Net Promoter® News: Microsoft, UnitedHealth, Chatbots, and Monetize! 2018​

In this week’s Net Promoter® News, we tackle PCMag’s recent list of best-in-class accounting software winners, how UnitedHealth harnesses the power of the Net Promoter Score®, why chatbots may be the new frontier of customer experience and this spring’s Monetize! 2018 Net Promoter conference.

Microsoft Named PCMag’s “Most Recommended” Accounting Software

As part of their “Business Choice Awards” series, PCMag has announced their winner and finalists for the 2018 Best Accounting Software or Services Award. Using Net Promoter Score® surveys, Microsoft came out on top as the winner, with Sage, Quickbooks, and Quicken being finalists. 

As part of their Business Choice Awards series, PCMag sends survey invitations to community members between November 27, 2017 and December 18, 2017. The Best Accounting Software or Services Award survey rates each company on overall satisfaction, respondents requiring tech support, tech support satisfaction, and likelihood to recommend.

Maker of Dynamics, Microsoft continues to experience an upward customer satisfaction trend in emerging tech support. Overall, Microsoft experiences a lower number of respondents who required tech support, but a higher overall customer satisfaction rating for those who did. 

To stay on top of the rolling list of Business Choice Award recipients for 2018—from cloud computer providers to CRM companies—click here. 

UnitedHealth Harnesses the Power of Net Promoter

“Everything we do comes back to NPS. It’s the number that counts on one-on-one physician-to-patient care; it’s the number telling us how we’re aligning with our corporate partners.” – Doctor, senior management group, UnitedHealth Group

At The Market Research Event (TMRE), John Walthou, VP of Strategic Insights Group, Consumer Insights in Health Services at UnitedHealth, discussed how essential the Net Promoter Score® had become as a business tool for the company. In a recent article by WARC, they discussed how John and the team at UnitedHealth have used Net Promoter as an indicator of customer relationships across 15 business verticals.

In 2017, UnitedHealth’s Net Promoter Score rose more than +4 points across Commercial, Medicare and Medicaid to an NPS score of 40 and they improved their customer retention rates for the 3^rd consecutive year in a row. CEO Stephen Hemsley attributed their jumpstart in 2017 to a

“...stronger than expected revenue growth, reflecting improved customer retention and broad based growth across UnitedHealth Group. This, in turn, was driven by our consistent focus on customer value, fundamental execution and Net Promoter Scores.”

According to a report by Credit Suisse, UnitedHealth continues to be optimistic about their customer satisfaction prospects for the coming years, laying out an aggressive “70 in 7” plan which looks to raise their Net Promoter Score to 70 in 7 year.

Here’s hoping that consumers continue to benefit from healthcare companies like UnitedHealth taking satisfaction more seriously across verticals. Providers take notice! 

Chatbots—The New Frontier of Customer Experience

In a recent article on VentureBeat, Jonathan Shiftman, Director of Business Development at Snaps, which designs chatbots for brands like Nike, Vice and Gatorade, discussed how companies can use chatbots to streamline customer engagement on a deeper level.

In the article, Shiftman addresses key takeaways from his time working with brands. Two stood out:

• Personalization is king
  Looking at the numbers, Shiftman found that personalization leads to higher click-though rates, up to 74%. In an example from the company Bud Light, personalization played a large part in their NFL season cans:

“A personalized data model and chatbot powered the ordering and delivery of team cans every game day during the NFL season. The Bud Light chatbot acted as a utility to remind fans that it was game time, and to order Bud Light before the game. Bud Light saw an 83 percent engagement rate with personalization.”

• Surveying to understand the customer journey
  To identify pain points within the customer journey, more and more businesses are utilizing chatbots with optimized touch points catered into the chat. In addition, the author also suggested using chatbots as a Net Promoter survey tool, capturing valuable feedback from online users. 

You’re Invited to Monetize! 2018

This spring, join the retention revolution for Monetize! 2018. Set in the backdrop of Boston’s Back Bay, this two-day conference (May 10-11) brings together Net Promoter® professionals, CX experts and customer-centric companies looking to turn their customer experience programs into revenue-generating assets.

This year's event is housed in the Lenox Hotel, built in 1900, near the cultural epicenter of Back Bay Boston: 

• Stone throw's away from the historic Boston Public Library
• Short walk to the swan boats at the Boston Commons and sail boats on the Charles River
• Hop, skip and a jump to Copley Square, Trinity Church, and the famous Newbury Street shopping scene

You can expect all the key events from our previous summits—and so much more. See all the highlights from last year's event in Amsterdam here. 

Early early bird pricing is currently available. Learn more and reserve your team’s tickets now by clicking below.