Net Promoter News: Hubspot’s interview with Net Promoter’s creator, A Twitter NPS survey, Amex swipes employee churn

Hubspot interviews Fred Reichheld, Hubspot employee runs NPS survey on Twitter handle

This week, marketing software biz Hubspot’s CMO Mike Volpe interviewed Fred Reichheld, the creator of Net Promoter, on his thoughts on the system’s relevance for B2B v B2c, and whether it should be a metric that marketing cares about. His answer was unequivocal:

“Most marketers recognize how relevant NPS can make their function. It links their world to the world of the CFO and finance — because it is possible to calculate the economic value of a promoter, passive, or detractor in each customer segment,” he said.

In related news, Hubspot says it is a “big follower” of Net Promoter – and the organisation is not kidding. Recently a Hubspot ecommerce expert, Sam Mallikarjunan, ran a DIY Net Promoter survey to find out how many of his 70,000+ Twitter followers would recommend following him.

Over Twitter he told CustomerGauge that his Twitter handle recorded an NPS of +18. It’s an entertaining handle to follow – Sam identifies himself as being here to  “smoke cigars, drink scotch & kick ass” – and has a very engaged follower base, so the score is perhaps a little lower than one may expect. But according to survey feedback, people want to see more questions and answers (interaction) rather than links.

If you are interested in following a highly engaged expert on ecommerce, and inbound marketing, we have no problem “recommending” @Mallikarjunan as an account to follow.

And if you would like to learn more about how marketers can use Net Promoter, click here to read the full interview with Fred Reichheld.

Amex swipes employee churn with Net Promoter

Net Promoter buffs may know that American Express implemented a Net Promoter system way back in 2006, and real tragics may even be aware that the company sees a 10% to 15% increase in spending and four to five times increased retention from its Promoters.

But what is less well known is the positive benefits the organisation is seeing on employee retention and engagement. Notes Jim Bush, executive veep (world service), the organisation compensates according to two outcomes: Customer satisfaction, and operating margin. This approach has helped drive down employee turnover and helped the organisation contain costs associated with service operations.

Not coincidentally, according to the Financial Times, “As of May 2013, the consensus forecast among 26 polled investment analysts covering American Express Company advises that the company will continue to outperform the market. This has been the consensus forecast since 2009.” Business Standard

In brief

• According to a review of the latest Nokia Lumia, “owners who had opted for the previous striking red and yellow models rated the device more highly [with Net Promoter] than those who had chosen plainer colours.” The Register
• Financial tech biz Direct Capital has announced that its NPS has reached +65, versus “a financial industry average of +23.” The announcement is interesting because the high NPS correlates with a 2012, and is in the top five independent vendor finance company in overall organic growth, according to Monitor. Press release
• IT Services biz OneNeck® has announced its Application Management Division has recorded an NPS of 79, based on a recent DIY Net Promoter survey. Press release

Webinar: A Good Day to Act Hard: Take Action on Customer Feedback in 3 Simple Steps (Friday, May 17)

Make sure that your business acts on every piece of customer feedback, and start today. And look like an Action Hero.

Our May 17 Webinar: Take Action on Customer Feedback in 3 Simple Steps, will outline the key ways organisations should use feedback as a source of actionable insights to close the loop with customers and make the business more customer-centric.

Click here for details, or below to register immediately.

The CustomerGauge Testimonial Sharer: It’s a megaphone for your word of mouth buzz

Recently, we introduced the CustomerGauge Digital Signage, a tool that narrowcasts customer feedback within the organisation, and which has become a focal point for staff collaboration.

This has proven to be a real driver of internal excitement for businesses as the voice of the customer finds a permanent place inside the organisation. But at a time when up to 80 percent of potential buyers agree with the idea that online reviews influence their purchase decisions, if you want to share positive feedback with people outside the organisation, you don’t need an intranet notice, or an internal memo.

You need a megaphone.

The CustomerGauge Testimonial Sharer is a tool that enables you to publish selected customer testimonials on your website, in-store or elsewhere, with just one line of code. Unlike the Digital Signage, the Testimonial Sharer does not narrowcast, but can be used to broadcast testimonials to potentially hundreds, thousands, or even millions of leads.

