Consumer loyalty index. NPS: what is Net Promoter Score and how to start calculating it

Measuring customer loyalty

What is Net Promoter Score (NPS)?

"NPS" is an abbreviation for Net Promoter Score, which can literally be translated as "Net Promoter Index". The NPS methodology as a tool for measuring customer loyalty was proposed in 2003 by Fred Reicheld in the Harvard Business Review. With the goal of identifying which metrics are most associated with customer loyalty, Fred Reicheld analyzed massive amounts of data and came to the conclusion that the willingness to recommend a company to friends and acquaintances is most strongly correlated with actual loyalty. The NPS methodology he created is based precisely on the willingness to recommend a company as the only indicator of loyalty.

For several years of its existence, this technique has gained wide popularity in the world due to its simplicity and operational efficiency. Based on NPS measurements, accepted management decisions, branches open and close, bonuses are paid or not paid, etc.

How is the NPS index calculated?

The essence of the methodology for measuring customer loyalty in the NPS model is quite simple. It is built on the basis of two main questions asked by the company's customers (see the diagram above). Moreover, it is fundamentally important to ask current customers, and not former or potential ones. First and main question: "How likely are you to recommend company X to your friends/acquaintances"? The client rates on a scale from 0 to 10, where 10 means “definitely recommend”, and 0 means “definitely do not recommend”. Further, based on the answers, customers are divided into three groups:

• "Promoters" (in the original "promoters") - those who gave marks 9 and 10. According to Reicheld, these are customers who, in high degree are loyal to the company and are very likely to recommend it to their friends.
• "Neutrals" (in the original "passive clients") - who gave ratings of 7 and 8. They are considered "passive" clients who are not only very ready to recommend the company, but not very dissatisfied with it either.
• "Criticists" (in the original "detractors") - who gave ratings from 0 to 6 - dissatisfied customers who would rather not recommend the Company to their friends/acquaintances, and, moreover, may even “advise” to use its services.

Actually, the NPS index itself is calculated as the difference between the percentage of "promoters" and "critics" and shows the level of customer loyalty. The final value can vary from -100 (if 100% of the company's customers are "critics") to +100% (if all customers are "promoters").

In addition to the NPS index itself, the question is also asked about the reasons for the assessment in order to identify the main drivers and barriers to loyalty. This question can be either open or closed in the form of scale ratings on several parameters.

The resource NPSBenchmarks.com - a repository of data on indices of global companies Net Promoter Score (consumer loyalty index) - published information on best practices in the field of service. According to the results of calculations, high NPS values ​​in industries: technology - 61%, consumer goods- 46%, hospitality - 52%. World retail leaders Amazon and Costco (industry leaders in the top 100 international companies by market cap) NPS is 69% and 79% respectively.

Unfortunately, in Russian practice there are no consolidated data on loyalty, and NPS as a method of assessing loyalty is far from being used everywhere. UBS Evidence Lab published figures for Russian retailers: of the 14 largest players positive values- at five. The highest NPS was received by Lenta - 7% and Okay - 3%. In the banking sector, Sberbank's loyalty reaches 59%, in telecommunications Tele2 - 35%, Megafon - 17%, Beeline - 25% . And if more and more companies appear in the West, for which the connection between the level of service and staff motivation is obvious, then in Russia business still rarely thinks about it. In a HeadHunter survey, 96% of participants answered that HR should not be engaged in internal and external customer focus at all.

The main problem of Russian companies is still the gap between plans and deeds. In particular, the study, which involved 419 Russian companies from 39 regions of Russia, revealed a dissonance between real business processes and declared values. Another contradiction, according to a study in which 313 Russian companies took part, was the fact that managers willingly declare the primacy of the client's interests, but do not take any action to assess their satisfaction. A common problem for companies in low-competitive markets is that the first ones to enter set records for profits and growth rates, assuming business building is the secret to success. As a result, an extremely small number of players pay serious attention to service and the struggle for customers. Why do something if everything is fine anyway? And this is the main trap for owners. No one thinks that the reason for success is simply the lack of competition.

In the West, in a saturated market, more and more companies are building their strategy on customer service. If we compare the dynamics of consumer opinion and company value, the connection is obvious. Thus, the capitalization of Amazon in 2000 amounted to $16.62 billion, in 2010 - $58.76 billion, in 2016 - $422.83 billion. Thus, an increase of more than 25 times with an NPS of 69%. At the same time, Walmart, which became famous for a large number of negative reviews from buyers, dropped from $239.44 billion in 2000 to $222.02 billion in 2016. good example– Apple, the market value of which exceeds the total capitalization of public Russian companies. The company was the first to elevate customer experience to the rank corporate strategy. Building a sales system at Apple, top management removed revenue from sellers' KPIs, leaving them with NPS indicators and time spent on customer service. Steve Jobs believed that if you start working at the level of emotions, turning every stage of interaction into pleasure for both customers and employees, they will repay with their loyalty. As a result, Apple's customer satisfaction reached 89%, profit per employee exceeded $110,000, and revenue was $500,000 for the year.

The focus on service is the prerogative of not only companies focused on the above-average segment. An example of this is the American low-cost carrier Costco, the world's largest chain of club-type self-service stores. Annual membership in the Costco club system in the US and Canada costs from $55 to $110, in Spain from €25 to €30, and in the UK £20. Costco stores have sales centers for hearing aids, optics, gas stations and many other related services. At the entrance to the hypermarket there are greeters, whose task is to greet the guest. Capitalization of Costco in 2000 was $18.03 billion; in 2010 - $25.7 billion, in 2016 - $73.91 billion. The value of the company has quadrupled with an NPS of 79%, and profit is $2.35 billion.

Few in Russia have yet realized that loyalty is as important as EBITDA. Some major players are making efforts to change the structure towards a customer-centric approach. Aeroflot's NPS, which has seriously changed the approach to service since the arrival of Vitaly Savelyev, has grown from 44% in 2010 to 72% in 2017. In 2016, the company's capitalization for the first time reached a maximum of 116 billion rubles. Alas, this is more the exception than the rule. For many, the NPS remains a formal indicator: the NPS of the Pobeda airline, which only the lazy did not scold, was 72% against 67% of Aeroflot in 2015.

