Why implement NPS score. How to measure staff loyalty to a company Optimal nps indicators for manufacturing companies

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The Net Promoter Score (NPS) is an easy-to-calculate metric that determines the degree of customer commitment to a company in general, or to a product or service in particular. Commitment here refers to a person’s willingness to recommend the service they like to friends and acquaintances, as well as the willingness to make a repeat purchase.

What does NPS measure?

It is believed that this indicator is statistically related to income: the higher it is, the faster the company is developing economically. This is determined from many parameters, but the main result consists of the following criteria:

1. The likelihood that a person will seek repeat services again.
2. The degree of positive attitude of the buyer towards an unplanned or more expensive purchase at the time of payment for the current one (this could be accessories, insurance, etc.).
3. Reviews on the company website or third-party forums.
4. Recommend the service to friends and acquaintances.

According to many domestic and foreign experts, the loyalty index is one of the best tools with which you can find out how well (or positively) potential customers feel about the product being offered. The results of the study help to evaluate and understand how to improve the quality of service and, accordingly, the degree of consumer commitment.

If not enough effort is made in this regard, complications in the activity are possible. In particular, the amount of income equal to the entire volume of purchases made over a certain period decreases, and the LTV indicator also decreases (that is, the amount that one person brings to the organization decreases). Other negative phenomena include:

• Inability to create a portrait of the average client.
• Lack of interest and demand for a new product.
• An increase in the “dump” rate, that is, temporary or permanent loss of customers (they refused the service, went to competitors, etc.).

Ultimately, a low NPS loyalty index negatively affects sales and overall profits. To correct the situation, it is necessary: ​​firstly, to conduct research regularly (preferably every month), and secondly, to analyze the information received and build a further trade policy based on it.

What does NPS measure?

You can make appropriate measurements of indicators using a customer survey. To do this, you need to send them a letter by email or mobile phone number asking them to rate the level of service on a ten-point scale, as well as the likelihood that the person will recommend the organization’s services to friends and acquaintances. In addition, you should ask for recommendations or advice on how to improve your service.

You can conduct a survey not only by email or SMS. For these purposes, it is recommended to use calls to numbers from the collected database, create a special form on a web resource, create a survey on official pages on social networks, etc. In order to obtain as much information as possible, it is also necessary to interview partners through whose networks the product is sold.

How is NPS calculated?

To make the calculation, you need to create several groups and distribute the surveyed clients into them based on the ratings received. The first category should include those who were dissatisfied. Typically, such buyers give a low score: from zero to six (if a ten-point rating system is used). Such people will not recommend the service to others and may not use it again.

The second category is passive buyers. The average score here is 8 units out of 10 possible. As a rule, they are satisfied with the service, but will not talk about the company or recommend it. This is due to a lack of interest. The third group includes regular supporters - these are those who regularly use the services and give high ratings.

The customer loyalty index is calculated using the formula: “Number of supporters/total number of respondents”, “Number of dissatisfied/total number of respondents”. For example, a survey was conducted among one hundred respondents. At the same time, five people were in the range from 0 to 6 points, thirty - from 7 to 8, the remaining sixty-five - from 9 to 10 points. Therefore, the calculation of the shares in each group will be 5, 30 and 65%, respectively.

Organizations with a low index cannot develop and increase product turnover. Consequently, they cannot compete and will suffer losses. The average value - from 30 to 45% - indicates that the company is developing and can compete for the position of leader in the market. To do this, it is necessary to analyze the shortcomings and correct them, increasing the NPS customer satisfaction score. 50% or more is a market leader that the consumer will turn to on an ongoing basis.
However, despite the high positions, it is necessary to constantly calculate and try to increase indicators for further growth.

Naturally, this is a maximally averaged scheme that cannot be used in practice. In reality, many factors must be taken into account - both general and individual for each industry.

Techniques for measuring and increasing the consumer loyalty index

Considering that in each area of ​​business “good” statistics look different (in insurance - 30%, online store - 20%, consulting - 40%, etc.), most companies use different techniques and methods of communication with target audience, receiving an overall assessment based on individual indicators. Among such methods for measuring the NPS customer loyalty index, it can be noted when a person:

1. Made a purchase at a point of sale (office or store).
2. Pays a visit regularly (no matter whether he buys goods or not).
3. Contacted the support service to resolve a problem or get advice on an issue of interest.
4. Visited the company's website or placed an order for a product.
5. Left a review on a web resource, a third-party forum, in a book of complaints and suggestions, or in any other sources.

It is worth noting that after the rating is given, it is necessary to ask a clarifying question about exactly why the service was rated this way and not otherwise. This will make it possible to collect as much useful data as possible about the person and his relationship to the organization.

Why is it important to count the index?

By calculating and analyzing the NPS indicator, you can obtain invaluable information about what the real attitude of consumers towards the company and the services it provides. By receiving and processing this data, it becomes possible to work on improving the service and popularizing products.
In conjunction with other communication tools, for example, a feedback form, NPS allows you to reduce customer churn by building long-term and cost-effective relationships with them. Knowing the net loyalty index, specialists can begin to “convert” dissatisfied and passive consumers into their regular audience, correcting previously made mistakes, improving customer service and the quality of goods and services offered.

However, while customer satisfaction metrics are important, they should not be treated like numbers. Many businessmen suffer from this, wanting to create an ideal customer base. Such policies can alienate audiences and disrupt communication channels.

In order to understand how effectively a company satisfies the needs of its customers, there are a number of marketing methods, one of which is calculating the customer loyalty index, or NPS (Net Promoter Score). What is customer loyalty index? How, using the NPS value, to improve the performance of your company and increase its attractiveness to buyers, as well as how this value affects the financial performance of the organization - we will talk about all this in our article.

You will learn:

• How is the concept of NPS (customer loyalty index) interpreted?
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of the NPS customer loyalty index?
• How a customer loyalty index can improve a company's performance.
• How is NPS customer loyalty index determined?
• How to implement it into the company's work.
• What factors influence NPS indicators.
• How to increase and maintain your customer loyalty index.
• How to establish communication with members of the customer loyalty index.
• What difficulties can you encounter when implementing a customer loyalty index?

What is NPS - customer loyalty index

NPS or Net Promoter Score– an index that allows the head of the company to assess the level of customer loyalty. By tracking changes in this indicator, the manager receives a convenient tool, thanks to which it is easy to identify shortcomings in the operation of the enterprise and eliminate them, thereby increasing the efficiency of the staff and the organization as a whole. NPS allows you to competently build a policy for relationships with customers.

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Calculating the customer loyalty index is very simple. It is generally accepted that a company’s income is directly related to the NPS value: the higher the index, the higher the growth rate of the company and its profits. A high NPS index indicates the stable operation of the enterprise.

Customer loyalty consists of the following indicators:

• repeat purchases;
• positive feedback about the purchase made or services provided;
• recommendations given by customers and clients to their friends, acquaintances and colleagues;
• consent to purchase not only the product, but also related products and accessories, ordering additional services, using an optional service provided by the company, purchasing an extended warranty for the product.

Russian and foreign experts highly valued the NPS customer loyalty index as one of the fairest tools characterizing the company’s activities.

The concept of NPS was originally published as a study in 2003 in Harvard Business Review under the title “The One Number You Need to Grow.” The author of the Net Promoter Score concept was Fred Reichheld of Bain & Company Satmetrix.

Believing that standard studies were too long and complex, Fred suggested asking just one question to determine the customer loyalty index: “Are you ready, after making a purchase or receiving a service, to recommend our company to your friends and acquaintances?”

The NPS customer loyalty index has gone through several stages of development since 2003, the system has evolved as follows:

• 2003– after the publication of the article by Fred Reichheld, the NPS system is increasingly used by various companies and organizations.
• 2006– Outstanding global companies such as Siemens, Apple, Philips are implementing an NPS measurement system.
• 2011– the technology for assessing a company’s rating and customer loyalty index moves from research to the category of management systems. Enterprises are beginning to actively implement the methodology and adjust their activities in relation to the consumer loyalty index, which allows them to identify shortcomings in their work and optimize business processes, increasing profits.
• 2016– the NPS system becomes the main indicator that allows you to find out how successful the company is with customers. Based on NPS, enterprise policies focused on working with clients are built.

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What are the advantages and disadvantages of customer loyalty index

The NPS determination system has a number of advantages.

1. Easy to understand.

Due to the fact that the NPS system is based on just one elementary question, it does not require complex analysis of the data obtained, as a result of which the customer loyalty index is built on the principles of simple understanding and application of the results obtained.

1. Easy to operate.

The high speed and simplicity of surveys is due to the fact that when studying the loyalty index, the questions asked are short, clear, and imply the same answers.

1. Providing actionable feedback.

By identifying NPS, it is possible to establish high-quality feedback with clients and understand their assessment of the company’s activities.

1. Target audience segmentation.

When analyzing the NPS rating, it becomes possible to superimpose response statistics on the demographic and social indicators of the audience, thereby obtaining the opportunity to conduct an analysis of various groups of service consumers and product buyers and find out why certain social groups evaluate the company’s work positively or negatively.

1. Revision of the product sales plan.

When conducting a survey, high-quality feedback is established with customers, thanks to which the company manager has the opportunity to quickly clarify or revise sales plans and mechanisms.

1. Reducing customer churn.

A survey can show what customers are unhappy with when purchasing goods or services and prevent further customer churn.

1. Setting the right goal.

Any activity must have a purpose. A survey and identification of the NPS customer loyalty index will help the manager to set it correctly in front of his company. In addition, this research allows you to more accurately motivate employees by explaining to them their current tasks, as well as the common goal that the company strives for. This will increase staff productivity and improve the performance of the entire enterprise.

1. Competitive advantages.

A company that conducts an NPS survey gains a unique advantage over its competitors who do not use such surveys. When identifying a customer loyalty index, an enterprise receives information through feedback about the mistakes of its employees and even managers - consumer reviews allow for analysis and elimination of shortcomings in the work as soon as possible.

1. Availability for any company.

Almost any company can conduct a similar study of customer loyalty, because for this it does not need to resort to the services of research centers and hire experts; it is enough to carry out a simple survey of its customers by asking them simple questions.

