Customer service is one of the three main components of the Discipline of Business Development (along with marketing and sales), that leads to predictability. 

One way of measuring the predictability and success of your customer service is to use a system known as the Net Promoter Score. The Net Promoter or Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a management tool that can be used to gauge the loyalty of a firm’s customer relationships.

The NPS measures customer loyalty. People prefer to buy from those they know, like, and trust. When a business knows its customers are loyal, the business can be sure it will get valuable repeat business. And since word-of-mouth (which, in this digital age, is now known as social proof) is the best form of advertising, when loyal customers tell others about you, you’re likely to get new customers in addition to repeat sales.

The Net Promoter Score system rates loyalty by determining how many customers are Promoters, Detractors, or Passives.

Promoters are loyal customers who say they’ll recommend the company to their family and friends. 

Detractors are those who are unlikely to recommend the company, and may even speak against it. 

Passives are satisfied in general but could just as well do business with someone else.

Here are the steps that determine a net promoter score. You ask your customers a simple question: On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely are you to recommend this company to your family and friends?

People who respond with nines and tens are known as Promoters and add a point to the score (1). 

Responses that are sevens and eights are classified as Passives and add no points (0). 

Responses that are sixes and below indicate that these are Detractors and receive a negative point (-1). 

Add the points together, and divide the result by the total number of responses, giving the Net Promoter Score as a percentage of promoters. 

A perfect 10 means that every single customer would promote the company without reservation. A net promoter score that is close to zero indicates that customers don’t care either way. Negative numbers show that work needs to be done to ensure that customers spread the word about your company. 

To follow up on scores below 6, design a survey asking for information about what could be improved. 

All NPS surveys should be as simple as two questions, one of which should be open-ended: What can we improve? This provides a pretty accurate map for addressing shortfalls and making the business more predictable.

According to loyalty experts Fred Reichheld and Rob Markey, efficient Net Promoter Systems have three requirements:

• a simple and reliable metric for gauging how well you have earned your customers’ loyalty;
• operational processes to support action and learning by front-line employees;
• sustained commitment from leadership who model inspirational behaviors.

To recap, when a company knows that its customers are loyal, it will generate repeat business. And when loyal customers tell others about you, you’re likely to get new customers in addition to repeat sales. You also need a measurement for customer loyalty, which can come from a service such as the net promoter score. 

What measurements do you have in place for customer service? Contact Us to help you review and/or implement measurements in your organization.