At the same time, young Russian companies find interesting solutions, using the service as the main thing competitive advantage. Oleg Tinkov returned to Forbes rating this year, in particular, due to the fact that a completely new approach to the creation of the Tinkoff Bank service, which took second place according to the results of the popular vote banki.ru. There are no queues in the bank, all documents are delivered to customers by "representatives". The office space is an open open-space, and the atmosphere resembles a democratic IT company rather than a strict bank. Clients receive prompt service and a user-friendly interface, and Tinkov receives a team with highly motivated and great returns.

It should be obvious to business that external loyalty never comes before internal. The return of employees also depends on it, because labor productivity is the main point of growth. The revenue per employee of the Western low-cost airline Costco exceeds $610,000 per year. For comparison: a good result in Russia in retail hardly exceeds $100,000. It is worth looking for a solution in working with the motivation and involvement of employees. In 2014, economists at the University of Warwick proved that employee productivity increases by 12% or more when they are happy.

AT Russian system HR management practically does not pay attention to this issue, however, market experience shows that the mood of the team is directly proportional to labor productivity. A few years ago, at Uyuterra, we fundamentally changed the way we manage our field employees, transforming the manager from a "boss" into a leader and mentor. We launched large motivational programs based on gamification (the use of games in training and staff rallying). Made a bet on non-material motivation, included the mood of employees in the list of KPI managers, began to cultivate a feat for the sake of the client. As a result, productivity growth more than doubled in two years. Last year, we launched a similar project with the Far Eastern hypermarket chain Samberi, collecting more than 2,000 examples of outstanding service in a few months, when employees did more for the client than required by the standards. At the end of the year, more than 60% reached NPS, which is almost impossible for hypermarkets. Now the company is approaching revenue of 50 billion rubles.

NPS was invented at the beginning of the 2000s, but in Russia the index is still not in great demand. We will tell you how the index is calculated and used in business, and about polar points of view on its effectiveness.

NPS is a mirror of customer loyalty and an indicator of a company's future growth. Literally from English, Net Promoter Score can be translated as "a general indicator of supporters", and a popular translation in Russian is the consumer loyalty index.

You will easily find a brief history NPS: The metric was invented by Frederick Reicheld, who wrote about it in the Harvard Business Review, and then, together with Bain, began to introduce it into American companies. But before that, Reicheld explored the relationship of various questions you can ask a client to business growth rates among fourteen companies. Only after testing all the possible questions, he settled on one thing: are you ready to recommend the company?

Articles about NPS often miss the original reason and motivation that led Reichheld to consider this metric to be the main and only important one: a loyal customer is a company's freelance marketer. Customers who love the company may even leave it, but still recommend it to acquaintances, friends and colleagues. For this reason, the consumer loyalty index is directly related to the growth of the company.

The consumer loyalty index shows the company's growth prospects.

How to calculate NPS?

The consumer loyalty index shows how many supporters or promoters the company has - people who are ready to recommend the company to their surroundings. It is calculated based on the answers of the clients themselves - those who used the services, not potential buyers. The process is:

1. the company asks the question: “How likely are you to recommend us?”;
2. customers answer on a scale from 0 to 10, where 0 means I would never recommend you, and 10 means I will tell everyone how great you are;
3. segments are distributed according to the answers: those who answered from 0 to 6 (critics), 7–8 (neutrals), 9–10 (supporters or promoters);
4. calculate the percentage of each segment;
5. the percentage of critics is subtracted from the percentage of supporters - this is NPS.

You need to collect index data regularly, but not too often. Companies have different approaches to collection: once a month, once every six months, after each contact with the buyer.

A little more about segments:

• supporters - put 9-10 points of recommendation probability, these are loyal customers;
• neutrals - put 7-8 points, these are indifferent customers, they will not recommend;
• critics - put 0–6 points, these are customers who did not like contacting the company so much that they are ready to leave negative feedback.

The lowest score is -100 when the company has only critics, the highest is 100 when all the company's customers become its supporters. A good indicator is a figure above zero.

Example:
At the end of this article, we ask readers: Are you ready to recommend the article to your colleagues or acquaintances?
50% of readers give 9 or 10 points, 30% of readers give 7 or 8 points, 20% give from 0 to 6 points - the article seemed so bad to them.
Subtract: 50% - 20% = 30 - this is our NPS (and it's pretty good).

Opponents of the index (and supporters of their own metrics) write that one question cannot predict either company growth or loyalty itself. The creators of the index answered this in advance: use additional questions. Ask customers after the answer: what did you not like that caused such a high rating of our company.

“Are you ready to recommend us to your friends” is not the only possible question, and it should not be. It is convenient to use, but for effective research it is worth asking one or two clarifying questions. For example, at the end of an article, we could ask critics: what was superfluous in the article? what was missing from the article?

Net Promoter system, customer focus, bad and good profit

What you read in the previous part of the article is the past of the index, because over time it has grown from one question to the system. This is often forgotten to be told and NPS is left with "glory" just numbers, one of many in the company's annual report. A misunderstanding of the tool usually gives rise to disappointment after the introduction of the metric in the company: "we tried - no effect."

Net Promoter System is a customer-centric business strategy centered on measuring customer loyalty using the NPS index.

The introduction of the system requires a reorganization of the business, because at every level of the company, from managers to executives, the goal must be to create a positive customer experience and establish long-term and strong relationships with customers. And it sounds abstract enough to be difficult to introduce into real business, where the seller's goal is to put the squeeze on by any means, the operator's goal is to endure the shift, and the marketer's goal is to submit a beautiful report.

But as idealistic as the goal of the system may sound, it works in Fortune 500 companies.

One of the key details of the Net Promoter system is the relationship between customer ratings and employee actions, or "feedback closure", which provides real job instead of meaningless index calculation. The company collects customer ratings, analyzes, contacts critical customers and gives feedback employees - so they find out which client they should have worked with differently, and in general understand the responsibility for each contact with customers.

There are two types of profit in the system: good and bad. good profit get actions that deserve the trust of buyers, bad - to the detriment of trust and future relationships. For example, you can sell stale goods at a discount and upset customers with stale products - this is a bad profit, although it will allow you to get a short-term profit.

