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Citrix Online Uses NPS to Drive Priorities

LWest — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 15:42:47 GMT

Rounding out the Hi-Tech track, Tabitha Dunn, Director of Customer Insights for Citrix Online - the home of such celebrated projects as GoTo Meeting, GoTo Assist and GoTo Webinar - shared some insights about how NPS can be a driver of corporate priorities.

In the case of Citrix Online, the driver was product development and innnovation.

Tabitha gave us a veiled look at the projected numbers for a top-secret new project coming from Citrix Online. We were able to see the projections, but we don't know what the product is...yet. We got the distinct impression that the new product might hit digital shelves in about a month or so. Exciting!

Tabitha took the time to answer a lot of participant questions -- so much so that we had a mic runner in the room the entire time, but here are a few top-level take-aways:

Make sure you ask what people really want. And when you ask, get to the bottom of why they want what they want. Delivering on the wrong want/need can deliver low NPS scores. Tabitha gave the example of Citrix Online's customers asking for a smart phone client for their GoTo MyPC product. On the surface, it appeared that people wanted to be able to visit their computer desktops from their smart phone. But, when asked why they wanted to be able to do this and pointing out that the screen would be very tiny, etc., it turns out that users wanted to be able to access files in case they forgot them while traveling, for instance. (I personally think that some sort of file transfer product is what Citrix Online is launching in a month or so - some sort of GoTo MyFiles or something - but I can't be sure and certainly have no inside knowledge of such. It would be a good move for them though.)
Tabitha said, "The 'money' question is: how can we get from a 5 to a 10?" Meaning, the true value to a company's NPS program lies in figuring out how to drive improvement.
After seeing the various financial models and NPS/CX programs they've built, I chimed in and asked how long it took them to achieve what they've done. Her answer: 11 months and 2 full-time active team members. Wow, way to go Citrix.

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Satmetrix: Increasing Retention & Repurchasing

LWest — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 15:12:09 GMT

Satmetrix' own, Deborah Eastman delivered a presentation that was chock-full of common sense and hard-won insight with the theme: "Increasing Retention & Repurchase through an Integrated Account Management Program".

Some highlights were:

Account relationships are complex and traditional sales methodologies give a biased view of what's really going on in your accounts. You might want to read that again, it's not as simple as it sounds. Deborah gave the example of some sales folks saying, "I play golf with that guy all the time - he loves us!" Yet, when the NPS numbers come back, it shows an entirely different picture. The lesson here is grabbing a few brewskis and circling around the green with a key account does not a high NPS core make.
Watch your language. Deborah also hammered home that B2B account management programs should not be treated, viewed or referred to as research. An Integrated Account Management (IAM) program is not research - it's operational. They are also not surveys. Surveys are about you. Take note: if you start referring to your IAM or CX programs as surveys, so will everyone else. Refer to it as customer feedback...it might seem like a small nuance but people associate different things (and it's not always the association we want) with the word 'survey'. Stay mindful of this.
A good benchmark for B2B response rates is at least 50% - settle for no less. And, lead with your response rates. It's a bit off-the-mark to boast an NPS score of 80% and only have a 3% response rate. Not only are you missing the picture, but you're missing the value having the complete picture provides to your organization.
Don't forget your communication skills. Relay feedback to make sure you understood the feedback you're getting. It takes no time to pick up the phone and say, "Hey Bob, based on this last round of feedback, I understand X, Y and Z. Is that correct?" And, in fact, having conversations like this has led to more sales and repeat business. Relationships net you more diagnostic information and more information leads to better solutions.
That said, don't be tempted to look at CX programs as just sales efforts - CX should affect the company structure.
Keep in mind, too, that every person is not the same. Within one account, there are generally three types of people: decision-makers, influencers and end users. Be clear about what side of the fence you fall on with each group. End users may love your company, but if the decision makers don't, there's trouble in paradise. Look at how your NPS maps to each role.
Closed loop should happen with everyone -- not just detractors. Take the time to close the loop with promoters and passives -- and even non-responders. There's value in getting to the bottom of the numbers with real, live conversations with people. Ask promoters exactly how they came to be a promoter and then don't be shy about asking for referrals. Remember, closed loop conversations can generate income!
Link NPS to reference and referral programs. Marketing is usually looking for great case studies, PR is looking for customers/clients to talk to the media and sales is always looking for referrals - make sure these teams are cross-pollinating content.
Don't forget to leverage your wins! Have a balance. There's nothing wrong with focusing on areas of improvement, but it's a bit demoralizing for your team if all you're doing is fixing or pointing out what's broken.
When you can, map NPS goals to overall corporate goals. The idea being that the corporate goals already have energy and attention and NPS while having its own focus will benefit from the updraft.
Don't relegate NPS to an annual cycle. NPS needs to be on a quarterly cycle right along with sales results and forecasts. Focusing on NPS annually makes it more of an 'exercise' than a way your organization does business.

