Is your company turning out NPS detractors?

Companies must take a holistic approach to their overall positioning, product strategy, customer support strategy, and pricing strategy. If they don't, they end up alienating their customers, and as a result, their reputation will falter, and sales volume will not reach its true potential.

Now, let's delve into the concept of NPS (Net Promoter Score). While it's not without its flaws, NPS excels at simplifying the complex process of a buyer's internal decision-making into a single, easy-to-understand number, ranging from 1 to 10.

9 - 10 are called "promoters." Those are very happy customers who will likely tell all their friends and colleagues about their fantastic purchase.

7 - 8 are called "passives" and are neither very happy nor dissatisfied with their purchase.

1 - 6 are called "detractors" and, in opposition to the promoters, will tell friends and colleagues how terrible their purchase was and how said friends and colleagues should avoid a particular product, service, or company.

It goes without saying that companies strive to gain as high NPS as possible. For that to be possible, the company's customer experience, positioning, marketing, products, and pricing strategy must all work together and reach the same goal.

So, having said all that, I want to illustrate this with two personal examples that made me a detractor. Both examples are related to my two small dogs. A Westie and a Scottish Terrier.

First example:

I saw this ad on Facebook for a range of indestructible dog toys from a company called Antarcking. The price was relatively high (at least twice what a toy would cost at the pet store), but the company made this strong claim of indestructibility and backed it up with a guarantee. So despite the high price, I bought two of these toys.

Once delivered, one of the toys lasted 5 minutes, the other 10 minutes before they were ripped into small pieces. Not exactly indestructible. But, since the company had this guarantee, I contacted the company asking for a refund but was told the only recourse was for them to replace the toys. To what point? The replacement toys would just last a few minutes and I would pay for the shipping of these replacement toys.

Second example:

For many years, we used retractable leashes from the German company Flexi. Despite being the most expensive choice available, I probably bought a dozen of their products over the years. But "German quality" makes a difference. The last purchase was in January this year, so five months ago. The company offers a one-year warranty, so when that leash snapped into two pieces the other day, I contacted the company asking for a replacement. I was told I had to send in the faulty leash so they could "examine" it to determine if it would qualify for a warranty replacement. I would have to bear the cost of return shipping and the inconvenience of packing the leash and standing in a long line to drop it off at UPS or USPS.

This leash is about $25 retail price, and maybe the manufacturing cost is $5 -$7 (I don't know, this is just a guess.)

So, in both these cases, there is a mismatch between how the company positions itself and the products and its premium pricing strategy with the experience of doing business with the company, leading to me becoming an NPS detractor.

It would have been easy for Antarcking to refund me as there was zero truth in their claim of indestructibility. Likewise, for Flexi to send a replacement would be relatively inexpensive and match their promised one-year warranty, and for a modest cost, it would have kept me a happy customer.

I want you to ask yourself then: "Is there a match between how we position ourselves, our product strategy, our marketing, our pricing strategy, and the customer experience of doing business with our company?" What must we change if there is no strong correlation between these variables? What will have the highest impact on our business?