If you have raised your business's Net Promoter Score and increased your percentage of Promoters while reducing Detractors, congratulations are in order!
You have brightened the future of your business by working to boost this critical metric measuring customer satisfaction.
What's next?
A high Net Promoter Score is beneficial in and of itself, but coordinated initiatives to leverage this success should now be implemented.
Your goal is to maximize the benefits reaped by an active customer base filled with Promoters.
In the age of social media, it is easier than ever to encourage self-proclaimed Promoters to recommend your products or services to a friend.
Are you using any of these strategies to maximize the business success possible through a high Net Promoter Score?
Net Promoter Score and Social Media Incentives
Any salesperson understands the power of asking for what you want. The same applies to asking your Promoters to help you sell products and services through social media. If your company has a Facebook page "liked" by several Promoters, post a status update asking them to suggest the page to their Facebook friends. Offer an incentive when the page reaches a milestone number of "likes."
Conversely, use an email list full of Promoters to encourage email subscribers to "like" your Facebook page or "follow" you on Twitter. This brings your company's fans out of the dark and ups your social proof, showing potential customers your business is trustworthy.
Referral Programs
Straightforward referral programs are perhaps the world's simplest word-of-mouth marketing strategies, yet many auto aftermarket businesses do not use them. If you have never tried energizing Promoters through referral programs, you may be throwing money away.
Give out business cards with a blank line on which your representative can write a happy customer's name or account number. Encourage Promoters to give these cards to friends. When a referral card is presented by a new customer, they receive a special offer, and the referrer gets a thank-you card and a discount coupon.
Encourage Positive Reviews
The Internet and online review sites have significantly empowered ordinary customers to influence a business's reputation. Unfortunately for business, many customers never visit these sites unless they have a grudge to air. Instead of waiting for and responding to online complaints, proactively encourage Promoters to leave you a positive review.
Customer service representatives can quietly mention to influential Promoters that a positive review would be appreciated. Some sites, such as Yelp, print stickers you can place in your windows to remind customers to leave a review. Beware—that is only a good strategy if your Net Promoter Score suggests you can expect primarily or solely positive reviews.
Do not pay for reviews, even with free gifts or coupons, and never ask anyone who works for you to post reviews. Recent Federal Trade Commission guidelines, along with review site policies, make any sort of compensation for online reviews inadvisable.
You could, however, share product samples with Promoters who intend to evaluate the products provided, but it's very important that the reviewer disclose in his or her review if there's a relationship of any kind, including whether he or she received "freebies" from you.
