I am so Frustrated! Customers' Comments Don't Reflect the Score They Give Me. Why?

I love when listeners write in with their business problems. I don’t love that they have problems, but I love that they share them with us so we can all work through them together. In our latest submission for our “I’m in a Pickle” feature of the podcast, Janet explains that even though their customer comments are overwhelmingly positive, their Net Promoter Score® (NPS) is not where they need it to be. Without any complaints to speak of, Janet and the organization don’t know what the problem is, and they asked for our help. 

In this episode, we explore the practicalities and pitfalls of using NPS as a metric for your customer strategy success. We also look at the tactical and practical things that Janet and her organization can do to get the score where they need it to be. 

Key Ideas to Improve your Customer Experience

Our first advice to Janet was to remember that NPS is a lot of things, but it isn’t a diagnostic tool. It is a score for how well you already did. If the score is low, it won’t tell you why. Likewise, it can’t tell you why you scored well. It is a way to measure the success of the efforts you have made and, of course, how likely it is that your Customer Experience efforts will lead a customer to recommend you to their family and friends. Here are a few key moments in the discussion.

• 02:42  We read Janet’s email and explain what her business pickle is.    
• 05:42  Ryan kicks off our discussion by explaining that NPS is not the entire picture of what you need to know about your company’s performance.    
• 10:21   Colin shares a tactical mistake Janet’s company is making with how they ask the Net Promoter Question, “How likely are you to recommend our product or service?”    
• 13:39   Colin gives Janet’s organization questions to consider as they address the need for improvement to hit their goals. 
• 16:38   Ryan agrees strategy to get detailed about why customers aren’t happy enough to recommend them, so they can find their opportunities to improve.  
• 18:09  We kick off a discussion about customer behavior and the differences between what people say and what they do, as well as how to overcome that.
• 26:49   We summarize all our recommendations for Janet’s company to improve their NPS, from the tactical to the practical.

 

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Customer Experience Information & Resources

LinkedIn recognizes Colin Shaw as one of the 'World's Top 150 Business Influencers.' As a result, he has 289,000 followers of his work. Shaw is Founder and CEO of Beyond Philosophy LLC, which helps organizations unlock growth by discovering customers' hidden, unmet needs that drive value ($). The Financial Times selected Beyond Philosophy LLC as one of the best management consultancies for the last two years. Follow Colin on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Click here to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

Why Customers Buy: As an official "Influencer" on LinkedIn, Colin writes a regular newsletter on all things Customer Experience. Click here to join the other 22,000 subscribers. 

Experience Health Check: You already have an experience, even if you weren't deliberate about it. Our Experience Health Check can help you understand what you have today. Colin or one of our team can assess your digital or physical Customer Experience, interacting with your organization as a customer to define what is good and what needs improving. Then, they will provide a list of recommendations for critical next steps for your organization. Click here to learn more. 

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