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“FIND THE MAIN TOUCH POINTS,
LINK THEM UP INTO A GREAT JOURNEY,
AND LINK UP THAT JOURNEY INTO
A GREAT LIFETIME FOR THE CUSTOMER.”
NPS along with other customer sat-
isfaction measurement methods are an
evolutionary step in business develop-
ment. In the 80–90s, the focus was on
total quality management. Strategy and
actions were driven by an internal focus,
an inside-out perspective. Customer
loyalty metrics are complimentary
systems that focus a company toward
its customer and employees.
The outside-in approach helps
companies avoid investing in greater
efficiencies that look good internally
but that have no real impact on the
customer experience or loyalty.
“This is about first doing the right
things, and then doing them well,
rather than trying to do everything well,
regardless of the impact on customer
experience.”
“We very much hope and to a certain
extent believe that this customer focus
is an opportunity to move toward
Capitalism 2.0,” remarks Dullweber.
It is becoming more and more dif-
ficult to sustain a business without a
longer-term view and a clear source of
sustainable – good – profit. The pace
of business continues to accelerate.
Choices continue to broaden. Transpar-
ency in goods and services is increasing.
If a company does not differentiate
and provide real value, these trends
will make sustaining the business in the
future ever more difficult.
“It is important for every company
using NPS to really understand the
economics of loyalty,” says Dullweber.
“Companies need to know how much
value a promoter brings to the company
versus a detractor. Equally, they need to
know what value is created by turning
a detractor into a promoter.”
MOMENTS OF TRUTH
So how does a company create pro-
moters? The starting point is to map
the customer journey and to define
the critical touch points, the individual
interactions, and the key relationships
a customer has with the company. This
provides companies with insights on
where and how to focus efforts.
“Wowing customers tends to happen
in those human-to-human interactions,
in particular when an employee really
performs well in those moments of
truth,” Dullweber notes.
There are many interaction points,
so the challenge is to find out which
matter the most in the customer experi-
ence. A perfect manufacturing process
does not necessarily speak to what the
customers really want.
“Conceptually it is quite simple: find
the main interaction points, link up the
interaction points into a great journey,
and then link up that journey into a
great lifetime for the customer. It is easy
to understand, but it typically takes five
to ten years to achieve.”
COMMIT TO THE CHALLENGE
Though NPS is a simple metric for iden-
tifying promoters and detractors, em-
bedding customer focus throughout an
organization is not. The main complexity
is in the need to influence employee
behavior and link survey results to action.
Companies can create initial momen-
tum by giving employees the responsi-
bility to follow up with customers and
learn. Following these conversations,
management must listen to employees
and take action on the key drivers.
“In the end, it will become critical if
employees themselves are promoters
of your company and service. Only em-
ployee promoters will create customer
promoters at a rate that creates true
differentiation,” says Dullweber.
When it comes to the value created
by customer experience initiatives with-
in a company, only a small part comes
from special programs such as training.
The real value comes from embedding
customer focus into the organization
and into the daily business rhythm of
the company.
“This means that the customer ex-
perience numbers need to hit the table
as frequently as any other numbers,”
emphasizes Dullweber.
“Business used to be about standard-
izing behaviors. Now it is about realizing
that the humans in the company are the
best weapon, the biggest asset, to make
a difference with customers. NPS
ultimately is a business philosophy, a
system of operational practices, and a
leadership commitment.”
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