Clearspace Server Syndication Feed

Matching the Rhythm of Your Relationships

CrispinM — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 17:55:34 GMT

Frank McCusker's presentation addressed some fundamental questions about which customers to ask for feedback and when to do it in a B2B environment. Clients have often asked me if they should create a Net Promoter Score for each customer organisation. My answer has always been no for the reasons that Frank outlined. B2B products and services are usually purchased by a complex decision making unit - a mix of users of the purchase, influencers of the purchase and the economic buyer with the ultimate right of veto for the purchase. Each will have a different set of expectations and each will have their own experience. It's obviously vital to understand how each of these 'buyers' feels about the relationship. And therefore each will have their own NPS. Averaging these scores might be interesting but it won't really give you a true indication of the health of the relationship or the real likelihood to buy again. This is because the average will mask the score for the economic buyer and if this person is a detractor then you really need to know that and do something about it.

If you really want to use your 'relationship' survey to greatest advantage, you should, as Frank said, match the timing of the survey to the rhythm of the relationship. If you have an annual renewal for example, it makes sense to survey the customer in time for you to be able to rectify any problems or maximise any strengths before the renewal decision is taken. It is also essential that you have a relationship status check halfway through this annual cycle. By adopting this approach you can really plan for success with every buyer in a single customer organisation.

Negative Isn't Necessarily Bad - In Fact it Could Be Best in Class

CrispinM — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 09:18:29 GMT

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.

Why a 10 isn't perfection - its just a measure of surprise!

CrispinM — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 06:11:43 GMT

One of the things that comes back time and again at this year's Net Promoter Conference in London is the advice that the Net Promoter scale isn't an absolute measure of achievement but rather an encouragement to delight once more.

You see numbers are finite but experiences are not.

Clients sometimes ask 'what's next once you reach a 10?' After all 10 is perfection right?

Wrong? Virgin Media, ING, Philips, BUPA, Fiat - all say the same thing - a 10 on the NPS scale is just the recognition of delight - positive surprise if you like. In fact I would encourage everyone to see the NPS scale as a 'Surprisometer'.

So the challenge then become how you positively surprise next time. And that's the reality of Net Promoter. If you see it as just a metric then a 10 is job done - the Ultimate Answer to the Ultimate Question. But if you see it as a Discipline then 10 is just an the Ultimate Encouragement to delight next time and every time. And because you can't surprise with exactly the same experience a second time, then you need to find small ways to surprise once more. So use Net Promoter as your own Surprisometer and rise to the challenege of delighting customers on every occasion.

It takes Discipline to improve your customer experience

CrispinM — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 13:27:54 GMT

Every now and then someone tells me they have been disappointed with Net Promoter because it didn't really do anything for their organisation. In every case so far the reason has been that they have only asked the Ultimate Question as part of a brand tracking survey. They have captured a number but not the reasons behind it.

At best this is interesting but in reality probably useless in terms of the practical difference it will make to a business.

The verbatim feedback from customers brings NPS to life. But if it's positive change you're looking for then what you really need is Discipline - or the Net Promoter Discipline. One of the fundamental tenets of Net Promoter is that it measures the difference between expectations and experiences. And the average product or service delivery chain embraces a host of experiences or touchpoints. And every touchpoint represents an opportunity to delight or to disappoint. So in reality unless you understand how you perform at every important touchpoint you will never truly be able to drive a better customer experience. That's why I believe Net Promoter works best when it moves beyond a relationship metric to a become a business Discipline that drives the ability to exceed expectations at every touchpoint. One of the companies that is reaping the rewards of this approach is Virgin Media who not only collects at least 1000 pieces of customer feedback every day but passes it on to the employee who 'touched' the customer during the delivery of the service. That's really listening to customers. In my view you have to understand the customer journey and make every employee understand their vital role in delighting customers at every touchpoint on the journey if you want to build a busines based on loyal customers who become advocates.

Does the Battle of Hastings mean the British are more like the French than one might think?

CrispinM — Fri, 15 May 2009 13:16:33 GMT

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.

Don't Just Identify Promoters - Activate Them

CrispinM — Thu, 01 May 2008 10:26:26 GMT

One of the strengths of Net Promoter is its simplicity. It's incredibly easy to ask the ultimate question and to use the answers as a helpful business benchmark. But this simplicity is also its weakness if organisations don't use it as originally designed by Fred Reichheld and Satmetrix; to be an enabler for business improvement. A lot of people I spoke to yesterday are using NPS to identify detractors and to remove the sources of detraction. This makes a lot of sense because research shows that detractors can be more influential than promoters. Indeed work at the London School of Economics shows that one negative recommendation takes up to four positive ones to counter it

This approach has been endorsed by the brilliant case study from Virgin Media - find out what you do badly and improve it. As a former NTL (acquired by Virgin Media) customer I can definitely see the fruits of this exercise! However, very few people I spoke to are activating their promoters. LEGO showed the powerful returns that this can deliver. You see there is a marked difference between the scoring a 9 or 10 and actually recommending - and perhaps more importantly, recommending on a regular and systematic basis.

The secret to converting a promoter into an advocate is to Listen using NPS, Involve by treating them as advisers (through more systematic research) and Empower by actually allowing them to shape your future direction - just as Lego has done with its power users. And don't be put off from doing so just because you don't work for an iconic brand like Lego. Promoters already love you - because you exceeded their expectations. Turn that love into an active daily passion by making them part of your business.