Application of NPS

You can also find specific NPS numbers for various business sectors and companies. For example, there are NPS benchmarks (paid access) for various industries from Satmetrix, a software developer for measuring the index. And here are benchmarks from Npsbenchmarks (free access).

But benchmarks are good, but understanding your business is better. How to understand what NPS is good or sufficient?

Mike Gowan, co-owner of Delighted writes:

• score from -100 to 0: most people have a negative experience with your company and advise others to never contact you;
• 1–30: Normal score, but room for improvement
• 31–50: This is where the majority is. Companies from this layer care about the customer experience and most often make it memorable;
• 50-70: These companies care even more about customer service, and they are among the most loved by customers;
• 71–100: The Holy Grail is an almost unattainable ideal reserved for the best companies peace.

Another way to understand if the NPS index is high enough is to answer questions like these:

• Is your NPS higher than your competitors?
• Is it above zero?
• Is your score growing?

If you answer "yes" to all three questions, that's good. But that doesn't mean you can stop trying. The Net Promoter system has no end goal other than continuous improvement.

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The customer loyalty index (NPS) is an easy-to-calculate metric that determines the degree of customer loyalty to the company as a whole, to a product or service in particular. Here, commitment refers to a person's willingness to recommend a service they like to friends and acquaintances, as well as the willingness to make a repeat purchase.

What does NPS measure?

It's believed that this indicator is in a statistical relationship with income: the higher it is, the faster the company develops economically. This is determined from many parameters, but the main result consists of the following criteria:

1. The likelihood that a person will apply for repeated services again.
2. The degree of positive attitude of the buyer to an unplanned or more expensive purchase at the time of paying for the current one (this can be accessories, insurance, etc.).
3. Reviews on the company website or third-party forums.
4. Service recommendation to friends and acquaintances.

According to many domestic and foreign experts, the loyalty index is one of the best tools that can be used to find out how well (or positively) potential customers relate to the proposed product. The results of the study help to evaluate and understand how to improve the quality of service and, accordingly, the degree of customer loyalty.

If insufficient efforts are made in this regard, complications in activities are possible. In particular, the amount of income is reduced, equal to the entire volume of purchases made for a certain period, and the LTV indicator is also falling (that is, the amount that one person brings to the organization is reduced). Other negatives include:

• The inability to create a portrait of the average client.
• Lack of interest and demand for new product.
• An increase in the "dump" indicator, that is, a temporary or permanent loss of customers (they refused the service, went to competitors, etc.).

Ultimately, a low NPS loyalty index negatively affects sales and overall profit. To correct the situation, it is necessary: ​​firstly, to conduct research regularly (preferably every month), and secondly, to analyze the information received and, on its basis, build a further trade policy.

What allows you to measure NPS

You can make appropriate measurements of indicators using a customer survey. To do this, you need to send them to email or to number mobile phone a letter with a request to evaluate the level of service on a ten-point scale, as well as the likelihood that a person will recommend the organization's services to friends and acquaintances. In addition, you should ask for recommendations or advice on how you can improve the service.

You can conduct a survey not only by email or via SMS. For these purposes, it is recommended to use calls to numbers from the collected database, make a special form on a web resource, create a survey on official pages on social networks, etc. In order to obtain as much information as possible, it is also necessary to interview partners through whose networks the goods are sold.

How NPS is calculated

To make the calculation, you need to create several groups and distribute the surveyed customers among them based on the ratings received. The first category should include those who were dissatisfied. Typically, such buyers give a low score: from zero to six (if a ten-point rating system is used). Such people will not recommend the service to others and may not re-apply.

The second category is passive buyers. The average score here is 8 units out of 10 possible. As a rule, they are satisfied with the service, but will not talk about the company and recommend it. This is due to the lack of interest. The third group includes permanent supporters - these are those who regularly use the services and give high marks.

The calculation of the customer loyalty index is made according to the formula: "Number of supporters/total number of respondents", "Number of dissatisfied/total number of respondents". For example, the survey was conducted among one hundred respondents. At the same time, five people were in the range from 0 to 6 points, thirty - from 7 to 8, the remaining sixty-five - from 9 to 10 points. Therefore, the calculation of the shares in each group will be 5, 30 and 65%, respectively.

Organizations with a low index cannot develop and increase the turnover of goods. Consequently, they cannot compete and will suffer losses. The average value - from 30 to 45% - indicates that the company is developing and can fight for a market leader. To do this, it is necessary to analyze the shortcomings and correct them, increasing the satisfaction rate. NPS clients. From 50% or more - this is the market leader, which the consumer will contact on an ongoing basis.
However, despite the high positions, it is necessary to constantly calculate and try to increase the indicators for further growth.

Naturally, this is the maximum average scheme, which cannot be used in practice. In reality, many factors should be taken into account - both general and individual for each industry.

Techniques for measuring and increasing the consumer loyalty index

Considering that in each area of ​​business “good” statistics look different (in insurance - 30%, online store - 20%, consulting - 40%, etc.), most companies use different techniques and methods of communication with target audience, receiving an overall assessment from the calculation of individual indicators. Among such methods for measuring the NPS consumer loyalty index, one can note when a person:

1. Made a purchase at a point of sale (office or store).
2. Regularly pays a visit (it doesn't matter if he buys a product or not).
3. He contacted the support service to resolve the problem or get advice on the issue of interest to him.
4. Visited the company's website or placed an order for a product.
5. Left a review on a web resource, a third-party forum, in the book of complaints and suggestions, or in any other sources.

It is worth noting that after the rating is set, it is necessary to ask a clarifying question about the reasons for which the service was rated in this way and not otherwise. This will make it possible to collect as much useful data as possible about the person and his attitude to the organization.

Why is it important to count the index

By calculating and analyzing the NPS score, you can get invaluable information about what the real attitude of consumers towards the company and the services it provides. Upon receipt and processing of this data, it becomes possible to work on improving the service and promoting products.
In conjunction with other communication tools, such as a feedback form, NPS allows you to reduce customer churn by building long-term and cost-effective relationships with them. Knowing the net loyalty index, specialists can work to "turn" dissatisfied and passive consumers into their permanent audience, correcting the mistakes made earlier, improving the service and the quality of the goods and services offered.

