Step-by-Step Guide: How to Successfully Implement NPS in B2B

How successful is your Net Promoter Score B2B Program? 

Did you encounter any challenges while implementing it? 

During the implementation of the Net Promoter Score program in B2B, many brands face several challenges – ‘what objective to choose?’, ‘the right questions to ask’, ‘when to send the survey’ or ‘whom to send the survey’, and many more. 

Not just that, effectively analyzing survey results for maximum benefits can also pose a challenge.

Also, while NPS is very common in B2B (and brands majorly focus on that), it’s essential to acknowledge that CSAT surveys can play a critical role at certain touchpoints, providing relevant insights to enhance your understanding of customer sentiment.

To tackle these issues and make the most of NPS implementation for your business, we interacted with diverse B2B clients and devised a practical 4-step guide.

This comprehensive Net Promoter Score B2B guide will help you create appropriate NPS and CSAT questions, determine the ideal timing to send the survey, select the right recipients for the survey, and more.

Let’s get started.

4 Steps to Successfully Implement Net Promoter Score B2B

Here are the 4 steps to implement NPS in B2B: 

1. Identify the objective
2. Launch NPS surveys at the right touchpoint, asking the right questions 
3. Know whom to send the NPS surveys
4. Analyze the gathered survey data 

So, let’s start with the first step. 

STEP 1: Identify the OBJECTIVE of Your NPS Program

Knowing the objective is really crucial when it comes to implementing NPS surveys in B2B. It helps you to focus your efforts, gather relevant feedback, and gain valuable insights into customer satisfaction and loyalty.  

So, how can you do this? – By identifying the objectives depending on the pain points that you’re facing. 

Here are the 4 common pain points that B2B companies face:  

#Pain Point 1: Understanding Customer’s Perception of Your Brand

To understand your customer’s perception, you need to 

• Design a clear and concise NPS survey to collect feedback.
• Target key decision-makers and stakeholders in your B2B customer base.
• Analyze quantitative and qualitative feedback to identify areas of improvement and improve customers’ experiences.
• Gain deeper insights by including follow-up questions and then schedule a live session with customers.
• Use competitor analysis to benchmark your brand perception.

#Pain Point 2: Preventing Customer Churn and Contract Non-Renewals

Companies lose $1.6 trillion per year due to customer churn! And according to Forrester, it costs 5 TIMES MORE to acquire new customers than it does to keep an existing one. 

This statistic shows how losing customers in B2B can have a big impact on your business’s success. Not only does it impact revenue, but it also affects your brand reputation and market position. So, to prevent customer churn and contract non-renewals, you must: 

• Monitor NPS trends
• Reach out to detractors to understand and resolve their issues.
• Implement customer success initiatives to improve overall satisfaction.
• Use the gathered feedback to enhance product/service offerings based on customer needs, and 
• Implement customer retention strategies, such as personalized discounts, loyalty programs, or proactive customer success initiatives.

#Pain Point 3: The Challenge to Upsell and Cross-Sell to Your Current Customers

To resolve this pain point, you must:

• Identify promoters who are more likely to advocate for your brand. Engage them in referral programs or case studies to attract new customers.
• Analyze feedback from passives to identify opportunities for upselling.
• Customize upsell/cross-sell offers based on individual customer feedback.

#Pain Point 4: How to Leverage Promoters for Referrals and WoM?

You can leverage promoters for referrals and word-of-mouth (WoM) in B2B by the following:

• Request referrals from PROMOTERS- your satisfied customers.
• Incentivize referrals through rewards or exclusive offers.
• Encourage promoters to share their positive experiences on social media or review sites.
• Track and analyze the effectiveness of referral campaigns. Monitor the number of referrals generated, and measure the impact on lead generation and conversion rates.

Once you identify your business pain point then accordingly you can launch NPS surveys. 

STEP 2: Launch NPS Surveys at the Right Touchpoint & Ask the Right Questions

Now that the objective is clear, you need to determine when to launch these surveys because timing is crucial. 

Here’s an example of CMS, a leading B2B service company, implementing NPS for the first time. Their objective was to understand how their clients truly felt about their services. After conducting this NPS survey, they identified both detractors and promoters among their customers. 

Similarly, here are the touchpoints of other B2B industries on which you can launch NPS surveys and ask the right questions. 

1. B2B SaaS

In B2B SaaS, there are multiple touchpoints on which you can send NPS surveys, but sending the surveys is not sufficient. You must ask the right questions to gather hidden insights that will help you to improve customer satisfaction. 

Semesterly – decision maker To measure relationship and overall customer satisfaction quarterly and semesterly from the user or decision-maker.

You can ask the following questions: 

• On a scale of 0-10, how likely are you to recommend our CMS for its user-friendly interface?
• Based on your experience, how likely are you to recommend our CMS to others for its overall product value to your friends and colleagues?

