If you can keep doing what you’re already doing right while changing what you’re doing wrong, you’re getting closer to reaching a perfect formula.
A Net Promoter Score (or NPS) is a very simple – but very useful – concept.
It’s essentially a collection of results from a survey. A survey in which you ask customers whether or not they would recommend you to a friend.
Imagine you have a really good customer service experience. You’re going to tell people all about it, and spread the positive word. If you have a bad experience, you’re going to spread negative feedback.
That’s basically what a Net Promoter Score is – just online. Your Net Promoter Score measures how likely your customers are to recommend you to others.
That sounds useful – how can I calculate my score?
You begin by asking your customers (via survey or questionnaire) a key question: On a scale from 0–10, how likely are you to recommend X (business) to a friend?
You can spread this survey via email, or simply have it pop up on your web page.
As noted by Digital Marketer, you can then place those who respond into three different categories:
Promoters (score 9–10) are your dedicated consumers who will continue to buy from your company and refer others
Passives (score 7–8) are satisfied consumers, but less enthusiastic and easily swayed by competing businesses
Detractors (score 0–6) are the unhappy consumers who can (and probably will) damage your brand through word-of-mouth
You then subtract the amount of detractors from the amount of promoters. Simple. This figure leaves you with your NPS.
Can I ask any other questions?
Of course. The above question is only an example, and a simple one at that. When surveying customers, you don’t want to bombard them, but you do want to obtain some detail.
You might want to ask:
- On a scale of 0–10, how likely are you to recommend (a particular product name) to a friend or colleague?
- On a scale of 0–10, how likely are you to recommend (this particular event) to your friends?
- You can also ask open-ended questions like ‘how can we improve this product?’ for more detailed responses, though that won’t offer you quantitative data.
Why is this score important?
Customer data is always invaluable. And this score is no different. Your NPS is useful for two main reasons:
- Loyalty and retention. You can understand what makes customers loyal to you – and keep doing those things.
- Improvement. All businesses need to improve.
If you can keep doing what you’re already doing right while changing what you’re doing wrong, you’re getting closer to reaching a perfect formula.
Are there any cons?
- Firstly, no data is completely conclusive – especially since customers might not engage with your survey in a completely transparent way.
- An NPS alone will not fix your business. The actions you take after it might. It’s not a quick fix, but nothing ever is.
An NPS is a great metric to gauge the success of your business. And it’s a great start to understanding what your customers like and what they don’t. It’s quantitative and it offers easy reference points for improvement.