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Agents are the human layer of your partner program — they drive referrals, carry your brand into new audiences, and, when certified, support your customers directly. Refairn gives you full control over who enters your program, under what conditions, and what happens when the relationship needs to change. Every approval, warning, and removal action is recorded in your program’s audit trail.

Inviting agents

You can recruit agents through three methods. Use whichever fits your current stage — from sharing a single link publicly to importing a list of pre-qualified contacts.

Reviewing applications

All incoming applications appear in your Pending applications queue. For each applicant, you can review their profile, any answers to eligibility questions, and their self-reported background before taking action.

Approval decisions

DecisionWhen to use it
ApproveThe agent meets all eligibility requirements and can begin referring customers immediately.
Approve as referral-onlyThe agent can refer customers but is not yet eligible to handle support, even if support mode is enabled. Use this for agents who have not completed training.
Approve after trainingProvisionally accepts the agent but holds full access until they complete and pass your training program.
Request more informationSends the applicant a message asking for additional details before you decide. The application stays in a pending state.
RejectDeclines the application. The applicant is notified and cannot reapply unless you open applications again.
Reject due to conflictDeclines specifically because the agent is associated with a competing product, violating your conflict policy.
Reject due to incomplete profileDeclines because the applicant has not provided enough information to evaluate their eligibility.
Reject due to failed assessmentDeclines because the applicant did not meet the minimum score on your certification assessment.
Agents approved as referral-only or after training see their restricted status in their own dashboard. They know exactly what they need to do to unlock full access. You do not need to explain this manually.

Agent eligibility and access states

Once inside your program, an agent has one of two access levels:
  • Referral agent: Can refer new customers and earn referral and recurring commissions. Cannot handle support tickets.
  • Support-eligible agent (Certified): Has completed training, passed your assessment, and been granted support access. Can handle tickets and earn support commission in addition to referral and recurring commissions.
You can move agents between these states at any time. Granting support access requires the agent to be certified. Removing support access (see below) is immediate and non-destructive — the agent keeps their referral and recurring commissions.

Conflict policy settings

Your conflict policy controls how agents in your program may be associated with competing products. Set this at the program level under Program Settings → Agent conflict policy.
ModeWhat it means
OpenNo restrictions. Agents may promote any other product, including direct competitors.
DisclosedAgents may promote competing products but must disclose all active programs in their profile. This is the recommended default.
Category-RestrictedAgents may not promote other products in the same category as yours (e.g. no competing CRM tools if you are a CRM). Products in unrelated categories are permitted.
ExclusiveAgents in your program may not be active agents in any other program on Refairn. This is the most restrictive option and limits your recruitment pool significantly.
Disclosed mode is recommended for most programs. It gives you visibility into potential conflicts without narrowing the pool of agents who can apply.

Monitoring agent performance

Your Agent performance panel shows real-time metrics for every active agent:
  • Total leads and customers attributed to the agent
  • Active customers currently under the agent’s account
  • Support tickets open and overdue (for support-eligible agents)
  • Average customer rating received from support interactions
  • Warning count accumulated over the agent’s history
  • Response time compliance against your defined SLA
Use these signals to identify top performers worth nurturing and underperforming agents who need intervention.

Taking action on agents

When an agent’s performance, conduct, or compliance falls short, you have three escalating actions available.

Warn an agent

A formal warning is a documented notice sent to the agent through the platform. It appears in the audit log and in the agent’s record. Warnings are appropriate for:
  • Consistently slow support responses
  • Customer complaints about communication quality
  • Minor policy violations (e.g. using unapproved marketing claims)
  • Missing SLA targets without explanation
To issue a warning, open the agent’s profile, go to Actions → Warn agent, and write the specific reason. The agent receives the warning message and can acknowledge it.

Suspend support access

Suspending support removes the agent’s ability to handle new tickets and closes their access to the support workspace. It does not affect their referral or recurring commissions. Existing customers assigned to the suspended agent are flagged for reassignment. Use support suspension when:
  • An agent is temporarily unavailable (illness, travel) and cannot respond to tickets
  • You want to pause support access while investigating a complaint
  • The agent’s support quality has dropped below acceptable standards and you need time to remediate
Suspension is reversible. You can restore support access from the agent’s profile at any time once the issue is resolved.

Remove support access permanently

Permanent support removal is distinct from termination. The agent stays in your program as a referral agent — they continue to earn referral and recurring commissions — but they can never handle support tickets again within this program. Use this when you have determined that the agent should not continue in a support role but there is no grounds for full termination.

Terminate an agent

Termination is permanent and irreversible. Once you terminate an agent, they are removed from your program immediately, lose access to all program resources, and cannot reapply. Use termination only for serious breaches such as confirmed fraud, misrepresentation of your product, data misuse, or a material violation of your program agreement. Do not use termination for performance issues — use suspension or support removal instead.
To terminate an agent, open their profile, go to Actions → Terminate agent, and provide a documented reason. The termination event is written to the audit log. Commission handling on termination:
  • Referral commissions already earned and past the hold period remain payable to the agent — they reflect verified customer acquisition that already happened.
  • Pending commissions still within the hold period can be reviewed and cancelled if the termination is related to fraudulent activity.
  • Recurring and support commissions stop accruing from the termination date.

Once you have agents approved and active, set up the training content they need to become certified in Training & Certifications.