Membership
What is membership?
Everyone can be a member of RippleEffect.net for free. Benefits include rippling, keeping track of your ripples, and sharing your ripples.
Opening a business Ripple Page on RippleEffect.net for your business is not free, but is very economical. See
Pricing for details.
Is membership required to ripple a business (give them feedback)?
No. Ripplers (a customer giving feedback) can ripple with or without a membership.
Is membership free?
Yep.
Plans and Prices
What if we go over and receive more ripples than subscribed for?
You want to control your monthly budget, so we apply no overage charges. And you certainly don't want to deny your customers the opportunity to ripple you. Ripples that go over your subscription amount are received into your account in a "locked" status. Simply wait until the next billing cycle and they are automatically unlocked for you. This way you can handle spikes in volume by spreading them out over multiple months.
For example, let's say that your billing cycle is the 18th of each month. You subscribe to PLAN 300, and you receive 312 ripples in one month. The 301st through the 312th ripples are temporarily "locked" until a new billing cycle begins on the 18th.
On the 18th, simply go into your "locked" folder, and those 12 ripples are available for you to "unlock" with a click.
What if we go under and receive fewer ripples than subscribed to?
You may downgrade your subscription at any time. We suggest that you begin with a slightly smaller volume plan than you expect to need, and upgrade from there.
Refund Policy
What is the refund policy?
Our refund policy can be viewed
here.
How To Cancel
Send an email to:
service@rippleeffect.net.
Long-Term Contracts
Is there a contract involved?
Nope. Pay month-to-month, and quit paying any time you like. Upgrade any time, and downgrade any time. We need to earn your business every month. If we don't, we don't ever want to be in the business of enforcing a contract, and charging an unwilling and unhappy customer.
Technical
How do we get started?
It's quick and easy. Click "get started" and (1) complete your profile information, including a credit card or other payment process. Then (2) build your businesses with a name and username. That's about 1 minute, and your Ripple Page(s) are setup and ready to go. Then you simply need to start inviting customers to ripple your business(es).
How do I get the "feedback" button installed on my website?
It's pretty easy; We generate one or two lines of code and you copy and paste it into your website's html.
Do I need to know html to embed the Ripple Tools like the feedback button on my site?
It's not necessary. Most of our customers don't know html. We've made it very easy and provide instructions. If you still don't feel comfortable editing the HTML of your pages, we have technicians available to help. They will need admin access to your website's source code, and that's it. There is a one-time setup fee for this service. $69 for the first two pages on one website, and $10 for each page after that on the same website. Additional websites are the same.
Do I need to have a website to use RippleEffect.net?
Nah. If you have one, we offer some pretty great embeddable tools that you can install there to get your visitors to both view and give feedback. We also give you a business Ripple Page automatically. That can be the only online presence you need, depending on the nature of your business.
Operational
My customers come into my location; How do I invite them to ripple us?
It's easy. Print the invitation on your receipt tape, or on some other printed material, like an invoice, brochure, coupon, or card. You might even get a rubber stamp made. However you do it, make the inviting part of your customer experience, part of your system.
We have prepared illustrations, to make it easy for you:
receipt tape Invoice
Rubber Stamp Coupon
Does your software filter for curse words, or excess skin?
We can't filter the video/audio ripples, but text ripple filtering is in the works. That's why each ripple must be reviewed before publishing, and why we ask people to flag inappropriate content.
Getting Customers to Ripple Us
Should we offer an incentive for ripples?
An important caution: Make sure you are not asking your customers for praises, or testimonials, or anything of the kind - especially if your offering an incentive. There is no credibility at all in a paid-for endorsement; it may do more damage than good. Incentives may be offered for taking the time to give you feedback (ripple you). Do not offer an incentive for endorsements, testimonials, or praises.
People often want to give you feedback, and every day many thousands of customers are giving feedback online for free. When you're asking customers to answer a survey, they're on your agenda, and an incentive is more important. Rippling is not about a survey; it's your customers' agenda. They decide what to talk about, so the need for an incentive is diminished.
There are two reasons to consider offering an incentive:
1) To get more feedback. Depending on how you interact with your customers, and how many you serve, you may need to do this in order to achieve the number of ripples you desire.
2) To get people back in again or to cross-sell additional products/ services. When a customer has given feedback in exchange for an incentive offer they have invested in that offer. Response rates tend to be higher than what you'd typically experience.
How do incentives work?
