A long overdue rant on NPS.

Thinking Beyond NPS: Elevating Customer Experience in Retail

Net Promoter Score (NPS) has long been the go-to metric for gauging customer loyalty and satisfaction. It’s simple (too simple), easy to understand (because it’s too simple), and offers a quick snapshot of how customers feel (well, how some customers feel).  Essentially, it’s incredibly restrictive. If you’re relying solely on NPS to guide your customer experience strategy, then at best you’re missing out on a treasure trove of insights, at worst you’re basing big important decisions on data that isn’t even remotely close to the full story.

I will be doing everything in my power to not come across as overtly anti-NPS (it does have a purpose…maybe), but I make no promises.  So, let’s dive into why NPS falls short and what you should be doing to ensure your customer focus shines through in every aspect of your retail operation.

Firstly, The Limits of NPS.

NPS asks a single question: “How likely are you to recommend our company/product/service to a friend or colleague?” Customers respond on a scale from 0 to 10, and based on their score, they’re categorized as promoters, passives, or detractors. While this gives you a general trend of how customers who interacted with you feel about things, it doesn’t even come close to telling you why customers feel the way they do, nor how customers who are being ignored are feeling. And that’s a problem.

1. Lack of Context: NPS doesn’t delve into the specifics. Why are promoters happy? Why are detractors dissatisfied? Without context, you’re left playing Sherlock Holmes, trying to piece together the mystery.  Sure, you can ask follow-up questions, but most of the time they are either ignored, or subjective and too short and leave you making assumptions.

2. One-Dimensional: Customer experience is like a multi-layered cake. It involves product quality, customer service, pricing, and more. NPS offers a single, broad stroke, missing all the delicious layers underneath. An overall experience might be great, but what could we have done to generate higher revenues or better experiences? Also, what channels did you use? What does the number even mean to you? Your 10 is different to mine…anyway, you get the idea.

3. Ignores the Middle Ground: NPS focuses on the extremes – promoters and detractors. Passives, who often have valuable insights, are like the middle child – overlooked and underappreciated (speaking from experience here!).  Their score literally doesn’t count for anything.  In saying that, the way most brands do NPS, you’re really ignoring everybody and just trying to come up with some way to show that you have “improved” “customer experience” (imagine my sarcastic voice there doing air quotes).

4. Limited Actionability: It’s hard to turn a score into specific actions. Improving NPS means improving the customer experience, but without understanding the root causes, you’re left shooting in the dark, which is incredibly irresponsible! Someone might get hurt!

5. It’s stupidly easy to game: Who hasn’t received a “10/10 means I met expectations, please rate me 10/10”.  I’ve worked with retailers who have not only had the numbers distorted because they are linked to KPIs or incentives, but also those who have worked out how to ensure that customers with complaints don’t activate any of the survey triggers. 

6. It ignores MOST of your customers: Depending on how you define customers, you’re missing most of them.  Most shopkeepers see everyone who walks in the door as a customer, whether they buy or not.  NPS triggers are usually linked to a sale or some other way we captured a customer’s contact details, or we’ve given to them directly using a web address or code to scan on a receipt.  Either way, you’re capturing only those who had a good enough experience that they ended up giving you money.  This means that your NPS is more of a representation of “of our top experiences, how many of them were good enough that people remember it as a top experience”.  So much rich useful data is lost.  

7. NPS is an Input, Revenue is the True Output Metric that Matters: While NPS can be a useful measure, it's essential to understand that it’s just an input metric—a signal of progress towards achieving broader business goals. NPS tells you how customers feel at a specific moment, which is valuable, but it’s not the endgame. The true measure of success lies in the impact your customer experience efforts have on your bottom line—revenue growth.  So, while it’s great to see your NPS score climbing, don’t lose sight of the bigger picture: those happy customers should be translating into increased sales, higher retention rates, and ultimately, sustained revenue growth. That's the real output metric that matters.

So, what is the answer?!

To truly excel in crafting a strong customer focus, you need a more comprehensive approach. Here are key strategies to consider:

Customer Feedback Systems. 

Surveys with Open-Ended Questions: Go beyond the score. Ask customers what they love and what they’d like to see improved. This is where the magic happens.

