The recent NPS conference in Miami was an extraordinary event. More than 400 attendees heard from a wide variety of firms that are successfully implementing NPS, including Aon, eBay, Symantec, Four Seasons, A&E Television Networks, and GE. I was most impressed with the speakers' candor, commitment, and creative problem solving. It's obvious to me that NPS practitioners in many different industry sectors are coming rapidly down a steep learning curve.

Now it is time to think about the upcoming London conference and the certification classes the following week in May. One of my goals as both a speaker and a participant is to hear from you about what is getting results.

One of my favorite stories from Miami came from A&E, the TV network that owns A&E, History Channel, and several other media properties. Lee Boykoff of A&E described a highly creative application of the NPS framework to the media business. The company first utilized the Satmetrix-Informative software process to identify a large number of promoters; then it clicked the microscope up a notch to focus on the subset of promoters who generated the highest volume of word of mouth. A&E concentrated its promotion and advertising efforts on these super-promoters; the super-promoters, in turn, passed the messages along to their multiple friends and colleagues, thereby multiplying the impact and effectiveness of A&E's marketing investment. As we all know, messages heard from trustworthy friends or colleagues have far more credibility than corporate advertising messages.

The A&E session also revealed some creative applications of NPS for media new-product development strategies. For example, the network utilized NPS metrics to gauge reaction to pilots for new TV series. That enabled it to forecast the scale of future audiences and likely Nielsen ratings. The network also fine-tuned each show's launch timeslot by examining the overlap between promoters for existing shows and those for the new pilot. By slotting the new show in a timeslot directly following a show with many promoters in common, A&E could increase the new show's audience and word-of-mouth recommendations. By examining the overlap of promoters across all its shows, A&E can adjust its schedule to attract the strongest core of loyal viewers.

As I look toward our next events in London, I hope we will continue to hear from companies who, like A&E, have made NPS highly relevant to their company and their customers.  I look forward to seeing many of you there, as we continue to learn from new ideas, approaches, and techniques for applying NPS.