storytelling aims to show the human side of your brand through PR materials. Sharing the story behind your company’s founder, for example, can build an emotional connection with your audience. Sharing customer reviews can elicit a similar response and build a loyal client base.
The damage control side aims to mitigate any damage to your business’ reputation. Unintentionally releasing a bad product, for example, can damage your company’s reputation beyond repair. PR professionals come in to craft an actionable plan to mitigate the damage. Recall the products. Issue press releases that would inform the public not to buy any more of those bad products. Let the public know what the company is doing to make the products good again. These are actions that cannot be addressed by advertising.
Building Awareness for Your Product or Service
The storytelling side of PR also aims to build awareness of your company and your product or service. Let’s say you have a complex product or service. The PR professionals working with you can break down the complexities and make it easier for the public to understand.
There is what we call social media, and traditional media.
Traditional media is the likes of the New York Times, or the Huffington Post. Social media is Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. You cannot post a press release on social media. It will be too boring.
PR professionals can take this press release apart and make it an announcement with just 140 characters for Twitter; create a captivating graphic for Instagram and Pinterest; or create a video explainer for Facebook and YouTube.
Easier, Yes, But It Still Takes Time
While it is indeed easier to just work with a reputable PR firm, it will still take time to reap results. Success does not happen overnight, even for the biggest companies out there.
Over time, though, you can expect to see results as your business starts to become a household name and stand apart from your competitors. Growing your business will be a walk in the park once you’ve leveraged the use of good great public relations.
Business expansion? Am I crazy to be writing about a business expansion when COVID is still here, no vaccine in sight, offices are still closed, and businesses are closing down?
Well, maybe not. At least, not everyone is closing up shop at this time, right? Some are just starting. In fact, some businesses just opened up in response to the demand that the pandemic brought in.
So let’s say you have a business that you have been running from home. And that you are still going strong amidst the present challenges. It may be smart to look at the opportunities that opened up during quarantine and plan to scale up for when we ease into the new normal.
Business expansion can be done in several ways. You can maybe expand your service or product offering, expand to a new target market, expand to new locations, or even expand globally by going online. That is if you are not doing it yet.
Here’s a tip: Look at the influx of informal online sellers. Check out what they’re offering, and go from there.
If you are seriously thinking about a business expansion, consider the following:
Know who your next customers are
You have to know who will avail of your services or products next. Are your new offerings things that they would need or want? Can they afford them? Where are these people located? Do they shop online? Or do they prefer a brick and mortar store?
You would also want to identify other demographics of your new target market like age, gender, marital status, income, ethnicity, and occupation, to name a few. Be ready to adapt to how your customers react to stimulus so you know what type of advertising you’ll put in place. Be prepared to be flexible and tweak strategies based on how your new target market responds.
Hiring additional manpower
If you are expanding your business, there’s a fair chance that you won’t be able to stay at the same level of logistics that you have presently in place. You might have a small team already or may already be outsourcing. But you may need more, especially if you are branching out to different areas. Or maybe you’ll be offering a new service that will need a different skill level from people that you already have on board.
When time is short and money is tight, it can be difficult to train people up for what you want to do. Maybe you could even hire someone else to do the training for you, so you can focus on working on the strategies for your business expansion. For example, ELMO onboarding can help your new employees to acquire the necessary knowledge and skills they need for your business. This is another level of outsourcing, but it offers tremendous help for your business.
Being consistent
So you expand your business. You add more products. More services. You acquire a new customer base. You implement new processes to keep up with the change.
Do you just forget your old products? Ignore that old customer base? Let go of the old processes?
Of course not!
The key is consistency. You have to maintain the same level of service you provide to your existing customer, if not better. You have to continue to improve on your existing products and services. You have to keep the processes that worked and helped you get to where you are. Be consistent with your message. Be consistent with your brand.
Remember, you won’t even be in a place where you are able to expand your business without your existing products and services. You have your existing customer base to thank for your ability to grow your business. And you can always upsell to your existing customers.
And there you have it. I hope you find this helpful.