However, despite the importance of customer satisfaction, they should not be treated like numbers. Many businessmen suffer from this, wanting to create an ideal customer base. Such a policy can alienate the audience and disrupt communication channels.

In order to understand how effectively a company meets the needs of its customers, there are a number of marketing methods, one of which is the calculation of the customer loyalty index, or NPS (Net Promoter Score). What is a customer loyalty index? How, using the NPS value, to improve the performance of your company and increase its attractiveness to buyers, as well as how this value affects the financial performance of the organization - we will talk about all this in our article.

You will learn:

• How is the concept of NPS (customer loyalty index) interpreted?
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of the NPS customer loyalty index.
• How a customer loyalty index can improve the performance of a company.
• How is the NPS customer loyalty index determined?
• How to implement a customer loyalty index in the work of the company.
• What factors affect NPS scores.
• How to increase and maintain the customer loyalty index.
• How to connect with members of the customer loyalty index.
• What difficulties can be encountered when implementing a customer loyalty index.

What is NPS - customer loyalty index

nps, or Net Promoter Score- an index that allows the head of the company to assess the level of customer loyalty. Tracking the change in this indicator, the manager receives a convenient tool, thanks to which it is easy to identify shortcomings in the work of the enterprise and eliminate them, thereby increasing the efficiency of the personnel and the organization as a whole. NPS allows you to correctly build a policy of relationships with customers.

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The calculation of the customer loyalty index is quite simple. It is generally accepted that the company's income is directly related to the NPS value: the larger the index, the higher the growth rate of the company and its profits. A high NPS index indicates the stable operation of the enterprise.

Customer loyalty consists of the following indicators:

• repeat purchases;
• positive feedback about the purchase made or the services provided;
• recommendations given by buyers and clients to their friends, acquaintances and colleagues;
• consent to the purchase of not only goods, but also related products and accessories, ordering additional services, using an optional service provided by the company, purchasing an extended product warranty.

Russian and foreign experts highly rated the NPS customer loyalty index as one of the most fair instruments characterizing the company's activities.

The concept of NPS was originally published as a study in 2003 in the Harvard Business Review under the title One Number You Need to Grow. The Net Promoter Score concept was created by Fred Reicheld of Bain & Company Satmetrix.

Believing that standard surveys were too long and complicated, Fred suggested asking just one question to determine the customer loyalty index: “After making a purchase or receiving a service, are you ready to recommend our company to your friends and acquaintances?”

Since 2003, the NPS customer loyalty index has gone through several stages of its development, the system has evolved as follows:

• 2003– Since the publication of the article by Fred Reicheld, the NPS system has been increasingly used by various companies and organizations.
• 2006– Outstanding global companies such as Siemens, Apple, Philips are implementing the NPS measurement system.
• 2011– the technology for assessing the rating of the company and the customer loyalty index is moving from research into the category of management systems. Enterprises are beginning to actively implement the methodology and adjust their activities in relation to the consumer loyalty index, which allows them to identify shortcomings in their work and optimize business processes, increasing profits.
• 2016- The NPS system becomes the main indicator that allows you to find out how successful the company is with customers. On the basis of NPS, the policy of enterprises focused on working with clients is built.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of the customer loyalty index

The NPS definition system has a number of advantages.

1. Ease of Understanding.

Due to the fact that the NPS system is based on only one elementary question, it does not require complex analysis of the received data, as a result of which the customer loyalty index is based on the principles of simple understanding and application of the results obtained.

1. Simplicity in management.

The high speed and simplicity of surveys is due to the fact that when studying the loyalty index, questions are asked short, clear, implying the same answers.

1. Providing actionable feedback.

When NPS is identified, it is possible to establish high-quality feedback with customers, to understand their assessment of the company's activities.

1. Target audience segmentation.

When analyzing the NPS rating, it becomes possible to overlay response statistics on the demographic and social indicators of the audience, thereby gaining the opportunity to analyze various groups of consumers of services and buyers of goods and find out why certain social groups positively or negatively evaluate the work of the company.

1. Revision of the product sales plan.

When conducting a survey, high-quality feedback is established with customers, thanks to which the head of the company gets the opportunity to quickly clarify or revise sales plans and mechanisms.

1. Reducing customer churn.

A survey can show what buyers are not happy with when purchasing goods or services and prevent further customer churn.

1. Setting the right goal.

Any activity must have a purpose. A survey and identification of the NPS customer loyalty index will help the manager to put it correctly in front of his company. In addition, this study allows you to more accurately motivate employees by explaining to them their current tasks, as well as the common goal that the company is striving for. This will increase the productivity of the staff and improve the performance of the entire enterprise.

1. Competitive advantages.

A company that conducts an NPS survey gains a unique advantage over non-NPS competitors. When identifying the customer loyalty index, the company receives information about the mistakes of its employees and even managers through feedback - consumer reviews allow as soon as possible analyze and eliminate deficiencies in the work.

1. Availability for any company.

Almost any company can conduct such a customer loyalty study, because for this you do not need to resort to the services scientific centers and hire experts, it is enough to complete a simple survey of your customers by asking them simple questions.

But, despite the availability and effectiveness of determining the NPS (customer loyalty index), the method also has disadvantages, the main of which are experts in the field marketing research consider it to be one-sided. When implementing the method, answers to questions are received both from supporters of the company who have a positive attitude towards it, and from critics who are not satisfied with something, but these are not all the company's customers, most consumers are neutral. Therefore, the customer loyalty index reflects only the opinion of the most active part of the buyers. In addition, experts recommend refraining from using only one customer loyalty index and, when developing important marketing decisions and business management tools, still resort to deeper and larger-scale research of the market, the company itself and objectively evaluate competitor data.

The calculation of customer loyalty index indicators should be carried out at regular intervals, this will allow the company's policy to be formed, focusing on changes in the NPS index, and to identify factors that positively or negatively affect the company's efficiency and profit.

What indicators of the company will help to improve NPS

1. Stable development and customer retention.

A high customer loyalty index characterizes a company as a market leader with a significant share of customers, so NPS is one of the main indicators showing the growth of an enterprise. As a rule, about 65 percent of the company's customers have already been formed, attracting new ones is a difficult task. Often, the analysis of the customer loyalty index allows not only to expand the audience of consumers of goods and services, but also gives the company serious tools to retain existing customers. Also, data from the customer loyalty index can be used to develop a method that allows you to turn the company's growth at the time of the study into sustainable development.