In the B2B SaaS NPS Question, the common key attributes can be:

• Implementation Process 
• Account Managers’ Responsiveness
• Bugs and UI/UX
• Overall Product Value 

Improve your B2B SaaS Product with Customer Feedback

2. B2B Manufacturing

In B2B Manufacturing, companies launching NPS surveys at specific touchpoints can provide valuable insights into customer satisfaction and loyalty. With that, you can also identify areas for improvement, and foster long-term relationships with your clients.

While creating surveys, you can ask the following questions: 

• On an 11-point scale, how likely are you to recommend our company for the overall partnership we provide?
• Based on your experience, how likely are you to recommend our company for the effectiveness of our implementation process?

In the B2B Manufacturing NPS Question, the common key attributes can be:  

• Overall Partnership
• Implementation Process
• Customer Support Interactions

3. B2B Marketing & Advertising

In the realm of B2B marketing and advertising, NPS surveys shine as illuminating gems. How?

Imagine you are running a B2B Marketing agency. You’ve completed a contract and now you send a relationship NPS survey to know your client’s experience. Positive responses highlight campaign successes, while any negative feedback guides you to improve and refine your marketing strategies. With this feedback, you also get to know about renewing their contract. 

This is how NPS surveys became your compass, guiding you to forge stronger bonds, exceed expectations, and unveil the pinnacle of success. 

The right NPS questions that you can ask are: 

• On a scale of 0-10, how likely are you to recommend our company based on the effectiveness of our recent marketing campaign?
• Considering the impact of our advertising efforts, how likely are you to recommend our company for the messaging used?

In B2B Marketing & Advertising, some relevant attributes to ask in the NPS questions are 

• Campaign’s Effectiveness
• Messaging Quality
• Creative Elements
• Overall Client Experience

4. B2B Fintech

In B2B Fintech, companies launching customer feedback surveys at the right touchpoint can help them understand their customer sentiment, make data-driven decisions, and continuously evolve to meet client needs, ultimately driving success and profitability.

You can ask the following NPS questions: 

• On a scale of 0-10, how likely are you to recommend our fintech platform for its user-friendly onboarding experience?
• Based on your experience, how likely would you recommend our customer support team for their assistance?

In the B2B fintech NPS Question, some common attributes are 

• Implementation Process
• Account Managers’ Responsiveness
• Product Bugs
• UI
• Overall Product Value

5. B2B Service

CMS, a B2B service, recognizes the significance of mapping customer journeys with SurveySensum. By launching targeted surveys at key touchpoints, they collect valuable feedback. This data is then analyzed and utilized to continuously enhance their B2B service offerings.

Following are the survey question examples:

• How satisfied are you with the overall quality of the service provided?
• How likely are you to recommend our CMS services to your friends and colleagues based on your experience?

In the B2B Service, NPS Question, the common key attributes can be:

• Product or Service Quality 
• Reliability 
• Customer Support 
• Communication 

6. B2B Logistics

In the B2B logistics industry, optimizing the customer journey can position themselves as trusted partners in their client’s supply chain and logistics operations. This enriches their shipping experience. 

Some examples of NPS questions are: 

• On a scale of 0-10, how likely are you to recommend our logistics services based on the timeliness of our order fulfillment?
• Considering our overall partnership, how likely are you to recommend us for the reliability of our logistics solutions?

In the B2B logistics NPS Question, the common key attributes can be:

• Order Fulfillment
• Reliability
• Communication
• Partnership Satisfaction, and Experience 

These attributes capture the quality of delivery services, responsiveness of the logistics provider, and the overall experience of working together.

STEP 3: Who to Send the Survey to While Implementing Net Promoter Score B2B?

Your NPS survey is ready to launch but to whom you’re going to send surveys?

→ We’ll be talking about your survey sample here.

You can send surveys to either the DECISION MAKER or USER of the product. 

1. Product Users: Send surveys to the product users since they are the ones who are regularly using the product. They can help you improve your product and share insightful recommendations for the product roadmap. They are the influencers behind choosing your brand.
2. Decision Makers: Send surveys to the decision makers since they are the ones responsible for making critical decisions about whether to renew the product, continue with your services, or explore alternative options. Building a healthy relationship with them is essential to understand their needs and preferences better.

But wait – Which accounts to prioritize? 

• Segregate your survey sample into Small Accounts, Key Accounts (KA), and Premium. This allows you to analyze NPS results specifically for each account type, providing insights into different customer groups. 
• Identify Decision-Makers who have the authority to influence purchasing decisions or provide valuable feedback. 
• Target the right job function to ensure that you reach the individuals most involved in the decision-making process or directly interact with your products or services.

Step 4: How to Analyze the Received Data?

Here’s how CMS analyzes the received data and takes action on it. 

CMS took a proactive approach. Their CMO personally visited detractors, engaging in physical meetings to understand their concerns and improve the overall customer experience. This unexpected level of attention delighted unhappy customers, resulting in an improved NPS score and an influx of positive feedback. 

The idea behind the meeting with the promoters was to gain insights into their positive experiences and identify the strengths of the company. This dedicated effort to gather and analyze feedback allowed CMS to build stronger customer relationships and pave the way for business growth and success.