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Symantec - Energizing CX

LWest — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 14:46:41 GMT

Yesterday, I was the Hi-Tech Track Chair and as a result, had the pleasure of hearing Desirree Madison-Biggs, Director of Customer Experience at Symantec, speak about budget-friendy ways to put some zing in your CX program. (I must admit that it was quite cool to see the funny, yet informative, video they produced to update team members worldwide on NPS numbers.)

If you couldn't make it - shame on you! Just kidding...here are the top level take-aways in case you missed this session:

Symantec was bold enough to accept some of their CX challenges head on and adopted a position of "Customer First" and in fact, went so far as to give their CX program this theme: "Customer First: All the Insight, All the Time".
Desirree HIGHLY recommended having a game plan for your CX program. "You need a roadmap to there," she said. She admitted that Symantec put together part of their roadmap after a lot of the work had been done, but it's clear they're leading in CX programming now.
Desirree was smart enough to pepper her presentation with what would appear to be some obvious advice -- but these are all the things we forget when putting together CX programs. Sometimes the basics go by the wayside and we need someone who's been there to give us a gentle reminder. For example, here's this gem she shared: "You can't create promoters when service people aren't trained properly and aren't being nice to customers -- or if you have broken customer promises." Sounds obvious, right? But, how many times have you overlooked the forest for the trees when developing and implementing your CX program? Things to think about...
She also recommended creating an internal buzz. This requires a few things: the 'buzz' needs to come from the top, employees need to be engaged and empowered with action steps in order to get them on the same page and success stories need to be celebrated.
If you work within a national or international organization, don't forget to develop and nurture relationships with regional NPS champions. These are the people who'll keep the NPS home fires burning in between messages from corporate. For example, Symantec owned their CX program by mobilizing 17K employees to use a custom-developed customer assistance tool so that anyone can help a customer when needed. Genius. They also have a Customer First intranet/portal that showcases up-to-the-minute NPS scores and anything related to the organizations customer loyalty efforts. It's the first stop for anyone who wants to know about the Customer First program.
Desirree also pointed out not to lump all staff into the same bucket when it comes to CX programming. For example, Symantec has a special portal for their sales team and have created a RVP (Relationship Value Program). They also rolled out manager training so management can have conversations with employees about CX goals and where they fit into the bigger picture - it's all about each person knowing how they can specifically positively impact NPS.
The part that I thought was very forward-thinking is Symantec's CX Wiki, which is for employees as they move from position to position and want to bring information about Symantec's committment to customer loyalty with them.
Overall, Desirree stressed, "Communication is key! It is the underpinning to creating change within your organization."

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The Social Media Effect

LWest — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 08:11:23 GMT

Because I'm a social media consultant, when I think about the "customer experience" theme of this year's Net Promoter conference, I can't help but consider what role social media has played in brands' ability (or inability) to create customer experiences that rock.

One side of the equation is that it's hard to be able to consistently deliver when people can essentially "help themselves" via your blogs, knowledge bases and communities.

The other side of that same formula is social media provides the ideal connection point to begin, deliver on or enhance your customer experience program.

A few weeks ago, I read BAM: Bust A Myth: Delivering Customer Service in a Self-Service World, by Barry Moltz and Mary Jane Grinstead and was gobsmacked at the role social media was playing in being able to deliver on truly world-class service.

