Strategies to Improve Net Promoter Score (NPS®): Tips by 8 Industry Experts

Net Promoter Score® (NPS) is a measurement of Customer Loyalty, and if you think about it from that perspective, improving NPS should be straightforward — employ strategies to keep customers happier, turn detractors and passives into promoters and that's it! You're on your way to a better NPS Score. But in reality, it's a bit more complicated. What strategies should you employ? When and how should you execute those? Which areas should you focus on? All of that and more matters when you're looking at improving Customer Loyalty, and your NPS. 

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We asked industry experts about what they think is the best strategy to improve the NPS Score, and got some really practical tips. In this roundup, we share 8 effective strategies by Experts to improve your Net Promoter Score. 

Listen to the Voice of Customers

(Will Hatton, Founder/CEO, The Broke Backpacker)

The NPS is brilliant to see how engaged a company is with its customers. I find that using testimonials is a great way to understand what you are doing right and what you need to improve on as a company. With this in mind, using regular meetings with past and present customers is another way to get more detailed answers on what to improve on or continue to do for the benefit of satisfying your customers' needs.

Define your Audience

(David, CEO of Voice.com)

To begin, agree on the definition of what is NPS and how it's calculated. Even within our company, depending on which group 'owned' the reporting of NPS, the methodology as well as the frequency in which the survey is sent.

Defining the audience and when the question is key to having reliable scores that serve as your baseline. Once defined, surveys can be sent on an automated basis providing your company with a real-time score and insight into the perception of your brand through the eyes of your customers.

Get Clear on Ownership and Reporting Responsibilities. Be clear about which department owns the survey and reporting of your NPS program. For months, it bounced around between departments and at one point it was co-owned when the reporting entirely ceased.

Avoid diffused responsibility and assign NPS to a single group and even a single person. In our organization, Product Marketing owns the NPS program, publishes dashboards, and formally reports on it during our quarterly Voice of the Customer session.

Clarity around ownership has made a significant change with both the score as well as comments being discussed during reporting sessions. We also wrap-up with a recommendation list outlining specific ways we can improve.

Focus on Passives as well

(Matt Rostosky, Owner at Cashofferky.com)

One way to improve your net promoter score is to also focus on Passives instead of just solely concentrating on Detractors. Passives can be a huge market when they are converted into followers because they still can't decide on how they perceive your brand or business so it's easier to sway them to your side. One way is to introduce promos and special limited discounts to entice them to get to know more about your brand or service.

Identify Potential Areas for Improvement

(Whitlock - Marketing Manager at Golden Spiral)

Net Promoter Score surveys boost customer loyalty and identify potential areas for improvement. Good reviews travel fast and bad reviews even faster. Using surveys can help you get ahead of the criticism and maximize the compliments. They really boil down to one thing: “How likely are you to recommend this product?”

Once you’ve assembled and conducted your NPS survey, it’s time to put the data to work on your bottom line. Go to NPSBenchmarks.com and plug in your industry to see where your company stands.

Doing better than your peers? Do you know why? Understanding your success with clients is equally as important as knowing why some customers are unhappy.

The best way to make meaningful interpretations of your data is to engage all levels of your organization to review and respond to your survey results. Remember, you created this survey as part of your marketing strategy, so be sure to use it to your advantage - and start planning your next survey.

Don't be Complacent

(James Boatwright, CEO of Code Galaxy)

The best advice to boosting your NPS is: don't be complacent. Even if you have a good NPS you want to maintain it and creating those relationships is key. Engaging with your customers on online platforms, social media, etc., is valuable always, as is responding to your detractors. Keep informed on what is working and not working, and address it.

Distribute NPS Surveys via Emails

(David Morneau, CEO, and founder of inBeat Agency)

NPS a measure of how satisfied your customer is with your service such that they would recommend you to their peers and colleagues. In 2003, one of the founders of Intuit, Scott Cook developed this system as they found market research as expensive and easy to cross-tab out of bad data.

Organizations later utilized this method after the Harvard Business Review published an article essentially, it's a no-brainer then that the best way to improve your NPS is to ensure that your customers get the best experience doing business with you right from prospecting down to support and nurturing. Your business will get that good first impression if you follow a well-planned prospecting technique on the get-go.

In my opinion, A study has found that best-in-class email NPS has oscillated between 3% and 15% response rate (depending on the platform - worked with a variety). In-app NPS tends to get up to a 40–45% response rate. The most influential thing to mark is that every one of the emails will get a better response/open/click rate if you get customer buy-in.

Sit down with your team and discuss *why* you are doing NPS. If it turns out the whole point of it is to be better at serving your customers (as it likely will be), you can grease the wheels a little bit. Email your entire active customer base and let them know the company vision.

You are focusing heavily on providing a better experience for them - “We are a Customer Happiness focused company” is a great message to send across and will likely be well received.

Then you can ‘recruit’ your customers - let them know that their feedback will drive the direction of the company and will directly help your team improve. With buy-in from your customers, you will get a significantly higher response rate and they are also highly likely to leave more qualitative feedback.

Engaged with your Customers Efficiently

(Ravi Parikh, CEO, RoverPass)

To maintain a good Net Promoter Score you will have to stay engaged with your customers. Address concerns, and offer perks to loyal customers. Send reminders for them to share their experience with your business with others and make it easy for them to do so.

Ask Correct NPS Question at the Appropriate Time

(Andrew R Taylor, Founder at Net Lawman)

It's really important to ask your question at the appropriate time, you would be surprised at the difference this makes and I have been surprised as a customer when I am asked my opinion and the sale hasn't been completed entirely. Ensure the sale is complete before launching the NPS.

So, improving the score comes down to nurturing your customers, understanding what their issues were if they were a detractor, and working to resolve this issue. Providing further advantages to positives allows you to ensure they remain loyal.

Learn More about the Net Promoter Score (NPS)

• Five Key Insights You Can’t Miss from Your Hotel NPS Survey

• Use Net Promoter Score to Create a Customer-Centric Business

• Net Promoter Score Benchmarks

• The ABC of NPS Survey - What It is and What It's Not

• Net Promoter Score: Pros & Cons