Many companies collect Net Promoter Score (NPS®), but few leverage this customer feedback or other feedback like Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) and Customer Effort Score (CES). Businesses begin the NPS process with the best intentions, and some review the score and feedback each quarter. But far too few businesses regularly leverage NPS for improved return on investment (ROI).
Customer feedback data is not wired into the modern tech ecosystem in the same way as data coming from CRM, BI, or marketing automation systems. So, how does an underused survey qualify as a marketing prediction? The proof is in the success stories coming from companies who do use their NPS score to change processes, improve their supply chain, or impact the product design process.Â
Use cases for NPS vary, but only the most advanced companies use NPS in a multi-faceted way. The simplest use of NPS is likely to reduce potential churn. At its most basic, NPS is a one-time indicator of customer satisfaction, so churn reduction makes logical sense. A low score equates to a lower likelihood of re-purchasing your product or service.
Forward-looking companies expand NPS usage to communicate with active customers, demonstrate dedication, foster loyalty, and even create or iterate new products. Companies like HomeBase and Magoosh show how much other innovative companies can do with NPS and other customer feedback.
See More: Were Henry Ford and Steve Jobs Right About Customer Feedback?
A story about Product Madness, a digital casino gaming company, exemplifies the potential of leveraging an NPS survey’s customer feedback goldmine. In this article, I will share the inside scoop on how we set up a process to capture NPS and other feedback for a customer, empower them to act on the data via integrations, and positively impact the business via service and support.
What Is NPS?
Net Promoter Score or NPS is a survey question where a consumer rates their loyalty to the vendor providing the survey on a scale of zero to ten. NPS questions are typically distinct from other survey questions, containing language similar to, “Based on your experience or purchase, how likely are you to recommend this vendor to a friend?â€
The NPS score is used to quantify loyalty. Respondents are broken down into three groups: Detractors 0-6, Neutrals 7-8, and Promoters 9-10.
NPS is a single score, but insights come from a follow-up question meant to solicit feedback. Business leads can start with NPS but should include an open text question type to attract meaningful comments. If businesses ask why the customer selected that number, they can understand the drivers of satisfaction and dissatisfaction and make a difference.
NPS and supplementary customer feedback are significant for several reasons:
- NPS can simplify action. When loyalty is quantified via an NPS, that data can be logged and acted upon as data. NPS enables executives to tabulate data and display customer feedback in ways never before possible.
- NPS can simplify reporting. The standard design of NPS chartsOpens a new window enables teams to focus on the results and trends over time. Adding that NPS chart to executives’ standard set of reports is key for visibility.
- NPS can simplify automation. One way to start acting on NPS data is to set up automations to send automatic emails to your NPS promoters or detractors. Marketing departments could use two drip campaigns to nurture these groups in the different ways they need.
- NPS can simplify support and service. As immediate feedback, NPS can kick off a series of automations designed to serve or support customers who identify roadblocks within the NPS open text field. For instance, an integration with a customer service tool can create tickets and kick-off communication workflows between Customer Service Managers and the customer.
Why Marketing?
Marketing departments often own the post-purchase customer feedback cycle, so NPS and NPS platforms also tend to be owned by marketing. And often, marketing departments simply work with other teams to integrate properly, sans IT.
As B2B becomes more like B2C, these platforms require less and less technical skill. Marketing teams often have enough technical knowledge and experience to implement and onboard themselves, especially for internal tools. And with 85% of companies accelerating digitizationOpens a new window of employee interaction and collaboration, according to McKinsey, IT can only handle so much. Â
As the end user for these products and the default point-of-contact at many companies today, it is natural for Marketing to manage the selection, set up, and integration of NPS with the current tech stack.
Why Now?
Trends indicate that the factors that would pressure companies to set up VoC and integration into a business’s tech ecosystem are only increasing.
Everyone wants a hybrid model.
Workers have grown accustomed to the remote or hybrid model. The July 2020 Gartner Remote Work After COVID-19 ReportOpens a new window found that employees would now choose to spend 40% of their time working from home.… but the likelihood of remote work depends.
The 40-something-number to remember is not that workers would choose to spend 40% of their time working from home, but rather 41% of workers are likely to work remotely after the pandemicOpens a new window , according to Gartner. WFH is here to stay.
Many times, IT ensures that the platforms and systems are in place to ensure those employees can work remotely. But remote employees, potentially without visibility into the business, may feel isolated and, thus, less productive.
NPS in Action
In times of remote or hybrid work, it can be useful to have one metric acting as a focal point for your team. John Waldmann, founder, Homebase, reports the company’s NPS score each week but goes beyond just an internal satisfaction indicator. John uses special messages to detractors and promoters to open up a conversation with both groups.
NPS can also be used in the product development lifecycle. Online test prep company MagooshOpens a new window accelerated response rates in-product to iterate on their GMAT test preparation during students’ study time and before they were ready to leave a final NPS.
Gaming Company Sees Increased Player Retention
Digital casino gaming company Product Madness delivers surveys in games like Cashman Casino, Lightning Link Casino, and Heart of Vegas Casino, but that NPS and other feedback data do not just wait for analysis. Now, integrations connect Product Madness’s NPS surveys with their custom CRM and player database. VIP Support enjoys a far improved level of visibility, empowering the team to use NPS data daily.
When a VIP Support team member opens a player’s profile, they see the player’s current NPS, their level of experience in the game, other games they play, and quotes from their open-text responses to the last NPS survey. That way, the VIP Support team can quickly determine how best to help each player. Support team members report back feeling like the visibility of NPS enables them to act quicker and impact player retention.
See More: Leave the Room, Please’: Why the Best Product Feedback Is What You’ll Never Be Told Directly
Why Now? Why *Not* Now?
Office workers are returning to work, but many have grown to love their remote option. While not everyone can partake in remote or WFH options, a sizable minority will continue to work at least partly from home.Â
With this mix of in-office, fully remote, and hybrid models, the pressure falls on the systems that help team members work together. Many employers want to empower their workers; set up systems that will deliver valuable data upon which they can act. NPS surveys are a valuable piece of the customer feedback data the business collects through email, social, Internet of Things, support tickets, or other means of feedback.
Many businesses collect NPS data and other customer feedback. Some businesses analyze feedback to recognize trends or identify lagging indicators.
But smart businesses know to act on data, sometimes sacrificing analysis for action. In 2022 and beyond, I predict that marketing disciplines will partner with IT and other internal departments to set up the platforms and integrations necessary to really act on NPS data.Â
What steps have you taken to leverage NPS and customer feedback data to improve revenues? Let us know on FacebookOpens a new window , TwitterOpens a new window , and LinkedInOpens a new window .