I'm glad that companies are finally embracing social media, but it's just not enough to be "on the grid". Two things have to happen to make social media have a positive impact on your customer experience program:

1. Someone has to be paying attention. It's great that your brand is represented on Twitter or Facebook, but it's not enough to talk about your company and offer updates. Why not take advantage of this opportunity to really listen to your audience and take their feedback into consideration? Hire someone to manage your reputation or at a minimum inform you on what's being said about your brand so that someone from your team can respond timely and accordingly.

2. Do something with the information your social media team receives. If you're listening, you'll get some great, actionable information from your social media channels and the best thing you can do is act on the information you receive and when you do, let your audience know that you've taken their advice. It will make them more inclined to offer insights in the future.

Social media isn't another advertising channel, it's a way for you to support your customer experience efforts in a way that's open, authentic and modern.

Think Experience, Not Service

LWest — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 20:54:39 GMT

Most companies have some sort of verbiage on their website that speaks about how important providing quality customer service is to them. They talk about how their service is top-notch, A-1, best-in-class, etc. And, this used to be impressive and convincing, but the time for that has passed. We've entered a new age.

We've entered a time when people expect experiences - and consistent ones - from your brand. It is no longer acceptable for one customer service rep to give one answer and someone else gives a different answer. This is where processes and procedures come heavily into play and can be a lifesaver for your brand.

It might seem like slight-of-word or semantics, but brands really need to make the shift from a service mentality to an experience mentality. Think relationship, not transaction.

Consider how you're treated when you shop at Nordstrom. When you purchase something, the clerk walks around the counter to personally hand you the item you've purchased. No one ever reaches over a counter at Nordstrom to hand you your shopping bag - at least they shouldn't. It's simply not the Nordstrom way. When you ask someone where something is in Nordstrom, they walk you directly to the item. There's no pointing and saying, "Over there." That's part of customer experience at Nordstrom. As are their signature blue shopping bags and gift boxes.

Compare this to your experience at the local corner store where you're told that vitamins can be found, "In the back on the right," and where your bag rips before you can leave the store with your item.

You might be inclined to think that this is about a price point. It's not. In fact, price point is the sad excuse many brands make when they want to explain away their poor customer experience.

Don't fall into this trap. Brands that offer products and services at lower price points should not focus any less on creating an experience, and in fact, they should focus more. Because an experience is about the totality of what your customer feels when they do business with your company; from how they are spoken to, to your return policies, to the cleanliness of your public restrooms.

The whole point of this year's Net Promoter conference is to take a good, hard, honest look at where your customer experience program is headed. Is it helping you to do swift business in this day and time of creating stellar customer experiences or does it have you stuck in the dark ages of transaction-based customer service?

If the former, come to the conference to see how you can learn from the best about how to make it better. If the later, well, I'll see you there

B2B and NPS: A Match Made in Heaven

LWest — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 06:04:10 GMT

Deborah Eastman, Chief Marketing Officer, Satmetrix

It was nice to see some focus on B2B business models. As the owner of a company that serves other businesses, this session was especially attractive to me – plus Deborah Eastman is always has the inside track on B2B and NPS. Eastman started off outlining the keys to success in using Net Promoter in a B2B environment:

NP can be leveraged to improve relationships
Make sure Net Promoter is integrated with the core business operations
Insure that action is taken on any feedback

Eastman also suggested that the request for Net Promoter feedback be built into client engagement contracts to make sure projects don’t end without getting the feedback needed. The average NPS for a B2B company is 24%.

A key takeaway from this session was the best practice of only surveying twice per year and the response rates should be 60% or higher. Eastman cautioned against accepting high Net Promoter Scores without also looking at your response rates. High NPS’s without high response rates render high Net Promoter Scores almost meaningless and probably means that the data is not trustworthy. In fact, non-respondents should be viewed as detractors with the assumption that the individual doesn’t care about the relationship enough to take 5 minutes to complete the survey. Eastman recommends dealing with detractors in a very direct way – by responding IMMEDIATELY to detractors. In general, it’s a good idea to not let detractors feelings to fester. She says that she’s seen conversations with detractors result in upsells quite often. A session participant noted that many companies are quickly tiring of survey taking so many companies are creating their own survey evaluations for their top vendors and releasing the survey results to the vendors – a different spin on Net Promoter for sure.

