Sage's Simply Accounting business has been using Net Promoter metrics for 3+ years now with good results, according to Scott Zandbergen and Margaret Dron of Sage. The company is serious about this: new employees at orientation learn about the Net Promoter Score (NPS) and the importance of focusing on customer loyalty.
They have created 3 Pillars of success:
- Organizational buy-in - getting support from exec level down and at every employee level
- Regular measurement of NP score – they prompt customers at point of use to give their NPS
- Take action on learning – e.g., pick up the phone and thank them and tell them they have acted on the information.
There is also a central team that’s looking at NPS - appropriately called the “Good Profit team,” - and they meet every 2 weeks to discuss the program.
Some results of this company focus: Sage has increased their NPS over 10% year-over-year – with direct input from the program resulting in product improvements such as enhancing user interface, improving ease of use and expanding reporting capabilities.
But it's not just about product improvements, it's also about improving the overall customer experience.
How did Sage get started? They formed a Customer Experience team made up of “change agents” within the organization. Great idea. They talk a lot about “passionate consumers, and finding those the employees who are passionate and have them lead the way and transform the organization.
That evolved and now all employees are on board. Are they motivated? YES. Like all great programs, NPS is tied into their annual performance objectives. What they have done is empower the front line.
Here are some other interesting ways Sage is making the extra effort:
- They have given the program a personal touch by doing road shows and hosting speakers series (experts on a certain topic) to educate consumers
- Also, they have taken the step to create an online support community where customers can talk with others about their experience and also provide feedback back to the product development team.
They justify the investment because they know that recommendations drive over 60% of new user purchases and 30% of their sales overall.
Also customers that have been touched by the Welcome team (a team set up to welcome first-time users of the software with a call to see how they are doing) have a 71% NPS, whereas members not touched have lower NPS.
When they have a high value detractor, these people get a call – “the simple act of a phone call makes a big difference.”
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