But, despite the accessibility and effectiveness of determining NPS (customer loyalty index), the method also has disadvantages, the main one of which experts in the field of marketing research consider its one-sidedness. When implementing the method, answers to questions are received both from supporters of the company who have a positive attitude towards it, and from critics who are not satisfied with something, but these are not all the company’s customers; most consumers are neutral. Therefore, the customer loyalty index reflects only the opinion of the most active part of customers. In addition, experts recommend refraining from using only one customer loyalty index and, when developing important marketing decisions and business management tools, still resort to deeper and larger-scale research of the market, the company itself, and objectively evaluate competitors’ data.

Calculation of customer loyalty index indicators must be carried out at regular intervals; this will make it possible to formulate company policy, focusing on changes in the NPS index, and identify factors that positively or negatively affect the company’s efficiency and its profit.

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What company indicators will NPS help improve?

1. Stable development and customer retention.

A high customer loyalty index characterizes a company as a market leader, which owns a significant share of customers, thus NPS is one of the main indicators showing the growth of an enterprise. As a rule, about 65 percent of the company’s customers have already been formed; attracting new ones is a difficult task. Often, analysis of the customer loyalty index allows not only to expand the audience of consumers of goods and services, but also gives the company serious tools for retaining existing customers. Also, data from the customer loyalty index can be used to develop a method that allows turning the company’s existing growth at the time of research into sustainable development.

1. Product sales management.

The customer loyalty index can be used in prioritizing the company’s product base, since NPS allows you to understand which products and services are in greatest demand among consumers, thanks to which you can quickly change your sales policy.

1. Marketing.

Verizon research has shown that more than 8 out of 10 new company customers learn about a brand from such a simple source of information as word of mouth. The NPS rating is directly related to the customer's opinion, so if it is generally positive, then he is likely to recommend your business to his friends and acquaintances. Accordingly, with a high customer loyalty index, company managers will not need to spend huge amounts of money on marketing campaigns and promotion of goods and services in the markets, since a satisfied consumer himself will become a carrier of information about the manufacturer and will advertise it to his friends.

With the help of NPS, company managers can measure the emotional mood and opinions of customers, and then organize the work of staff in such a way as to most effectively achieve the goal set for the organization, which, in the end, most often is meeting the needs of people and making a profit.

Also, the customer loyalty index, together with other research tools, allows you to predict customer behavior and even shape it in the most beneficial form for the company, that is, create so-called behavioral patterns.

1. Personnel potential management.

NPS allows you not only to assess customer loyalty, but also to conduct research among company employees, find out how satisfied they are with working in the company, their salaries, form a new corporate culture based on this indicator and find out how staff react to its changes.

1. Are commonKPIs and reporting.

NPS values ​​can serve as the only index on which to rely when assessing customer satisfaction. However, it is necessary to regularly conduct this research and compare the company’s financial indicators with the NPS index, which will make it possible to predict customer behavior in the long term, as well as assess possible risks for the company. For example, if, while profits are growing, the NPS indicator is falling, the head of the company should think about adjusting long-term policy and development, since income may increase by inertia, while a decrease in the customer loyalty index indicates the necessary changes before profits begin to decrease. Thus, by correlating the company’s financial indicators and the consumer loyalty index, it is possible to understand and prevent a drop in sales at an early stage, even though the company’s indicators are currently growing.

How to determineNPScustomer loyalty index

The NPS determination system consists of several stages. Immediately after purchasing a product or receiving a service, the client is asked the following question: “What is the likelihood that you will recommend our company to your friends, acquaintances, relatives or colleagues?” The answer to this question is assessed on a ten-point scale. Zero on this scale means the client’s categorical refusal to recommend the company, 10 points means a sincere desire to recommend the company to his friends. As a result, all buyers who participated in the survey are divided into three groups.

1. Supporters, promoters– those who gave 9 and 10 points. This group of people is loyal to the company, they are likely to recommend purchasing goods or ordering services from your company, and will also return to you again. These people, as a rule, are absolutely satisfied with the level of the product or service; perhaps they did not even expect that the product would be of such high quality, so they subconsciously agree to recommend your company to their friends.
2. Neutrals– those who gave a score of 7-8 points. This group of people is quite satisfied with the product or service, but the likelihood that they, as promoters, will recommend your company to their friends is low. In addition, a neutral attitude will allow them to prefer your competitor to your company if it provides its customers with a discount or some additional services for the same price, provided that you do not have similar promotions and offers at that time. These people are happy with your company, but it is very easy to lose them if competitors make a better offer for them.
3. Critics– those who rated it 0 – 6 points, also called “detractors”. This group of people who are dissatisfied with a product or service will probably never come back to buy something again. Moreover, people who give the lowest scores may make their criticism public, for example by writing negative reviews on the Internet, or by circulating bad reviews about your company on social networks and blogs. This phenomenon can demotivate your employees and also cause serious damage to the reputation of your company, which will certainly affect the level of sales and lead to a drop in profits. People who remain dissatisfied after purchasing a product or providing a service are dangerous for the company, as they can negate all the efforts of managers and employees to create a positive image of the company.

The final result of the study is the calculation of the customer loyalty index, which is determined by the following formula:

For example, The company collected responses from 100 customers during a survey.

5 reviews – from critics who gave 0 – 6 points.

10 – from neutrals who rated the company's work 7-8 points.

So, from 85 we subtract 5, we get 80, divide by 100, get 0.8 and multiply by 100, as a result we have a customer loyalty index of 80.

According to this formula, the index can vary from minus 100 points to plus 100. In the first case, all customers did not like the company’s work, they are all critics (-100 points), in the second case, all customers assessed the company positively and they are all promoters (+ 100 points), ready to recommend the brand to their friends.

Depending on the score the person gave, you can ask additional questions. If the client rated the product highly, you can ask him what exactly he liked, but if the scores are low, then the question is asked what was not satisfactory, what needs to be improved in the company’s work.

Based on the answers to additional questions, you can draw conclusions about the strengths and weaknesses in the company’s activities; based on the analysis of this data, you can change the company’s policies, apply other marketing tools, improve interaction with customers, and also provide a service that is more convenient for the buyer.

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A practitioner tells

NPS – a simple customer loyalty tool

Maria Turcan,

manager of the company "Umnitsa", Chelyabinsk

More than half of our company's sales come from regular customers, so we have made a key bet on maintaining their loyalty. Having abandoned complex marketing market research, we came up with a simple method that allows us to assess customer loyalty and, based on this index, build a long-term strategy for cooperation with our customers. When selling a product, we always conduct a survey of consumers, regardless of the amount and volume of purchase, and invite them to evaluate the work of our company using a ten-point system.

Next, we collect the results, calculate the customer loyalty index, and based on it we plan our activities, of course, focusing on other marketing research. But at the same time, the NPS index is very convenient, as it allows us to assess in the simplest form customer satisfaction with our products and the work of our company in general. The research itself is included in the marketing development plan. You can compare the NPS index both with your own indicators for previous periods and with data from competing companies. We also not only research the opinions of our customers, but also have introduced several different bonus programs, thanks to which our consumers can receive bonuses when purchasing goods. We also abandoned campaigns to provide our customers with discounts on goods; instead, we made bonus programs flexible and convenient, created a virtual club of loyal customers, providing them with additional services.

How to implement NPS customer loyalty index

Companies can determine the customer loyalty index in various ways. For example, many enterprises with a developed network of branches install electronic devices at their points of sale that allow a person to evaluate the company’s performance. For surveys, software products are used that display answer options on the screen and store the results of customer surveys in special databases.

Financial organizations use paper cards, often in the form of emoticons, to calculate the customer loyalty index. Depending on satisfaction with the service, the client can choose a green, yellow or red smiley and put it in a special basket. Green means complete satisfaction with the service provided, yellow means a neutral attitude, red means the client evaluates the service negatively.

Online stores do it even simpler by placing simple voting plugins on their website. But it is worth considering the peculiarity of collecting information on sites on the Internet: surveys should be unobtrusive and not take a long time from the user.

You can also collect information to form a customer loyalty index through phone calls and SMS mailings. Most often, after purchasing a product, a call center operator calls a person and asks a question about the quality of service and satisfaction with the purchased product and service.

The disadvantage of remote methods of collecting information is that a dissatisfied client simply will not answer the letter, will reject the operator’s call and will not express his negative opinion about the product or service. Thus, a person will remain dissatisfied, but will not be included in the statistics, which will distort the real state of the NPS index, and this may lead to erroneous marketing moves on the part of company management.

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What affects NPS indicators

Determining significant factors using only one customer loyalty index is an extremely wrong decision, since with an NPS value of 30 points, a sports equipment store may be objectively the worst in its field, and with almost the same indicator, for example, 35 points, the operator providing access to Internet network may have 95 percent of the market in a particular city. It seems that the customer loyalty index is almost equal, but one company is an outsider, and the second, on the contrary, occupies almost the entire market.

What objective factors influence NPS assessment? How can you tell if your NPS is good or if you need to work on improving it?

In total, there are two main factors influencing the customer loyalty index.

1. Competition.

The more competitive certain markets are, the more normal the average NPS level is. For example, average NPS values ​​characterize such areas as banking, finance, insurance, and medical. If a company produces some complex electronic equipment, the market of which is not as saturated as, for example, the market for paid medical services, then the NPS index should be above average, because the competition is lower.

Average NPS score for different business areas. Banking – 0, auto insurance – 22, healthcare – 27, airlines – 36, travel – 38, hotels – 43, eCommerce – 45, Internet services – 48.

1. Customer tolerance.

Customer tolerance has a significant impact on the loyalty index. Often people are extremely straightforward in their statements about goods and services.

How to increase and maintain a high level of customer loyalty index

In the process of activity, companies need not only to conduct customer loyalty research, but also to constantly maintain the NPS level. This requires a quick response from management to information received about errors in the work of personnel. You also need to identify shortcomings in real time and try to create an ideal system of interaction with customers. Thanks to constant checks of activity using checklists, sellers become professionals in their field, which allows them to work with consumers in such a way that they are satisfied with both the service and the product itself. Every customer who is satisfied after purchasing a product is likely to use the company’s services again and will recommend the company to their friends. The more satisfied customers there are, the higher the number of promoters will be and the longer the NPS rating will remain high.