Voice of Customer Programs: Regularly gather and analyze feedback from various channels – social media, reviews, direct feedback, and more. It’s like having a constant stream of customer wisdom at your fingertips.

Holistic Customer Feedback: Stop just asking sales customers! Branch out and create surveys (qualitive and quantitative) that enable people who didn’t end up buying to give their feedback too.

Customer Journey Mapping.

Identify Pain Points: Understand the entire customer journey, from first contact to post-purchase support. Identify and address pain points at each stage. Think of it as a treasure map, leading you to gold (aka happy customers).

Enhance Touchpoints: Make every interaction count. Ensure consistency and quality across all channels. Customers should feel like royalty, no matter where they interact with you.

Employee Engagement.

Feedback Loop: No one knows the stupid stuff you make customers and frontline team members do better than the frontline team members themselves. Encourage them to share insights from their interactions with customers. Use this feedback to improve processes. It’s a win-win. Make it a habit, get store leaders on calls with senior leaders on a regular basis.  Get store leaders involved in design stages of projects.   

But what about…?!

Now, I know what you might be thinking, "This sounds great, but it's a lot to implement." Or, “why upset the apple cart, we’ve already got this running and it’s probably enough.” Well, let’s tackle some common objections head-on:

“We don’t have the resources for all this."  

Start small. Implementing customer feedback systems doesn’t require a massive investment. Begin with simple surveys and gradually expand. The insights you gain will justify further investment.

"Our NPS score is already high; why change?"

A high NPS score is a good sign, but it doesn’t mean you’ve reached perfection. There’s always room for improvement. Exploring customer journey mapping and data analytics can reveal hidden opportunities for growth and differentiation.

"Our frontline teams are busy; they can’t handle more responsibilities."

You’re not bringing them all in at once! Be strategic and targeting and set up a rotation system.  This not only brings in a more diverse set of experiences, but also enables you to share the load.

“We’ve always done it this way; why change now?"

The retail landscape is constantly evolving. What worked in the past may not be enough to stay competitive in the future. Embracing new ways of understanding your customers is how you survive and thrive in the future.

The Path Forward

This is going to sound seriously cliché, and you’ll probably roll your eyes, so bear with me: Customer focus isn’t just a metric; it’s a mindset. I know, I know.  But by embracing a holistic approach to customer experience, you position your brand for long-term success.  The higher amount of early effort is worth it in the long run.  But don’t try and do it all at once.  Think through what is best for you to start broadening your feedback.  In my experience with clients, the best place to start is with getting a bigger picture, which starts with the customers that NPS are missing.  Listen to them, spend time with them, and understand why they didn’t buy, or why they were just passive.  Then from there you can generate some incredible customer journey maps to help you build something people rave about.  Then you’ll generate growth in revenue (and NPS). 

For those who found my anecdotes too long and uninteresting so skipped to the end bit, here’s a summary:

Understand Your Customers.

Delve into their needs and preferences. Not just through surveys, but in discussions, in focus groups, and more.  Take a more holistic approach to capturing customer feedback.

Map Their Journeys.

Identify and enhance touchpoints. Smooth out pain points to create seamless experiences and strengthen areas that are most important to your customers, even if you’re already doing them well!

Listen to Your Team.

Create space and systems that enables your frontline teams to come into the conversation. They understand what is happening in the real world, including with the customers who aren’t buying from you.  Listen to them.

Don’t be afraid of change.

The retail ecosystem is constantly changing, and customers' expectations are being shaped both in and out of retail constantly.  What got us here, may not get us where we need to be next.

So, let’s stop obsessing over NPS like it’s the be-all and end-all. It’s just the appetizer; the main course is making sure your efforts translate into real growth. When you take a holistic approach to customer experience—focusing on what really matters—you won’t just meet expectations, you’ll blow them out of the water. Happy customers? They’ll stick around, rave about you, and boost your bottom line. Don’t lost sight of the fact that NPS is an input metric, you need to look to find correlation between it and revenue.  Sure, it takes some work, but trust me, the payoff is worth it. Your customers will repay you with something far better than just a high score—they’ll repay you with loyalty that lasts (and sales!!).