First, let's answer the questions - What is an NPS Score? Why should I care, when I'm getting reviews with ratings? How can I get my NPS score up?
What is my NPS Score?
NPS is the % of promoters less the % of detractors that give you an NPS rating between 1 and 10. A promoter is someone who gives you a rating of 9 or 10. A detractor is someone who gives you a rating between 1 and 6. Those that rate 7 or 8 are considered passive - in other words, they neither promote or detract from your brand reputation.
Your NPS score closely correlates most closely to brand affinity, which is the power of your brand to hold its own in a highly competitive environment. It is the strongest indicator that customers are most likely to choose you over your competitors
Why should I care when I'm getting reviews?
Promoters are talking about your business to their friends, family and colleagues and suggesting that they "check you out". They are big brand advocates the most powerful component of a customer acquisition strategy. Unpaid word of mouth is much more effective than trying to compete with paid ads in a competitive landscape.
Detractors are also talking about your business. In fact, a person who has had a bad experience is likely to tell 15 people not to choose your business. Whereas a promoter is likely to tell 3 others that they should try your business.
That's a scary fact. Which is why it's so important to turn detractors into promoters and not just write them off.
How does that relate to 5 star review ratings from comment cards and social reviews? A review rating is directly connected with a specific experience, and may not correlate to your NPS rating.
A customer that gives you a high NPS score, and is a brand advocate, can have a bad experience without it impacting how they feel about your brand. A negative review from a customer with a high NPS, is a good thing, as it shows you they are highly motivated to communicate with you, so you can fix the problem. They really care about your brand and want you to be successful.
Of course, if they continue to have bad experiences, they will drop down into the detractor category. They will tell others how disappointed they are. How you used to be really good, but now they go somewhere else.
How can I get my NPS score up?
It's not rocket science. Let's start from the bottom up.
Turn Detractors into Promoters
Respond to poor experiences immediately, ideally before the customer leaves the business, or at least before they have a chance to rant on social media and amplify the negative affect on your business.
1) Send auto generated responses to the customers and alert managers in realtime for review ratings between 1 and 3, and NPS scores between 1 and 6.
2) Have the unit manager investigate the problem and flag an action to resolve any internal issues that are creating poor customer experiences.
3) Contact the customer personally to apologize and THANK THEM for alerting you to the problem. Negative feedback is a gift that helps you tune up your operations.
4) Identify with how they are feeling - name the feeling (eg. you must feel very frustrated). This releases any negative emotions so you can get to resolution.
5) Let them know what actions you have taken to resolve the issue, so they feel like they matter. .
6) Ask them what would make it right for them. Often, at this point, if you have done steps 1-5, they will just say "It's OK, never mind. I understand" If you miss one of those steps, they are most likely to continue to be angry, and nothing you can offer will satisfy them.
Acknowledge and Affirm Promoters
Often companies are so focused on reputation management and keeping bad reviews from going public, they forget about their most valuable customers - their brand advocates. Brand advocates come in move often and spend more. For them to stay loyal to your brand you need to keep your company "top of mind" and make them feel special. Here's actions you can take:
1) Thank them for good reviews and let them know you "love them too"
2) Send personalize gifts or promotions that are relevant to them with event invitations, new product announcements or promotions on products they are interested in.
3) Send periodic personal discounts on their favourite products to get customers with above average basket or spend to get them in one more time per period.
4) Send suggestions for new products for customers who come in often and have a low average basket or spend.
5) For new customers, consider a welcome gift. For your customers that are in the top 10% of sales, consider delivering a gift each year.
Find out how to move Passives to Promoters
Although passives aren't actively impacting your brand reputation, you have an opportunity to learn from them. Here's how.
1) Periodically create an email campaign that invites customers with a score of 7 and 8 to tell you what you need to do the get them to rate you as 9 or 10.
2) Create an incentive like an opportunity to win, or a gift card, or a discount on a product they like. Remember, they don't have any strong emotional motivation to engage with you. They will need an incentive to communicate with you.
3) Include a question that allows you to identify the area that most needs attention - eg. product, service or physical store.
4) Act on their insights to "up you game" in whatever category is the weakest. Share feedback with teams and brainstorm around how they would turn a mediocre experience to a great experience.
Finally, if you are ready to start managing your NPS score and turning detractors into promoters, that's great news. Click on the link below to get your FREE Drive CX account . We'll walk you through how to create your custom branded comment card in minutes.
Comments