1. Merchandise sales management.

The customer loyalty index can be used in prioritizing the company's product base, since NPS allows you to understand which products and services are most in demand among consumers, thanks to which you can quickly change your sales policy.

1. Marketing.

According to research by Verizon, more than 8 out of 10 new customers of the company learn about the brand from such a simple source of information as word of mouth. The NPS rating is directly related to the opinion of the buyer, so if it is generally positive, then he is likely to recommend your business to his friends and acquaintances. Accordingly, with a high customer loyalty index, firm managers will not need to spend huge amounts of money on marketing campaigns and promotion of goods and services in the markets, as a satisfied consumer himself will become a carrier of information about the manufacturer and will advertise it to his friends.

With the help of NPS, company managers can measure the emotional mood and opinion of customers, and then arrange the work of personnel in such a way as to most effectively achieve the goal set for the organization, which, in the end, is most often the satisfaction of people's needs and profit.

Also, the customer loyalty index, together with other research tools, makes it possible to predict customer behavior and even shape it in the most profitable company form, that is, to create so-called behavioral patterns.

1. Personnel potential management.

NPS allows not only to assess customer loyalty, but also to conduct research among company employees, to find out how satisfied they are with their work in the company, their salary, to form a new corporate culture based on this indicator and find out how the staff reacts to its change.

1. GeneralKPIs and reporting.

NPS values ​​can serve as the only index to rely on when evaluating customer satisfaction. However, at the same time, it is necessary to regularly conduct this study and correlate the financial performance of the company with the NPS index, which will allow predicting customer behavior in the long term, as well as assessing possible risks for the company. For example, if NPS falls as profits grow, a company executive should consider adjusting long-term policy and development, as revenue may increase by inertia, while a decrease in the customer loyalty index indicates necessary changes before profits begin to decline. Thus, when comparing financial indicators company and consumer loyalty index can be understood at an early stage and prevent a drop in sales, even though the company's performance is currently growing.

How to determineNPScustomer loyalty index

The NPS determination system consists of several stages. Immediately after purchasing a product or receiving a service, the customer is asked the following question: “What is the probability that you will recommend our company to your friends, acquaintances, relatives or colleagues?” The answer to this question is evaluated on a ten-point scale. Zero on this scale means a categorical refusal of the client to recommend the company, 10 points - a sincere desire to recommend the company to their friends. As a result, all buyers who participated in the survey are divided into three groups.

1. Supporters, promoters- those who put 9 and 10 points. This group of people is loyal to the company, with a high probability will recommend the purchase of goods or order services in your company, and will also return to you again. These people, as a rule, are absolutely satisfied with the level of the product or service, perhaps they did not even expect the product to be of such high quality, so they subconsciously agree to recommend your company to their friends.
2. Neutrals- those who gave a score of 7-8 points. This group of people is quite satisfied with the product or service, but the likelihood that they, as promoters, will recommend your company to their friends is low. In addition, a neutral attitude will allow them to prefer your company to a competitor if he gives his customers a discount or some kind of Additional services for the same price, provided that similar actions and there will be no offers at that time. These people are happy with your company, but they are very easy to miss if competitors make a better offer for them.
3. critics- those who rated 0 – 6 points, also called "detractors". This group of people who are dissatisfied with a product or service will probably never come back to buy something again. What's more, the lowest scoring people can make their criticisms public, for example by writing negative reviews online, by posting bad things about your company on social media and blogs. This phenomenon can demotivate your employees, as well as cause serious damage to the reputation of your company, which will certainly affect the level of sales and lead to a drop in profits. People who are dissatisfied after purchasing a product or providing a service are dangerous for the company, as they can negate all the efforts of managers and employees to create a positive image of the company.

The final result of the study is the calculation of the customer loyalty index, which is determined by the following formula:

For example, the company collected responses from 100 customers during the survey.

5 reviews - from critics who rated 0 – 6 points.

10 – from neutrals who rated the company's work at 7-8 points.

So, from 85, we subtract 5, get 80, divide by 100, get 0.8 and multiply by 100, as a result we have a customer loyalty index equal to 80.

According to this formula, the index can vary from minus 100 points to plus 100. In the first case, all buyers did not like the work of the company, they are all critics (-100 points), in the second case, all customers positively assessed the company and they are all promoters (+ 100 points) who are ready to recommend the brand to their friends.

Depending on the score the person gave, you can ask additional questions. If the client rated the product highly, you can ask him what exactly he liked, if the scores are low, then the question is asked what did not suit you, what needs to be improved in the work of the company.

Based on the answers to additional questions, conclusions can be drawn about the weak and strengths in the activities of the enterprise, focusing on the analysis of this data, it is possible to change the company's policy, apply other marketing tools, improve interaction with customers, and also provide a service that is more convenient for the buyer.

Practitioner tells

NPS – a simple customer loyalty tool

Maria Turcan,

manager of the company "Umnitsa", Chelyabinsk

More than half of our company's sales come from regular customers, so we have made a key bet on maintaining their loyalty. Abandoning complex marketing market research, we came up with a simple method that allows us to evaluate customer loyalty and, based on this index, build a long-term strategy for cooperation with our customers. When selling goods, we always conduct a survey of consumers, regardless of the amount and volume of purchase, we offer them to evaluate the work of our company on a ten-point system.

Next, we collect the results, calculate the customer loyalty index, and plan our activities based on it, of course, focusing on other marketing research. But at the same time, the NPS index is very convenient, as it allows in the simplest form to assess customer satisfaction with our products and, in general, the work of our company. The study itself is included in marketing plan development. You can compare the NPS index both with your own indicators for previous periods, and with data from competing companies. Also, we not only study the opinions of our customers, but also introduced several different bonus programs, thanks to which our consumers can receive bonuses when purchasing goods. We also abandoned campaigns to provide our customers with discounts on goods, instead we did bonus programs flexible and comfortable, created virtual club loyal customers by providing them with additional services.

How to Implement NPS Customer Loyalty Index

Companies can determine the customer loyalty index in various ways. For example, many enterprises with a developed network of branches install electronic devices at their points of sale that allow a person to evaluate the work of the company. For the survey, software products are used that display answer options on the screen and save the results of customer surveys in special databases.

