Net Promoter News: Subaru drives most recommendation at 57, KIA coming fast at 18, Detriot’s finest get a flat; Entrasys services 81; V-Rooms nix score, award themselves A+
Subaru focuses on the experience
Subaru in fast lane, KIA revs its NPS engine
Consumer-centric information portal BIGinsight.com has unveiled the results of a January survey of 9,317 consumers in the US that identifies which automotive brands enjoy the highest level of customer advocacy. It found the top five are Subaru, Toyota and Honda, Lexus and Volkswagen, in that order.
Did you notice what’s missing? That’s right – there is no US brand in the top five. BIGinsight notes that though GMC and Ford have improved since 2010, they remain considerably lower than their international counterparts. Is that the distant sound of nails being hammered in to the coffin of the US automotive industry?
Digging a little deeper into the research offers more insights. Among the top five, Volkswagen showed the greatest jump since 2010. Subaru’s NPS has also risen, and Toyota appears to be rebuilding trust following much-publicised recalls from 2009-2011. However, Lexus has stalled.
Last but not least, one automotive brand experienced a jump of 500% in their NPS from 2010 to 2012 – KIA – although not in the top five is coming fast, going from 2.8% in 2010 to 18.1% in 2012. Maybe it’s time to invest in KIA shares…. Full story San Francisco Chronicle
Top 5 Auto Net Promoter Scores (Ranked by JAN 2012 Score) Subaru 56.8% Toyota 48.9% Honda 43.9% Lexus 43.2% Volkswagen 40.7% --------- Detroit (US) Auto makers: GMC 27.9% Cadillac 19.8% Ford 15.7% Chevrolet 12.3% Buick 6.2% Chrysler 0.3%
NPS for Usability
At a time when smartphones, tablets, and assorted tech gadgets are being upgraded almost weekly, usability has become a serious issue for many consumers beyond the bleeding edge of early adopters and tech-minded geeks. With this in mind, the gurus at FastCo Design recently suggested creating a metric for usability based on NPS.
Before we go much further, we firmly believe that NPS works because it is about the entire ownership experience. And would like to point out that if a customer is indeed a advocate of your product, chances are they are already quite comfortable with its usability. By way of evidence, last week we reported on the 10 most advocated brands in the UK. Two of these are from Apple (iPhone and iPod) – a tech brand that is the market leader at creating breakthrough products that are both user-friendly and incorporate cutting-edge technology.
Having said this, columnist and designer Roderick McMullen notes that though companies may believe deeply in the power of usability, most probably aren’t measuring it or making it a key part of their strategy. And that is why he suggests adapting NPS to usability.
After considering carefully the most succinct way to frame a question on usability, he suggests the following: “On a scale of 1-10, How confident are you using this system/product/service?”
And voila, he produces a Net Usability Score! But hey, Roderick, NPS starts at 0, not 1! FastCo Design
Enterasys's website: "There is nothing more important than our customers"
Mantra pays off for Enterasys’ NPS
With a mantra of “There is nothing more important than our customers”, one would expect Siemens offshoot Enterasys to have a respectable Net Promoter Score. And this week, the network infrastructure provider announced it had achieved an NPS of +81, based on input from global customers across a number of industries.
According to customers, key points of differentiation about Enterasys include the following:
- The vast majority of the time the first person to answer the phone is the product expert.
- Product experts are highly experienced – with an average tenure of 13 years.
- Customers benefit from the simplicity of the company’s OneFabric architecture.
We were also particularly interested to note another tidbit of information. In stark contrast to the relentless drive to outsource support to call centres, the company’s support centre is 100% in-house. And this has paid real dividends in terms of customer satisfaction. Noted one client: “Enterasys’ technical support is amazing. Whenever I call for support, I gain fast access to knowledgeable engineers who really care about getting the issue resolved and being thorough about it.”