At the close, Eastman recommended closing surveys on time and getting the results – along with action steps – out the door within 30 days. The potential debate is, whom should you return that survey data? Just to the respondents or to everyone regardless of whether they responded or not?

If you chose the former, you risk not engaging potential detractors (the people who didn’t respond) and filling them in on your company’s improvement plans. However, if you inform everyone, you air laundry and may point out areas of weakness that many people may not have otherwise known about. As with everything, there is a trade-off and you need to do what’s right in your specific scenario. Yet another reason to get certified – to help address pesky dilemmas like this one.

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Golden Rule Behavior

LWest — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 05:52:21 GMT

Scott Baker, President & CEO, Paul Davis Restoration

Don Peacock, Franchise Owner, Paul Davis Restoration

Pairing a franchisee and a franchisor certainly made for an interesting session. All day I had heard stories of hard-won lessons and triumph about what it meant to implement Net Promoter within four walls; I was really interested in learning how the team at PDR was able to pull it off with franchisees!

As always, it all starts in making the choice to “go NP”. Baker mentioned that the reasons that Net Promoter was ideal for PDR were:

the system is simple
it serves as one, single “trackable” metric for busy franchise owners
although they had tried to improve customer loyalty, they weren’t able to make a big enough improvement – and they didn’t want to be satisfied with the status quo
it’s a way for franchisees to show differentiation without spending a lot of money on advertising
he felt the goal of Net Promoter would really resonate with franchisees

Once the decision was made, the PDR team set the goal of getting the homeowners themselves to recommend PDR to their insurance agents and adjusters. Along they way, by using Net Promoter, they were able to make some correlations and learn some lessons it would have been very hard to learn or they may not have ever learned, like; a surge in sales sometimes results in a decrease in their Net Promoter Score –especially during an emergency or disaster. This is reasonable because during trying times the focus turns to helping as many needy people as possible and as a result some of the elements that drive Net Promoter Scores are not as prominent. They were also able to discern the top three causes of the creation and existence of detractors AND promoters.

Some causes of detractors are:

lack of communication
lack of timeliness and
challenges with quality of service and workmanship

Some causes of promoters are:

professionalism
timeliness and
quality work

No real shockers there, but it’s always good to identify what’s driving your NPS scores.

Team PDR decided to address some of the core reasons behind detractors by creating The Paul Davis Customer Experience Manual, which outlines the PDR keys to customer loyalty:

First contact is made with caring and compassion (many of the people who contact PDR do so because of a natural disaster or some other personal or family crisis)
Engagement (this is where they begin the process of developing a long term relationship with the customer)
Commitment (when they get the customer’s permission to proceed with the restoration work as outlined)
Fulfillment (when PDR gets an opportunity to actually do the work they’ve outlined and deliver on their promises)
Completion (the opportunity to create a long lasting relationship with the customer)
Continue (essentially “lather, rinse, repeat”)

But, the main cause of Net Promoter success at Peacock’s franchise is in requiring that everyone attend some sort of customer service programming for at least one hour every week.

Baker was careful to express that participation in Net Promoter is not mandatory for franchisees, but he was clear about stating that having a franchisee like Peacock to tout the benefits of using NP could not be paralleled.

To close the session, Baker and Peacock shared some lessons learned:

Golden Rule Behavior and Net Promoter appeals to candidates who want to do the right thing so when hiring employees, if there’s not a fit it’s obvious right away
It’s a good idea for franchisees to have their own awards ceremonies – it shows they’re committed to the process
High NPS scores have the potential to mask other problems, so don’t be lulled into complacency because of high scores – always look for ways to improve on your improvements and always look for the not-so-obvious ways you’re dropping the ball
Surveys that are sent closer to the actual time of the transaction get higher scores because the experience is still fresh in the mind of the customer.
Oh, yeah, and when workers wear “dust booties” over their work boots when coming inside and when they ask for permission to park their trucks and use the bathrooms – those actions always lead to a higher NPS. As a woman, I can totally see the logic in that!

