A Quick Guide to Closing the Loop: Always Chase up Your NPS!
NPS feedback is a goldmine of potential for improving your business — so don’t let it go unnoticed. Many businesses fall into the same ‘loop’: they ask for feedback, receive the feedback, ignore the feedback and ultimately forget the feedback…and so it all begins again. Why? Because if you don’t follow up with your customers then nothing will ever change. Not only this but they will feel devalued. What we should be doing is resolving the customer’s concerns and gaining valuable insight from their opinions.
So how can we take action and close this loop? The best way to approach this is to separate your customers into groups based on the NPS score given. Each of these groups will need to be tackled differently when you come to respond to them. So let’s break it down.
Promoters (NPS Score of 9–10)
Your promoters are just that: people who are likely to support and recommend your business to others…so you need to harness their enthusiasm whilst it’s fresh! Make sure to reply to your promoters within 7 days to benefit the most from their positive experience with you.
Keep your tone appreciative and also a little curious by thanking them and then asking them if they have any suggestions for improvement.
It is also very important to call to action at this stage. The power of WOM works wonders when it comes to positive feedback. Invite your promoters to share their review on social media or an external review site that is visible to the public. There you have it; you’ve made your valuable customer feel appreciated and important whilst creating the potential for new leads — what more could you want!?
Passives (NPS Score of 7–8)
Passives are a little bit more difficult to read; they’re satisfied…but they’re not WOWED. Be empathetic about this and approach them with an investigative mindset.
It’s crucial that you leave it no longer than 48 hours before responding; service that isn’t WOW is easily forgotten, so you need to dive in there fast! If their review sheds light on any negative aspects of their experience, recognise this and reassure them that their concerns have been heard.
Be proactive and ask follow-up questions to delve deeper into the root cause of the problem.
Detractors (NPS Score of 0–6)
Detractors are your most sensitive group and should be treated seriously with a sympathetic and proactive tone. DO NOT leave it more than 24 hours before getting in touch — you’re in a race against time before they start relaying their negative experience with their peers and deterring potential new business!
Don’t be intimidated by your detractors, they’re more likely to appreciate your response rather than having their concerns ignored. Be honest with them, admit your fault and prove to them that you are solution-oriented.
Again, it’s important to get to the root cause of the problem by prompting further conversation. Direct your detractors to a dedicated support team whose main focus should be to resolve the customer’s issues to the best of your company’s ability. If you don’t resolve any potential problems internally, you risk your unhappy customer turning to the public domain and external channels such as social media to voice their negative experience. This creates an open loop of chaos for your brand!
In order to make sure the closed loop process continues to work, it is important to share feedback with your team regularly, especially those who relate to it directly. This way, everyone can gain valuable insight and collectively work towards finding the root cause of any problems before solving them.
