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!
[caption id="attachment_2297" align="alignnone" width="337" caption="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."]
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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.