The use of new, modern innovative technologies allows companies to improve sales processes and eliminate violations, which, in turn, has a positive effect on the customer loyalty index and can even increase it.

When collecting information using electronic devices, various additional questions may be displayed on the screen, depending on the assessment. For example, if a person was satisfied with the purchase and is a promoter, after he gave a rating of 10 points, you can display the following question on the tablet screen: “What did you especially like about our store?”

If a person gives a low score, then additionally, for example, the following message can be displayed on the screen: “What would you improve in the work of our store?” If the main question when researching the customer loyalty index requires answers in points, then all additional questions should contain answers according to pre-prepared text lists.

All collected information on the customer loyalty index immediately goes from electronic devices to a common database. The advantage of this method is that it is possible to evaluate both one individual store and obtain general data, thus generating a report both for one point of sale and for the activities of the entire chain of stores as a whole.

Also, with this research method, reports are generated in real time, which allows for an instant assessment of the company’s activities and timely adjustments to it. For example, having received data for two nearby stores, you can analyze why the index is higher in one of them and lower in the other, thereby comparing other indicators, identifying problems and improving the performance of a point with a low NPS index.

A practitioner tells

How we increase our customer loyalty score (NPS)

Anastasia Orkina,

Executive Vice President of Marketing at VimpelCom

We constantly analyze customer data, which increases the NPS index. For example, by assessing information from customer devices, we obtain information about the quality of voice communications in a given area. When developing new tariff plans, we try to study how people accepted the previously introduced tariffs, which services they use more, and which ones they prefer. Subscribers' assessment of the quality of services provided allows us to make changes and improve our service. For example, we conducted a study and concluded that contacting a call center is not popular and clients increasingly prefer to resolve any issues through online services, often independently and without the help of specialists, so we relied on the development of such services and began to introduce online service channels.

How else can you maintain a high level of customer loyalty index?

The NPS system involves not only direct collection of feedback on the company’s performance and customer opinions. There are a variety of loyalty programs that help managers understand how customers feel about their business. For example, retail chains use various loyalty programs, bonus programs, and sales in their activities. The Cashback system is very popular, suggesting a return of 5% of the check amount to a special discount card. These points can be used to pay for part of your next purchases. Such programs are profitable because they allow people to get a discount on their next trip to the store, and companies can retain their customers.

Online stores also use various customer retention and feedback systems. When ordering goods on the website, the buyer can receive the most favorable discounts, and he is also awarded bonus points in his personal account, which can be spent on his next purchase. Referral programs are also very popular, when in their personal account each user can receive a special link, following which a new buyer will be the owner of an individual discount. By distributing such links, users themselves attract new customers to the online store, for which they receive additional bonuses or discounts on products for each referral.

Also, large chain stores use special bonus programs, issue gift certificates and cards, the purchase of which is much more profitable than usual. Many companies enter into agreements with each other. This is how, for example, connections between banks and retail trade enterprises work: by buying a product in a store and paying for it with a card from a certain bank, a person can receive bonuses or a good discount.

The customer loyalty index is also positively influenced by constant monitoring of the activities and prices of competitors, this allows companies to quickly change the price list for their goods and services, as well as provide discounts to certain groups of people.

Economic and emotional customer loyalty

Bonus programs to motivate customers, as well as the provision of favorable discounts, undoubtedly stimulate people to make repeated purchases, but are they still satisfied with the purchase and are completely loyal to the company?

Enterprises that plan their activities to retain old and attract new customers, correlating them only with bonus or discount programs, sooner or later may encounter conditions under which it will be impossible to provide a discount or continue bonus programs and this activity will turn out to be economically unprofitable. At the time of crisis, people tied to companies only by economic factors can easily leave for competitors or postpone the purchase, waiting out difficult days. Thus, a client’s loyalty to a company, based only on economic factors, is not some kind of absolute indicator of the success of an enterprise and does not guarantee stable profits in the future.

It is also a mistake to believe that a company can bind a client to itself by offering him some unique product or service that cannot be purchased from another company. As the global economy has shown, no matter how complex a product is, no matter how unique it may seem, sooner or later competitors always appear, and often their offer is significantly more profitable for the buyer.

For the company, the most profitable thing is the emotional attachment of the client, when he is guided in his actions not by stingy economic sense, but by strong emotional motivation. To do this, enterprises need to establish business processes in such a way that a person receives only positive emotions at all stages of interaction with them. To do this, the manager needs to organize the company’s activities in such a way that it works like clockwork, all mechanisms are convenient for both employees and customers, and the staff must be as competent as possible in their field, polite and loyal to each client. Having made a purchase or received a service, a person should be as emotionally satisfied as possible. He should tell his friends about a great company where everything goes quickly, conveniently and efficiently. Thus, the person himself will not only be emotionally loyal to the company, but will also describe its activities in vivid colors and positively to his social circle - your potential clients.

A striking example of establishing emotional loyalty between a client and a seller is the STV INK company, whose employees not only advised their customers over the phone about the capabilities of modern computer equipment, but also offered to try playing computer games on computers assembled by this company in one of the nearest branches. Next, the person received the address and time at which his visit to the office was scheduled, where the potential client was warmly greeted by employees, they explained everything to him, showed him the capabilities of the equipment, and even tested computer games together. A satisfied client entered into an agreement for the supply of equipment, and then also recommended the company to his friends. Thus, by relying on the emotional factor of cooperation between the company and the buyer, the company was able to become a leader in its market segment and increase profits many times over, scaling the network of branches throughout the country and making the consulting service loyal to the client.

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How to establish feedback with respondents who have become part of your company's customer loyalty index

The creator of the NPS customer loyalty index system, Fred Reichheld, argued that this indicator of customer loyalty itself is undoubtedly important, but even more significant are the actions of the company’s head to attract and retain promoters, that is, people who speak highly of the company’s activities and are key players in the NPS system. It is important not to obtain the NPS index, but to be able to quickly use it.

1. Critics: Make a personal connection.

The NPS ecosystem itself does not start with a company. To successfully establish feedback, a number of measures are required to maintain cooperation between the company and the consumer. The purpose of these measures is to let customers know that you care. Even if the person was dissatisfied, but the company solved the problems that arose, 70 percent of such outcomes will be in favor of the company, and the buyer will still remain with it.

The number one mistake businesses make without fully understanding the NPS system is abandoning customers named by critics. Firms consider such consumers to be lost forever, but this is completely wrong: even a customer who remains dissatisfied can turn from a critic into a satisfied promoter.

If clients, for example, after a free trial service begin to criticize both the product and the company, this only means that these people care, they want to improve the service with their comments or make the company’s services better. As soon as the company fulfills their conditions, these initially dissatisfied customers can become those same promoters and begin to advertise your brand among their acquaintances, friends and colleagues.

It can be assumed that the best way to re-attract customers who have abandoned your company would be to send them personal messages in which they will be asked to answer the question of what they didn’t like about the product, service or in general what they didn’t like about the company, as well as asking for advice what and how they would like to change and improve. The essence of all these actions is to collect information that allows you to improve the perception of your company and your brand by potential buyers and service customers.

For example, to solve problems that your customers have, you can offer them a free instruction manual for the purchased product by posting it on your website, and also place sections with drivers for electronic devices there.

You can extend the period of free use of your software product, offer discounts when upgrading to an advanced paid version of the software.

1. Neutrals: attract them before they become too numerous.

Neutrals are so named because they are generally indifferent to your products: there is no negative feeling, but they also do not evaluate your product positively. Neutrals seem to be in thought, waiting for what will happen, and only then they will decide on their choice or refusal.

But since neutrals respond very poorly to feedback, unlike critics and promoters, attracting them is a non-trivial and very difficult task. According to research, only 37 percent of people in this category responded to feedback.

Neutrals, due to their position, do not have a direct negative impact on business, but, being somewhere nearby, without taking any actions, as if hanging in anticipation, they are able to begin to look for better opportunities for themselves. Your competitors may find them, and your neutrals will quickly become their promoters, strengthening the position of their rivals in the market they share with you. If this category is not attracted to purchases, their number can grow like an avalanche, and accordingly, if your competitors have any advantages, this whole huge mass of neutrals can immediately go to them.

To attract neutrals, you can use the following methods:

• Offer them discounts or upgrades to your service level.

To attract neutrals, you can use personal, exclusive discounts; attract them to you by providing them with the best conditions of service.

• Send them emails with product updates.

Probably, having become acquainted with your products for the first time, neutrals at that time did not find an attractive offer for themselves. But this does not mean that they have completely abandoned your services and will not return to your store or website. Offer them something new in your email newsletter, make your product offering more interesting than your competitors. Perhaps neutrals who would never visit your website again will click the link in the email and check out your updated product range when they receive it.

1. Promoters: Express your gratitude.

The most profitable customer segment is promoters. They buy the product, are satisfied, and recommend it to their friends and colleagues. But you shouldn’t take the presence of this category of clients for granted, they didn’t just appear out of nowhere, something in your company and services attracted and retained them. If you understand what promoters liked so much when interacting with your company, you will receive a unique tool for enterprise growth and increased sales. Feedback from this category is very important because it allows you to understand what attracts them to your company. Loyalty and gratitude programs help establish such a connection; they will not only allow you to analyze the data received, but also help strengthen relationships with promoters and will make them your regular customers in the future.

To resolve feedback issues with promoters, you can use the following methods:

• Thank them. Send a letter of personal gratitude by e-mail, give your company paraphernalia, the main thing is that your clients see and know that they are remembered and appreciated.
• Invite them to check out your other projects. Since promoters are initially ready to recommend your company to their friends, it would be a good idea to introduce them to your other products, as well as give them personal discounts.

1. Non-respondents: reach them.

When conducting an NPS survey, only 60 percent of buyers agree to answer the questions. The remaining 40 percent are people who can also become clients of your company. But in fact, attracting this category of consumers is extremely difficult; it is easier to change the opinions of critics than to get feedback from those who did not respond. But you shouldn’t immediately give up working with such a huge group of potential clients; you should still try to reach out to them. Although these people have no impact on customer loyalty scores, they can have a significant impact on your business and your revenue in the future, so take this into account.