Outsourcing can be defined several ways, but allow me to share what Investopedia has to say:
Outsourcing is the business practice of hiring a party outside a company to perform services and create goods that traditionally were performed in-house by the company’s own employees and staff.
And I have been a blessed beneficiary of this business practice called outsourcing for the past fourteen years. Outsourcing made me the WAHM that I am now.
The practice of taking a piece of your business outside the four walls of your office and letting someone else run an element of it is an idea that may still be foreign to you as a business owner. But those who have embraced it have extremely benefited on it and thrived with it. I know this, because I have an inside scoop in at least a few businesses that hired me as their virtual assistant.
Outsourcing is one of the best ways you can manage your business, especially now that we are in the middle of a pandemic. Outsourcing may even be the best way to keep your business running without the worry of additional overhead expenses.
So how do you outsource?
Hire independent contractors who will provide the expertise you need without worrying about office space, office equipment, and other operational expenses that go with running a company. These independent contractors can be a virtual assistant, a graphic designer, a social media manager, or even manufacturers of products you sell.
Let’s look at six ways hiring these independent contractors can support your business and enhance the way that you do things.
Focus on your business
When you are able to delegate tasks, you can focus on your core activities. Like strategizing on how to grow your business. You won’t have to worry about the menial and repetitive tasks that would usually take your time away from what you do best.
Low cost to operate
With outsourcing, you can keep the costs to operate your business low. You only pay for actual hours rendered by the independent contractor without the need to pay for holidays and benefits of regular employees. Independent contractors come with specific expertise or niches, so you can be assured that you have the best people to work for you without spending for their training.
They also come with their own equipment and they take care of maintenance of those equipment. They also work from their own workspace so you don’t have to worry about electricity, water and internet bills.
Paying them is a breeze, too. You can get contractors from different countries and use only one platform to pay them. Platforms abound, but one platform that comes to mind is Cloudpay payroll service.
Whatever money you save from operations can then be utilized for your business upgrades or expansion.
Maintain operational control
With outsourcing, you can maintain operational control by clearly enumerating expectations. Tasks are identified and deadlines are set. You hire the contractor with the expertise that you need, so there are no learning curves. They hit the ground running and you sit back and watch them get the job done.
Identifying talented workers can be difficult, and you also have to think about how you will pay them. Your remote workers could be from different countries, which is a problem when it comes to running payroll. To keep your workers motivated, you may want to open a foreign currency account online that will enable them to receive money in their local denomination. Paying your remote workers online is efficient, and it’s more affordable than using traditional payment methods.
No interruptions
Employees are entitled to benefits. They can take their vacation leave, or even maternity leave at the time that you need them most. And because they’re human, then can also get sick. What happens when an employee does not show up for work?
With independent contractors, you are assured of uninterrupted productivity. If they need to be away from work, they will ensure that there is someone to take over the task. That is part of their contract. They take care of getting their replacement when they know that they can’t can’t do it themselves. And you won’t even have to spend for the replacement’s training. In short, outsourcing offers excellent continuity for your business.
They are your partners
Most independent contractors are business owners, too. Like I am. So they understand the challenges of running a business. Some, like me, would even treat your business as their own, so they will make sure that you thrive. They are sincerely interested in helping you achieve your goals. Because they know that your success will mean their success, too.
More freedom
Earlier I mentioned that outsourcing can allow you to focus on your business. On the other hand, it also allows you more freedom to enjoy life. Having a virtual assistant, for example, will get you more organized. Imagine not having to wade through your inbox everyday. Let your virtual assistant do it for you. Imagine not having to worry about being late to a meeting. Or missing someone’s birthday. A virtual assistant can efficiently manage your calendar for you. Not having to worry about little things give you more time to spend with your family. When you have someone else to do what you could have been doing, you gain time. And that time is yours to use.
Outsourcing can change the way that you do business. And it’s important that you look into it as a way to keep yours going. A pandemic shouldn’t stop your business operations. Outsourcing can help you to keep going even when you are working from home.
So, take a look at how you can outsource some elements of your business. You just might realize that you’re better off not doing most of what you’re presently doing.
In need of an independent contractor? Check out the video below.
