Actionable NPS

NPS (Net Promoter Score) is gaining much traction these days as a simple alternative to traditional customer satisfaction surveys, which are often ineffective due to their length. Many companies from industry stalwarts like P&G and Intuit to recent upstarts like Zappos have adopted NPS as a standard and implemented programs to monitor NPS. In doing so, they have achieved big success in gaining customer loyalty and consequently earned a huge viral following in their target segments. To learn more about NPS go directly to the source.

One question has come up consistently - how to make NPS actionable? Before addressing some possible options, it is important to point out that NPS is essentially like a health-sensor of your company. IMO, NPS is not meant to be a deep customer insight tool. Followup research is often required to pinpoint "why" customers are unhappy.

Now, here are some ways to make NPS actionable:

1. Focus on a Product Area: NPS traditionally focuses on the entire customer experience. One way to drill down is to ask the recommendation question based on customer experience for a certain area. For example, to find if customers are satisfied with the pay day experience in a payroll product, ask "Based on your experience paying your employees, would you recomment...".
2. Alter the Free Form Question: NPS surveys tag an open text field question for free-form customer feedback. Change this question so that it focuses on a certain product area. But make sure that the response remains free form. It is important to not be judgemental in phrasing this question.
3. Segment your customer base: This is more akin to an AB test where a segment of your customer base NPS is tested against a control population. This can give you richer insights into what a specific segment of your population thinks.

Before signing off, it is important to reiterate that NPS is not the means to an end. It is not just about your product, but it IS about complete experience. It is how Tony Hsieh says "customers may not remember what you do or what you said, but they would definitely remember how they felt". It is about having a complete package.