In a world where customer experience makes or breaks a business, it’s important to understand how your customers feel about your brand and your product or service. But how do you know if they are satisfied with your service? This is where the Net Promoter Score (NPS) question comes in. By asking just one simple yet powerful question, you can gain insight into your customers' loyalty, whether they like your services or not and if they would recommend your business to others.
This article will explore the net promoter score question, why it matters, and how to deploy it effectively, along with some follow-up questions you should ask them.
What is a net promoter score question?
Net Promoter Score (NPS) question refers to the simple question that is asked in an NPS survey to measure customer loyalty and satisfaction. The Net Promoter Score is centered around one ultimate question:
On a scale of 0-10, how likely are you to recommend our product or service to a friend or colleague?
This question gauges customer enthusiasm and willingness to advocate for your brand. By focusing on this single aspect, the NPS question simplifies the feedback process, making it easy for customers to respond and for businesses to analyze the results.
Why is the NPS question important for businesses?
The NPS question is important for businesses because it provides a clear and simple way to measure customer loyalty and satisfaction. Here are some key reasons why it matters:
1. Direct feedback: It offers immediate insights into how customers feel about your brand, allowing you to understand their loyalty and likelihood to recommend your product or service to others.
2. Easy to analyze: The NPS question is straightforward and simple, making it easy for businesses to interpret results and identify trends in customer sentiment over time.
3. Actionable insights: By categorizing customers as Promoters, Passives, or Detractors, businesses can take targeted actions to improve customer experience, address issues, and increase advocacy.
4. Predicts growth: High NPS scores are often linked to business growth, as Promoters tend to bring in new customers through positive word-of-mouth.
5. Benchmarking tool: NPS allows businesses to benchmark themselves against competitors and industry standards, helping to identify areas for competitive advantage.
The NPS question helps businesses focus on what drives customer loyalty, making it a powerful tool for long-term success.
When to use NPS questions
The Net Promoter Score (NPS) question is most effective when used at key moments in the customer journey to gather valuable feedback. Here are ideal times to use the NPS question:
1. After a purchase or transaction: Measure customer satisfaction immediately after a sale or service to capture fresh feedback.
2. Following customer support interactions: Gauge customers' satisfaction with your service after a support call, chat, or email exchange.
3. Post-product or service launch: Use the NPS question to understand customer reactions after launching new products, features, or services.
4. At regular intervals: Periodically ask the NPS question (e.g., quarterly or annually) to track overall customer loyalty and spot trends.
5. After free trials or demos: Get insights from prospects about their experience during free trials, and use feedback to improve conversion rates.
6. Before subscription renewals: Deploy the NPS question ahead of renewal periods to identify potential issues and reduce customer churn.
By timing your NPS question strategically, you can collect valuable feedback that helps you improve customer satisfaction, loyalty, retention and, in some cases, the overall performance of your marketing campaigns as well.
How to deploy your NPS question
Deploying the Net Promoter Score (NPS) question effectively involves choosing the right channels and timing to maximize response rates and gather meaningful feedback. Here are several ways to deploy the NPS question:
Email surveys
Sending the NPS question to customers via email is one of the most efficient and widely used methods for gathering feedback. It works well for post-purchase reviews, transactional follow-ups, or regular relationship surveys. To maximize responses, keep the email concise and include a direct call to action encouraging customers to participate in the survey.
Using Mailmodo, you can take this a step further by incorporating AMP-powered interactive emails, allowing recipients to complete the survey within the email, eliminating the need to navigate to a separate page. This seamless experience increases customer engagement and makes it easier for users to provide feedback quickly. Mailmodo’s also allows you to automate follow-ups based on the feedback received.
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In-app surveys
Trigger the NPS question directly within your app or software platform at key moments. This approach is ideal for SaaS platforms or mobile apps, especially after actions like completing a feature trial. To avoid disrupting the user experience, use a pop-up or small modal window that allows users to provide feedback without feeling interrupted.
Website surveys
Display the NPS question to visitors using website widgets. This is particularly effective for ecommerce and service-based businesses, especially after a purchase or customer support interaction. Position the survey at key points in the customer journey, such as post-checkout or after engaging with content, to provide relevant context for their feedback.
Chatbots or live chat
Automatically trigger the NPS question at the end of the chat with a chatbot or live chat agent to gather immediate customer feedback in the same window or popup. This method is ideal for customer service or sales support, especially following real-time conversations.
Social Media or messaging platforms
Send the NPS question through Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, or other social media channels. This approach is effective for businesses interacting with customers via social media or messaging apps. Personalize the message and keep it concise to encourage quick responses from users.
Kiosk or tablet survey
Set up kiosks or tablets at physical locations to ask the NPS questions in-store or at events. This method is ideal for retail stores, hotels, airports, or events where immediate feedback is crucial. Position the kiosk near the exit or checkout area to maximize visibility and ease of use.
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Examples of follow-up questions
Follow-up questions are essential to maximizing the effectiveness and use of NPS. While the NPS question shows how customers feel, follow-up questions reveal why they gave their rating. This helps you get better understanding of their experience and make the required improvements.
Here are some effective follow-up questions you can use after the Net Promoter Score (NPS) question to gain deeper insights. Based on the rating a user might give, you could have a promoter (who rates 9 or 10), a passive (who rates between 7 and 8) or a detractor (who rates below 6) and each group should be asked different types of questions.
For promoters
These questions should ideally provide you with insight into what went well and if the user is confident enough in your brand to recommend to others. This would help you decide what to double down on.
What do you like most about our product/service?
What made you recommend us to others?
How can we further improve your experience?
For passives
Passives are the ones who feel like they’re getting decent service, but something is still lacking. These questions help you better understand where you’re missing the mark and the passives can pinpoint what didn’t sit perfectly with them. So you can work on those specific pointers and improve.
What could we do to improve your experience with our product/service?
What’s missing that would make you recommend us to others?
For detractors
Detractors are the ones who don’t like your product or service. These questions will help you understand what went wrong with their experience so you can improve on those lines and fix those issues in the future.
What was the main reason for your rating?
What can we do to resolve any issues you’ve experienced?
How could we improve your experience in the future?
Limitations of NPS
While the Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a valuable tool, it has certain limitations:
1. Lack of detailed insights: The NPS is a single question that provides a general sentiment but doesn’t explain the reasons behind the score. Without follow-up questions, it can be difficult to understand specific issues or areas of improvement.
2. Oversimplification: Reducing customer feedback to a single number can oversimplify complex customer experiences missing nuances in satisfaction.
3. Subjectivity of responses: Customers interpret the 0-10 scale differently, and cultural or regional differences may affect their responses, leading to inconsistent results.
4. Not always predictive: While a high NPS can indicate loyalty, it doesn’t always predict customer behavior, such as actual referrals or repeat purchases.
Despite these limitations, NPS remains a useful starting point for understanding customer loyalty, though it’s most effective when combined with other feedback tools and deeper analysis.
Final words
The Net Promoter Score (NPS) question offers a quick and insightful way to measure customer loyalty and satisfaction, helping businesses pinpoint advocates and areas needing improvement. While its simplicity is a strength, pairing it with additional feedback tools can unlock deeper insights. By leveraging NPS effectively, businesses can foster stronger customer relationships, leading to increased loyalty and long-term success.