What problems can you encounter when implementing NPS (customer loyalty index)

The NPS customer loyalty assessment system, despite its simplicity and effectiveness, has a number of disadvantages. First of all, the NPS methodology has been criticized due to the need to separate it into economic and emotional components. Also, the problems of technology include the fact that it characterizes the theoretical possibility that the client will make a repeat purchase, a kind of probability of this event, but does not give firm confidence that this will happen in reality.

The question itself is very vague: “Will you recommend your friends to visit our store and make purchases in it?” Yes, promoters are ready to advertise your company to their friends, but this does not mean at all that a well-disposed consumer and his entourage will come to your store and make a purchase there. Also, the customer loyalty index assessment system does not take into account acquisitions that have already taken place from your competitors, and possible similar transactions in the future. You should also take into account that a person cannot be completely confident in his future and the fact that he is going to come to your store and re-purchase a product does not mean that he will definitely do so.

It should be noted that purchase satisfaction and customer loyalty do not always have a direct relationship. A person may be satisfied with the purchase of a product, but the second time he will go to competitors and purchase products from them. Therefore, purchase satisfaction and loyalty in some individual cases should be taken into account separately.

To use the customer loyalty index most effectively, you need to ask them not only one main question, but also a number of clarifying ones. For example, a client, having assessed the company’s work, gave not 10 points, but 9. Yes, he is still loyal and is a promoter, but how do you find out why he wrote off one point, what motivated him to give not the highest rating, what circumstances influenced this? Additional questions allow you to collect statistics and, based on it, improve the company’s activities, increasing the customer loyalty index.

It is also necessary to take into account that NPS can perform well in a calm market, but when there is high demand for a new product, reviews can be fanatical and not entirely objective.

So, for example, when a new game console enters the market, stores in the first days are crowded with customers wanting to purchase the new product. Excessive demand for a new set-top box will not give objective estimates according to the NPS system. When interest subsides, calm consumers will go to the store, who will soberly evaluate the product and service and give objective answers to the questions asked to obtain a customer loyalty index.

It is also worth considering the factor of when the purchase is made and statistics on customer reviews are collected. Often, at the beginning of sales, reviews are very positive, but then there is a certain decline and even customer indifference.

• 2 ways that will “warm up” the client’s attention to the company and increase mailing conversion

A simple example. The buyer comes to the store and purchases a SLR camera; during testing, polite consultants talk about the technical characteristics of the device and take test pictures. The customer goes home with a new camera, satisfied with their purchase. At this point, he is ready to give the store 10 out of 10 points. But after a week, having already become accustomed to the new technique, the client begins to notice noise in the photographs in one of the areas of the image: it turns out that this is a group of dead pixels on the camera’s matrix. The client is forced to submit the camera for diagnostics and warranty repairs, wasting his time and nerves. And if at this very moment they call him from the feedback processing center and ask the buyer’s opinion about the store, it is very unlikely that he will answer with the same positive 10 points out of 10. Most likely, the person will be disappointed with the purchase, because he bought a low-quality product and cannot You can fully use it by returning the camera for repair. But it should be borne in mind that the client’s opinion may again change to a positive one if he did not experience any difficulties when accepting the camera for repair or if the device was replaced with another, new one that does not have any defects.

Thus, the example shows that the timing of collecting reviews is extremely important when creating a customer loyalty index.

Also, experts who criticize the system for collecting NPS reviews and forming a customer loyalty index point to too high a bias in the breakdown into customer groups. For example, the category of critics contains everyone who gave both 0 points and 6, but often those who gave a rating of 6 when purchasing in a regular store can rate the service 10 points when making a transaction through an online store website. Neutrals are unfairly removed from the NPS calculation formula, but this is a huge group of customers whose opinion is also important for the store.

Very often NPS has to be calculated for each specific outlet. For example, it is inconvenient for a person to buy a product in a store located on the other side of the city, which is difficult to reach by public or personal transport, so this buyer would never purchase the product there or would rate the convenience of the store as 1 – 3 points. But, having used the services of the same store through the website and received free delivery of goods to your home, the same client can give 10 points in the review on the web page.

In addition, there are industries and areas of trade in which the NPS index most likely will not reflect the real state of affairs of the company. For example, a person, by his psychological essence, is unlikely to recommend to his friends the purchase of a certain brand of toilet paper, but in a store he will rate this product 10 points, entering the group of promoters according to the NPS system, but not being one in this particular case.

As we can see, the customer loyalty index is an excellent tool for business in terms of assessing customer attitudes both to goods and services, and to the company as a whole. The customer loyalty index is very easy to use, provides good analytical data, allows you to build a flexible marketing policy, carry out convenient and profitable promotions, introduce discounts and bonus programs. But this indicator is also imperfect and has a number of significant drawbacks, therefore, when using NPS, it is necessary to take into account all the features of doing business in each specific case, and when developing a long-term company policy, rely not only on the customer loyalty index, but also on other market research systems.

Information about the experts

Maria Turcan, manager of the company "Umnitsa", Chelyabinsk. "Clever girl." Field of activity: production of goods for children's development. Territory: head office – in Chelyabinsk; representative office in Moscow; stores - in Chelyabinsk, Moscow, Yekaterinburg and Krasnodar. Number of personnel: 100.

Anastasia Orkina, executive vice president of marketing at VimpelCom. "VimpelCom" is part of the VimpelCom Ltd Group of Companies, which is one of the world's largest telecommunications holdings. The group's companies provide services under the brands Beeline, Kyivstar, Wind, Infostrada, Mobilink, Banglalink, Telecel and Djezzy. As of June 30, 2015, the number of mobile communications subscribers of the Civil Code is 213 million people. Official website - www.vimpelcom.com.

The NPS index was created specifically to determine the degree of customer loyalty to your project.

What is NPS customer loyalty index?

NPS (Net Promoter Score) is a metric that companies use to determine how their customers feel about them.

See also Customer Loyalty Program: 6 Indicators to Measure Customer Loyalty

Companies with high NPS are more likely to grow and profit in the long term.

How likely would you be to recommend this company to a friend?

Answers are based on a scale of ten.

What formula is used to calculate the NPS index?

Depending on the responses of customers, they should first be divided into the following three groups: supporters, neutral consumers and critics.

• Supporters (customers with a score of 9-10). They can be described as brand ambassadors who are excited about the company.
• Neutral consumers (customers with a score of 7-8). People with a neutral attitude towards the company who would not spoil the brand’s reputation.
• Critics (customers with a score of 0-6). Unsatisfied customers who can damage the brand's reputation with bad reviews.

After dividing your customers into appropriate groups, you need to calculate the company's NPS index using the percentage of supporters and detractors. Neutral consumers do not participate in the calculation.

NPS Formula

Company NPS = (% of supporters - % of detractors) x 100.

For example, if a survey results in 70% rating it as 9 or 10 and 10% rating it as 1-6, the result would be (70% – 10%) x 100 = 60.

An NPS of 60 is a very good score since most customers are advocates.

What values ​​can the NPS index take?

NPS can range between -100 and 100, with -100 being the worst and 100 being the best. In general, an NPS above 30 is considered good, above 50 is excellent, and above 70 is excellent. A negative NPS is considered a bad result.

But before you set your sights on getting an NPS of at least 70, you need to take into account your niche, product offering, and pricing. Each company is unique, and there is no exact definition of what is considered a good indicator.

How can you tell if a company's NPS is good enough for its niche? Below are NPS scores for various industries based on the Net Promoter Score Benchmark.

Why is it important to calculate the NPS index?

The NPS customer loyalty score provides invaluable data about the overall sentiment of your customer base. Tracking your NPS score helps you effectively measure customer loyalty and satisfaction so companies can work on improvements. This is why many Fortune 500 companies regularly conduct surveys to determine NPS.

Apart from getting feedback from customers, NPS also helps reduce customer churn (when a customer ends their relationship with a company). According to Bain and Company research, “supporters” tend to have longer, more rewarding relationships with companies. Knowing all this, a company can focus on converting “neutral consumers” and “critics” into “supporters” by providing them with better quality products and services.

NPS Score Caution

Many companies, large and small, make the mistake of focusing on NPS scores. While this is a very useful metric to track, customers should not be treated like numbers. Regardless of the metric, when a customer takes the time to provide feedback, it's a great opportunity to deepen your connection with them.

Loyalty cannot be earned through numbers. Both before and after the survey, it is necessary to build relationships with clients.
Business challenge: measure NPS, seize the opportunity to engage in open dialogue with customers, grow your business, products and services, and ultimately see your satisfaction rate increase.

conclusions

Many companies use NPS as a solution to measure customer loyalty and satisfaction. However, this data has value if and when a company acts on it. You need to not only find out the NPS indicator, but also understand what exactly led to this result.

Also, don't focus on convincing critics; stimulating discussions with supporters are also helpful. NPS is not just a number. When used correctly, it can solve user problems, improve processes, and fuel innovation.

NPS customer loyalty index - what it is and calculation formula with examples

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/ NPS customer loyalty index as a metric of company reputation

NPS customer loyalty index as a metric of company reputation

Customer Loyalty IndexNPS (NetPromoterScore, net support index) is a simple-to-calculate metric aimed at assessing the loyalty of a company’s customers or buyers of any product. The NPS score is said to be highly correlated with a company's earnings, and a company with a high NPS score tends to grow much faster than its competitors. This indicator is based on the assumption that customer loyalty to the company consists of:

• Desire to make repeat purchases
• Positive attitude towards upselling (purchase of additional accessories)
• Recommendations of the company among your friends and acquaintances
• Honest and open feedback about the company's products and services

The NPS index is considered by many foreign and domestic experts to be one of the best indicators of loyalty to a company or product. The standard approach to measuring customer loyalty index usually consists of several stages. At the first stage, immediately after making a purchase, customers are invited to participate in a short survey and are asked the following question:

The answer to this question is given on a ten-point scale, where the minimum score of 0 means “I will absolutely not recommend under any circumstances,” and the maximum score of 10 points corresponds to “I will definitely recommend.” Based on the collected ratings, all buyers are divided into three categories:

• Those who gave 9 or 10 points are supporters (promoters). This category of people is loyal to a company or product and with a probability above 90% will recommend the company or product to other people, as well as make repeat purchases. “Promoters” are often “blown away” by the quality of the products and/or services provided to them, which exceeded their wildest expectations, so they are willing to actively recommend them.

