One of the most exciting things about Net Promoter is that in building your NPS, you create a tremendous asset. Promoters will not only buy from you, and keep buying for you--they are are also far more likely to:

- refer business to you

- take reference calls and site visits

- provide testimonials (check out these impressive video testimonials from Intel's website.)

- participate on yoru social media sites

- say great things about you on other social media sites

- speak about you at industry events

- engage in customer co-design

- participate in advisory boards

- participate in marketing and advertising and initiatives

In other words, you have a community of highly credible sources that can help improve your sales, marketing and branding efforts in measurable ways.

I think the next great question for NPS is, "How do we organize our promoters into customer reference programs, advisory boards, online and in-person customer communities, executive forums, and other customer engagement efforts to create even more mutual value for them and for our firm?"

But it got me thinking about the pervasive silent killer of customer loyalty programs . . . the dreaded “white binder syndrome.” The cost of this affliction is staggering but often hidden; hundreds of man hours from your employees, negative goodwill, and when it is most severe – rampant customer defections.

“White Binder” syndrome is easy to diagnose. Here is how it often presents itself:

• You, your staff, or your research team spend hundreds of hours creating beautiful notebooks full of perfectly formatted charts. Most often, much more time is given to chart formatting then to THINKING about what the customer is really saying.
• The binders delight the recipients. Most will sit the binder right on top of the “to-do” pile with the best intention to look at it the next morning over a hot cup of coffee.
• The next day comes. Urgent (but not important) calls derail the morning. The recipient promises to take the notebook home over the weekend for careful review.
• A few weeks of broken self-promises, the pretty white binder ends up on the book shelf, clogging the arteries of the customer loyalty program. Slowly killing it.

Tragically, the data collection team did their job, they got trustworthy data. But the organization failed because no action was taken.

But, you can overcome the disease. And when your organization starts taking action, remarkable things will happen! Renewals rates will improve, clients will buy more, and the word of mouth marketing engine will go into overdrive.

I am really excited that Eric Murphy, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer for Ingenix, is speaking at the conference. The Ingenix leadership team created a culture where action is paramount. As a result, in just 18-months they are enjoying measurable increases in their business outcomes.

Go ahead, self diagnose. If you are a victim of “white binder syndrome” then Eric is one presenter to be sure to hear. Members of the Ingenix program team will be at the conference as well. Come find me and I’ll be happy to make introductions or share ideas for overcoming “white binder syndrome.”

See you in a few weeks.