How to Organize Your NPS Projects in 2023

Why is NPS important?

Ever since it was introduced in 2003, NPS has taken the world by storm.

Designed to identify the best question to help predict customer lifetime value, the metric took 2 years of painstaking analysis of the correlation between survey questions and business results.

Nowadays, two-thirds of Fortune 1000 companies use NPS to gauge the quality of their customer experience. However, it can be applied by companies of all sizes and from across different industries.

NPS surveys will make it possible to identify unhappy customers and follow up with them to stop their dissatisfaction from escalating.

According to Bain & Company, NPS Detractors are responsible for more than 80% of negative word of mouth. Taking steps to proactively address their concerns will go a long way toward reducing this likelihood.

At the same time, 80-90% of positive referrals come from Promoters, meaning you should use NPS to engage with this group regularly.

One of the primary benefits of NPS is that it can serve as a catalyst for change within your business. By focusing your efforts on this metric, you can align your teams and resources around the goal of improving customer loyalty and satisfaction.

Running NPS surveys in the long term will help you identify areas of the customer journey that need improvement, such as the purchasing process, product quality, or customer support. It will also guide product development by prioritizing features or improvements that customers value the most.

Lastly, running regular NPS campaigns will empower employees to take ownership of the customer experience and make decisions that improve customer satisfaction.

When you should prioritize NPS projects

NPS is used to gauge customer satisfaction and loyalty by asking customers how likely they are to recommend a product or service to others. It is an essential tool for understanding and improving customer experiences.

NPS works best as part of a holistic approach and alongside a combination of financial, operational, and customer-focused metrics to create a well-rounded and more cohesive approach.

However, it might be a good idea to prioritize NPS campaigns in the following situations.

Customer-centric business model

If your business model heavily relies on customer satisfaction, loyalty, and word-of-mouth marketing, NPS projects should be prioritized. In industries where competition is fierce, and switching costs are low, customer satisfaction is essential for retaining and growing your customer base.

High churn rate

If your business is experiencing a high churn rate or losing customers, focusing on NPS projects can help identify the pain points and improve customer experiences, ultimately reducing churn and increasing retention.

New product or service launch

When introducing a new product or service, prioritizing NPS projects can help you gather valuable feedback, enabling you to make necessary improvements before scaling up.

Low NPS scores

If your NPS scores are consistently low or declining, it is essential to prioritize NPS projects to understand and address the underlying issues causing dissatisfaction. Running NPS surveys regularly and at different touchpoints can help you get to the root causes faster.

Strategic growth initiatives

If your company has set ambitious growth targets, prioritizing NPS projects can help ensure that your customer base remains satisfied, loyal, and engaged as you scale up. You’ll be able to gather feedback as you go to proactively modify your approach.

Balancing long-term growth and short-term performance

While other metrics such as revenue, profit, and customer acquisition may be more critical in the short term, prioritizing NPS projects can help you ensure long-term customer satisfaction and loyalty, which ultimately drive sustainable growth.

How to organize your NPS projects

Set NPS campaign objectives

Before launching an NPS campaign, clearly define the objectives you want to achieve. Businesses typically use NPS to:

evaluate customer loyalty and satisfaction
track the impact of recent changes or improvements
benchmark against competition
segment customers based on their feedback
foster a customer-centric culture

Getting a higher NPS score value is rarely a goal in and of itself unless it’s driven by improvements to customer experience. Don’t fall into the trap of treating NPS as a vanity metric and use its full potential.

At the same time, be aware of the metric’s limitations. For instance, if the NPS score is low, you need to know what is causing dissatisfaction among customers. You won’t always gather all the information you need with NPS only. That’s why it’s a good idea to use other metrics, for instance, the Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) or Customer Effort Score (CES) to get additional insights.

Below you’ll find Survicate’s CSAT survey template you can use right away:

Use this template

Determine the right timing

The timing of your NPS campaign plays a crucial role in its effectiveness. When deciding when to start your project, you might want to consider the customer lifecycle stage, such as onboarding, after making a purchase, or after customer support interactions, to test how the score changes at various stages of the customer journey.

