We all know that NPS® is a very powerful metric for measuring customer loyalty with a single question.
What few people know is that it was developed to be a management model within companies, and not just a research metric as many believe.
According to Fred Reichheld, author of the book The Ultimate Question, there are some rules for success in measuring the Net Promoter Score.
Let's find out what they are?
#1 Use one metric at a time
One of the main reasons for abandoning surveys is when the questionnaire ends up being too long and containing different metrics.
This ends up creating confusion in the user's mind, and the most sensible action at the moment is to abandon their research. Therefore, focus on measuring one metric at a time.
If you want to send your NPS survey, simply ask a question to determine the number of promoters, neutrals, and detractors. In addition, send a follow-up question asking the reason for the rating.
Please note that the answer to the follow-up question is for diagnostic purposes only and does not affect the quantitative score obtained in the previous question.
#2 Choose a scale that works
According to the book The Ultimate Question, there is no single scale that must be followed. As the author himself states, the goal of NPS®is not scientific rigor in research, but rather a reliable system for collecting feedback.
Bain & Company was initially open about the type of scale, but over time, the company that created the metric found some advantages in the 0 to 10 scale. Check out the points mentioned in the book, based on their research:
Standard measurement
Virtually the entire world uses and understands the metric system from 0 to 10. Most cultures and people think in terms of 10.
Furthermore, customers find the scale intuitive because it is reminiscent of school assessments. They understand that 10 or 9 corresponds to very good, 8 or 7 are good or average, and 6 or less is insufficient.
Even in countries like Germany, where the education system is different, the 0 to 10 system works very well.
Strict customers
There are customers who are faithful and loyal to the brand, but they won't budge on giving it the highest rating.
Therefore, a score of 9 offers an alternative that doesn't push these customers directly into the neutral zone.
It also serves as an early warning if a customer who scores a 10 drops to a 9 in a subsequent survey.
Ease of benchmarking
The 0 to 10 standard is adopted by most companies in the market, and this means that this scale makes it easier to perform benchmarks between segments and industries.
It's also worth noting that customers from different countries exhibit different types of behavior and, so to speak, levels of rigor. In the Netherlands and Japan, few people give a 10 out of 10 for a service.
In Latin America, this rating is quite common. Even so, there's no need to adapt metrics. International companies just need to know that it's not worthwhile to evaluate units across regions.
The benchmark is always local competition, and scores will be equally affected by the particularities of the location.
#3 Importance of high response rates
It would be great to be able to gather feedback from all customers, but it's best to start with the key customers connected to your service or product.
That's because your main customers are your company's greatest assets, and the primary reason for your efforts in turning them into promoters, right?
Remember that the goal of NPS® researchis not just to determine intentions, but rather tangible and quantifiable behaviors. You want to know exactly how many customers are promoters, neutrals, and detractors, and how these numbers vary over time.
It is not advisable to rely on a small sample of customers; you need a larger sample or a full census to ensure the reliability of the data.
Therefore, the response rate is extremely important for you to be able to interpret the data from this survey and get as many different opinions as possible about your product or service.
#4 Customer focus as an organizational culture
Most companies that have a customer-centric culturetend to have it implemented by senior teams, such as the CEO, CFO, and COO.
In these cases, the adoption and continuity of a customer-centric system ends up having greater acceptance from the service teams.
According to the book "The Ultimate Question," for NPS® to achieve extraordinary results and operate easily within companies, the senior leadership team, especially the C-level executives, must personally take responsibility for improving customer loyaltythrough the Net Promoter System℠.
#5 Customer experience across the entire company
Another very important point that the book shows us is that companies should link customer feedback to the decision-making processes of all levels of the organization, creating closed cycles of learning and improvement.
Instead of turning customer experience into a department, the ideal approach is to integrate these metrics and actions into the entire company.
For example, if your company receives negative feedback about an experience related to the legal department, this feedback should be sent to the department, and the loop should be closed by the employees who work in the department, thus creating a management system.
Furthermore, all departments begin to practice and gain experience in serving customers, making customer satisfaction levels a general priority for the company.
#6 Loop Closure
Loop closure is so important that it earned its own chapter in the book The Ultimate Question.
If you're not familiar with the term, closing the loop is the action that should be taken with customers after they respond to your survey.
For example, when you encourage your customer to register their opinion about your product or service, you open a loop (cycle) that will eventually need to be closed.
This closing process typically happens when giving feedback to the customer regarding the opinion they registered.
Fred Reichheld says that closing the loop is the heart of NPS®. If you don't apply this action in your surveys, you only get a score and miss the main part of the process – the learning.
When you perform a closed-loop analysis, you and your company gain a deep understanding of the reason behind that feedback. It is then up to your team to take the appropriate actions.
Conclusion
As you may have seen, NPS® has several valuable tricks and tips to help you implement a successful operation.
All the tips shared in this article were taken from the book The Ultimate Question, and we highly recommend reading it to gain a complete understanding of NPS® as a management process.
And to conclude, I'll use a quote from Lucas, our CPO – "Experience metrics bring us clarity, control, and above all, inspire action."
NPS is a registered trademark, and Net Promoter Score and Net Promoter System are service marks, of Bain & Company, Inc., Satmetrix Systems, Inc. and Fred Reichheld.