Do you know the film "Teachers Pet"? Starring Clark Gable and Doris Day? If yes, you'll get my drift immediately. If no, I guess I'd better explain that it's a film about a hard-bitten newspaperman, Jim Gannon, who despises journalism schools because he thinks that you only get the knowledge out there in the field. But he finds out that's not true. You can teach the rules of What, Who, When, How and Why upfront and that makes a person a better journalist. (I believe he also gets a few dates with Doris Day's character along the way too!)

Today, Frank McCusker, EMEA Director of Account Management, demonstrated that the rules behind journalism are startling similiar to those of measuring the customer experience in B2B.

Use the rules to focus on the right program match for your customer audience:

• WHAT...are you trying to achieve through the feedback gathering process? It should be insight that drives action, not data in a report that sits on a shelf in someone's office getting dusty.
• WHO...should you be surveying - 80/20 rule? Census vs. Sampling? Contact Matrix? and also WHO in your organisation is best placed to be champions for change? Ambassadors of the program?
• WHEN...get the timing right so it benefits you and your customers. Don't over survey, don't selection survey and don't vanity survey!
• HOW...design the right survey - and use the right media for contact
• WHY...which is where the customer communication comes in. Make sure that your customers know WHY you are running the program, WHY their feedback is important and WHY this ultimately benefits them.

Frank underlined that by learning this lesson up front and applying the approach to your business, you can also avoid some of the pitfalls of "learning on the job". I guess that makes the conference "NPS school" and we are the pupils. If we learn from the experts, our colleagues and contacts, we can help to develop better focused programs that deliver on the promise.

But don't expect a date with Doris..!