Looking Inside with Net Promoter

LWest — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 23:35:14 GMT

Melissa Namiot-Mader, Director, Business Systems Analysis and Loyalty Programs, Veritude

John Abraham, General Manager, Net Promoter Programs, Satmetrix

Melissa Namiot-Mader and Satmetrix’ own John Abraham had a bit of a ‘fireside chat’ session about how Veritude has leveraged Net Promoter processes to double their NPS inside 6 months and all but leave their competitors in the dust. Vertitude decided to use the NPS for several reasons:

to set themselves apart in the uber-competitive staffing industry
they were working very hard to land clients (and were successful in doing so), but now they wanted to train their focus on KEEPING those clients
using the Net Promoter approach really fit their industry and what they do as a company.

What got them to measurable improvement was a combination of a number of carefully thought out, consistent action-steps:

Veritude’s CEO walks the floor and takes a high-touch/open-door approach to dealing with employees.
They conduct surveys twice per year without fail
They conduct Net Promoter workshops and weave Net Promoter concepts into employee meetings
Net Promoter Scores are tied to compensation
All new hires are introduced to Net Promoter
All new executive officers are given a copy of “The Ultimate Question” and are debriefed on what role Net Promoter plays in the company
Each of their sites is required to do an annual Net Promoter action plan based on the verbatim feedback from the previous year. Only until they have created their action plan are they given their NPS from the previous year and then the scores are published publicly.
NPS questions have been randomly built into their online time recording software via a pop-up questionnaire. Employees answer questions like:
- Have you heard from your staffing consultant recently?
- Would you recommend this staffing consultant to a friend or colleague?

They’ve also kept it light by creating personas for promoters (a cheerleader), detractors (a devil with horns and pitchfork) and passives (the “Pat” character from Saturday Night Live)

When I asked Namiot-Mader what she would recommend for Net Promoter newbies, she advised that those interested in Net Promoter should make sure the Net Promoter approach is a good fit for their company and industry. She also suggested getting an executive sponsor or advocate. But, most of all she stressed DOING something with the data you collect. She cautioned not to try to address all the weak points at once, but to instead break the list down into manageable chunks – business line by business line if need be. As someone who has earned her Net Promoter Certification, Namiot-Mader encouraged the session participants to opt for certification because it’s good to go through implementing Net Promoter concepts with a group of people who are in the same position as you and whom you can bounce ideas off. Veritude has been effectively using Net Promoter in closed-loop for the past 2 years, but have been keeping track of their scores for the past 3 years and the results speak for themselves:

In 2007, their NPS doubled from 2006
In 2008, they exceeded their goals by 13 points
They have created a new standardized resume template and implemented a consistent resume submission process so that their customers are able to see the quality of their candidates
They implemented a new internal communication plan
And, more importantly, they were able to answer the tell-tale question: “What should we NOT be doing?”

Employees as the Key to Customer Loyalty

LWest — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 05:47:19 GMT

Ryan Magnon, Vice President Quality, The West Paces Hotel Group

When the founder of your hotel is a former Ritz Carlton executive and when you have a super-sized mission statement (“to be the global leader in the service business”), you’ve got some pretty big shoes to fill. And, it looks like the folks at West Paces are up for the challenge.

Magnon shared a story about switching into casual attire while visiting one of their properties and talking with a guest in the bar. As a veritable undercover customer loyalty agent, Magnon sidled up to a guest and asked matter-of-factly, “So, what do you think of this place?” As the conversation went on, the guest informed him that he would pay almost 30% more NOT to stay at another hotel. Of course, eventually, Magnon revealed who he was, but that’s the kind of dedication and focus needed to drive Net Promoter Scores through the coffered ceilings at their exclusive resorts.

All West Paces employees carry around a 25-point service cannon card to remind them of their commitment to Net Promoter-level service. (Magnon was kind enough to bring some of the cards to the conference as samples.)

West Paces has been innovative in their approach to Net Promoter. They have created a “learning lab” where the latest and greatest West Paces ideas are tested on a closed “road” before hitting reality highway.