When you master it, the Net Promoter Score is a metric that makes tomorrow better for your business and your customers, writes PR and marketing specialist, Annette Densham.

Metrics make the world go round, or do they? In fact, what makes a business turn is sales, and there’s a metric in town that turns customers into your sales force.

The Net Promoter Score (NPS) has been called harsh, punishing, and various other expletives by those on the receiving end, but at the end of the day, it’s simple. When you master it, the NPS is a metric that makes tomorrow better for your business and your customers.

Mita Bedi, CEO of Resonate, who brings customer experience insights to life, says NPS is a tool underestimated by many, at their peril.

“Metrics are important for business growth. If a business wants to take their product or service to the next level, they need to pay attention to what their customers say about their experience with them, so they can ensure that those customers are then going out and recommending and bringing in business,” Mita says.

“Those who tap into the NPS’s important question about how likely someone is to recommend the business to others will benefit from the social trust NPS gives them.”

Say goodbye to the metrics of the past

All the classic KPIs are indicators that measure the success of yesterday. Revenue, profitability, they’re all over by the time you measure them.

They’re a great demonstration you’ve hit your targets, but they don’t say much about the potential for the future, do they?

That’s where the Net Promoter Score comes in. It’s the holy grail of metrics, a crystal ball that lets you peer into the future for your brand. It lets you know whether you’re delivering or not today, and most importantly, how this will impact your tomorrow.

Mita says the score is not just about having happy customers. “NPS is about creating raving fans and de-risking a raving fan’s recommendation.

“When you recommend a business, product or service to your friends and family, you are putting your social currency on the line.  By using NPS for customer experience metrics, you not only showcase your business excellence, but also make it a safe bet for anyone recommending you.

“NPS is the ultimate tool for customer advocacy, or simply put, how many of your customers have joined your sales force to help you grow?”

What exactly is the Net Promotor Score?

The Net Promoter Score is a metric based on the customer experience of a brand. It measures the loyalty that a customer feels towards the brand or business. Most importantly, it determines whether that person would recommend your service or product, business or experience to someone else.

Thus, you measure NPS on an 11-point scale in response to just one question: “How likely are you to recommend us to your friends or colleagues?”

How is the NPS scored?

This is when people start to flinch. You see, while the customer may be rating you out of 10 – the only good scores are 9 or 10.

These numbers tell you that this person is a fan of the services, products, or experiences you provide. They’re excited and motivated enough to tell other people.

A score of 7 or 8? That tells you nothing about whether a customer feels safe enough to recommend you. Which is exactly what the person doing the rating will tell their friends about you: nothing.

It’s not that you did a bad job, it’s just that there was nothing memorable about what you did. Tomorrow, the person probably won’t remember who you are to tell anyone about you.

And scores of 6 or less? They’re a warning sign that you’re doing things wrong.

This question is basically a subtle why to ask your customer, “Do you want to be an unpaid salesperson who never earns commission for our company?”

It puts them in a position of power, because if they’ve had an excellent experience with your business, they’ll shout it from the rooftops. You want people to be your ad hoc salespeople, because word-of-mouth referrals carry more weight than ever in today’s connected world.

How do you get a high Net Promotor Score?

There’s only one way to get a high score on the NPS. The product, service or experience you provide must be excellent enough to engender trust between your customer and your brand.

You can gain trust by excelling or squandering it by delivering a substandard experience.  Mita explains that getting a high NPS is more than about price.

“When people have tight budgets, like they do now, and are careful where they spend their money, people will shop not only on how much it costs them, but also on what the experience was like,” she says.

“Think about it. You have an aunt who is a nagging pain, and she calls and asks for a recommendation of a hotel in your favourite city. You’re only going to want to recommend somebody amazing, because anything less, and you will pay for it with endless complaints from your aunt for a long time.

“As a customer, you need to be completely confident that you can trust the hotel to deliver excellence to prevent a recommendation turning sour. The same is true for everyone.”

Look at NPS heroes

Take Apple. They don’t spend a fortune on advertising. They’re all about creating brand evangelists.

Apple customers create more Apple customers. And they don’t buy based on price, but on brand loyalty, which was built by creating 10 on 10 experiences or what is now termed The Apple Experience.

If you can mirror this in your business, you can create customers that buy from you because their perceived risk of a bad experience is zero.  And those customers will be willing to pay a premium, too.

Ask about your customers

NPS is harsh, but it’s fair. And the reward for getting it right is that your customers become brand advocates.

They sell for you, they encourage others to use your products and services, and better still, you get to move away from being price driven to experience driven.

Sure, discretionary spending will drop in the near future due to a global recession, but the brands that won’t suffer from this will be those powered by NPS. “For those businesses who don’t track and measure their customers’ experience, they will see their kingdoms fold,” says Mita.

“If you go out of your way to provide an experience for your customers, they will stick with you like glue. When you understand what your customers love, they will be loyal regardless of economic conditions.

Mita points out that we’re heading into a time when people will tighten their budgets. They’ll be looking for where they can save money, so instead of recommending great businesses, people will be talking about who to chop.

“Those who don’t make the effort to value their customers will lose their advocates,” warns Mita. “It is easy to sell when the market is booming. It takes a savvy and forward thinking business to sell when the market is tightening. NPS can help you rise above the storm and stand out.”

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https://www.kochiesbusinessbuilders.com.au/how-to-grow-your-business-with-referrals/