Financial institutions use paper cards to calculate the customer loyalty index, often in the form of emoticons. Depending on the satisfaction with the service, the client can choose a green, yellow or red emoticon and put it in a special basket. Green means complete satisfaction with the service provided, yellow - neutral attitude, red - the client negatively evaluates the service.

It is even easier for online stores that place simple voting plugins on their website. But it is worth considering the peculiarity of collecting information on sites on the Web: polls should be unobtrusive and not take a long time for the user.

You can also collect information to form a customer loyalty index through phone calls, SMS mailings. Most often, after purchasing a product, a call center operator calls a person and asks a question about the quality of service and satisfaction with the purchased product and service.

The disadvantage of remote methods of collecting information is that a dissatisfied client simply will not respond to the letter, hang up the call of the operator and will not express his negative opinion about the product or service. Thus, a person will remain dissatisfied, but will not get into the statistics, which will distort the real state of the NPS index, and this may lead to erroneous marketing moves by company management.

What affects NPS scores

Determining significant factors using only one customer loyalty index is an extremely wrong decision, since with an NPS value of 30 points, a sports equipment store can be objectively the worst in its field, and with almost the same indicator, for example, 35 points, an operator providing access to the Internet may have 95 percent of the market in a particular city. It seems that the customer loyalty index is almost equal, but one company is an outsider, and the second, on the contrary, occupies almost the entire market.

What objective factors influence the NPS score? How can you tell if your NPS is good or if you need to work on improving it?

In total, there are two main factors that affect the customer loyalty index.

1. Competition.

The more competitive in certain markets, the more normal the average NPS. For example, average NPS values ​​characterize such areas as banking, financial, insurance, and medical. If the company produces some kind of complex electronic equipment, the market of which is not as saturated as, for example, the market for paid medical services, then here the NPS index should be above average, because the competition is lower.

Average NPS score for different business areas. Banking 0, auto insurance 22, healthcare 27, airlines 36, travel 38, hotels 43, eCommerce 45, Internet services 48.

1. Customer tolerance.

Customer tolerance significantly affects the loyalty index. Often people in their statements about goods and services are extremely straightforward.

How to increase and maintain a high customer loyalty index

In the course of their activities, companies need not only to conduct customer loyalty research, but also to constantly maintain the NPS level. This requires a quick response from management to the information received about errors in the work of personnel. It is also necessary to identify shortcomings in real time and try to create an ideal system for interacting with customers. Thanks to constant checks of activity against checklists, sellers become professionals in their field, which allows them to build work with the consumer in such a way that he is satisfied with both the service and the product itself. Each customer who is satisfied after purchasing a product will probably use the services of the company again and will recommend the company to their friends. The more satisfied customers there are, the higher the number of promoters will be and the longer the NPS rating will remain high.

The use of new, modern innovative technologies allows companies to improve sales processes and eliminate violations, which, in turn, positively affects the customer loyalty index and can even increase it.

When collecting information using electronic devices, depending on the assessment, various additional questions may be displayed on the screen. For example, if a person was satisfied with the purchase and is a promoter, after he gave a rating of 10 points, you can display the following question on the tablet screen: “What did you especially like about our store?”

If a person has given a low score, then in addition, the following message can be displayed on the screen, for example: “What would you improve in the work of our store?”. If the main question in the study of the customer loyalty index involves answers in points, then all additional questions should contain answers according to pre-prepared text lists.

All collected information on the customer loyalty index immediately gets from electronic devices to common base data. The advantage of this method is that it is possible to evaluate both one individual store and obtain general data, thus generating a report both for one point of sale and for the activity of the entire chain of stores as a whole.

Also, with this method of research, reports are generated in real time, which allows for an instant assessment of the company's activities and timely adjustments. For example, having received data on two nearby stores, you can analyze why the index is higher in one of them and lower in the other, thereby comparing other indicators, identifying problems and improving the operation of a point with a low NPS index.

Practitioner tells

How we increase the customer loyalty index (NPS)

Anastasia Orkina,

Executive Vice President for Marketing at VimpelCom

We constantly analyze client data, which increases the NPS index. For example, by evaluating information from customer devices, we obtain information about the quality of voice communications in a particular area. Developing new tariff plans, we try to study how people accepted the previously introduced tariffs, which services they use more, which of them they prefer. The assessment by subscribers of the quality of the services provided allows us to make changes and improve our service. For example, we conducted a study and concluded that contacting a call center is not popular and customers increasingly prefer to resolve any issues through online services, often on their own and without resorting to the help of specialists, so we relied on the development of such services and began to implement online service channels.

How else can you maintain a high customer loyalty index

The NPS system involves not only the direct collection of feedback on the work of the company and the opinions of customers. There are various loyalty programs that help managers understand how customers feel about their business. For example, retail retail chains use various loyalty programs, bonus programs, sales in their activities. The Cashback system is very popular, assuming a return of 5% of the check amount to a special discount card. These points can be used to pay for a portion of future purchases. Such programs are beneficial, as they allow people to get a discount on their next trip to the store, and companies to retain customers.

Online stores also use various systems customer retention and feedback gathering. When ordering goods on the site, the buyer can receive the most favorable discounts, as well as personal account reward points that can be redeemed for next purchase. Referral programs are also very popular, when in the personal account each user can receive a special link by clicking on which new buyer will be the owner of an individual discount. By distributing such links, users themselves attract new customers to the online store, for which they receive additional bonuses or discounts on goods from each given one.

Also, large chain stores use special bonus programs, issue gift certificates and cards, the purchase of which is much more profitable than usual. Many companies enter into agreements with each other. So, for example, bundles of banks and retail trade enterprises: buying a product in a store and paying for it with a card of a certain bank, a person can get bonuses or a good discount.

The customer loyalty index is also positively affected by constant monitoring of competitors' activities and prices, which allows companies to quickly change the price of their goods and services, as well as provide discounts to certain groups of people.

Economic and emotional customer loyalty

Bonus customer motivation programs, as well as the provision of favorable discounts, undoubtedly encourage people to repeat purchases, but are they still satisfied with the purchase and completely loyal to the company?

