why do you make it so difficult?

[solapac]

Hello there

I'm writing to express my frustrations with your referral and promo scheme.

In the old days, we had a login where we could access a proper dashboard with coupon codes, promos and more.

Now, we have to keep emailing you to ask for things and the replies are always 24-48hrs, and often unsatisfactory.

If I want 10 promo codes to be able to refer customers to YOUR products, I should be able to get these quickly and without fuss.

However, I find it very difficult to work with you.

In contrast, Microsoft referral program is easy and comprehensive via a 3rd party.

Please take another look at your operation procedures. I'm sure you'd like us loyal agents to continue to bring customers?

Thanks for listening

[Carolina-A]

Hi @solapac,

We are sorry that the Referral Program is not meeting your expectations via the dashboard email that provides you with your referral status and a maximum of two of your promotion codes. We do have the option for you to receive the dashboard email on a weekly basis. Let us know if that is of interest to you.

However, if you have large number of referrals each year, it may be interesting to look into switching to the Google Workspace Affiliate Program? Please share your referral link and we can look into your current referral status to see if you may qualify.

Happy Sharing!

[solapac]

I am a small business, I don't need the affiliate program.  I just need to be able to "easily" refer and give discounts to my customers who want to join Workspace.

I can't think why you would want to make that so hard? It is VERY frustrating dealing with your team.

You can't just apologise and think that's case closed.  Why not sort it out?

[Carolina-A]

Hi @solapac,

Thank you for getting in touch with us and letting us know how your experience so far has been.

It could be possible that the delays you've encountered might be related to a transition phase that was underway when you reached out?

Please note we're continuously focused on enhancing our processes, and the support team's main goal is to provide you with new promotion codes and assistance in setting up your billing accounts. This ensures that you receive proper payment for all your previous and upcoming referrals. Any concerns or complaints you have will definitely be taken into consideration, and we're committed to implementing improvements.

Could you kindly share your unique referral link? This will help me thoroughly investigate the email requests you've made and look into the issues and delays you've been experiencing with our support team members.

We truly apologize for the frustrating experience you've had, and we're dedicated to resolving these matters promptly.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

[RyanCTS]

Every monthly "Workspace referral program monthly Summary" email I have from 4/4/2022 to 8/1/2023 has the exact same promo codes in them, and hilariously they all say "Expires [4 months from current date]." They have never worked, and the last time I requested some was September of 2022. Despite that, emails continue to come with a single expired promo code for each tier of service.

It's hilarious to me that such a large business can't automate the delivery of promo codes. Any other referrer I could log into a portal and generate codes as needed, or simply use a static unique identifier for my org as a referrer to avoid the promo code song and dance.

Heck, the "referral link" at the bottom of my emails doesn't even auto-apply a coupon code!

Make it make sense! 😂

[Carolina-A]

Hi @RyanCTS and @solapac ,

We are sorry if the Referral Program is not meeting your expectations. Our support team  is actively working on providing our members new promotion codes within 48 hours. It is rare that you see a delay due to the system being down. 

The first two promotion codes that are linked to the dashboard email are just a "sample". If you need more we ask that you reach out to the support team for new ones.

If you have large number of traffic on your website, we recommend you look into the Affiliate Program, where you will be provided with an online portal and a live dashboard with your promotion codes.

While we look into the items discussed above, please let us know if there is anything else we can do to improve the Referral Program.

Thank you for your continued support of our Google Workspace Referral Program. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to us.

[RyanCTS]

You know I've looked at those emails every month for years and never noticed the "Here's a sample." I thought that was providing us with a single current code of each type for our convenience.

Like the other user above, I very much doubt my organization does enough volume for the Affiliate Program.

I got lucky today that the 4th code of 5 that I was sent in 2022 still worked so I was able to get my client signed up, so when the new codes arrive those will at least be on hand for my next sale.

[Carolina-A]

Hi @RyanCTS, 

Just to clarify further... the two promotion codes you see in your Welcome email, onboarding email series and dashboard email are valid and work. We track them back to your referral link.

If you ever find that they don't work, or you need more, you can always reach out to the support team. You can request 100 promotion codes per calendar year. If you need more than 100,  you should consider switching to the Affiliate Program.

Hope that helps

[RyanCTS]

I'll definitely do that then - I've been receiving the same two codes since last year, and when I went to use them in September of 2022, they didn't work, and I had 5 more sent to me. But month after month, the emails continued to arrive with these old, bad codes.

[solapac]

I've had the same problem, a bunch of codes that don't work.

I was sitting with a customer trying to sign them up. It's totally stupid you have to go through 5 long codes and none of them work.

So then you have to "reach out" and they take 24 hours to reply which is dumb as I'm sitting with the customer and need the code right now.

Conclusion! Google want to make it hard because they don't want to give the discount.

On comparison, Microsoft make it very easy. So when I'm sitting with a customer, if there's a choice to give, I'm thinking I'll just go with Microsoft. 

Basically, Google referral program is more hassle than its worth.

[solapac]

The point is, why should we have to "reach out". It's time consuming and tedious. Give us the ability to login and generate our own codes.

Secondly, why even bother with codes? Surely every referral will want a discount, so let's just get rid of the promo codes and automatically apply the discount when a customer clicks on my referral link and signs up. Simples.

[Carolina-A]

Hi @solapac,

Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us.

We enhanced our referral program through a strategic partnership with CJ. We've successfully launched the Affiliate Program, which has proven to be instrumental in empowering our members to become more self-sufficient with a user-friendly online dashboard and an array of additional features.

At this time, we don't have immediate plans to expand the Referral Program to the same extent as the Affiliate Program. However, please rest assured that we're continuously exploring ways to improve our offerings and appreciate your valuable feedback.

We would love for the promotion codes to automatically be applied when the referral customer signs up using your referral link. We think that is an amazing idea, however the sign-up process for Google Workspace was created before the Referral Program was launched. We also hope that team revamps their process, so that we could implement that feature.

[solapac]

Hi Carolina-A

> the sign-up process for Google Workspace was created before the Referral Program was launched

OK fair comment.  But there is nothing to stop you creating a login method for users to be able to self-serve access their own codes, rather than a laborious process out of the 1980s where we have to "reach out" whenever we want a new code.  It's time consuming and painful.

If you wanted to, you could fix that today.  But I don't think you will.  Am I wrong?

[Carolina-A]

Hi @solapac,

There is no current business case to expand the Referral Program. At this time we don't have immediate plans to expand the Referral Program to the same extent as the Affiliate Program. This includes an online dashboard to check the status and request new promotion codes. 

If you would like, you can already request all your 100 promotion codes for the remainder of the year. Just let the support team know how many you would like. Please specify if you want promotion codes for either Business Starter or Business Standard.

Hope that makes sense and thank you for your understanding

[RyanCTS]

Heck, the "Business Standard" referral code in those same emails dates back to when the "new" referral program started in October of 2020. 🤣