Upon receipt of a ripple, we provide a "ripple code". That ripple code clearly identifies their ripple with a unique 4-digit code. To redeem their incentive, all you ask for is their ripple code. They show it; you redeem the offer.
How much of an incentive should we offer?
If your customers are already online, incentives are usually not necessary. If you serve your customers in person, and if you don't serve them in large volumes, asking customers to take the time to boot up and ripple you might require a small incentive. We recommend that you don't offer anything that you wouldn't be happy to redeem every day. Do not make the incentive so high that it is the primary reason for rippling. Incentives should be just enough to help a busy customer justify the effort. For example, if you typically offer an $8 discount for a first-time customer, you might consider a $2 discount for an existing customer to ripple your business. Typically, you will get better response from a "dollars off" or "free" offer than you will for a "percent off" deal, or chance to win something.
Multiple Businesses
What if I have multiple businesses? Do I need to enroll them separately?
You can manage multiple businesses from the same RippleEffect.net Profile page. Each business is enrolled in its own Ripple Plan.
Multi-Unit Businesses
I'm a franchisee with 16 locations. How do I manage ripples for each of them?
It's easy. Each subscribed location receives a dedicated "Ripples We've Received" web page - an "internet Microsite". This page includes the ability to receive ripples, and to display them. We can also implement our tools into most "Store Locator" programs.
Each Ripples We've Received page has its own web address:
something like www.rippleeffect.net/abcstore1234. Questions? Email us:
sales@rippleeffect.net
30-Day Trial
How does the trial work?
We offer a 30-day trial on all our accounts. A few days before your trial ends we will contact you, with an invitation to keep rippling. At that time, we will accept your credit card.
Ripples
Why do you call feedback a "ripple"?
People are powerful beings. What we say and do can have an effect, for good or bad. Feedback - especially video and audio feedback - can be especially powerful. We call it "rippling" to remind people of that power, and we hope that the reminder will help people be respectful, whether their comment is a "concern", "idea", or "praise".
How long are ripples?
Written ripples are 340 characters or less. Video and Audio ripples are 40 seconds or less.
Why do you limit the length?
Mark Twain once said, "I'm sorry I didn't have enough time or I would have written you a shorter letter." Brevity is highly valued today, and short and to-the-point ripples are easy to digest.
Praise
Is it like a "testimonial"?
There are 3 primary differences:
- The Request
Testimonials typically come from a request, such as: "Please give me a testimonial!"
"Praise" comes from a request, such as: "Please Ripple Us!"
- Fresh vs. Stale
Testimonials are so much work to capture and publish that a testimonial captured 3 years ago might still be published on a website. Ripples are constant and flowing. They are published for public viewing either instantly or with a single mouse click.
- Trend
The influence of testimonials in marketing has peaked, and is waning. The FTC is now regulating testimonials, because they are so much like advertising - and yet claim not to be. What's growing is the influence of customer feedback and reviews; they drive purchases. Bringing that trend to a company's own website, even in webcam video, just makes sense.
Ideas
Why ask customers for their ideas? Is it their job to innovate for businesses?
It's not the job of customers to come up with big ideas. No one asked for an iPhone with thousands of free and paid-for applications. But now that it's here, customers can think up lots of new applications they'd like to have. Often the difference between a good product and a great one, is the "last mile" or the "last 15%". Customer ideas can help any business turn a good service or product into a great one.
While they're sharing ideas, future customers are getting questions answered from the sources they trust most.
Concerns
What are "concerns" about?
Things happen, even in the most customer-experience centered businesses on earth. When a customer's concerns are promptly and effectively answered they can be up to 11% more satisfied and loyal than if nothing wrong had ever happened. To put it simply, problems are powerful opportunities to win loyal customers. But only if a business knows about them. If there is no system in place to capture them, a business is vulnerable to losing a customer and even to negative word of mouth.
The word, "concern" implies a desire to have it answered and resolved.
Technology
Can I install RippleEffect.net on my own servers?
No. RippleEffect.net is a SaaS product, meaning "Software as a Service". SaaS is easier for you to buy, because it's a low monthly fee instead of a large purchase price, and it makes all future updates available to all our customers.
API
Does RippleEffect.net provide an API?
It's in our plans…
Privacy
Is my data secure? And do you sell my contact info to lists?
Yes, and no way. We keep all your data absolutely secure. Our business is to help you grow your business through online word of mouth. We would not last long if we compromised your trust. For more detail, check out our
privacy policy.
Ripple Ethics
What are ripple ethics?
We require that all user generated content be G-rated, for starters. See
Ripple Ethics for more information.