Service providers, take note! More: Smart Grid
V-Rooms reveals A+ NPS, revenue growth to match
Atlanta-based virtual data room company V-Rooms has announced revenue growth of 38% for 2011, more than double the growth rate of the industry. In a press release, they attribute this growth to their A+ Net Promoter Score, which they call a “world class distinction.”
While we applaud a high Net Promoter Score probably more than the next person, we are a little confused. Although Karen Perkins, President of V-Rooms says “We’ve put our focus on delivering the service, security, and accessibility that our customers want at an affordable price,” we aren’t really sure if the company’s NPS has improved or declined, if their surveys have helped them to change and improve their offering, or who conducted the research. Numbers are good enough for the rest of the NPS world, can you tell us what an “A+” actually is? Source
NPS on a napkin
The beauty of NPS lies in its simplicity, and nothing says simplicity quite like a diagram scribbled on the back of a napkin. David Mitzenmacher, chief customer officer at Volusion, has distilled the essence of NPS onto a napkin and uploaded a scan onto his blog.
In response, NPS guru Rob Markey noted “As the co-author of a 267-page book on the subject, I should probably find this vaguely disturbing. Instead, I’m really impressed. Nice job, Dave!” Net Promoter on a napkin Rob Markey’s response
Net Promoter News: Kérastase 80, Cohiba 59, Declaration at Lords, NPS almost called Happiness Score
Study reveals evolving UK consumer habits, most advocated brands
Recent research by leading slidedeck-ologists Bain & Company has uncovered the top 10 brands in the UK according to their NPS scores, and revealed evolving consumer habits.
L’Oréal’s haircare brand Kérastase is the most advocated brand, with a Net Promoter® Score of +80, followed by Mercedes, Apple iPhone, and Redken and British brand Hotel Chocolat at equal fourth.
British shoppers are now buying across more brands than they did previously in most categories, with a few exceptions, the most interesting of which is personal technology. One might immediately assume that this is due to the influence of Apple – a brand that has managed to combine groundbreaking innovation and a powerful emotional pull. And indeed, the iPhone’s NPS ranking appears to bear that out.
However, it isn’t only due to Apple. Lesser-known Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer HTC ranks joint seventh (alongside the iPod). In a category where innovation is fast and competition fierce (I’m looking at you, Nokia and RIM) it seems UK consumers are gravitating towards a small number of clear market leaders in the personal tech category.
Somewhat improbably, at 6th on the list was Cohiba, which reveals that the survey demographic appears to be cigar smoking fat-cats (presumably also users of Kerastase BAIN OLÉO-RELAX smoothing Shampoo for Dry, Rebellious Hair…).
That list in full:
Top 10 “most advocated” brands in the UK - (Based on NPS of 350 brands covered in the survey)
Sources: Marketing Week WARC
Fred Reichheld on happiness and business
It’s a well-known fact that the ultimate objective of NPS is to create happy customers – people who are so happy they will positively recommend your service or product to people around them. Less well-known is that happiness was so important to Fred Reichheld, the creator of NPS, that he seriously considered calling it “Net Happiness Score.” He decided against this so as not to put off hard-headed businesspeople, but maintains a well-formulated philosophy on how happiness should fit into business practices and help drive bottom-line profit – something we can all read and feel happy about! Forbes
Generate the "Wall of Faces" Fred mentions in the Forbes articles with our free utility - click on image
Safety First, Customer Happiness Second fuels NPS
We are firm believers in a customer-centric approach, which normally means customer happiness should come first. However, a philosophy of safety first, customer happiness second, has proven to be a winning formula for franchise Maaco Collision Repair & Auto Painting in Regina, Canada. In a third consecutive independent survey over the past two years, the business has received 100% customer satisfaction, and an NPS of +92.
