Best Practices

Playing Not to Lose is a pejorative used in sports to describe a coach, athlete or team who is so paralyzed by the fear of losing that they stop trying to win. All of their attention is focused on avoiding mistakes, causing them to miss opportunities to put points on the board towards a victory.

In my opinion, many companies are also guilty of Playing Not to Lose – by focusing their Net Promoter program exclusively on minimizing Detractors.

Don’t get me wrong – reducing Detractors is vitally important work. After all, having fewer Detractors than Promoters is at the heart of the Net Promoter Score metric.

But if the end goal of your Net Promoter program is simply to avoid Detractors, you don’t have a loyalty program – you have a complaint department. To take full advantage of the Net Promoter growth engine, you must focus on amassing an army of Promoters and then – here’s the important part – energize those Promoters towards taking actions that benefit both themselves and your company.

The following list, while far from exhaustive, contains four ways you can transform your Net Promoter program by playing to win.

Include Promoters in your Close-the-Loop Process

“Closing the Loop” refers to the two-step process of sharing a customer’s feedback with the employee(s) responsible for the experience, and talking directly to the customer to take appropriate action on the feedback provided.

Many companies using the Net Promoter system have a Closed Loop process in place for responding to feedback from Detractors – a vitally important activity. But few companies regularly and systematically close the loop with their Promoters.

Closing the loop with Promoters gives you the opportunity to thank them for their loyalty. No one likes to feel taken for granted, not even your raving fans. Let your Promoters know that you appreciate their feedback and their business. Ask questions to find out what you could be doing to make them even more loyal. Build rapport with your most important customers – your Promoters.

Extending your Closed Loop to include Promoters also has positive benefits on employee engagement. It allows your employees to hear praise, not just complaints. When employees hear first-hand how they have made a positive impact on a customer’s experience with your company, the end result is a more engaged and loyal staff.

Special Benefits for Promoters

American Express (a company of which I am a Promoter) has an advertising campaign that centers around the slogan “Membership Has Its Privileges”.  The campaign is effective because it quickly conveys Amex’s value proposition– get an Amex card, and you too can get exclusive perks not available to the general public.

Likewise, being a Promoter of your company should come with privileges. Promoters are customers who engage in long-term economically positive behavior, and as such, are your most valuable customers. Reward them as such.

There are many ways that you can reward your Promoters – exclusive offers, opportunities to participate in focus groups, or simply a hand-written “Thank You” card are all ways that you can help your Promoters know that you appreciate them.

Spark Referrals

By very definition, your Promoters are customers who are extremely likely to recommend you to a friend or colleague. Yet many companies are often hesitant to ask their Promoters to do exactly that – refer new business.

There is no shame in encouraging Promoters to tell others about your company. Platforms like Extole and Amplifinity give your Promoters the tools to share their passion for your company with their friends and colleagues, and allow you to reward your Promoters for referring business. That’s a win-win situation.

Promoter-focused Analytics

Many companies incorporate text analytics and statistical analysis into their Net Promoter program to unlock the information hidden within their customer feedback.

These tools are often used to identify opportunities for improvement – but they can also be used just as effectively to find ways to increase engagement amongst your Promoters. What type of language do your Promoters use to describe your company? What attributes do your Promoters tell you are Critical to Quality? What do your Promoters value?

By understanding the underlying data, you can prioritize actions to further expand the love that your Promoters already have for your company.

The companies that are truly “winning” at Customer Loyalty – companies like Apple, Zappos, and USAA – aren’t simply trying to minimize Detractors. World-class companies are intentional about amassing and energizing an army of Promoters.