NPS:When is the optimal time to  the put the NPS into place

There are numerous paths to obtaining better insights into your customer base.  And you’ve identified the Net Promoter Score as one such useful approach.  You’re aware of the power behind this tool, as it has been successfully employed by countless companies as part of their strategy to measure customer satisfaction.  However, many mistakes are still made by organisations in their use of this customer satisfaction tool. In this article, we’ll dive into the best practices when it comes to soliciting clients with this approach.  

At Critizr, NPS is an all-important indicator for the many brands we are working closely with today. Beyond just getting customers to recommend you, you can also compare your company with competitors.  NPS survey results will provide you with a better fundamental understanding of how your customers feel in regards to your activity, and in comparison with other businesses operating on the same playing field.

Nps: HOW BEST TO USE IT ?

To get the most out of NPS, it’s important to reflect carefully on how you plan to implement it.  Running it as a one-shot survey versus as an ongoing effort will not produce the same results.  Once you’ve chosen the method of measuring satisfaction, many questions will arise that need to be answered in precise terms. For example: When is the best time to target customers with an NPS survey?  Should all customers be targeted in this initiative? Read on to learn our views on these important questions and more. 

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When is the best time to initiate an NPS survey ?

In the minutes following the purchase? Several days after? The right timing according to your business’ strategy may not be the same as another company, whose business is different than your own. Customer experience varies from one organisation to another, and the best moment to solicit a customer depends on the customer journey. The customer journey corresponds to a typical customer experience, from the moment they set foot in your store until the very end of their experience. In some restaurant chains, for example, the customer eats their meal first and then pays after. However, the opposite is true in large-scale food retail where the customer pays first before consuming.

It’s important to have a clear picture of the different steps that your clients undergo, which is why we encourage you to write out your customer journey. Just remember that you may have to draw out a number of different paths. In fact, it’s possible to identify two distinct customer journeys within a single food retail business. There are customers who use self-service tills, while others pay at traditional tills. This exercise lets you ask yourself the right questions to identify key moments in the shopping experience. By having a clear view of any steps that frustrate or dissatisfy your customers, you can choose the best time to initiate the NPS calculation.

WHERE TO PLACE THE NPS QUESTION IN A SURVEY ?

You’re looking at two options—short term, or medium/long term. In fact, it’s perfectly fine to use NPS with two different goals in mind. You may wish to obtain the highest possible score to serve as a powerful communication agent. Or, you may be more interested in getting the most accurately representative score possible in order to trigger a continuous improvement process.

If your goal is to attain the highest possible NPS, you should place the NPS question at the beginning of your survey, making it appear as a measure of customer satisfaction. Purchasing customers have a tendency to respond favorably, and we encourage you to follow up the NPS with an open-ended question to better understand the reasoning behind their rating. 

If your goal is to have the most accurately representative NPS possible, then make it the second to last question on your survey. Initial survey questions should encourage your customers to reflect on their experience. Don’t hesitate to ask questions related to key steps you’ve identified through drawing out the customer journey, including reception, product choice, checkout procedure, etc. In this way, you will receive an NPS that is closer to real customer perceptions, since you will have helped to jog their memory. Once again, we encourage you to end your survey with an open-ended question that provides the customer the opportunity to explain their rating, while also giving them the opportunity to bring up any other topics you did not specify. Give your customers the chance to express themselves freely, and be open to their feedback, even if it isn’t exactly what you’d like to hear—there are often lessons to be learnt here.

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SHOULD NPS BE USED WITH ALL CLIENTS ?

If you wish to obtain the most accurately representative NPS, you mustn’t limit your surveys to any specific part of your customer base. Most companies have an intuitive tendency to favour purchasing customers, but we recommend presenting the NPS question to non-purchasing customers as well. This will greatly increase the added value of the NPS you receive. The Net Promoter Score can serve as more than just a simple barometer, and may be used to explore customer experience optimisation possibilities. In the case of non-purchasing customers, using NPS allows you to recover their business. At Critizr, we facilitate communication between our partners and their “detractors,” renewing their contact with one another in order to win back lost business.

Suppose you’re leaving a car dealership. Right away, you receive a notification from the company’s mobile application (beacons), inviting you to provide feedback based on your experience. You select an NPS score of 4, identifying yourself as a “detractor.” The dealership’s manager then receives a notification on his mobile, letting him know that a visitor has had a bad experience. This allows the manager to act immediately by responding to the feedback via the application, or by contacting you directly via telephone.

NPS measurements are not a trivial concern. As this indicator becomes increasingly popular, it will be important to apply it in a pertinent and targeted manner to reap its full benefits. Based on your “customer journey” and your starting goals, you may request post-purchase customer feedback via email, or you can obtain non-purchasing customer feedback by collecting their opinions through various spontaneous channels. Adopting these best practices is essential in making NPS a valuable lever for communication and/or continuous improvement for your company.