Newsletter ..... Volume 09 ... Issue 0407
Gary J. LaRoy
President/CEO
Getting to Know Your Customer ...
Large companies spend significant amounts of time and money seeking to know how well they are doing in the eyes of their customer. While there is some validity with all of these scientific, lengthy and cumbersome evaluation tools, there are simpler ways to discover what your customers value the most about your business.I was reading an article today that stated there were only four reasons why customers leave your business. In short, the reasons were 1) they no longer need your service; 2) they are unhappy with the price; 2) they are unhappy with the product; and 4) they are unhappy with the service. This places the emphasis on the wrong place. The better question is not "why do people leave," but "why do they stay?" What is it about your product or service that keeps people coming back time and time again?
Best-selling author and loyalty expert Fred Reichheld developed a simple tool that helps businesses of all size measure customer loyalty and perception with a simple tool he calls 'The Ultimate Question.' Companies like Chik-Fil-A, Verizon, Charles Schwab and many others use the "Ultimate Question" and the "Net Promoter Score" to measure customer satisfaction and loyalty. The tool is so simple you can implement it today. However, it is so insightful, you can make it a central part of your ongoing improvement process. You can also use its results to refocus your business strategy or to develop your marketing strategy.
The Ultimate Question gets its name from the simple survey question that opens the door to your understanding of your Unique Value Proposition ... from your customer's perspective. The question is this: "On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely is it that you would recommend our company to a friend or colleague?" Then based on the response, you would ask one of these follow-up questions: If the response was favorable (a 9 or a 10), you would simply ask "What about your experience stands out to you the most." If the response was unfavorable ( from 0 to 6), you would simply ask "What one thing would fix first to make our service better?"
Obviously, you may want to adjust this question a bit to fit your own unique business. However, this single question can give you tremendous insight into why some of your customers are loyal to you and some will never return. At the end of the week, you simply tally up the results from your question to determine your Net Promoter Score. This score is calculated by taking the percent of responders that gave you a 9 or 10 and subtracting the percent of responders that gave you a 0 through a 6. We refer to these two groups as your Promoters (the 9s & 10s) and your Detractors (the 0 through 6 crowd).
Then, look through the comments on what your promoters said was most positive about their experience. You should be touting these features of your service in all of your advertising. Then turn your attention to the comments from your detractors. If there is a patter in the comments, you might want to look at improving this aspect of your service delivery or product mix. Once, you make the adjustment, measure again. Look to see if your Net Promoter Score improves ... I bet it will. Next week, we will plumb a bit deeper into how you can turn your favorable ratings into marketable features ...
How To Take Your Business
to the Next Level ...
If
you need some help with this, I am available. You can click on the Virtual
Office link below or contact me via email. You can also join me on my webinar
‘Knowing Your Customer.’
President/Founder
Natural Path Marketing