• Those who gave a rating of 7-8 points are neutral buyers (neutrals). This category of people is quite favorable towards the company or product, but the likelihood that these people will constantly recommend the company or product is much lower than the category of promoters. In addition, representatives of this category can easily prefer competitors if they have a discount or are offered better conditions for making a purchase.

• Those who rated 0-6 points are critics (detractors). Representatives of this category are dissatisfied with the company and are unlikely to ever use its services again. And those who give the lowest possible scores may even go so far as to write negative reviews on the Internet or in a book of complaints. Taking into account the availability of information on the Internet, criticism and negativity from this category can cause significant reputational damage to the company, negatively affecting sales and demotivating its employees. Particular troubles for a company can be caused by active Internet users, who by their actions can “discourage” many potential customers from the company by replicating negativity on company review sites, social networks, blogs and product aggregator sites.

The final stage is the calculation; the formula for calculating NPS is as follows:

For example, we collected only 100 reviews from our customers, of which 5 reviews were received from “critics” (0-6 points), 10 reviews were received from “neutrals” (7-8 points) and the remaining 85 reviews came from “promoters” ", which gave us high marks of 9-10 points. From 85 we subtract 5, 100 by 100 falls under the reduction, and we get a final NPS value of 80. The indicator can be from -100 (an extremely low value when all buyers are “critics”) and up to 100 when all buyers are “critics.” promoters."

In addition to the main question, one or more clarifying questions may also be asked, for example - “Why did you give this particular rating? Please answer in as much detail as possible and preferably give an example.” Or, depending on the points assigned, one or another clarifying question is asked. For example, if a buyer gave 9 or 10 points, then he is asked to additionally answer the question “What did you especially like...”, and those who rated 0-8 points are asked the question “What in your opinion should be improved...”. In some cases, NPS research can be conducted to assess the loyalty of business partners and even among one’s own employees, who are asked the question “Would you recommend working for our company to your acquaintances and friends?”

How to correctly interpret the resulting calculationNPS?

How to collect customer reviews?

How to keep your NPS score high?

NPS

NPS

NPS

NPS and why

History of the creation of the techniqueNetPromoterScore

How to correctly interpret the resulting NPS calculation

Knowing the NPS indicator clearly demonstrates the “reputational weight” of the company in the eyes of clients, and calculating this metric is a good indicator of the category “is everything okay with us”? Thus, ease of calculation, fast speed of data collection and comparability with major players in the industry are the main advantages of this method. The general rule of the NPS methodology is: “the indicator must not be negative”.

A positive value of the indicator indicates that the share of supporters of the company’s “promoters” exceeds the number of “critics”; therefore, there is a certain potential for natural growth of the customer base solely due to customer loyalty, in the very case when a satisfied customer brings another client.

A zero or negative indicator indicates that the number of “critics” prevails over the number of “promoters”, and this in turn is a clear signal of the lack of potential for growth of the customer base and even a possible outflow of customers due to the low rating of the company.

Because The NPS loyalty metric is quite simple to calculate and understandable to everyone; it can be taken as a guideline as a generally accepted standard and used as a comparison with the indicators of other companies in the same industry, catching up with the leaders or increasing the gap from competitors. An NPS index of approximately 50 or higher is considered good. Some experts believe that at this level you can even do without advertising, because... the customer base grows on its own, but this is not the case in all cases. If the index is significantly less than 50, then this is not a reason to panic. For example, if your company’s index is only 20, but the average of your industry competitors is even lower (10 or lower), then in this case your index compared to your competitors will be high.

NPS studies conducted for various segments of corporate business show that different industries may have their own standards (so-called reference values) for customer loyalty. For example, among Western companies, the norm for digital retail may be 30 and above, and in the banking sector from 10. For airlines, this figure is at 15, and for food retailers about 49. These figures may also differ in different countries. Therefore, it would be logical not to compare the performance of companies operating in different markets.

It should be noted that the index needs to be updated periodically. It is usually recommended to re-calculate the index no more than once a quarter and no less than once a year.

How to collect customer reviews

A modern way to collect customer feedback at points of sale or service offices is to use mobile devices, in particular tablets, which are optimally sized for the display and can be compactly located, for example, at the checkout. To conduct an NPS survey, specially developed applications are used that display response options on the tablet screen and save data on the selected ratings. The tablet with the survey running can be placed in a special stand with a theft-proof holder on a short or long “leg” for convenient placement in the room.

Some companies (especially in the banking and insurance industries) keep cards with colored “smiley faces” at their customer service counters. The green smiley is taken by “promoters” who are satisfied with the service, the “yellow” by neutral clients, the “red” by dissatisfied “critics.” Customers are asked to place the taken cards in a special box at the exit.

To collect reviews in an online store, special plugins are usually used, if the “engine” of the online store is some well-known “boxed” CMS, or the modification is carried out by the company’s in-house specialists. It is also possible to use third-party web services that offer installation of an NPS counter on the company’s website and provide the functionality of conducting surveys to collect feedback along with the provision of final reporting. The disadvantages of independently collecting feedback through the site include the potential for incorrectly designed survey form, which can be implemented in the form of an annoying “pop-under” banner that pops up when entering the site, which users can instinctively “switch off”, mistaking it for advertising and immediately closing, often without even reading what they are asked to do.

There are also “telephone,” “email,” and “sms” methods for collecting customer feedback, if you have a contact database. Calling clients is usually carried out by call center operators some time after the client has made a purchase or provided a service. Pre-recorded voice message systems IVR (Interactive Voice Response) are also used, which can conduct a dialogue with the buyer without the participation of an operator. These methods are often practiced by large online stores and mobile operators, because... they have the contact information of their clients. The disadvantages of collecting reviews via email and telephone include the fact that a “critic” may simply refuse to participate in the survey after receiving a questionnaire via email (or dropping a call) due to dislike for the company or product, so he will simply fall out of the total respondents. In the same way, a letter that accidentally falls under a spam filter on the email of a client-promoter will exclude him from the total number of respondents. Thus, technical issues and incorrect contact information can seriously affect the final calculations.

In addition to using the above methods, some companies further expand the functionality of their CRM systems to solve problems like data collection and NPS calculation. However, it is worth noting that not all “boxed” CRM systems can be modified in this way without the help of key developers.

How to maintain the indicatorNPS at a high level

We will look at how to set up a system for collecting reviews and systematically, at the proper level, to control NPS using the example of one of our customers, who is one of the leaders in digital retail in Russia, operating in the market for more than 15 years. Hundreds of company stores operate in almost all regions of the country, offering customers the widest range of digital and household appliances from well-known brands of the world's leading manufacturers.

We launched a system for collecting reviews on mobile devices to calculate NPS in the company as part of a project for a quality control system for a chain of stores called Retailika. The implementation of the Retail cloud service was aimed at giving the company's employees the opportunity to quickly perform any type of on-site and cross-checks in all stores of the company's network using electronic checklists on their own mobile devices, thereby identifying possible flaws in work, violations and deviations from accepted corporate standards.

The management's quick response to information received on violations in real time, systematic identification and elimination of shortcomings, constant work on errors was aimed at creating ideally structured interaction with customers, control of product display, cleanliness and tidiness, general order, which in the end is extremely positive affects sales and NPS level growth.

Many of our clients note that thanks to systematic checks using electronic checklists, sales consultants begin over time to demonstrate a thorough mastery of their job responsibilities, because each repeat check is a kind of training, finely honing compliance with the standards accepted in the company and the ability to best position yourself a potential buyer, leading him to make a purchase. And every satisfied customer is highly likely to return for purchases again and recommend the company to their friends. And if we return again to the formula for calculating the customer loyalty index, which states that the more “supporters” (promoters) we have in the numerator and the fewer “critics” there are, the higher the final NPS will be and the longer it will be maintained at a decent level.

Elimination of violations when working with clients through self-inspections and systematic improvement of processes built in the company, based on the use of innovative methods and technologies, has a significant positive impact on NPS of the company.

Our solution for collecting feedback for NPS research differs favorably from other solutions in that the work is carried out in a single information space with the company’s quality control service. The customer feedback collection system is not a separate mobile application, but the same application of the Retail quality control system, but with a special interface in which each review made by the buyer is a separate “check” against the NPS checklist, which is automatically closed after the survey is completed and again automatically created to receive feedback from the next client.

Another distinguishing factor is that the service’s mobile application works on any modern smartphones and tablets running the Android or iOS operating systems, so our clients did not have to purchase exotic “devices” of certain models or be limited to using mobile devices of only one platform. To collect feedback, tablets can be used temporarily for a limited period of conducting surveys, subsequently being freed up for other tasks. Also, in addition to the “main” question “How likely is it that you will recommend shopping in our company...”, we included a number of additional questions in the feedback collection system, which are displayed on the tablet screen depending on the points assigned. For example, if the buyer turned out to be a “promoter” and gave a rating of 9 or 10 points, he will be shown the following question of this type:

And if the buyer turns out to be a “critic” or “neutral”, rating the store’s performance at 0-6 or 7-8 points, respectively, then he will be asked to answer another question:

It is worth noting that the “main” question on NPS takes points as an answer, and the above “clarifying” questions take as an answer a value from a given list of criteria for the attractiveness or shortcomings of a store in the eyes of customers. As we mentioned above, a survey in our Retail system is a checklist with a special interface, which is created in the same way as other “standard” checklists using the checklist constructor. The checklist constructor allows you to create checklists of any complexity with various types of assessments (“Yes/no”, “Points on a scale”, “Value from a list”, “Numerical value”, etc.)

All collected information on NPS surveys and other “standard checks” of stores (which are performed by employees on their mobile devices) is automatically accumulated in a single database and immediately becomes available in reports to managers. The advantage of this approach when calculating NPS is that the survey results for each customer immediately go into a single database and, accordingly, into reports, and the NPS index is recalculated on the fly in real time. While other methods of data collection require first a stage of information collection, and then a stage of additional processing, before providing the final result on it.

