The best way to organise your NPS® program is to build it around your specific business context. The principles to follow, however, are common: all companies running successful NPS programs LEAD: Localise, Engage, Act, and Develop in time.
LEAD Principles
To implement successful NPS programs, companies follow four basic principles in the program design:
- They Localise the content to make it relevant to the specific country and/or product category while keeping sight of the global core Program.
- They follow a multi-layer cross-functional approach – Engaging stakeholders across all levels of the organisation is crucial to the success of the program.
- They make sure to Act quickly upon their NPS results – Driving improvement on the basis of tangible customer feedback motivates everyone within the organisation.
- They always look for ways to Develop the Program further – Regular program review is key.
Localise
Strike the right balance between ‘one-size-fits-all’ and ‘every country is different’
Even companies with the goal of reaching a level of comparability between different business entities (countries, product categories) can have, to some extent, localisation of their NPS programs. One of our clients, a leading Consumer Electronics multinational, follows a clearly defined process of execution, described in a Program Rulebook. This helps them maintain coherent execution of the Program, which in turn leads to comparable results and easy prioritisation of investment between countries.
In the meantime, there is considerable room for customization of the survey design: include local brand lists, choose a location based on country specifics, and select respondents according to different socio-demographic criteria. Above all is the incorporation of country oriented content in the questionnaires. In the case of our client, each country can have 3 country-specific questions.
Localisation makes survey results much more relevant to the country-specific situation. What is more, it increases tremendously the engagement of the country with the study.
Engage
Think of customer centricity as a team effort.
Successful NPS programs involve people of different functions and levels in the organisation. Working closely with one of the biggest Telecommunication companies in Europe, we oversaw what a truly multi-layer cross-functional approach can be.
Let me share it with you now. Their NPS Program is managed by a Global Customer Experience team responsible for the Program execution. During the study design and set up stage period the team is in charge of the coordination between other functions on a global level, so thus all business requirements of the relevant stakeholders are covered. Further, these stakeholders are responsible for the communication on a country level with the relevant functions. This process, if managed well, saves time and creates awareness across the whole organisation.
As soon as the survey results are available, distribution within the company begins – from entry level to C-level executives. This is done using an internal NPS portal. The platform gives access to the results in real-time, and lets employees share comments, best practices, and suggest ideas.
Act
Act quickly and on all organisational levels.
Why is NPS key to your organisation? Based on NPS results, businesses can take better and more informed operational, tactical and strategic actions. In our long-term relationship with a leading Lighting manufacturer, we observed how by tapping on this opportunity a company can move quickly ahead of the competition. This is not a myth, it is a true story.
In this case, operational improvements are in the form of acting quickly on the feedback collected from customers (closing the loop). This could be anything from calling the customer to warm up relationships to solving invoicing issues and logistical challenges.
On a tactical level, actions can be taken in a series of quarterly workshops with all relevant stakeholders on both global and local level. Why are workshops a good idea? Current initiatives can be revised, improvement actions can be set and a strict planning for their execution can be undertaken. These could be decisions to reshuffle the account management teams, prepare new product catalogs, implement a new process for ordering, and etc.
In the case of our client, strategic level actions are taken by the senior management of the company together with the stakeholders in the key markets. Actions can include sales efforts in terms of target audiences and products, development of new propositions, and implementation of entirely new customer management systems.
Develop in time
Constantly look for opportunities to improve your NPS Program.
You can always improve your NPS Program when you have a proper organisational structure in place, a well-organised process, and dedication. When all these pieces come together, a continuous development of the NPS Program can be achieved.
Once an opportunity to improve the Program is identified – from changing a training document on the portal to shifting the way reporting is done –the change process begins. A small team can be formed to analyse the impact this would have on the current set up. The analysis should be reviewed by the senior management and upon agreement – implemented. It is a good practice to log all of these improvements in the system, so the project changes are tracked.
Dedication to improvement is the element supporting both the structure and the process. It is the passion to get the best out of the NPS Program that results in concrete business solutions. This passion should be distributed across the entire organisation to create strong customer centricity.
Do you have questions? Get in touch and one of our experts will contact you with customised advice!
