So it pays to listen to customers after all!
I spent several days during the last week of June at the Satmetrix (http://www.satmetrix.com/) conference on Net Promoter Score (NPS). The best take-away for me from that event was the fact that there is now irrefutable evidence that focussing on the customer pays - as leading firms around the globe are able to demonstrate the tie between a focus on their customers and an increase in the financial growth of their firms.
The premise behind NPS is that a company asks its customers one question: “How likely are you to recommend us to your friends, family, colleagues, etc.?” to establish how successful it is in the eyes not of its accountants, but its customers. That way firms can dispense with lengthy questionnaires and cut to the chase by asking their customers whether or not they are hitting the mark, rather than obliging them to endure lengthy 20 or 30 question-long surveys!
Several examples were extolled on the audience. We were also privileged to hear the infamous Dr. Fred Reichheld, (author of “The Ultimate Question”) speak about his research, travels around the World and learnings of big businesses that he works with.
There has been a heck of a lot of debate about the effectiveness of asking so few questions. After all, the “how likely” element on its own is not going to allow you to do anything meaningful with the answer, is it? Most firms are now following up the Ultimate Question with a second, along the lines of “why did you give us that score?”
As I mentioned earlier in this post, it’s impressive that several firms Fred highlights in his work are new so mature in their application of NPS that they are able to demonstrate the link between their focus on NPS and financial growth of their businesses over recent years – irrespective of whether they are privately or publicly held companies!
I am going to write more on this topic as it’s close to my heart, but I’d welcome your thoughts and if the company you work for is thinking about looking into applying NPS, drop me a line or post your article on the blog.