This high level of advocacy is evident in sales figures – the franchise has achieved over $2 million in sales for three consecutive years – and other recognition, with the business being named Maaco’s Top Performer Quality Image Award for the second year in a row, and claiming top spot in its category in Entrepreneur Magazine’s Franchise 500. Leader Post
Lord’s named best sporting ground in UK
The iconic home of leather and willow (trans: cricket – Ed) continues to provide fantastic sporting events for visitors, but it has significantly increased revenues since opening its doors to corporate and private events. The key, it seems, is that each member of the Lord’s Meetings & Events Department is given a personalized training programme, with the ultimate aim being that each event should be tailored to the specific requirements of the client. It has the highest NPS of any sporting venue on an extensive UK list. ITCM
Have yourself a Merry NPS Christmas… The Santa Claus Net Promoter Interview
It’s hard to think of a more customer focused outfit than the gift-distributing juggernaut that is Santa Claus Inc. From present making, data-collection (the “Naughty/Nice?” campaign is an all-time triumph) and worldwide logistics, the whole vertically-integrated organisation is entirely based on the customer experience. Naturally, they are serious Net Promoter users.
And this year, CustomerGauge were delighted to become the exclusive supplier of the Net Promoter® Score measurement system for Father Christmas. We were lucky to get a quick interview with none other than Santa Claus who spoke to us from his North Pole headquarters. He was remarkably relaxed, despite being less than a week away from the big day.
CustomerGauge: Thank you for speaking to us Santa – you must be incredibly busy at the moment…
Santa Claus: Ho ho, actually, I try to delegate as much as possible, and Mrs Claus is always reminding me to keep my work-life balance in check.
Yo-ho-how did we do?
CG: Santa, why did you pick Net Promoter as a loyalty measurement?
Santa: We wanted to do a follow-up survey for everyone – not a sample of people, but all the children and adults. Net Promoter is beautifully simple. The “Just One Question”, 0 – 10 scale is easy to understand, and the sentiment “Would you recommend…” really appeals to all of us at Santa HQ – it’s like the gift of a personal recommendation. And it’s not just easy for our present recipients to understand – “customers” we call them – but everyone in our organisation gets it. It’s really the most important metric for us.
CG: How does your NPS program work?
Santa: We start by getting our database ready in November: cleaning, de-duping, filtering out who’s been naughty and nice, and checking it twice. As we deliver gifts, our ERP system sends the information to CustomerGauge in real-time using their API. They store the information, and 24 hours after we’ve been down the chimney, the CustomerGauge system automatically sends an email. Everyone has email these days, so that’s the best way of delivering the survey invitation. The survey is localised into 30+ languages, and we collect comments, then immediately distribute them. While many people around the world are watching the “Only Fools and Horses Christmas Special” on Boxing Day, I’m looking at NPS numbers and comments scrolling in real-time on the CustomerGauge digital signage.
CG: How are you responding to comments?
Santa: Well, I bought copies of Fred and Rob’s book, “Ultimate Question 2.0” for all the elves earlier this year, and we ran Customer Experience workshops to bring up awareness in the organisation. We appointed NPS champions in the functional parts of the business: manufacturer, communication, distribution, returns etc, and when the comments come in, they are distributed to the front-line elves, who are keen on making small improvements. We can make some immediate changes, and work on lower priority issues throughout the year. But one thing I do insist on – we must get an answer back to the customer within 24 hours!
CG: …And you track that?
Santa: Yes, we track this “firefighting” workflow in CustomerGauge. We make sure we close all all the issues promptly.
Ding Dong Merrily on High (Score)
CG: Why did you pick CustomerGauge?
Santa: CustomerGauge has been easy to integrate into our ERP and CRM systems – the API is very useful to get data in and out. It’s scalable – pushing millions of emails out in a 24-hour period works well. It’s very internationalised, and the CustomerGauge support has been excellent. The elves like the real-time digital signage, and they implemented it in under four weeks. I would say it’s already made a positive impact on the organisation. I’ll send a link so you can try out the survey [ed: here it is: Santa's Survey]
CG: Have you any learnings you can pass on?
