Net Promoter Score or NPS has become a staple for businesses that have a customer, and more so if that customer happens to be the ultimate consumer. Fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies, telcos and a wide variety of consumer-facing service and product companies swear by NPS worldwide. NPS is a billion dollar industry today.
As the saying goes, ‘You can’t control what you can’t measure.’
So, the first step towards achieving customer delight is measuring it.
Enter Net Promoter Score
Net Promoter Score is a metric every single brand across the globe is focussed on since it is believed to be an indicator of how happy customers are with your brand. Developed by Fred Reichheld of Bain & Company, a global leader in consultancy, is a score that is measured over an 11-point scale ranging from 0 to 10 with just one question –
“How likely are you to recommend us to your family and friends?”
NPS is considered a powerful metric for measuring customer delight because it is ‘delight’ that drives a customer to endorse/promote the product.
How they stack up
Based on the responses, they are classified as promoters (9 & 10), passives (7 & 8) and detractors (0 & 6). Customers who give a 9 & 10 are those whose expectations are exceeded and they’re truly delighted with your brand. They’re your promoters. The ones who gave a 7 & 8 are just about satisfied and aren’t really delighted. They’re your passives. The detractors are the ones that have unmet expectations and aren’t even satisfied, forget being delighted.
Your Net Promoter Score is the difference between the percentage of promoters and detractors.
While the measure itself is very simple, it is the way an organisation uses it that makes the difference.
Measuring is [only] the beginning, not the end.
Measuring NPS isn’t the end of your customer delight story. It is in fact just the beginning. You are measuring your Net Promoter Score. Great! But, how does it matter to your customer?
The objective here is achieving customer delight & not just measuring NPS. NPS is the means to an end. This is exactly where a lot of brands need help in taking this further. NPS has a treasure trove of information behind it & all one needs to do is dig a little deeper.
So, what are your next steps?
1. Analyse NPS data
2. Derive insight
3. Turn it into action
4. Implement the steps
5. Measure NPS again
This is an ongoing process which will help your brand evolve over time according to the preferences of your customers and thus keep them delighted. Until you analyse, derive insight & use it to delight your customers, there’s really no purpose in merely measuring it.
Follow up with everybody; not just your detractors
Following up with your customers after collecting NPS data is a great way to assure them that you are acting on it. It restores the faith that you’re genuinely a brand that listens.
Your detractors will certainly have some critical feedback for your brand & by fixing them, you up your service a few notches. If they decide to give you a second chance, it is a clear case of win-win.
At the same time, your promoters may have a thing or two to say in your interest. Something that you may have never thought of & could be very helpful in boosting customer experience. So, never restrict your NPS follow up to your detractors alone.
Also follow up to find out if your ‘promoters’ really promoted your offering or not.
The people that matter
Opinions are everywhere. But, only a handful of them really matter. Similarly, the footfalls in your store consist of a wide range of people. It is quite likely that not every visitor to your store is a buyer. So, firing NPS questions at all of them can distort your insight and paint a picture that is not real. Survey only your customers. Leave the mystery shoppers, onlookers, window shoppers etc. out of the picture as it is only the paying customers whose opinions matter.
And that isn’t all
There’s even more you can do with your NPS data. If your organisation has an annual customer engagement event for your loyalty circle members, you can also create panels of detractors and promoters and design occasions to reach out to them for insights. This will help you derive deeper insight about your brand.
This might sound a bit futuristic, but hey, before you even know it, we’ll be there. Integrating your CRM (customer relations management) data and your CEM data (which will also have your NPS data) can give you great insights.
How do you use your NPS data? Tell us about it in the comments section.