Why are we passive? Where’s the ‘wow’?
Here’s a question we are being asked all the time these days: On a scale of 0-10, how likely are you to recommend this hotel/book/stuff to a friend or colleague?
It’s the Net Promoter Score question and it’s a measure of customer loyalty.
We all know about peer recommendations – they are increasingly the reason we select hotels, choose books and buy stuff off the internet.
The thinking is, that if you like us enough to actively promote us to your friends, you’re a loyal customer.
However, when providing a Net Promoter Score, only a mark of 9 or 10 out of 10 is considered a recommendation and that’s a high bar for a landlord or property manager.
Detractors score from 0-6 and ‘passives’, the ‘it’s okay-brigade’, score 7 and 8.
Over the last five years, we have asked the NPS question more than 25,000 times
Over the last five years, we have asked the Net Promoter Score question more than 25,000 times on behalf of our clients.
And while the overall average NPS score has fluctuated and varies by sector (more about that another time), the percentage of passives has stayed the same, rooted as the highest group at 35% across all those customers interviewed.
“In difficult times, it’s the ‘passives’ who could hold the key for landlords and commercial property owners,” said RealService director Louise Freethy, who oversees our CX and insight projects.
“If you want a premium customer to stay loyal, it makes sense that swaying the passives will be easier than winning the hearts and minds of detractors.
“It’s interesting that there has been little or no movement in the number of passives despite the work we know our clients have been doing to improve their customers’ experiences.
“It’s obviously not been quite enough to shift the ‘passives’ into ‘promoters’, either through building relationships or in the offerings they are delivering.
It’s that extra something that warrants a score of 9 or 10
“What that means is our clients are doing a nice job of providing a good experience but are still not delivering that extra something that warrants a score of 9 or 10 – and that’s the challenge.
“Customers are looking for a ‘wow’ factor and they are increasingly comparing their experiences across all industries, and not just like with like.
“There have clearly been a variety of challenges for landlords over the last five years and there are plenty to come, the economic situation for one, and the net zero agenda is another.
“Both those hurdles can best be overcome in partnership with loyal customers, and the best way of creating loyal customers is to ask them what more you can do to help their businesses.”
Five ways of raising the NPS bar
1 – The RealService Customer Experience Pyramid demonstrates the steps that will turn casual clients into loyal customers.
First, get the basics right. Then, make sure you make life easy for your customers and, finally, create an emotional connection with them. It’s making that connection which turns ‘customer service’ into ‘customer experience’ and promotes loyalty.
2 – Connect with your customers at every level. The end users are now just as important as your client’s property manager. Don’t forget, investors want occupied buildings, not empty shells, so the wellbeing of employees is an increasingly important factor. Ask them what they need and what they want – don’t assume.
3 – Act on the information they give you and make continual improvements. Your stakeholders need to see that you are listening to them in order to build a mutual trust.
4 – Develop a relationship with your customers that is partnership based. For example, you will not be able to make inroads into your shared net zero ambitions unless you work together.
5 – Carry out regular, independent research with all your stakeholders. This will provide all the evidence you need to apply points 1-4. We can help you with this.
There’s more information on the Net Promoter Score here.