How to use it

Because it is customisable, there is a wide range of possible uses for the Testimonial Sharer. It can potentially be used to share:

• Select positive customer feedback on a public website or in a public physical location such as a shop floor. 
• Unfiltered or partially filtered comments with registered users. 
• Full comments and details on an intranet.

Features

• Can be shared via URL or by adding an iframe to your site HTML.
• Can be customised to fit in with the look and feel of your website, including font, colour, border, and other style options.
• Looks equally attractive on desktop, mobile, and across operating systems, which is increasingly important as more and more shoppers start their purchase journey on their mobile device.
• Can create multiple versions, which means different testimonials can be displayed on different product pages or brand websites.
• Comments can be approved individually, filtered by score so that only Promoter feedback is shown, or filtered by location, store, or language to make sure people see only relevant recommendations..
• Scores can be displayed by number, with a star rating, or hidden altogether.
• Dates and other segmentation data can be displayed or hidden as required.

Do you have customer feedback that you’re proud of? If you are already a CustomerGauge user, speak to your client operations professional about introducing the Testimonial Sharer to your marketing arsenal. If you are new to CustomerGauge, please contact info@customergauge.com.

Fallstudie: Korrosion bekämpfen – Kundenservice optimieren

Note: This case study for Dörken MKS Systems is the second in a series of German-language cases. For the English version, click here: Dörken MKS Systems: How a technically focused business started a systematic approach to Net Promoter with CustomerGauge

Dies ist die zweite, in einer Serie von deutschsprachigen CustomerGauge Fallstudien.

Klicken Sie hier um die erste Fallstudie zu lesen:
Melitta: Kaffee und Kundenservice – eine erstklassige Mischung?

Dörken MKS Systeme produziert und konfiguriert unter dem Markennamen DELTA-MKS® Korrosionsschutzsysteme für die Automobil-, Windkraft-, Bau- und Schifffahrtsindustrie. Das Net Promoter® Projekt wurde in 2011 in Kooperation mit CustomerGauge gestartet.

Das in Herdecke ansässige und Niederlassungen in den USA, Südamerika, China, Korea und Japan unterhaltende Unternehmen machte sich neben seinen Korrosionsschutzprodukten zudem einen Namen mit einem hochwertigen technischen Service und bietet darüber hinaus Produkte an, die komplexen Normen und Spezifikationen gerecht werden.

Diese Fallstudie zeigt wie das Net Promoter® Projekt mit CustomerGauge und dessen deutschem Partner j/s/w Consulting in zweistufigen Vertriebskanälen eingesetzt wurde.

Das NPS Projekt wurde eingeführt um einen neutralen Einblick in das Kundensentiment zu erhalten. Die Ergebnisse haben diese Erwartungen übertroffen, da viel nützliches Feedback gewonnen und ausgezeichnete Ergebnisse erzielt wurden. Dörken MKS, das innerhalb seiner Branche ohnehin bereits als führend im Bereich Kundenservice gilt wurde Ende 2011 als Best Professional Supplier in der Kategorie „Roh- und Halbfertigprodukte“ ausgezeichnet.

Die Dörken Projektleiterin kommentiert: „Das Echo innerhalb des Unternehmens war großartig und die Leute waren sehr neugierig darauf zu erfahren, was ihre Kunden zu sagen haben.“

Es freut uns ein technikfokussiert Unternehmen wie Dörken MKS mit hervorragendem Kundenservice zu unseren Kunden zählen zu dürfen.

Klicken Sie hier zum runterladen

Net Promoter News: Vistaprint’s repeat purchase fine print, Telstra’s cash splash for service, Volume turns up VoC in agency land

Reading the fine print in Vistaprint’s repeat purchase slowdown

According to at least one analyst, photoprinter Vistaprint is exhibiting concerning signs for the investor. Our Seeking Alpha pundit notes that the business has:

• Acknowledged its 2016 revenue and earnings targets will be difficult to reach.
• Displayed a lack of clarity regarding its short term prospects. 
• Decided it will no longer give quarterly guidance. 
• Grown very large in an industry with low barriers to entry and therefore at risk from nimble competition.

