Lenna Mariana's session on Benchmarking your NPS performance raised a number of old chestnuts about 'The Score' and the need to understand the context of your market and your territory.

One of the counter-intuitive things about NPS for newbies is the concept that a negative score can be good. Negative always has to be bad - right?  Lenna's summary of the Satmetrix cross-cultural benchmarks in Europe really drove home three key messages for me:

1.     You need to understand your score in the context of your competitors. This is particulalry important as in some markets, the market average may be a negative NPS score BUT if you have an above average NPS score you can typically expect to out-perform competitors who do not. In fact the study by the London School of Economics identified some interesting trends here.

2.     You need to understand your score in the context of your territory. The European benchmarks covered by Lenna show some fascinating things. For example the average score in Western Europe is lower than the 25% in Southern Europe. So if you work for a multi-national that believes in league tables, the UK team could be best in class in the UK but seemingly failing against the score for Italy where the team may only be average against their competitors. Understanding this is vital to motivating a rewarding teams correctly.

3.     The verbatim responses from customers are usually more valuable than the number. If you haven't the benefit of benchmarks for your market sector and territory, it is worth remembering that the verbatim feedback from your customers about the reasons for your score will provide the insight you need to raise your game. The Net Promoter Score without this context could actually be an unhelpful guide if you don't understand the importance of cultural and market differences.

The Satmetrix benchmarks are well worth a look for organisations keen to understand where they stand against their competition.

When I run Net Promoter surveys in multiple countries almost the first question asked is: "Will Net Promoter work in x or y country?" I've also been told that the Dutch or the Germans will never give a score of 10. In every case I have been involved with, the logic of Net Promoter has been proven - regardless of the territory. By that I mean the clear segmentation of customers into Detractors, Passives and Promoters.

The latest cross-cultural benchmarks in Europe - just published by Satmetrix -  show some fascinating cultural differences. For example, it is the Israelis that have the highest average NPS score in the region.

But if you don't have access to benchmarks in your industry in your territory, does that mean you won't be able to accurately interpret your NPS scores? The answer is a resounding no. If you ask supplementary questions which allow verbatim feedback, the tone of this feedback will clearly distinguish between the scores that represent the Detractors, Passives and Promoters. And as you build up your reservoir of feedback over successive surveys, these demarcation lines will become all the clearer.

If you were to ask the average Brit if they think they are like the French, the answer would be a resounding no. But the latest benchmarks show that maybe our recommendation DNA is very similar. Perhaps William the Conqueror left a Word of Mouth legacy too?

Moderator’s Note: click here to learn more about the EMEA Cross-Curtural Benchmarks.