Additional measures to maintain levelsNPS

In addition to systematically “working on yourself” through self-tests using electronic checklists on mobile devices, as described above, there are many additional ways that have a positive effect on the NPS level. This could be the introduction of standard discount loyalty programs with various discounts, bonuses, and sales. Discount cards with a “cashback” function, where up to 5% of the purchase price is returned back to the card and can be used to cover the next purchase or even cashed out. Online stores, by analogy with “cashback” cards, can use the so-called. loyalty bonuses, crediting a percentage of the order value to the user’s personal account account, which can be spent on the next purchase. “Referral systems” are widely used, when a buyer who makes a purchase in an online store for the first time receives a personal referral code, distributing it among other buyers as a discount code and encouraging them to make a purchase, he receives bonuses to his account. It would not be superfluous to issue and distribute gift cards and certificates, as, for example, the companies Eldorado, Sportmaster, and Letual do.

The so-called “coalition programs”, when companies cooperate, giving discounts on purchases from those who are part of the “coalition”. For example, when purchasing any product, the buyer can receive a discount if he pays with cards from the bank that services the company from which the purchase is made. This benefits all participants involved in the purchase process - both the bank and the company, along with the buyer, who ultimately receives his discount.

An important role is played by a well-structured pricing policy using competitor price monitoring services and providing discounts and special conditions to VIP clients. All of these methods also have an impact on the NPS score.

Economic and emotional customer loyalty

The above methods of motivating and retaining customers based on bonuses and discounts undoubtedly work and encourage customers to make repeat purchases. But do they actually make them loyal in the full sense of the word? If a company works only to improve its bonus system and pricing policy, ignoring everything else or acting on a residual principle, then in this case loyalty is based only on economic factors in the form of acceptable and favorable prices that the buyer is willing to pay for a product or service, or receiving additional preferences in the form of bonuses and discounts. If it is impossible to implement a bonus pricing policy to maintain economic loyalty during a crisis in the company itself or in the economy as a whole, the connection between the company and the buyer, based solely on economic loyalty, can easily be destroyed and the client will go to competitors or stop making purchases, waiting for the “hard days” to pass. This is because, apart from relatively favorable prices, nothing else binds the buyer to the company.

We can make the assumption that it is enough to bind the client to yourself with some unique product that simply cannot be purchased anywhere else. However, as world practice shows, no matter how technically complex a product is, sooner or later the same Chinese will still copy it, unless it is a rocket engine or a fifth-generation fighter.

You can emotionally (strongly) attach a client to yourself only by providing high-quality service, in which there is no room for error and where streamlined technological and business processes are combined in the right proportions, coupled with the high competence of the company’s employees, who comply with the prescribed internal standards and rules from “A” to "I". All internal mechanisms of the company work “like a clock” and the gears are well lubricated and adjusted to each other. All this together creates that unique atmosphere of a “cool company”, in which the client feels as comfortable and “protected” as possible, and in which that very strong connection in the form of “emotional loyalty” is established.

A striking example of the formation of emotional loyalty is the American shoe sales company Zappos, whose employees, wanting to please their customers as much as possible, could spend 5 hours without a break consulting by phone with an undecided customer who could not decide which shoes were right for him. In his book Delivering Happiness, Zappos founder Tony Hsieh described how, as a joke, he called his own company's customer service and, in a drunken, altered voice, tried to find out where he could order pizza. Five minutes later he had contacts of several nearby pizzerias at his disposal. No less informative in terms of the formation of emotional loyalty is the story of the formation of the car dealership company by Carl Sewell, described by him in the famous bestseller “Customers for Life.”

Criticism of the indicator's effectivenessNPS

Despite the simplicity and effectiveness of the NPS index, there are a number of compelling arguments aimed at criticizing this metric. It was already mentioned above about the need to divide loyalty into economic (weak) and emotional (strong). The indicator is also often criticized for the fact that loyalty is linked only to probable desire recommend, but not with firm intention complete a specific action (purchase), repeat purchase, or make a repeat visit to the point of sale. The very form of asking the question, when the buyer is asked to evaluate probability,“psychologically” removes from him further responsibility for the seriousness of his intentions. At the same time, such important facts from the company’s point of view as the presence/absence of purchases from competitors, the presence/absence of criticism of the company or product, “turning a blind eye” to minor flaws and shortcomings in work, etc. are also not taken into account. A buyer may be an ardent supporter (promoter) of a company or product, but this does not mean that he has never bought anything (and will not buy anything in the future) from competitors, or that he cannot criticize the company’s work (product quality). In addition, one must take into account the fact that a person by nature is a poor predictor of his own future, and what he promises now (I will or will not recommend) does not mean at all that after some time they will not appear in his life. factors that force him to change his decision or opinion. As the saying goes, “man proposes, but God disposes.”

It should be noted that loyalty And satisfaction buyers are not always directly proportionally interconnected and often do not go, as they say, “neck to nostril.” Although, it would seem that the more satisfied the client, the more loyal he is and vice versa. It is clear that a dissatisfied customer is unlikely to be loyal, however, there are situations where a satisfied customer will not be loyal within the NPS methodology. For example, when buying a new car of any brand, 90% of buyers are completely satisfied with their purchase, but according to statistics, only 40% of them will show loyalty and re-purchase the same car model. Therefore, customer satisfaction and loyalty in some cases should be considered separately.

A lot of important information is lost if you ask the buyer only one “main question,” but this clarifying information is also extremely important for systematic work to improve the level of customer loyalty, because how else can you find out what exactly the consumer is dissatisfied with if he gave a rating of 9 points? Why not 10? Why was one point deducted? This is why a standard NPS survey should be expanded with a number of additional clarifying questions to get to the root of the problems. In addition, when conducting surveys, you should ensure that respondents (“fans” and ordinary customers) are as “sparse” as possible and sometimes take into account additional factors that may distort real estimates. For example, the start of sales of a new model of a popular smartphone generates a temporary rush of demand, fueled by which the most devoted “fans”, who are ready to give an “11 out of 10” rating without even looking, sweep everything off the shelves of branded stores like a hurricane. But after some time, when the hype and hype subsides and customers with a “sober view of the world” come to the store, they will give “real” reviews and scores in surveys.

Additionally, it is worth considering the factor of when exactly the review is taken, because the positivity from interaction with the company tends to naturally decline over time. In some cases, the client may even experience disappointment or indifference, which ultimately directly affects the calculated loyalty indicator. For example, a review from a customer who purchases something from a company for the first time is taken in the store immediately after purchasing a new monitor. If everything went smoothly, a polite consultant, an attractive affordable price, a discount, no dead pixels on the monitor display during testing, and a satisfied customer, under the influence of positive emotions in anticipation of the joy of owning a new item, gives the company a rating of 10 upon leaving the store points. After a week of use, it suddenly turns out that there are “lights” in the corners of the monitor, which are visible only in complete darkness from a certain viewing angle, which is a manufacturer’s defect. This is not the fault of the company that sold this product, and it is ready to fully fulfill its warranty obligations, including returning the money, but the buyer will be clearly disappointed, because the product was sold to him in the company’s store (it is their fault, not the manufacturer!) and At a minimum, he will have to spend time returning the product, wait for it to be repaired or replaced, or even look for another monitor again. And if at this moment the buyer receives a call from the call center regarding a survey for NPS analysis, the buyer’s score under the influence of negative emotions may turn out to be completely different from the 10 points that he gave a week ago immediately after purchasing in the store. Although the store worked as clearly as possible in terms of sales and customer service, earning the initially assigned 10 points. It should be noted that the buyer’s assessment may again change if the company met him halfway and solved his problem with a defective product as painlessly as possible. As we can see, the timing of collecting feedback in some cases can make significant adjustments to the estimates.

Some experts rightly point out the existing “distortions” in the logic of dividing buyers into unequal groups, because Even within the same group of “critics,” the loyalty of a buyer who gave 0 points may differ significantly from the loyalty of a buyer who gave 6 points. The NPS formula dictates that neutrals should be completely “thrown overboard,” thereby losing very valuable information. There are studies indicating that a buyer who scores 6 and is not inclined to recommend a company and buy something from it “offline” can with a high degree of probability make a purchase from the same company on an “online” website. For example, a company has stores that are inconveniently located for a particular customer in terms of transport accessibility, or in which the work of employees is poorly organized and there are queues even with a small crowd of people. But with all this, ordering from the website is very convenient and there is fast delivery of goods to your home. The company's website is well laid out, has a beautiful functional design, product search is successfully implemented, and painstaking work has been done to improve usability. A “critic” who once “got burned” by purchasing a product “offline” (in a store), but “tried” orders through the website, receiving the product by courier delivery, easily turns into a “promoter” online. Therefore, the NPS index often has to be calculated for each “touch point” of the client company separately, which will be discussed in the next subsection of this article, which describes “advanced techniques.”

The NPS metric may not be suitable for everyone, because... There are companies or even entire industries on the market in which buyers have no desire to recommend the company or its products to everyone, even if they are one hundred percent “promoters” in soul and body. For example, it is unlikely that a normal person would recommend toilet paper to all his acquaintances and friends, based on his daily pleasant tactile sensations after going to the toilet. However, following the algorithm for calculating NPS, it must be recorded as “neutral”. For this reason, a low index does not mean that a company has serious problems with customer loyalty if it markets a specific product or operates in an industry where people are not likely to make recommendations.

Advanced Use and Enhancement TechniquesNPS

Taking into account the above criticism about the certain “one-sidedness” of the NPS indicator, many companies perform calculations on different “touch points” with the client, resulting in a final total NPS rating, which consists of the calculation of separately collected indicators, each of which may have a certain “weighting coefficient” ", For example:

• The buyer has just made a purchase at the point of sale
• The buyer made a repeated visit to the company's point of sale
• The buyer continues to use the product after the specified period
• The buyer contacted the technical support service.
• The buyer visited the company's website
• The buyer made a purchase on the website
• The buyer left his review on the Internet or in a book of complaints and suggestions, etc.

