We all look for ways to measure the customer experience and
customer satisfaction. We have learned over the years that a loyal customer will stick with you through the good times and through the turbulent times. A satisfied customer may not always be loyal and leave you for the competition.
At Southwest Airlines, I would set aside an hour each week to call passengers who had taken the time to write us a letter with a suggestion on service or sharing a complaint. Usually I would get at least four calls in each time. It was a valuable learning experience for me and the customers couldn’t believe that the CEO was calling them directly without a filter to offer a solution to their unhappiness. Of course they would tell many of their associates and friends which added to the value of the call.
Fred Reichheld in his book, “The Ultimate Question,” focuses on a simple metric to measure customer satisfaction and hold your team accountable for treating customers right.
How likely is it that you as the customer would recommend this company to a friend or colleague? The metric that it produces is the “Net Promoter Score.” NPS is based on the fundamental perspective that every company’s customers can be divided into three categories.
1. Promoters are loyal enthusiasts who keep buying from you
and urge their friends to do the same.
2. Passives are satisfied but unenthusiastic who can be
easily wooed by the competition.
3. Detractors are unhappy customers trapped in a bad
relationship.
Customers who rate you as a 9-10 on a 0-10 scale are promoters and so on down the line. Promoters minus detractors = Net Promoter Score. Pretty simple.
The customer experience is key to long term success and profitability. Everyone in the organization has a responsibility for service and satisfaction. It truly is a team effort.
What is your Net Promoter Score, and what will you do to raise it?
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Howard Putnam speaks on leadership, change, transformation, customer service, teams and ethics. He is the former CEO of Southwest Airlines and the first CEO to take a major airline, Braniff International, into, through and out of Chapter 11, getting it flying again in less than two years.