Furthermore, according to the business’s statements at its earnings call, its year-on-year repeat order growth has slowed sequentially – a red flag for customer service pundits that is often a sign of decreasing customer loyalty. Oh dear.

But according to boss Robert Keane, there is a good reason for the slowdown in repeat orders. Previously, the business has aggressively advertised and discounted its products. This was an effective tactic to drive near term repeat purchases. However, it was much less effective at nurturing truly loyal customers – which is one of the most effective ways to grown revenue.

With this in mind,  the business has improved its pricing transparency, reduced the level of discounting, and brought overall prices down in an effort to nurture more sustainable and valuable repeat purchases. One sign that this strategy is paying off is that while volume of repeat orders is down, average order value from repeat purchases are growing. Furthermore, the business has once again reiterated its “strong” Net Promoter results (without giving too much away, it must be noted).

Nimble new competitors may materialise, and no doubt there are other challenges ahead. But after reading the fine print of its earnings call, the business appears to be making an effort to nurture customer loyalty. Seeking Alpha

Telstra offers cash splash for customer service

Aussie telco Telstra has enthusiastically embraced Net Promoter, and in another move to put a renewed focus on the overall customer experience, the organisation also announced that it is offering cash bonuses to more than 2,000 resellers and 350 Telstra-branded shops to improve customer service.

While rewarding superior customer service is good in theory, in practice it depends on how feedback is collected. As noted by our Australian partner Genroe:

“While incentivizing franchisees to improve customer service can be a good idea, the program will need to be carefully constructed to prevent gaming of the system. Where payments are linked to customer feedback scores there is a risk that front line staff (and their managers at the resellers) can actively try to alter the scores that customers receive.” Genroe Sydney Morning Herald

Volume turns up Voice of Customer in agency land

CustomerGauge client Volume – a full service B2B digital and innovation agency – is one of the few agencies worldwide that uses Net Promoter to bring the voice of its customers into the organisation. Read about how the business is using the metric in a non-traditional industry at the press release or our blog post: CustomerGauge client Volume dials up Voice of Customer in agency land

In brief

• Enterprise cloud security specialists MailGuard have published a graph that compares its Net Promoter performance against recognised global names. It’s a pretty graph, but we’d gently suggest it could be more interesting if the business benchmarked itself against direct competitors in the same market. Mailguard
• Trader Joe’s ranked highest among supermarkets in the 2013 Net Promoter Industry Benchmarks. Supermarket News

Net Promoter Vacancy: CustomerGauge is hiring! Sales Manager, North America for European SaaS Vendor

A fantastic opportunity to be US Employee #1 for a fast growing Amsterdam, NL based Software-as-a-Service company.  The CustomerGauge cloud application already has many big-name international clients, including a half dozen US clients.

Move over watercooler: CustomerGauge’s Digital Signage the new driver of workplace innovation

Imagine if you had a tool that was a driver of creating a customer-focused workplace culture, that helped staff quickly identify what needed to change, and which did so with neutral, authentic voice – the voice of the customer.

 

CustomerGauge’s Digital Signage is designed to meet these goals, by “narrowcasting” customer feedback and other selected information across any screen in the organisation simply by sharing a URL. 

Where once impromptu conversations may have taken place around the watercooler, they can now be inspired by listening to the “Ultimate CEO” of the company – its customers.

Digital Signage Benefits

Having the Voice of the Customer permanently visible in the organisation means:

• A new focal point for staff collaboration.
• No need to guess what customers are thinking – it’s clearly spelled out where everyone can see.
• Staff have access to the intelligence they need to make incremental, bottom up change based on a neutral, outside voice.
• There is automatic recognition for work well done and automatic notice when there is an issue.
• There is a new level of transparency for the organisation as staff from the top down have access to the voice of its customers.

Key features

• Flexible configuration means you can show (or not) Net Promoter Scores and score trends, scores by country, comment carousel, firefighting, word clouds, static images, and much more.
• You can create and edit as many versions of the Digital Signage as you like (one for each office if you wish)
• If security is required, an IP white list can be set.

If you are CustomerGauge user interested in finding out more about the tool, please contact your client operations professional. If you do not yet use CustomerGauge, please get in touch with us at info@customergauge.com

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