Harnessing NPS™ for Valuable Customer Insights

Wish you could read your customers’ minds? With NPS™ customer insights, that might not be too far out of the realm of possibility.

Your net promoter scores show you what your customers really think about your business.

Are they ready to shout about their great experience from the mountaintops? Or are they indifferent about the quality of service they received?

You can find out by asking a single powerful question.

In this guide, we’ll define NPS and explore the benefits. We’ll walk you through how to implement it before offering some best practices for getting the most out of your feedback.

We’ll finish with some quick tips you can use to get started today.

There’s a silver lining to every hurdle. With NPS customer insight, you can transform complaints into opportunities for improvement and growth. Let’s jump in!

RELATED ARTICLE: What Is Net Promoter Score?

What Is NPS?

Don’t be fooled by its simplicity. NPS is a powerful tool that equips you with deep, actionable insight into customer satisfaction and loyalty.

NPS stands for net promoter score. It captures how likely your customers are to recommend your service to others.

To calculate NPS, follow these steps:

1. Ask your customers a simple question: “On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend our service to a friend or colleague?”
2. Group the responses into three categories:
   • Promoters (score 9-10): These are loyal customers who will use your service again and refer others.
   • Passives (score 7-8): They are satisfied but not exactly enthusiastic. A competitive offer from another business could convince them to switch.
   • Detractors (score 0-6): These customers are unhappy. They might even damage your brand through negative word of mouth.
3. Calculate the percentage of promoters and detractors:
   • Promoters % = (number of promoters / total responses) x 100
   • Detractors % = (number of detractors / total responses) x 100
4. Subtract the percentage of detractors from the percentage of promoters. This is your NPS. The formula looks like this: NPS = % promoters − % detractors

Let’s say you surveyed 100 customers. You got 50 promoters, 30 passives, and 20 detractors:

• Promoters % = (50/100) x 100 = 50%
• Detractors % = (20/100) x 100 = 20%
• NPS = 50% – 20% = 30

Your NPS would be 30. A positive score means you have more promoters than detractors.

Benefits of Using NPS

Running a business is complex. You’re pulled in all directions, and there’s a million and one different things to consider.

So when it comes to bettering your services and achieving your growth goals, feeling overwhelmed is to be expected.

Using your NPS offers a straightforward place to start. It takes a bit of the guesswork out of where to spend your time and money.

Let’s take a look at three of the many benefits of using NPS.

Find Areas for Improvement

You can guess all day long. But knowing for sure what customers think about your service will always give you better results.

According to research, growth outperformers spend more on analytics than their peers. So using your NPS score, you can zero in on areas that need improvement.

Passives and detractors might leave comments explaining why they weren’t blown away by your business. If multiple respondents complain about the same issues, you can flag them as weak spots.

You can then make impactful changes to how you operate. This can lead to happier customers who stay loyal and recommend you to others.

FROM ONE OF OUR PARTNERS: Top 5 Ways to Improve Customer Service

Allocate Resources to Meaningful Initiatives

Identifying areas that need improvement is one thing. Allocating your resources accordingly is another—and it delivers a huge amount of value.

It means no more wasting effort on initiatives that don’t work. It means using data to expand services customers love.

Every minute and every dollar you use to better your business has maximum impact. This can help you grow faster than ever.

Track Changes in Customer Satisfaction

NPS lets you measure customer satisfaction over time. You can find out whether your changes are working.

You can compare NPS scores from different months or years. A rising score means your customers are happier. But if the score drops, you might need to rethink a few things.

The result? You stay on top of customer satisfaction long-term.

How to Implement NPS

That’s the great thing about NPS—the benefits are significant, but getting started couldn’t be much easier.

Get Started Checklist

We’ve put together the checklist below. Use it to set yourself up for success.

• Choose a survey tool. Select a reliable tool for sending NPS surveys. Examples include SurveyMonkey and Typeform.
• Ask the right question. Use the standard NPS question: “On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend our service to a friend or colleague?” Add a space for comments too.
• Segment your audience. Send surveys to different customer groups to get specific insights.
• Choose the best distribution channel. You can send survey links via email or text. You could even post a link on social media. Consider your customers’ preferences.
• Send the survey at the right time. After a service interaction or purchase is a good time to send the survey. That way, you’re fresh in your customer’s mind.

3 Quick Tips for Success

Here are three ways to streamline the process:

Tip 1: Automate Your Survey

Set up your survey tool to automatically send NPS surveys at key customer touchpoints. For example, add it to your post-service email automation.

Tip 2: Follow Up with Customers

Reach out to customers who gave low scores. Ask for more details about their experience. This shows you care and can provide deeper insights.

Tip 3: Share Results with Your Team

Make sure your team knows the NPS results. Discuss them in meetings.

FROM ONE OF OUR PARTNERS: What Is a Net Promoter Score and Why Does It Matter?

Best Practices for Utilizing NPS Feedback

Feedback is only as good as what you do with it. So what comes next?

Address Both Positive and Negative Feedback

First, as tempting as it might be, it’s essential to acknowledge and learn from all feedback. Yes, this includes the negative comments too.

Positive feedback tells you what you are doing right. It shows you what customers love about your service.

Use this feedback to keep doing those things. Celebrate the successes with your team. This boosts morale and encourages good practices.

Here’s an example: If lots of customers praise your quick appointment scheduling, make sure to maintain this efficiency. Consider rewarding the scheduling team for their excellent work.

On the flip side, negative feedback is just as important. It highlights areas that need improvement. Addressing these issues can turn detractors into promoters.

It shows you care about how customers feel and are willing to invest time into righting any wrongs. This is key, with 57% of people believing that a business’s effort in relationship-building is important.

Let’s say customers frequently complain about long wait times. Your next step is to investigate the cause. Adopt changes like better scheduling. Or you might call in more staff during peak hours.

Best Practices for Putting Feedback to Use

These best practices can help you squeeze as much value as possible out of your NPS customer insights:

• Group similar comments together. This shines a light on common issues or praises. You can identify trends and patterns. For example, if multiple comments mention billing issues, group these together.
• Focus on fixing the most mentioned problems first. Addressing these will have the biggest impact.
• Map specific steps to address each issue. Assign tasks to team members. For instance, if wait times are a problem, create a plan. It might include reviewing the appointment process and staff training.
• Let customers know their feedback was heard. Tell them what changes are being made. Send an email or make a call to customers who provided feedback to inform them of the improvements.
• Track the impact of your efforts. See if the same issues come up in future feedback. Use NPS surveys to see if scores improve after changes are implemented.

RELATED ARTICLE: Change How Your Customers Experience Customer Service

How You Can Start Harnessing NPS Customer Insights Right Now

Getting started with NPS is simple. Follow these steps to begin gathering valuable customer insights today:

• Define your objectives. Decide what you want to learn from your customers. Do you want to improve service quality or understand customer loyalty? Clear goals help you focus your efforts.
• Research survey tools. Find a tool that fits your needs. Look for ones that are easy to use and can automate survey distribution.
• Choose your distribution channels. Decide how you will send out the surveys. Email is a common method, but you can also use SMS or in-app surveys. Pick channels that your customers use most.
• Create your survey. Create an account with the survey tool. Add in the standard NPS question. Keep it short and simple to encourage more responses.