By Vesela Nedkova – Senior Market Research Manager, GemSeek

The importance of internal alignment and the NPS manual –

sustainability, accountability, comparability

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Customer satisfaction studies measuring Net Promoter Score (NPS) are a key lever in managing and improving the performance of any business. To extract the most out of your studies, however, they should be applied across the entire organization in a uniform method and repeated over time to track performance.This is where the NPS manual comes in.

The NPS manual is a detailed overview of the must-have’s and must-not’s involved in the execution of NPS studies within any specific organization. It contains key information on the methodology and ways of using the NPS results. Customized to reflect the specifics of the study, its main purpose is to support the execution of the program and enable the deployment of the results across organizational levels.

Sustainability

Benefits of creating an NPS manual

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Sustainability refers to the potential of running the study over time, supplying information about your product / service performance and responding to the developing market environment.

The time perspective of each NPS program should be considered during the study design (see 6 important questions when starting your NPS program). The methodology, questionnaire setup, fieldwork frequency should be aligned with your com-pany strategy and operational timings to enable appropriate input into the execution of marketing communication cam-paigns, special offers to clients and other customer activation initiatives.

Keep in mind that as your business matures, the NPS survey will develop as well – and so should the manual. Processes that were set up during the initial launch should be re-designed to increase efficiency and match new organizational structures. What if there was no NPS manual as you started? This usually happens when a second wave or a second market was not expected. In this case the manual should list all the work done to date and the way any new setup will pick up the existing know-how and develop it. Your best practices are preserved by formalizing them in the rulebook in this way effectively transferring them throughout the organization.

You can increase the engagement of all teams with the project by “educating” them in the key terms and definitions they will face while discussing the project. It is a good idea to include sample deliverables and guidelines on how to read them – the NPS study is equally valuable for the local brand manager as it is for the Global CE executives. This will increase the project’s success and make it an intrinsic part of your operations in the long term.

Past Present Future

Sustainability: Insight-driven development over time

HELPS TRACK THE HISTORY OF CHANGES MADE TO THE NPS PROGRAM OVER TIME

FORMALIZES BEST PRACTICES

TRANSFERS NPS KNOW-HOW ACROSS THE WHOLE ORGANIZATION

HELPS INCREASE EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT WITH THE NPS PROGRAM

The NPS manual:

Accountability

Benefits of creating an NPS manual

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Accountability relates to identifying the responsibility of the various stakeholders across the organization (and the research agency) ahead of time.

A broad range of internal and external stakeholders are involved in any NPS program. The centralized teams responsible for CX initiatives (global or local) oversee the design and implementation of the program in each related market. Local teams, on the other hand, are tasked with providing all the available insights into the study setup. They identify the main business objectives and information gaps to be completed with the survey. However, how does this happen? Who provides their feed-back first? Who has the final say? How long can each stage take?

Each phase of the project (setup, fieldwork, reporting, and results deployment) and the tasks in it should be described in detail to enable planning and timely execution. Clear role distribution, well-defined communication channels and breaking down lengthy processes into a concise sequence of steps are the key ingredients of an efficient study.

Accountability: Clearly defined roles and responsibilities

DEFINES ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL NPS PROGRAM STAKEHOLDERS

OUTLINES COMMUNICATION CHANNELS

SPECIFIES THE PROCESS OF GIVING AND IMPLEMENTING FEEDBACK

BREAKS DOWN LENGTHY PROCESSES INTO A CONCISE SEQUENCE OF STEPS

The NPS manual:

INTERNAL CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE TEAM

INTERNAL PRODUCT TEAM

FIELDWORK AGENCY

REPORTING & ANALYTICS TEAM

1 2

3

4

5

Comparability

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Comparability comprises two dimensions – 1). across markets / business units and 2). throughout time. Methodological guidelines need to be established ahead of time to ensure results can be compared across both of these dimensions. The NPS manual begins with defining the target group. If you measure a broad target (let’s say a nationally representative sample) in one market and a specific customer segment (e.g. loyal customers) in another, results will vary widely and com-parability will not be possible. We at GemSeek recommend listing all the relevant quotas. This makes the setup of a follow-up study that much simpler.

Continue with defining the question count and brand list size. Osten business environments differ across markets but time constraints of the survey set maximum limits on lists. Make sure this is all clearly communicated in the manual – giving enough space to address local specifics (more fragmented market, more products on offer, etc.) but also setting firm bound-aries. Here, you should consider the criteria for qualification – market shares, for example, work well.

Similarly, describe the main questions that need to be included in each survey – and why. Yet, keep in mind that to give actionable insights, you always need to ask extra questions. Determine how many questions can be added to answer to specific local queries without affecting the success rate of the survey. What can be answered by 10 questions can usually be found out by 3 well-designed ones as well. And if it can’t – most likely a separate study is needed.

Setting up the questionnaire structure also has another purpose – it guarantees objectivity. It is likely that there are key strategic directions for your organization that are not fully developed in all markets. Make sure they are measured – you will want to evaluate the progress made on those.

Benefits of creating an NPS manualComparability: ”Apples-to-apples” comparison over time

DEFINES VARIATIONS OF THE SURVEY BASED ON LOCAL MARKET SPECIFICS

SPECIFIES QUESTION COUNT

OUTLINES “MUST-HAVE” AND “NICE-TO-HAVE” QUESTIONS

DESCRIBES QUESTIONNAIRE STRUCTURE

SPECIFIES BRAND LISTS

INCLUDES A LIST OF ALL THE RELEVANT QUOTAS TO ENSURE COMPARABILITY ACROSS RESPONDENT TARGET GROUPS

The NPS manual:

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And most importantly

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Writing out all of the above points in a document, whether it happens prior to study launch or aster a few waves, is a lengthy process – as drasting any policy should be. However, consider the following:

The NPS manual is more than just a written record of most decisions that need to be made to ensure a successful NPS survey. It is also a valuable resource that all members of your organization can consult to guide them in providing local feedback, monitoring processes and understanding and implementing the results.

If you don’t have a manual in place, make the preparations to create one, in cooperation with your research partner. If there is one – take a look at it again. Does it need any revisions?

Need help creating your NPS manual? Pick our brains! Contact our Customer Experience consultants at cxp@gemseek.com.

Results

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