You’re Using Net Promoter Score (NPS), Now What?

Customer service has become more and more important with the various survey tools that are out there and the ease of blasting a company on social media for infractions large and small (full disclosure, I’ve been known to do this occasionally, with varying degrees of success).

One way to stay on top of your customer’s satisfaction and willingness to promote you through Word of Mouth, which studies show is the most powerful form of marketing, is to implement the satisfaction methodology known as the Net Promoter Score System, or NPS.

What is NPS?

NPS is a one question survey sent to customers simply asking on a scale of 1 to 10, how likely they would be to recommend your services to others. The answer is followed up with the ability for the responder to elaborate on their choice to add some detail and depth to tell the whole story. Answers are broken out into three categories based on where they plot on the graph: Detractors (0-6), Passives (7-8) who could be swayed either way and Promoters (9-10), the ideal customer.

How Do I use NPS?

There are a wide variety of resources to help you implement NPS, but the easiest solution I’ve found by far is Delighted. They focus on one thing only: allowing you to set up and use the Net Promoter Score System within 5 minutes. Upload an email list and you’re off, getting instant feedback from your customers in a real-time dashboard. Unlike other SaaS solutions, Delighted makes this process so easy, you wonder why others tools do not focus on doing one thing right.

Delighted makes NPS so easy, you wonder why others tools do not focus on doing one thing right

Delighted also offers options and functionality like connecting your results to top Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems like Salesforce and Hubspot, setting automation rules, segmentation and more. But the best thing is it just works right and their team follows up right away to help make sure your NPS surveying succeeds.

That’s Great, But What’s Next?

NPS results deliver a treasure trove of data, depending on the end goals you have. If used correctly, it should allow you to improve retention, identify problem areas and build upon relationships with those that are brand advocates and love what you are doing.

To jump right in, gather the response information and do some research before following up with customers. Reading through the responses with comments will add some detail to the rationale for the number 0-10 that they rated you.

Understanding the psychology of why a person may grade you a certain way helps. Maybe they had a bad experience recently but have been a long-time client, so they give you the benefit of the doubt with a 6 or 7. Maybe they are a newer customer, so they could either be in a honeymoon stage and rate you high or do not have enough history to give you a grade just yet. Are they a cause for concern? It depends. However, if they are a new customer, you may want to add them to a more frequent nurturing list to make sure you earn their trust.

Research Can Tell A Full Story

For those who do not add comments or who give a low score with a backstory, it helps to do some digging into the background to gain a better picture before reaching out. Maybe there was nothing that could be done from your employee’s perspective or maybe you will uncover a pattern where a certain customer service individual is helpful, but is consistently slow to respond to customers. Knowing this information will help develop your follow up approach.

Time To Follow Up With Your Customers

Now that you know the stories, it’s time to segment these lists for follow up with the goal of raising your overall NPS score for customer retention while also adding a touchpoint with customers to alleviate any issues they may have, or to just say thanks.

Detractors

The detractors need extra attention, and the follow up response will not be the same. Starting with templates can help, but the response should be tailored to that customer’s needs. Is price the main reason they are upset? How empowered is your team to find a pricing or perk offering to help when it comes down to cost. Do they need more information or things explained better? Adding them to drip newsletters more frequently may help. If they had a shipping issue, outside of your control, a simple explanation can help that customer understand the situation, and hopefully move up the NPS score ladder.

Passives

Passives are the segment who could go either way. These neutral scores can have the ability to be swayed, so this is where follow up from the customer support or sales team can help unearth issues to lead to next step solutions.

A follow up email or call like this can help start the conversation: “We truly appreciate your response helping us understand your needs better. I understand you are extremely busy and I value your time, but if you could name one thing we could do to gain your recommendation next time, what would that be?"

The goal is to fine their pain point and develop ways to improve that trust, and score. Like I said, sometime though, they may be so new or a very tough grader in general, that nothing is wrong but it is a customer to monitor in your CRM.

Promoters

Promoters offer the ability to utilize those customers that are happy with your company and can help lead to new business. Start off by calling or sending an email simply thanking the customer for taking the time to respond that way and you value their relationship. Too many people fail to say thank you, so that is a rare communication they will appreciate. This segment is an excellent opportunity to build on that affinity by asking for referrals, inviting customers to special focus groups or testing groups or just identifying as those who deserve a special effort occasionally, like unexpected free shipping.

Just Get Started With NPS

There are many ways to use NPS, or survey your customer satisfaction in general. But for one of the quickest ways to solicit actionable customer feedback to help grow your business and retain and nurture good customers, Net Promoter Score should be one of the tools in your business arsenal.