This blog originally was posted on LinkedIn
Forget NPS. There is a number of criticisms of the Net Promoter Score system including these I found at Wikipedia & Forrester.
I’ll add to the lists. Asking “How likely you are to recommend our company/product/service to a friend or colleague” falls short on a few fronts. First, the customer may recommend your brand, but may also recommend your competitor as well! NPS doesn’t account for this.
“Hey Jim, would you recommend your BMW?”
“Yes, but I’d also recommend my Audi, I love that car as well”.
Also, it doesn’t capture the relative value that is placed on the company/product/service. It tells us nothing about what the motivators are behind the customer’s decision or relative satisfaction.
How much do you love the brand? Is it something you can’t do without? Can you ever see yourself going back to another brand?
Here’s the one question you should be asking each customer:
“Are you better off now than you were before – as a result of our interaction with you?”
If the answer is YES – then you have something that people want. And that is the most powerful motivator of them all.
It doesn’t matter what stage of the buying process your customer is in – every interaction with your brand should enhance their lives, ease their pain, and improve their perceptions about your company.
People buy for functional, economic, or emotional benefits – or some combination of those reasons. So think about your customer’s journey, and every touchpoint along the way – are you helping them in their process?
From a simple advertising message to a complex evaluation of pros & cons of their available choices to the ease of purchasing and using your company/service/product – your customer’s experience should leave them so delighted that they never want to go back to the alternative.
Ray Beharry is a Marketing & Sales Leader based out of the Greater New York City area. He can be reached via LinkedIn, email – ray.beharry@gmail.com, and is also on Twitter @RayBeharry. www.raybeharry.com