Enterprises that plan their activities to retain old and attract new customers, correlating it only with bonus or discount programs, sooner or later may face conditions under which it will be impossible to provide a discount or continue bonus programs and this activity will be economically unprofitable. At the time of the crisis, people who are tied to companies only by economic factors can easily go to competitors or postpone the purchase, waiting out difficult days. Thus, customer loyalty to the firm, based only on economic factors, is not some kind of absolute indicator success of the enterprise and does not guarantee him a stable profit in the future.

It is also a mistake to believe that a company can bind a client to itself by offering him some unique product or service that cannot be purchased in another company. As shown world economy, no matter how complex the product is, no matter how unique it may seem, sooner or later it always has competitors, and often their offer is much more profitable for the buyer.

For the company, the most beneficial is the emotional attachment of the client, when he is guided in his actions not by a stingy economic sense, but by a bright emotional motivation. To do this, enterprises need to set up business processes in such a way that a person receives only positive emotions at all stages of interaction with them. To do this, the manager needs to build the company's activities in such a way that it works like clockwork, all mechanisms are convenient for both employees and customers, while the staff must be as competent as possible in their field, polite and loyal to each client. Having made a purchase or received a service, a person should remain as emotionally satisfied as possible. He should tell his friends about a cool company in which everything goes quickly, conveniently and efficiently. Thus, a person will not only be emotionally loyal to the company, but also in bright colors and positively describe its activities to his social circle - your potential clients.

A vivid example of the establishment of emotional loyalty between a client and a seller is the company STV INK, whose employees not only advised their customers on the phone about the possibilities of modern computer equipment, but also offered to try playing computer games on computers assembled by this company in one of the nearest branches. Then the person received the address and time at which his visit to the office was scheduled, where the potential client was greeted warmly by employees, everything was explained to him, showed the capabilities of the equipment, and even tested computer games together. A satisfied client concluded a contract for the supply of equipment, and after that he also recommended the company to his friends. Thus, relying on the emotional factor of cooperation between the company and the buyer, the company was able to become a leader in its market segment and increase profits many times over by scaling the network of branches throughout the country and making the consulting service loyal to the client.

How to get feedback from respondents who have become part of your company's customer loyalty index

Fred Reicheld, the creator of the NPS customer loyalty index assessment system, argued that this indicator of customer loyalty is undoubtedly important, but even more significant are the actions of the head of the company to attract and retain promoters, that is, people who speak highly of the company's activities and are key players in the NPS system. It is important not to get the NPS index, but to be able to use it quickly.

1. Critics: make personal contact.

The NPS ecosystem itself does not come into being with a survey of a company's customers. To successfully establish feedback, a number of measures are required to maintain cooperation between the firm and the consumer. The goal of these measures is to make customers understand that you care. Even if the person was dissatisfied, but the company solved the problems that arose, 70 percent of such outcomes will be in favor of the company, and the buyer will still stay with her.

The number one mistake businesses make when they don't fully understand the NPS system is to turn away critics' customers. Firms consider such customers lost forever, but this is completely wrong: even a dissatisfied customer can turn from a critic into a satisfied promoter.

If, for example, after a free trial service, customers begin to criticize both the product and the company, then this only indicates that these people care, they want to improve the service or make the company's services better with their comments. As soon as the company fulfills their conditions, these initially dissatisfied customers can become those same promoters and begin to advertise your brand among their acquaintances, friends and colleagues.

It can be assumed that the most the best way to re-attract customers who have abandoned your company will be sending them personal messages in which they will be asked to answer the question of what they did not like about the product, service or in general what the company did not please them, as well as asking them to suggest what and how they would like change and improve. The essence of all these actions is to collect information that allows you to improve the perception of your company and your brand by potential buyers and customers of services.

For example, to solve problems that your customers have, you can offer them a free instruction manual for the purchased product by posting it on your website, and place sections with electronic device drivers there.

You can extend your free trial period software product, offer discounts when upgrading to an advanced paid version of the software.

1. Neutrals: Recruit before there are too many of them.

Neutrals are named so because they are generally indifferent to your products: there is no negative feeling, but they also do not evaluate your product positively either. The neutrals seem to be in thought, waiting for what will happen, and only then they will decide on their choice or reject it.

But since neutrals react very poorly to feedback, unlike critics and promoters, attracting them is not a trivial and very difficult task. According to studies, only 37 percent of people in this category responded to feedback.

Neutrals, by virtue of their position, do not have a direct negative impact on the business, but being somewhere nearby, without taking any action, as if hung in anticipation, they are able to start looking for themselves best opportunities. Your competitors may have them, and your neutrals will quickly become their promoters, strengthening the position of rivals in the market with you. If this category is not involved in purchases, their number can grow like an avalanche, respectively, and if your competitors have any advantages, all this huge mass of neutrals can immediately go to them.

The following methods can be used to attract neutrals:

• Offer them discounts or upgrade their service levels.

To attract neutrals, you can use personal, exclusive discounts, attract them to you by giving them Better conditions service.

• Send them emails with product updates.

Probably, having familiarized themselves with your products for the first time, the neutrals at that time did not find an attractive offer for themselves. But this does not mean that they have completely abandoned your services and will no longer return to your store or website. Offer them something new in your email newsletter, make your offer more interesting than your competitors. It is possible that neutrals who would never visit your site again, when they receive an e-mail, follow the link in it and appreciate your updated product range.

1. Promoters: Express gratitude.

The most profitable customer segment is promoters. They buy the product, they are satisfied, they recommend it to their friends and colleagues. But you should not take the presence of this category of customers for granted, they did not just appear out of nowhere, something in your company and services attracted and retained them. If you understand what the promoters liked so much when interacting with your company, you will receive a unique tool for growing the enterprise and increasing sales. Feedback from this category is very important, as it allows you to understand what attracts them to your company. Loyalty and gratitude programs help to establish such a connection, they will not only allow you to analyze the data received, but also help strengthen relationships with promoters and make them your regular customers in the future.

To resolve feedback issues with promoters, you can use the following methods:

• Thank them. Send an e-mail with a personal thank you, donate your company's merchandise, the main thing is that your customers see and know that they are remembered and appreciated.
• Invite them to get acquainted with your other projects. Since promoters are initially willing to recommend your company to their friends, it is useful to introduce them to their other products, as well as give them personal discounts.

