Many factors influence your organization’s Net Promoter Score® (NPS), such as the ease of doing business with your company, the value customers associate with your products and services, or the degree to which the service experience delivered stands apart from the competition. But one of the most important factors in attaining world-class service excellence and generating a fiercely loyal customer base is the bond customers develop with your employees. A superior product may get you in the door, but it is the empathy, enthusiasm, and dedication of employees who create the overall experience that keep customers engaged.
3 Best Practices For Promoting a Strong NPS Culture Among Your Employees
A culture of service excellence among your employees does not always evolve naturally. More often than not, it needs to be thoughtfully shaped and cultivated. Here are three strategies designed to foster the employee behaviors necessary for a successful Net Promoter system:
1. Educate Employees to Stimulate NPS Engagement
To be an effective driver for customer advocacy, employees must have both ownership and understanding of the customer experience. This contextual relationship is often referred to as ‘line of sight.’
Once employees know what their role is, allow them to provide thoughts on everything from what they believe makes customers “feel” satisfied to what services differentiate the organization from its competitors. Giving them a voice often leads them to deliver exceptional experiences relentlessly and consistently throughout the customer journey.
The key takeaway here: Successful NPS programs educate employees so they (1) know what NPS is, (2) why it has been adopted, and (3) how they influence it.
2. Position Employees to Help Close the Loop
Following up with clients after they have taken the time to share feedback (commonly known as “closing the loop”) is one of the most critical determinants of a successful Net Promoter program. The follow-up process conveys an important message to customers that their feedback was heard and leads to action. This increases confidence and trust, and also encourages responsiveness in future surveys.
Recruiting employees to assist with the closed-loop process allows them to engage directly with customers to explore the reasons for their enthusiasm or dissatisfaction. These discussions will serve as a very valuable educational opportunity as they hear – first hand – what customer expect, what aspects of your offering resonate most, and improvements they would like to see. This knowledge should certainly influence their attitudes and behaviors going forward.
The key takeaway here: Engaged employees that embrace NPS feedback believe in and deliver proactive services to their customers.
3. Consider Tying NPS to Compensation
Have you thought about rewarding employees based on NPS? There are many arguments both for and against tying NPS to employee bonuses. Advocates believe adopting this practice will likely increase the entire company’s focus on the Net Promoter methodology and the organization’s score.
If you implement a compensation plan tied to NPS, it’s essential that employees are encouraged to help identify and define achievable results. Leadership should provide relevant resources and benefits that are most desired by employees and likely to create a sense of devotion that results in higher levels of engagement and customer satisfaction.
The key takeaway here: Tread carefully – compensating employees based on NPS can often be an extremely successful motivator when implemented properly.
Remember, if customers feel a kinship to your employees and your brand, loyalty will intensify. For more information or help implementing a Net Promoter Score program in your organization, please contact us.