Parchment is a digital credential service that serves over 9,000 organizations who use their platform to exchange transcripts and other credentials globally. The company’s customer-centric vision led them to adopt the Net Promoter® System as one of several methods to measure the customer experience.
We sat down with Kevin Martin, Parchment’s Senior Director of Member Development and NPS Champion, to discuss how the company has adopted the Net Promoter System to drive retention and growth.
Aligning the Company Around the Net Promoter System
Evan Klein: From your perspective, how has Parchment’s Net Promoter program positively impacted the organization?
Kevin Martin: It’s given us the visibility and information necessary to successfully align our organization to our members and the constituents that they represent.
Every organization has customer-focused individuals whose “gut” tells them what the customer wants and needs – but for us, in partnering with Satrix Solutions, we have the data and feedback directly from our members on what they need in order to be successful.
Now that we know, shame on us if we don’t take action. For Parchment, through Heather Clevenger’s (Director of Marketing Programs) leadership, we’ve taken action on the areas that we need to do better and doubled-down on what we do well.
Taking Advantage of Net Promoter Score Insights
You have a reputation inside Parchment as one of the company’s NPS champions. What contributes to your passion for NPS?
Parchment is differentiated by our service, network, community, and mission – I have the privilege of interacting with the Parchment Community on a daily basis.
NPS through our Satrix partnership provides the Parchment team and me with insights on our community-members interactions with the service, network, and mission in a scalable fashion that we couldn’t have had in any other way.
When I go into a conversation with a community-member, I’m supported by the transparency and insights that NPS provides.
The ROI of Closing the Loop with Net Promoter Survey Respondents
Closing the loop with customers during and after the survey is one of the important drivers of success for an NPS program. Can you share a story or two that demonstrates the value of the closed-loop follow-up process?
Phew, where to start – I think I do at least a hundred calls after every NPS survey comes back.
A number of the high school-member conversations hone in around the topic of training – our high school community is overworked and are dealing with hundreds and sometimes thousands of students.
One call with a member from Illinois started with the member noting “the problem is me,” to which I reassured her it’s not. In this case, the NPS survey was a channel for us to hear a cry for help as it were. The member got set up with training and I just checked their YOY growth – it’s 192%.
In other cases, the member just wants to be heard, which I think is true for all of us – to fill out a survey and get a call from the company is a big deal.
In one of my recent conversations, the member had given us a 4 on the survey (which means I’m expecting to get yelled at on the phone). On the call, the member revealed that there had been some issues with billing; though it had been resolved, it was a frustrating experience.
In the end, the member said, “the system is great and Parchment works really well.” This member’s utilization has increased 7700% YOY … yeah, I know that’s a lot.
Building a Net Promoter Culture
Those are some amazing customer success stories. How else has Parchment acted on the feedback themes identified in a recent survey?
This is where the organization has really rallied – the Executive Team, Product, Support, Engineering, Marketing, and Member Development – everyone reviews the survey feedback and themes identified by Satrix.
Then, we begin to implement systematic changes to address those themes in a coordinated and cross-functional manner.
Given that we have an increasing NPS score in addition to the majority of respondents being net new in each survey, we’re definitely on to something.
Tips for Net Promoter Success
You, along with the other folks at Parchment, have really made the customer experience a priority. What advice would you offer to companies looking to establish a successful NPS program?
You must be open to constructive and critical feedback – if you think that you are perfect, this isn’t for you. You’re going to learn that you and your company can and need to do better for your customers, which is a good thing.
Then, you need to have a core team that is bought in and willing to push this through the organization to keep everyone accountable. Trust me, it’s worth it.
Net Promoter System Success Story
Since engaging with Satrix Solutions in early 2015, Parchment has experienced a triple-digit improvement in its Net Promoter Score.
The company attributes its success to an unwavering commitment to creating a customer-centric culture focused on both innovation and improvement. Read the Parchment Success Story for additional insights on how the company has become a customer service leader.
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