3 Signals the NPS is Not the Only Metric That Matters

For years, marketers everywhere have turned to the famed Net Promoter Score (NPS) as a concrete measure of consumer loyalty and satisfaction. The NPS is used everywhere – from assessing how much value attendees got from a conference to the effectiveness of a brand-new product.

It relies on a single question: What is the likelihood you would recommend (company, product, event) to a friend or colleague?

The NPS has been a solid predictor of growth. Although it’s still a useful data point (indeed, we use it ourselves in our Reputation Score), it’s no longer the only measure that matters in an era of Big Data and even Bigger Analysis.

Here are three reasons why the NPS shouldn't be the sole measure of customer loyalty:

We know more about our customers than ever before. To say that the Internet has fundamentally changed the nature of marketing is a laughable understatement. The rise of the Internet economy has obviously changed, well, everything. But in the context of business, it’s given companies a new, broader and more impressive set of tools to understand their customers. Big Data paints a much clearer picture of who these customers are, enabling better segmentation and targeting. Big Analysis technologies are powering the effective prediction of consumer behavior, inspiring businesses to then reshape customer experiences for the better. Plus data storage is now so cheap as to be virtually free – meaning companies can continue to gather and store immense quantities of data and continually evolve that customer understanding. In the face of such capability, the NPS is no longer the only measure of consequence.

Social media gives our customers new ways to interact with us. When flights get stuck on the runway for hours, passengers take to Twitter to hammer the airlines in question with their complaints and frustration. Contrast that with the days of old – visiting the customer service desk in the airport, calling to complain, or perhaps filling out a comment card. Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms have given consumers a direct and vocal line to the companies they patronize. Conversely, businesses have a bigger window into customer issues as they arise – with more opportunity to immediately address and resolve problems as they surface, which in turn positively impact consumer perception. In contrast, the NPS is decidedly after the fact: when an NPS is administered, the dust has already settled and companies are merely picking up the pieces.

Surveys are no longer the only game in town. Online review sites now occupy a prominent space in assessing customer perspectives. Why? They offer an immediate outlet, enabling people to share instantly while experiences are fresh. Popular review sites like Yelp and niche vertical sites like Healthgrades empower us to be candid in a trusted forum, rating everything from a new bistro to a new gynecologist. Seen as credible, unvarnished and therefore useful, these online reviews are in turn trusted by others looking for goods and services. For instance, 93 percent of patients are using online reviews to research doctors and hospitals. Do surveys still have a place in the marketing ecosystem? There’s no question: they still matter. But they’re not the only opportunity to hear the voice of the customer, they’re not the fastest, nor are they necessarily the best. The NPS offers one data point among many.

What do you use to listen to your customers?

Read more about the NPS and alternatives here.