Santa: Yes – batteries. We always pack batteries now as so many toys need them on Christmas morning. Thanks to feedback, we now drop off a “Dad’s pack” to make sure presents can get assembled without fuss – it contains screwdriver, scissors to open packaging, and two Ibuprofen as a restorative! Also, for some kids, we are now pre-installing apps and logins on iPads so they are “play ready”. We are always learning – and we never forget that people have a choice of present deliverer at Christmas!
CG: Finally, Santa, can you share your NPS score?
Santa: Of course - it’s 100!
CG: Thanks Santa, and best wishes of the season
Santa: No problem. Merry Christmas everybody!
Take Santa's Survey here to see how he's working with Net Promoter. Ask for a login to the back-end CustomerGauge system to see how the reporting works.
Note: You can try out Santa’s survey here. And if you want to see how the back-end CustomerGauge system works, please ask for a login and a guided tour.
CustomerGauge User Event, Amsterdam, 2 November 2011
On Wednesday 2 November the 2011 CustomerGauge User Event will be held in central Amsterdam, Netherlands. We are looking forward to welcoming all CustomerGauge users to a packed one-day event – it should prove to be excellent opportunity for clients to hear the latest news on the CustomerGauge platform, hear about success stories from around the world and meet other CustomerGauge users.
The exclusive one-day event will feature:
- Expert user presentations from long standing CustomerGauge users
- Enhanced Net Promoter® Score understanding – with tips on changing your company culture
- Latest developments on the CustomerGauge platform
- Best practice sharing
- One-on-one interaction with industry peers
Location: NH Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky, Central Amsterdam, Netherlands (map)
Time: 10:00 am to 17:00 pm followed by cocktails
The cost to attend the event is EUR 95 (+ tax) per delegate, with travel and accommodation cost will be borne by the Participant. Space is limited so we request you to register by 14th October 2011.
We hope you can join us – CustomerGauge team
PS CustomerGauge partners can also join for the morning plenary sessions, and benefit from afternoon breakout sessions. More details on request: info@customergauge.com
Just One Last Question: Four ways Columbo and the Net Promoter Score are alike…
15 September 1971: 40 years ago tonight Peter Falk starred for the first time as the rather crumpled TV detective Columbo (and that first episode was directed by Steven Spielberg, fact fans). Quickly becoming a primetime fixture of my youth, Columbo was my favourite TV ‘tec, at least until Starsky and Hutch came along.
The Net Promoter® Score helps companies measure and understand their customers loyalty. Companies with a high score are said to grow faster than other companies.
So what do Columbo and the Net Promoter® Score (NPS) have in common?
Case Study: Lights, Camera, Feedback! How Bavaria Film Implemented Net Promoter Score
How one of Europe’s largest film production companies implemented Net Promoter® Score with CustomerGauge, and is changing the organisation as a result.
One year ago Bavaria Film started to implement Net Promoter® Score (NPS) with the help of CustomerGauge.
Case Study - download pdf
Bavaria Film is one of the biggest film production companies in Europe. The head office in the south of Munich is the centre of an international network of subsidiaries and co-operation partners. The first subsidiary that started to work with NPS was FTA (Film- und Theater- Ausstattung GmbH) which is the biggest German retail facility for props and costumes with locations in Munich, Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne and Leipzig. More than 23 000 square meters of storage capacity helps serve the worlds of television, movies, events and advertising, providing props and costumes for famous productions like „Das Boot“, „Buddenbrooks“ and the daily soap-opera „Sturm der Liebe“.
Dr Robert Lackner is the Managing Director of FTA and has been focusing on customer orientation for the demanding clients of the organisation.
In this short video, Dr Lackner shares his thoughts on their journey to implement Net Promoter.
You can also read more detail in the two page case study that explains how they overcame issues of what data to use, internal resistance to roll-out, and turned the project into a success.
Since the project started, CustomerGauge is now in use in several Bavaria Film divisions, and is being rolled out to more this year.
