Net Promoter Score controversy

[Jens Thieme]

Charged with a global project to improve Net Promoter Score NPS for my company I was wondering whether any of my colleagues here have some viable experience to share. There has been some controversial bias against NPS of late and I would like to tap into your insights if I may. Thanks, Jens

[Lori Wolfe]

Hi - I'm in the process of revamping our NPS reporting. I have a feeling I will get slammed as last year the vendor we used did not weight the results properly. In looking at the initial data I see that the results with weighted data are vastly different so I can see the flaming arrows coming. What seems to be the bias against NPS that you are dealing with? It's pretty straightforward - but I think weighting is a necessity.

[Jens Thieme]

Thanks Lori,

I don't have any direct comments from internally just yet but I hear that the CI community in particular has some reservations so I am digging to prepare for eventual sniping. Your feedback is well taken, many thanks, Jens

[Carolyn Rachelle McSweeney]

Hello Jens,

I am an Associate of NPS based in Queensland, Australia. Happy to share any experiences I have had over the years in developing programs around customer loyalty etc and ensuring organisational change around the concept. I would be interested in the bias you are talking about as I often find that it is errors in the interpretation of NPS which cause issues. Or more recently some of the companies engaging in NPS and not having success is because they never had the discipline only the measure in place. Happy to share though.

[Jens Thieme]

Many thanks Carolyn, let me get warmed up internally and come back with practical requirements as they occur.

[Mark Ratekin]

Hi, Jens -

The main controversy surrounding NPS is that there has to date been no compelling data published that backs up the assertion that it is "the ultimate measure" of customer loyalty. In fact, some studies (e.g., Keiningham et al) have found that the very metrics that Reichheld and his colleagues criticize (including various metrics such as satisfaction, the ACSI, satisfaction indices, etc.) do at least as good a job - if not a better job - in predicting future customer behavior.

Proponents of NPS will state that it's the discipline, not the metric, that matters. While I agree that proper discipline is necessary, it seems counterintuitive that we would be content with a suboptimal metric, particularly in a period in which we enjoy a great deal of computing and analytic power.

Other criticisms of NPS include the fact that the NPS framework (i.e., the recommend question and the follow-up open end question) do not provide a structured analytical framework for diagnosis or prioritization - in other words, do we truly know why the score is what it is (and what we can do to influence it)? The NPS approach requires much analysis - and the potential for ineffective action - on the part of a firm's employee base.

My colleagues and I have written extensively on the topic of how to best analyze customer feedback - I would encourage you to check out our blog series at http://blog.walkerinfo.com/blog/customer-feedback-analysis.

I wish you luck in your efforts; if I can be of any assistance, please don't hesitate to reach out.

Best regards,

Mark