We already mentioned above that in addition to the main question, an additional “clarifying” question should be asked: “Why did you give this particular rating? Please answer in as much detail as possible and preferably give an example.” Or, depending on the points assigned, “What did you especially like...” or “What should be improved...”. Using additional clarifying questions will allow you to collect more useful information about the client and his attitude towards the company, and will force the client to take his assessment of the company’s work more seriously. Some experts recommend expanding the survey to 5 or even 8 additional questions.

The NPS survey can be applied not only to the company’s clients, but also to its own employees, who are asked the question “What is the likelihood that you would recommend working in our company to your acquaintances and friends?” In addition, questions are asked that clarify what exactly attracts or repels employees in the company (salary level, team atmosphere, adequate management, work space, etc.) This question will allow you to assess the loyalty of your own employees in relation to the company, the level of loyalty to which in some cases it can be an unpleasant surprise for managers. A survey can also be conducted among the company’s partners, who are asked the question “What is the likelihood that you will recommend cooperation with our company to your business partners?”

To measure loyalty, many companies use not only NPS, but also a number of other metrics - ASCI (American Customer Satisfaction Index), CES (Consumer Effort Score), CXi (Customer Experience Index), CSat (Customer Satisfaction), RAPid, and, on in our opinion, the most interesting is WoMI. WoMI (Word of Mouth Index) - the word of mouth index is a refinement of the NPS methodology. The WoMI authors argue that the NPS index artificially inflates the number of “critics” who are willing to actually dissuade other people from purchasing a company or its products. The WoMI metric suggests adjusting the number of real “critics” by adding an additional question to the NPS survey: “What is the likelihood that you will dissuade your acquaintances and friends from shopping in our company? The creators of this technique believe that this will identify “fake critics” who fell into the 0-6 category on the standard NPS question, but also responded with low scores on the WoMI survey (0-6), effectively refusing to dissuade other people from working with company. Thus, the WoMI index adds another category of buyers who occupy an intermediate level between “critics” and “neutrals”, not recommending a company or product, but also not discouraging others from interacting with a company or product.

Some companies, not having the opportunity to obtain statistics on the NPS level from competitors in the “open access”, independently calculate these indicators among their clients, adding to the main question in the NPS survey a tricky question about the competitor’s company - “What is the likelihood that you would prefer to purchase from our company buying from another company? If respondents give a score of 9-10 points to this question, no matter whether they are “critics”, “neutrals” or “promoters”, an additional clarifying question is asked in order to find out which competitor is being discussed. The statistics collected in this simple way allows you to roughly “estimate” the NPS rating of your closest competitors.

In addition to using various metrics for studying customer loyalty and implementing various bonus systems, which we have already mentioned above, another additional “advanced technique” for increasing NPS is the widespread use of innovative software products and services that have been massively created recently not only abroad, but and in our country. We will dwell on this in more detail.

In addition to scheduled NPS surveys, which collect data using mobile devices, phone calls and email, companies can use systems to analyze “natural reviews” from the Internet. Natural reviews come from customers themselves on their own initiative, they can be either sharply negative or extremely positive. Review analysis systems constantly collect information from aggregator sites for goods and services (Yandex Market, price.ru), social networks, blogs, forums, video content sites for the presence of reviews or references to a specific company or product. The collected information is combined into a single whole, resulting in an “information summary” that shows the “reputational weight” of the company and can be automatically interpreted using machine learning algorithms, including within the framework of the Net Promoter Score calculation. At the same time, particularly “advanced” systems make it possible to determine who left a particular review, a real person or a “paid bot” that acts as part of an unleashed campaign to denigrate a competitor. Thus, “bots” can be excluded from the NPS calculation, and at the same time the company will additionally receive a signal about an information attack being carried out against it through “stuffing”. Having received prompt information about potential threats and reputational risks, the company can respond in a timely manner and take action, preventing a drop in the level of customer loyalty and maintaining its NPS level.

Other software products include “intelligent assistants” - artificial intelligence programs that can conduct quite complex dialogues with a visitor to the company’s website around the clock, in the absence of a human consultant. These can be various recommendation systems that make useful tips and recommendations to the buyer during the purchase. These could also be quality control systems for the company’s work, like our cloud service RETAILIKA, in which, with the help of systematic self-checks using electronic checklists, you can qualitatively improve compliance with the company’s standards and have a positive impact on building effective processes for interaction between the company and the client.

If a company has an industry average NPS rating, then the higher it tries to raise and maintain it, the more effort it will have to spend. This means that such a company must have all possible tools in its arsenal to achieve this goal.

Who actively uses the loyalty indexNPS and why

Net Promoter Score is widely used by many companies around the world, from small startups to huge multinational corporations, because... simplicity of calculation, fast speed of data collection, direct correlation with income and comparability with major players in the industry are the main advantages of this method. All these advantages allow this metric to be widely used as one of the assessments of a company’s movement in the right direction. Based on this metric, important management decisions are often made, KPIs are calculated, entire business lines are opened or closed, and bonuses are paid or “cut off.”

Many companies use the metric because tracking NPS will quickly identify any imbalances and “distortions” in the company-client relationship. And the high level of competition, when in Western markets the client has a huge choice of where to leave his money, and the constantly growing cost of attracting a new client, lead to the fact that a quick reaction to abnormal downward fluctuations in this indicator can not only “even out the situation ”, but also in some cases bring the business back from the “point of no return”. A company's current income may be a general indicator of its overall "success" in the market, but this indicator can be a poor guide to forecasts for future growth, especially when the NPS index has plummeted for some reason. In the modern world, taking into account the almost complete accessibility of the Internet to the population, information spreads rapidly and any “failures” in relations with clients on the part of well-known companies can lead to huge scandals, which, savored and replicated in the yellow press and various Internet tabloids, bring significant financial and reputational losses.

Among Western companies, NPS is used almost everywhere, in Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Zappos, Dell, Walmart, Procter & Gamble, Sony, Costco and tens of thousands of other lesser-known companies, becoming in a certain way a kind of “de facto standard”. Amazon, for example, has an NPS of about 70, Apple - 72, Costco - 77, but the little-known financial and investment company USAA in Russia has an indicator of 87.

In the Russian market, the methodology for calculating the customer loyalty index has also been successfully adopted and is used by many well-known companies operating in the fields of retail, insurance, telecommunications, banking services, restaurant and hotel business, air and rail transportation. Among them are the companies MTS, MegaFon, Beeline, Ingosstrakh, Rosgosstrakh, Alfa-Bank, Aeroflot, etc.

History of the creation of the techniqueNetPromoterScore

This technique was developed by American marketer Frederick F. Reichheld, who is the author of the bestseller “The Ultimate Question.” Fred Reichheld is widely known in the business community for his innovative approach to the study of customer loyalty. The methodology for calculating the net support index under his authorship was first published in 2003 in the pages of the Harvard Business Review magazine. Having set himself the goal of determining which indicators have the greatest impact on customer loyalty, Reichheld processed and analyzed a huge amount of collected data from over four hundred companies, eventually coming to the conclusion that loyalty is most strongly associated with the willingness of customers to recommend a company or product to their friends and relatives and acquaintances.

Most companies are overly focused on increasing the number of customers and increasing profits. However, it is very important to understand the fact that fishing is reminiscent of a leaky net. It seems that you managed to “catch” a lot of fish, but in the end you are left with nothing.

Customer retention is not the goal, but customer loyalty to the company is. The problem is that this indicator is very difficult to measure because it is not quantitative. Luckily, there is a framework that can help you meet your customers' needs and build long-lasting, fruitful relationships with them. Additionally, you will be able to predict their loyalty to your brand.

This article will discuss the basic concepts associated with such an indicator as the Net Promoter Score (NPS). You'll learn how a simple one-question survey can help you determine your customer satisfaction levels. You'll learn how to start using and continue to use this metric in your marketing campaigns.

Methodology for measuring loyalty

The founder of the NPS measurement method is Frederick Reichheld. His research was published in the Harvard Business Review in an article entitled "One Number You Need to Grow." In it, Reichheld criticized traditional surveys aimed at identifying customer satisfaction. He said that all of them do not allow you to “keep your finger on the pulse” and assess how happy customers are.

As a result, Reichheld and his colleagues developed a simplified framework that made it possible to link consumer responses and behavior.

The measurement of the consumer loyalty index is based on the belief that loyalty is nothing more than a person’s willingness to contact the company again and, more importantly, to recommend the product or company to their friends. This indicator is determined very simply. We will tell you about this now.

How to conduct a survey

So, NPS is an index that measures a consumer's willingness to recommend your company's products or services to their friends. To calculate it, you need to ask clients two questions:

1. On a scale from 1 to 10, how likely are you to recommend our company's product (service) to your friends or colleagues?
2. What exactly influenced your answer?

Next, you need to create a survey and send it to your customers. Typically, such questionnaires are sent by email, via SMS, offered in the form or asked by phone. Ideally, the survey should be completed in less than 24 hours.

Once your clients answer both questions, you will need to categorize them into the following categories based on their rating:

• 9-10: Brand supporters (Promoters). They value your company's products and tend to recommend them to their friends and acquaintances. They also make repeat purchases frequently. Such clients are of the greatest value.
• 7-8: Neutral consumers (Passives). They do not spread negative reviews about your company, but if someone makes them a better offer, they will refuse your services. Such clients do not often recommend you to their friends.
• 0-6: Detractors. They are dissatisfied with the quality of your company's products or services and want to ruin your reputation by spreading negative reviews.

How to calculate NPS?

Based on audience segmentation data (see previous section), the customer loyalty index can be calculated using a simple formula:

NPS = (% Brand Adherents) - (% Critics)

The value you get will range from -100 to 100. If your Net Promoter Score is 100, it means that absolutely all of your customers are fans of your brand (best-case scenario). If this indicator is -100, then on the contrary, all your clients criticize you (worst case scenario).

Why is it worth tracking your customer loyalty index?

