The Ultimate Question 2.0 : How Net Promoter Companies Thrive in a Customer-Driven World Author: Fred Reichheld | Language: English | ISBN:
1422173356 | Format: PDF
The Ultimate Question 2.0 : How Net Promoter Companies Thrive in a Customer-Driven World Description
Review
“This year, Reichheld, who is a fellow at Bain & Company as well as the founder of its loyalty practice, and Rob Markey, head of the company's global strategy and marketing practice, published The Ultimate Question 2.0: How Net Promoter Companies Thrive in a Customer-Driven World, an updated and expanded version of The Ultimate Question. The original lit the spark for the Net Promoter fire in 2006.” — CRM magazine
“wonderful new book” – FORBES.com
“A variety of companies have started using this: Charles Schwab, Apple, Progressive, Virgin Media, and more. Check out the book and see how to use it for your company.” – 800 CEO READ
About the Author
Fred Reichheld is a Fellow at Bain & Company. He is the bestselling author of The Loyalty Effect, published by Harvard Business Review Press, as well as numerous articles published in Harvard Business Review. Rob Markey is a partner and director in Bain & Company’s New York office and head of the firm’s global Customer Strategy and Marketing practice.
- Hardcover: 304 pages
- Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press; Rev Exp edition (September 20, 2011)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1422173356
- ISBN-13: 978-1422173350
- Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 0.9 inches
- Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
This is a revised and expanded second edition of a book published in 2006. In it, Fred Reichheld skillfully develops several concepts in much greater depth. In most of his previous books and articles, he focuses his primary attention on how to build and then sustain trust between and among those who share a workforce. Trust is again an important theme in this latest book because, if customers do not have trust in a company, its people, and its products and services as well as in its values, they will have little (if anything) to do with it and will certainly not recommend it to others.
The eponymous book titles refer to a question of ultimate importance: 'On a zero-to-ten scale, how likely is it that you would recommend us (or this product/service/brand) to a family member, friend or colleague?' As Reichheld explains, the phrasing of that question is 'a shorthand wording of a more basic question, which is, [begin italics] Have we treated you right, in a manner that is worthy of your loyalty? [end italics] 'But the question really wasn''t [and isn't] the heart of things. After all, no company can expect to increase its growth or profitability merely by conducting surveys, however the question or questions might be phrased.'
With assistance from Markey, what Reichheld does is provide a cohesive, comprehensive, and cost-effective management system by which that has three central components: categorizing customers into one of three categories (i.e. Promoters, Passives, an Detractors) through a simply survey, creating an easy-to-understand score based on that categorization, and finally, 'framing progress and success in these terms, thereby motivating everyone in the organization to take the actions required to produce more promoters and fewer detractors.
On a scale of 1-10 I would rate this one about a 4. Not because net promoter score (NPS) is not a good idea, and not because this is not a well written logical book, but because you don't need to read a book to start doing it. How you stretch an article about using a one-question survey as a measure of customer satisfaction into a 300 page book is to provide lots of examples. When I look at the list of the companies using net promoter score surveys, I'm reminded of past management fads that everyone followed such as TQM, ABC, EVA, CRM, Lean, and others. In fact, if it has three letters (NPS) and it is being pitched by a consultant, beware. . . If it sounds too good to be true it probably is. What is different about NPS is that is easy, logical, and something you can do yourself. All these other three-letter programs require lots of time, $, and use of consultants.
Certainly a one-question survey is more likely to get a better response rate than some of the 30+ question surveys I get from hotels, airlines, and car companies. I think this a trend in the right direction. However, what you gain in increased responses, you lose in diagnostic data. The authors suggest asking a second or third question in addition to the overall 1-10 rating to determine why someone gave a high or low rating, but now you are starting to aggravate the customer more. I don't need to take my time to tell you how you screwed up - I just won't go back.
I would strongly recommend using net promoter score as one of the suite of metrics you use to assess customer or employee satisfaction. Combined with other metrics, this can be a simple and easy to use measure. However, to rely on NPS as your only measure of something as important as customer satisfaction is a major mistake.
The Ultimate Question 2.0 : How Net Promoter Companies Thrive in a Customer-Driven World Preview
Link
Please Wait...