NPS, I’m sorry, you aren’t useless
When NPS can be a great metric
Hi there,
I used to think NPS was bull****, you ask people about what they would do:
At the time I’d even seen brands frame it in different ways to gamify it (e.g. what an 8 is vs a 9). I’d seen customers do the opposite to what they said they would do.
I even talked about it in an internal presentation seven years ago… Oh the shame. A colleague called me out on it in front of everyone and I was embarrassed as could be.
But I was wrong as I learnt over time.
Yes, the way some people use NPS isn’t great. And yes it can be gamified.
Yet, when used in a controlled way at a certain point in the customer journey it can be very powerful.
Talking to Nikki O’Farrell from KatKin a few months ago, I saw another example of when NPS could do good.
I loved how they asked it at the start and later in the customer journey, basically understanding how well they were doing at activating new customers and then at keeping them happy long term. It was a powerful metric for them in improving their customer experience.
-
How can you use NPS for good?
I would take inspiration from Katkin:
Use it at a fixed moment in time, once during activation (e.g. 15 days after they purchase) and once or more during the retention phase (e.g. 3 months in) with a follow-up question to understand their answer.
That way it becomes a measure to see:
How good a job we are doing at activating new customers?
How good a job are we doing at the experience afterward to retain them?
How are both improving/worsening over time?
It will also teach you:
Why and when customers have a great experience
What are the issues at that point in the customer journey
Who you can ask an extra time for a review and/or referral because you know they love the brand
-
Recommendation
I came across a great article that goes into far more depth as to how to use NPS to strategically drive growth, definitely check it out for further inspiration.
Credit: Custify
-
And with that, I’m sorry, NPS, I hope this newsletter is a good first step to apologising to you,
Daphne