Looking at purchase frequency will help you decide when and how often you should run your campaigns. For instance, if you have infrequent purchases or long sales cycles, annual or bi-annual NPS campaigns may suffice. With frequent purchases or shorter sales cycles, consider quarterly or even monthly campaigns.

Choose the right survey channels

Select the most appropriate channels to reach your target audience, taking into consideration the customer's preferred communication method, device usage, and the likelihood of response. You might want to consider sending your NPS survey by email, text message, or display it on a website or in an app.

A good survey tool will allow you to use any of the channels to ensure optimal response rate.

Automate your NPS surveys

Automating your NPS projects will speed up the entire process and reduce your overall cost. It will also eliminate mistakes and ensure that every response is taken into account.

When selecting a survey tool, go for the one with built-in automation features, such as Survicate, to help you with the following:

segmenting your customers,
scheduling the survey,
automate reminders to non-respondents,
monitoring and analyzing the responses,
setting up your integration workflow to receive continuous NPS feedback automatically,
translating the survey into other languages,
closing the feedback loop.

Closed-loop feedback. Source: Bain & Company

Analyze and interpret the results

Once you have collected sufficient responses, it's time to create an NPS report.

To calculate your NPS score, subtract the percentage of Detractors from the percentage of Promoters, as in the picture below:

Remember that your survey tool should calculate your score automatically as new responses come in.

Once you’ve sifted through the results, it’s a good idea to segment your customers to uncover specific insights and trends.

Don’t forget about the open-ended NPS feedback. Use text analysis tools or manual coding to identify common themes, trends, and patterns in customer comments.

You can collect it by asking a follow-up question in your NPS survey:

Use this template

Avoid common mistakes

Last but not least, avoid typical mistakes when running your NPS projects. Even though it’s a straightforward metric, there are many things that can go wrong, including inaccurate wording and sending the survey at the wrong time, especially if you’re just getting started.

Other common NPS mistakes include:

ignoring Passives and Detractors and following up with Promoters only,
not closing the feedback loop,
failing to measure NPS regularly
relying too heavily on NPS benchmarks,
not making data-driven decisions.

How to design your NPS surveys with best practices in mind

An important part of making sure your NPS project is successful and you receive an optimal response rate is sticking to best practices. Here are some key considerations to keep in mind.

Pick a good moment

Send the survey at the right time, such as after a purchase, customer interaction, or milestone in the customer journey. Avoid surveying customers too frequently, as this may lead to survey fatigue.

However, surveying your customers should not be a one-time effort. Continuously monitor and optimize your campaigns to ensure you are capturing valuable insights and driving improvements.

Use a consistent scale

Always stick to the standard 0-10 scale for the NPS question, with 0 representing "Not at all likely" and 10 representing "Extremely likely." Don’t change the wording of the question or add any clarification. You cann add a follow-up question to probe your customers on their score.

Make it easy and accessible

Ensure that your survey is mobile-friendly and easily accessible across different devices and platforms.

Maintain anonymity

Encourage honest feedback by ensuring that responses are anonymous and confidential. Some customers might be unwilling to provide their opinion unless they can remain anonymous.

Follow up on feedback

Don't just collect the data—act on it. Close the feedback loop by addressing customer concerns and implementing improvements based on the feedback received.

Run successful NPS projects with Survicate

Running and organizing successful NPS campaigns require a strategic approach and a commitment to continuous improvement.

By setting clear objectives, targeting the right audience, designing engaging surveys, and acting on feedback, you can gain valuable insights and drive improvements in customer satisfaction and loyalty.

With Survicate, you can continuously monitor and optimize your NPS projects to stay attuned to your customers' needs and expectations.

Sign up for the 10-day free trial and find out for yourself how easy it is to send and manage all your surveys on one platform!