NPS – Now What?

If you are tracking Net Promoter Score (NPS) and you don’t know what to do with the results, don’t worry, you’re not alone.  According to the annual Net Promoter Score Benchmark Survey, 90% of companies were unclear if implementing NPS had increased their customer retention.  Companies are collecting all this data, but they aren’t taking action on it.  To help provide some clarity, customer responses are bucketed into three groups; Promoters, Passives, and Detractors.

No matter what bucket your customer lands in, there is action that needs to be taken in a timely manner.

Promoters: 9-10

These are the people who are loyal to your company/brand.  They’ve answered that they are HIGHLY likely to recommend your product or service to a friend or colleague.  These customers are valuable to your company and you can learn how their experience is so different from the detractor’s experience.

What you should do with this group:

Learn what they are doing differently that’s giving them a successful experience.  Ask them to share their story on review sites like G2 Crowd  or Capterra.  Show your appreciation by sending them a swag bag with company shirts or coffee mugs. A thank you goes a long way.

Passives: 7-8

Although passives don’t contribute to your NPS score, they still are a crucial customer group.  Passive customers generally feel indifferent. They aren’t having a bad experience or a good experience, better put, a mediocre experience.  Because they feel indifferent, they are more likely to entertain alternatives.  And since you didn’t ”WOW” them with an unforgettable customer experience, they have no problem switching providers if the price/offering is even just slightly better.

What you should do with this group:

There’s generally one specific cause for their score.  They are satisfied with everything, but there’s just one feature they want.  Or more commonly, they are looking for more engagement and more hand holding.  Learn what features they are engaging with in your system, then reach out with advice around those frequently used features.

Detractors: 0-6

Every company will have their detractors, but it’s how you respond to this criticism that will define you.  Detractors are more likely to share their negative experience than someone who had a successful experience and therefore need to be high priority in terms of responding.  There’s a famous quote that states – “you learn more from failure than your success.”  You need to learn what you’re doing wrong, before you can make improvements.

 What you should do with this group:

Respond as soon as possible, create alerts and notifications to be able to respond immediately.  If you have a large customer base, send an automated message as the first touch.  You can send a simple message of thanking them for their response and acknowledging their negative feedback. This 1 to 1 messaging can go a long way.  Let them know you took their comments seriously, you value them as a customer, and begin working to restore their confidence. Interestingly enough, Detractors are more likely to be your next Promoters.

Blog Author: John Parrell, Sales Executive, ChurnZero 

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