Periodic monitoring of the consumer loyalty index is necessary, since this indicator:

• easy to understand - this system is very easy to understand and adapt for your company;
• easy to calculate - the survey is very short, and your clients will be able to quickly and easily answer the questions asked;
• provides feedback that has practical value;
• helps to identify the target audience segment (if you combine the information received with);
• will allow you to develop a plan to improve products or services;
• will help build a “cult of the consumer” in your company - each department will be aimed at building long and fruitful relationships with clients;
• gives you a competitive advantage - conclusions drawn from NPS analysis will allow you to make decisions quickly, while your competitors will have to spend several months on this;
• available to any business - conducting such surveys will not greatly affect the budget, and you will be able to “keep your finger on the pulse” of consumer sentiment.

Using the NPS indicator for company development

1. Sustainable growth and customer retention

• Extensive research has shown that NPS is one of the main indicators of growth. If it is higher than your competitors, it means that your company has a larger market share.
• According to Gartner research, 65% of start-up companies already have a ready-made customer base. Attracting new customers costs 5 times more than retaining old ones. Customer Loyalty Score is an accessible framework for measuring customer satisfaction and retention.
• The NPS score can be used as a growth metric to turn a company's current growth into sustainable growth.

2. Product sales management

• The Customer Satisfaction Index can be used to make decisions regarding the company's product itself.
• NPS allows you to set priorities correctly, based on . They can very quickly receive feedback and make changes to the product sales process.

3. Marketing

• Verizon research shows that 85% of new customers come to small companies thanks to . Keeping your NPS score high will help you attract more customers without spending money on advertising and marketing campaigns.
• Net Promoter Score helps marketers measure customer sentiment and opinions and then provide feedback to all team members. In this way, all departments of the company will be able to work more harmoniously to achieve one common goal - meeting customer needs.
• NPS, combined with analytics tools, can help you predict consumer behavior and create what are called behavioral patterns.

4. Managing employee potential

• Customer loyalty score can help you determine the level of satisfaction of your employees. This is especially important for companies operating in the service sector.
• NPS can also be used to select a new vector for corporate culture. In addition, using this indicator, you can find out what your employees think about the new corporate policy.

5. General KPIs and reporting

• You can use NPS as your only customer satisfaction metric. To do this, the indicator must be measured on an ongoing basis and quarterly reports made. This will help you gain meaningful insights and build a long-term company development plan.
• If you link NPS with financial reports, you can draw a conclusion about the general state of development of the company. For example, if profits are growing and NPS is declining, then this is a worrying sign regarding long-term development prospects

6. Advantages of the consumer loyalty index

• Increased profit per customer: Brand loyalists tend to spend more on company products and services than the average customer.
• Reduced ongoing costs: Brand loyalists are tolerant and tolerant of problems that arise in the company, so they are less likely to complain. This helps reduce maintenance costs. In addition, loyal customers reduce , as they spread positive reviews.
• Reduce Churn: By reducing the number of neutral consumers and critics, you can reduce customer churn.
• Motivation for employees: all departments of the company will work harmoniously to achieve a common goal.

Increasing customer lifetime value

Only 14% of customers stop using a company's services because they are not satisfied with the quality of service or the product itself. 69% of consumers stop using a company because they feel forgotten about them.

Most dissatisfied customers will never come to complain directly. They will simply leave silently and then start leaving negative reviews online. This is why it is so important to constantly stay in touch with your customers.

Constantly measuring NPS will allow you to identify those customers who:

• are going to refuse the company's services;
• ready to act as “lawyers” of the brand;
• see any shortcomings in your product or services, but do not talk about them.

By receiving this valuable information, you can prevent.

When to conduct a survey?

Often, the effectiveness of an NPS campaign depends not on how you ask questions, but on when you ask them. Below are a few “right things”:

1. After the potential client has used the free trial period (Post Free Trial). If the trial period has expired and the customer does not want to purchase the paid version, then this is an indicator that he is interested, but not yet sufficiently involved in the purchase process. Why not ask him to give you feedback to find out what went wrong.

2. Before the client finally refuses the company’s services (Exit Survey). Price is a repulsive factor for a person only when he does not see the value of the product. If a customer decides to end their relationship with a company after using its services for a while, it means you are doing something wrong. Instead of just letting him go, you can re-engage him by asking him to take a survey. Even if that customer still leaves, you can learn valuable insights.

Criteria for assessing the consumer loyalty index

You can't draw objective conclusions just by looking at your customer loyalty score. It is necessary to take into account the position of the company in the chosen field of business. For example, the NPS of a large store may be 30, but, nevertheless, it will be the worst in the market. At the same time, the NPS of the telecommunications company will be 32, and it will be a leader among its competitors.

What factors influence the NPS evaluation criteria? How do you know if your customer loyalty score is good? First of all, there are three factors that influence the criteria for assessing the consumer loyalty index:

1. Level of competition

If you're in a highly competitive industry like insurance, banking, or healthcare, a normal NPS score would be average. But if your company only occupies a small segment of the market (for example, electric vehicles or wireless headphones), then you need to make sure that your NPS score is high enough. This will be an indicator that your offer is unique and your customers have a positive perception of your brand.

Optimal NPS indicators for different business areas: banking (0), auto insurance (22), health and life insurance (27), airlines (36), tourism (38), hotels (43), online stores (45), Internet -services (48).

2. Tolerance

Customer tolerance is another key factor that determines NPS scoring criteria. This is due to the fact that people are categorical about the quality of the product or service that they use regularly.

To clearly imagine how this factor affects NPS, it is necessary to give an example. Verizon's Net Promoter Score is 38, which may seem average, but it is one of the leading companies in the market. For comparison, their competitors (AT&T and MediaCom) have indicators of 15 and 22. This low indicator is not due to the fact that the company provides insufficient quality services. This means that these companies operate in a highly competitive environment, where clients are absolutely not ready to tolerate even minor “errors” in the quality of service.

3. Obstacles

Typically, a person cannot afford to improve (“upgrade”) the purchased product or start using the services of another company without certain financial losses. Thus, in order to appear consistent in their decisions, the customer prefers to remain loyal to the same brand.

SaaS companies face this problem all the time. To become a client of one of these companies, you need to deposit a certain amount, so it is very difficult for a business to retain its customers and maintain their loyalty. In this regard, the NPS indicator of SaaS companies remains at “below average” levels.

What is considered a good NPS indicator?

So, there is no quantitative indicator that can be called good as this value varies depending on what kind of business you are in. But there are several questions that you can ask yourself to help you understand how high your customer loyalty index is:

1. Is my NPS higher than my direct competitors? If yes, then this is a good indicator. However, this is not enough to consider your business successful.
2. Is my NPS score rising? If after 3-6 months the consumer loyalty index has increased, then this is a good indicator.
3. Is my NPS above zero? If your NPS is -50, and this is higher than that of your competitors, then you should not rush to conclusions. This low NPS is a sign that your customers are not satisfied.

It must be remembered that the customer loyalty index should not be assessed literally. Most companies are simply obsessed with growth rates and do everything possible and impossible to make their performance indicators grow. NPS is not a quantitative metric. This is more of a qualitative indicator that gives you food for thought.

Overall, although NPS claims to be the new standard for measuring customer satisfaction and loyalty, it has come under constant criticism due to its simplicity. Some experts claim that the index gives an inaccurate picture of how satisfied a company's customers are. For example, they highlight the fact that companies with the same NPS may have different percentages of adopters, neutrals, and detractors. Therefore, entrepreneurs need to focus not on the indicator itself, but on what these numbers tell them.

What to do after measuring NPS

This section will summarize the objectives of measuring your loyalty score and will also close the loop on obtaining customer feedback. This inclusive strategy will ensure your continued growth and help you keep track of customer churn.

1. Critics: Make a Personal Contact

According to a study by Lee Resources, 70% of clients are ready to use the company’s services again if an unpleasant situation is resolved in their favor. Your goal here is to show your customers that you care.

Most companies believe that a category of customers called “critics” cannot be convinced. However, this is not at all true. In fact, those customers who want to end their relationship with the company and spread negative reviews are the future loyalists of your brand. They just want you to pay attention to them and solve their problem.

Perhaps emails with questions about possible problems and ways to solve them will help you get back lost clients, for example:

• What would you like to do with our product, but you can't?
• Could you formulate an ideal solution to your problem that would completely satisfy you?
• If you had a magic wand, what changes would you make to the product?

Once you receive feedback, you can take the following actions to retain your customers:

• provide them with instructions (if your product has the required function);
• extend the trial period and give access to premium features;
• suggest some third-party service that would help solve their problem.

By offering solutions to problems, you can turn critics into brand advocates.

2. Passive consumers: engage before they leave

Passive consumers are a very interesting category of customers: they don't love your product, but they don't hate it either. They seem to be simply waiting for something good or bad to happen before they can make a concrete decision.

However, passive consumers are not inclined to answer open-ended questions and provide feedback to business owners. For example, Zendesk specialists found that only 37% of representatives of this category of clients answer the survey questions. While 50% of critics and 55% of company supporters are happy to share their opinions about the company’s services.

It seems like passive consumers can't ruin your brand's reputation. But they, like critics, are more likely to refuse your services. Below are steps you can take to retain such customers:

• By offering discounts or upgrades, you can re-engage passive consumers in the buying cycle.
• Send them user introduction guides: They may not be engaged in the purchasing process because of a bad first impression that causes them to never return to the site. You can periodically send them various brochures telling them about the latest innovations or new features of your product.

3. Brand loyalists: show your gratitude

Brand loyalists are, without a doubt, the ideal customers for any company. But most companies needlessly take them for granted. They make no attempt to reward or thank those customers who generate the most revenue for them.

Undoubtedly, gratitude will help strengthen your relationship with this category of buyers, and will also contribute to the development of the company.
Here's what you can do to achieve this:

According to statistics, the average percentage of people responding to an NPS survey is 60%. Thus, each company will have at least 40% of those customers who did not answer the questionnaire. Surprisingly, according to several studies, this category of customers is more likely than others to abandon your company's services in the future.

In fact, you have a better chance of re-engaging a critic than you do of convincing a customer who didn't respond to the survey. If no action is taken, typically 40-70% of these people will stop using the company within the next 6 months.

The only way to interest them is the methods described above. The same tactics will work for them as for critics and indifferent consumers.

Conclusion

Gathering information about how customers feel about your brand is integral to long-term growth. Of course, the customer loyalty index has its drawbacks, but they can be overcome through the active implementation of effective metrics.