Making the Net Promoter Score Count

CUSTOMER FIRST INSIGHT THROUGH NET PROMOTER SCORE (NPS?)

Relationships are said to be created and nurtured based on trust and felicity. Within the service industry, rhapsodies between the customer and organization play a pivotal role in the emergence of blooming businesses.

Gaining insights into customer preferences and requirements is challenging, yet once fulfilled can be a reason for the next step of growth creation for an organization.

Net Promoter Score is a customer loyalty metric developed by and a registered trademark of Fred Reichheld, Bain & Company and Satmetrix. This was first showcased by Reichheld in his 2003 Harvard Business Article “One Number You Need to Grow”. It looks to explore the hard facts that outline the reason why a consumer (i.e. the Customer/ Employee) would like to patronize / ostracize the provider (i.e. the Company / Employer) through the mode of a Single Question Survey.

The prime purpose of an NPS survey is to gauge customer loyalty to a brand or company rather than towards a particular service or product; thereby sustaining a better methodology to determine likelihood that a customer will buy again, talk up the company and not defect towards a competitor.

At Tata Technologies, the Customer First Insight Program using the Net Promoter Score and subsequent model, under the watchful and able support of the Marketing & Communications team promises to read into the minds of all customers and evaluate the satisfaction levels the organization has been able to broadcast. The champion-like attitude and beaver-like involvement of all employees is of utmost importance.

The Net Promoter Model will be implemented in 4 steps:

• Asking the Net Promoter Question
• Categorizing Customers Based Upon Their Response To The Survey Question
• Calculation of The Net Promoter Score
• Implementing the Net Promoter Model

Asking the Net Promoter Question: A precursor to the Net Promoter Score would be asking a very simple question: How likely are you to recommend us to your friend or colleague? This question assists in categorizing customers based upon their responses and gives you a clear picture of the performance of the company through customer’s eyes.

Customer Categorization Based Upon Response To The Survey Question: The customers taking up this survey respond to the question over a scale of 0 to 10. Considering their responses, they are soloed as:

• Detractors (0 to 6): Basically unhappy customers who would like to give us a piece of their mind and are waiting for an opportunity to explore competitors.

• Passives (7 to 8): Customers who are neither there nor here; neither pledge nor breach alliance towards the provider.

• Promoters (9 to 10): Loyal enthusiasts; customers who consider the provider as a cynosure of all eyes considering growth patterns and providing opportunities to keep the flame burning in relation to business.

Calculating the Net Promoter Score: The calculation of the net promoter score involves subtracting the percentage of detractors from the percentage of promoters.

NPS: (% of promoters - % of detractors)

The successful implementation of the Net Promoter Model hinges on increasing the percentage of promoters and reducing the Percentage of detractors and making strategic and tactical changes for the metric to improve.

A simple example would be:

If the total number of customers taking this survey were 100, and % of promoters equals 30 while % of detractors is 50; then

NPS: 30 - 50

NPS: -20%

NPS can be as low as -100 (maximum detractors) or as high as +100 (maximum promoters). An NPS that is positive (above 0) is considered good while NPS of +50 is exceptional.

Implementing the Net Promoter Model: So, you have got an NPS score between a certain value. Does that guarantee your success? Not really!

The Net Promoter Model considers a process of closing the loop. Now that the customer has taken the survey, utilizing the voice of the customer is of prime importance. The Net Promoter Score will help in identifying the detractor and alert the provider to take necessary steps and manage follow up and actions from that point.

Involving front line employees with customers constantly along with a healthy dialogue with managers will help Senior Executives take notice and bring about an organizational change as well as make strategic investments to keep the company’s image rosy and up-to-the-mark.