1. Unanswered: Reach out to them.

In an NPS survey, only 60 percent of buyers agree to answer questions. The remaining 40 percent are people who can also become customers of your company. But in fact, it is extremely difficult to attract this category of consumers, it is easier to change the opinion of critics than to get feedback from those who did not respond. But you don't have to immediately refuse to work with such a huge group. potential clients It's still worth trying to reach out to them. Although these people do not affect customer loyalty in any way, they can have a significant impact on your business and your income in the future, keep this in mind.

What problems can you face when implementing NPS (Customer Loyalty Index)

The NPS customer loyalty system, despite its simplicity and effectiveness, has a number of disadvantages. First of all, the NPS methodology is criticized because of the need to separate it into an economic and emotional component. Also, the problems of technology include the fact that it characterizes the theoretical possibility that the client will make a repeat purchase, a kind of probability of this event, but does not give firm confidence that this will happen in reality.

The question itself is rather vague: "Would you recommend your friends to visit our store and make purchases in it?" Yes, promoters are ready to advertise your company to their acquaintances, but this does not mean at all that a well-intentioned consumer and his entourage will come to your store and make a purchase in it. Also, the customer loyalty index system does not take into account acquisitions that have already taken place with your competitors, and possible similar transactions in the future. You should also take into account that a person cannot be completely sure of his future, and the fact that he is going to come to your store and re-purchase the product does not mean that he will definitely do it.

It should be noted that customer satisfaction and customer loyalty are not always directly related. A person may be satisfied with the purchase of goods, but the second time he will go to competitors and purchase products from them. Therefore, satisfaction with the purchase and loyalty in some individual cases should be considered separately.

For the most effective use customer loyalty index, it is necessary to ask them not only one main question, but also a number of clarifying ones. For example, a client, having assessed the work of the company, put not 10 points, but 9. Yes, he is still loyal and is a promoter, but how do you know why he wrote off one point, what motivated him to put not the highest mark, what circumstances influenced this? Additional questions allow you to collect statistics and, on its basis, improve the company's activities, increasing the customer loyalty index.

It should also be borne in mind that NPS can perform well in a calm market, but with a feverish demand for a new product, reviews can be fanatical and not entirely objective.

So, for example, when a new game console enters the market, stores are overwhelmed in the first days with buyers who want to buy a new product. Excessive demand for a new set-top box will not give objective estimates according to the NPS system. When interest subsides, calm consumers will go to the store, who will already soberly evaluate the product and service and give objective answers to the questions asked to obtain the customer loyalty index.

It is also worth considering the factor of when a purchase is made and statistics are collected on customer reviews. Often, at the beginning of sales, the reviews are very positive, after which there is a certain decline and even indifference of customers.

A simple example. The customer comes to the store and buys reflex camera, when testing it, polite consultants talk about technical specifications devices take test shots. The client goes home with a new camera, satisfied with the perfect purchase. At this point, he is ready to give the store 10 out of 10 points. But a week later, already accustomed to new technology, the client begins to notice noise in the photographs in one of the areas of the image: it turns out that this is a group of dead pixels on the camera's matrix. The client is forced to hand over the camera for diagnostics and warranty repair wasting your time and nerves. And if at that very moment they receive a call from the feedback processing center and ask the buyer’s opinion about the store, it is very unlikely that he will answer all the same positive 10 points out of 10. Most likely, the person will be disappointed with the purchase, because he bought defective goods and cannot fully use it, having handed over the camera for repair. But it should be borne in mind that the client's opinion may again change to positive if he did not experience any difficulties when accepting the camera for repair or if the device was replaced by another, new one, which does not have any defects.

Thus, the example shows that the timing of the collection of reviews is extremely important in the formation of the customer loyalty index.

Also, experts who criticize the NPS feedback collection system and the formation of a customer loyalty index point to a too high skew in breakdown by customer groups. For example, the category of critics contains everyone who gave both 0 and 6 points, but often those who gave a rating of 6 when buying in a regular store, when making a transaction through the online store website, can rate the service at 10 points. Neutrals were unfairly removed from the NPS calculation formula, and this is a huge group of buyers, whose opinion is also important for the store.

Very often, NPS has to be calculated for each specific point of sale. For example, it is inconvenient for a person to buy goods in a store located on the other side of the city from him, which is difficult to reach by public or private transport, so this buyer would never buy goods there or would rate the convenience of the store at 1 – 3 points. But, using the services of the same store through the Internet site, having received free shipping goods at home, the same customer can put 10 points in a review on a web page.

In addition, there are industries and areas of trade in which the NPS index, most likely, will not reflect the real state of affairs of the company. For example, a person, by his psychological nature, is unlikely to recommend a purchase to his friends. toilet paper of a certain brand, but the store will rate this product by 10 points, entering the group of promoters according to the NPS system, but not being one in this particular case.

As we can see, the customer loyalty index is an excellent tool for business in terms of assessing customer attitudes towards goods and services, as well as towards the company as a whole. The customer loyalty index is very easy to use, provides good analytical data, allows you to build a flexible marketing policy, conduct convenient and profitable promotions, introduce discounts, bonus programs. But this indicator is also imperfect and has a number of significant drawbacks, therefore, when using NPS, it is necessary to take into account all the features of doing business in each specific case, and when developing a long-term company policy, rely not only on the customer loyalty index, but also on other market research systems.

Information about experts

Maria Turcan, manager of the company "Umnitsa", Chelyabinsk. "Clever". Field of activity: production of goods for child development. Territory: head office - in Chelyabinsk; representative office in Moscow; stores - in Chelyabinsk, Moscow, Yekaterinburg and Krasnodar. Number of staff: 100.

Anastasia Orkina, Executive Vice President for Marketing at VimpelCom. VimpelCom is part of the VimpelCom Ltd Group of Companies, which is one of the world's largest telecommunications holdings. The group's companies provide services under the Beeline, Kyivstar, Wind, Infostrada, Mobilink, Banglalink, Telecel and Djezzy brands. As of June 30, 2015, the number of subscribers mobile communications GC - 213 million people. Official site - www.vimpelcom.com.