“If you leave me now”: How to hold on to e-commerce customers (Webinar)
Chicago’s 1976 cheesy chart-topper echoes the mournful cries of e-commerce retailers as their expensively-won customers fail to return to purchase again. With an average of 89%* of customers leaving after one purchase it really is “Taking away the biggest part of me”.
In a short webinar we bring together two experience e-commerce executives to discuss ways of keeping customers loyal, and returning to buy again. Here’s a clue: it’s not repeatedly sending marketing emails.
Agenda:
Examining the strategy behind the customer retention strategies of major ecommerce vendors including Sony, Philips and others.
- Looking after the important customers – we show how 7%** of ecommerce customers drive more than half the revenue
- Using an open source KPI as a benchmarking tool: the Net Promoter® Score
- Making customers feel like VIPs – involving them in service improvements
Learn practical examples and hear some little-known facts, and put your questions to the experts.
About the presenters
- Jos Williams, international e-commerce expert: Former Director of Philips eShop Europe, currently with GetLenses.co.uk.
- Adam Dorrell, CEO CustomerGauge, former Director of SonyStyle Europe and Dell.com.
This webinar is now archived (30 minutes): watch it here
The presentation is available in our Download area.
(first broadcast Tuesday 19 July 2011)
*/** based on anonymised retention numbers/RFM data from 10 major ecommerce clients (CustomerGauge)
CustomerGauge Internet-Connected “AnalogGauge” shows Net Promoter® Score in Real Time
CustomerGauge announce a breakthrough in real-time display of Net Promoter® Score with the stand-alone “AnalogGauge”, an internet-connected device with a moving needles showing the score for various times and segments. Building on the success of our real-time digital signage systems which utilise a plasma or large screen, the new device is designed to sit on the CEOs desk (or the desk of any member of the company’s Net Promoter team). The production model will show customer responses in real-time from CustomerGauge and Recommendi and display the overall score for a periods or segments that can be easily set on the controlling website.
Why wait for a score?
We’d like to think this shows our commitment to showing instantaneous results from our measurement systems so our clients can make adjustments in real time. Not only can clients drill into up-to-the minute comments and scores on the CustomerGauge dashboard, but can get the results displayed, tweeted or pushed into CRM systems via our APIs. We believe there is not a comparable system on the market that show feedback in this way, or offer such flexible integration options.
We are working hard to bring the product on sale in the second half of the year – it will be available to all CustomerGauge clients as a simple plug-in, and later as a display option for other measurement providers. More details on the AnalogGauge on request.
Fire Prevention Beats Firefighting in “Hotness” Stakes, Surveys Say.
McQueen: "You know where to reach me"
“I’m gonna keep eating smoke, and bringing out bodies… ” quips Steve McQueen, playing the courageous fire chief O’Hallorhan at the very end of The Towering Inferno, closing one of the defining firefighter portrayals in movie history. The “Firefighter as a hero” with all the attendant risks and valour is a popular image both in film and real life, so is it possible that something so humdrum as “Fire Prevention” could be somehow more heroic?
Yes, it can – in the world of customer surveys, and in the number of lives saved.
Net Promoter News: Metro Bank NPS makes the papers
Evening Standard 11 May 2011
For the first time in NPS memory (that’s about 5 years in our lives, having started this Net Promoter news column in 2006) we have seen NPS mentioned in a major newspaper (this is the London Evening Standard from today – source) and in the first paragraph.
We’ve covered the Metro Bank before on these pages – it’s a new UK retail bank with focus on the customers. The article tells of founder Vernon Hill crowing about a “97%” Net Promoter score, and he lists the other usual suspects, including the Barclays score of -35. Nice to see such a focus on the customer. Let’s hope he keeps publishing his scores (preferably with some methodology around it – without wishing to being cynical we’d like more detail around that incredible 97 score).
If not time to read the article we have a handy chart here…
Retail Bank Net Promoter Scores, Evening Standard 11 May 2011