So, to analyze the gathered data you’ve to:  

• Segment the data by account type
• Analyze feedback for each product or service offered to identify strengths and areas for improvement.
• Collect feedback from different user roles to gain a comprehensive understanding of user experiences.
• Evaluate overall NPS scores across different account segments and by product or service.

This is how you can analyze the feedback and improve your NPS score. 

Companies with high NPS scores tend to experience faster revenue growth compared to their competitors. A leading example is Amazon Prime. CIRP research has shown that 73% of people who try out Amazon Prime become paid members. And after the first year, 91% of the members renew their subscription for a second year, and 96% of those members pay for a third year as well.

With these 4 steps, you can implement net promoter score B2B effectively. 

Launch your B2B NPS Program!

Closing the Loop on Passives and Detractors in Net Promoter Score B2B

To effectively close the feedback loop and drive meaningful improvements, a comprehensive account-based analysis is crucial. There are two primary types of accounts: Small accounts catering to small businesses and key accounts serving larger enterprises. In this discussion, we’ll focus on the key account-based analysis since it involves gathering feedback from a significant number of customers.

Key Account-Based Analysis: Within the key accounts, you will encounter two distinct personas: Users and decision-makers.

User-Based Analysis:

• Begin by identifying user segments, such as merchants, agents, etc., and conduct NPS surveys to gather feedback directly from them.
• Analyze the responses in detail to gain valuable insights into their specific needs and challenges.
• Prioritize the identified areas for improvement, and effectively communicate the action plans taken to enhance their satisfaction.

Decision-Maker Analysis:

• Identify the key decision-makers within the key accounts, including CEOs, CXOs, etc., and gather their feedback.
• Thoroughly assess their concerns and expectations to develop tailored solutions that address their unique requirements.
• Engage in personalized follow-ups and establish a sense of trust and collaboration with these decision-makers.

Small Account-Based Analysis: Small accounts cater to small businesses, and their feedback can provide valuable insights into their specific needs and challenges. Although there may be a larger number of small accounts, their individual feedback can collectively guide improvements to enhance overall customer satisfaction.

• Segmenting Small Accounts: Just like with key accounts, it’s essential to segment small accounts based on factors such as industry, location, or the type of service they use. This segmentation can help target the right questions and gather feedback relevant to each segment’s requirements.
• NPS and Customer Feedback: Utilize Net Promoter Score (NPS) surveys or other customer feedback methods to gather insights from small account holders. Understanding their level of satisfaction and loyalty helps identify areas for improvement.
• Personalized Approach: Small businesses often appreciate a more personal touch. Engage with them on a one-on-one basis if possible, acknowledging their feedback and addressing their concerns directly.

Tips for Closing the Loop Successfully in Net Promoter Score B2B

Tip 1: Involve the Company’s Leadership The active participation of the company’s CEO or CXO is instrumental in demonstrating the organization’s commitment to customer feedback. Their involvement encourages all teams to take necessary actions. If direct participation is challenging, leverage customer feedback reports to illustrate the importance and impact of customer insights. Sharing reports and survey insights can foster engagement and alignment across the organization.

Tip 2: Leverage Promoters and Positive Feedback Harness the power of promoters – satisfied customers who provide positive reviews and testimonials. Share these positive experiences with your internal teams to inspire them and instill a customer-centric mindset. Cultivate a culture of continuous improvement by showcasing how customer satisfaction is driving success.

By incorporating these strategies into your feedback loop process, you can create a customer-centric approach that drives continuous improvement and fosters long-term success for your business.

But what happens when you send the survey and don’t get enough response rates to make the analysis?

s Tip to Follow to Increase Response Rate in Net Promoter Score B2B

You’ve launched your NPS surveys successfully but do you know the best strategies that you can use to boost your survey response rate?

Here you go –

• Regularly conduct B2B customer feedback surveys to gain valuable customer insights.
• While creating surveys, you must select the best survey design and template as per your brand. 
• Write a clear subject line that conveys your message and the purpose of conducting surveys. 
• Always create short surveys. For relationship NPS -5 to 7 questions are ideal and for transactional NPS (tNPS) – 2 to 3 questions are ideal. 
• Ensure sending NPS surveys through your business email ID like president@company.com, CMO@company.com, etc. 
• Create a unique survey link per customer because everyone loves personalization. 
• Don’t forget to send friendly reminders to those who’ve partially and not filled out the survey. 
• Assure your customers that you’ve heard them and you’ll consider their feedback while making business decisions.
• Make sure your survey software offers you real-time reports of the survey sent rate, bounce rate, and response rate. 
• Set the KPI for account managers to boost the response rate because customers won’t respond if you don’t push them. That’s why target at least a 50-60% response rate.
• If you’re unable to send all the emails then you need to whitelist your email domain. 

FAQs

Q: What are the industry best practices for the frequency of NPS surveys?

A: The frequency of NPS surveys may vary depending on the industry and customer engagement. Generally, it is recommended to conduct NPS surveys regularly, such as quarterly or biannually. This allows for consistent measurement of customer sentiment over time and helps track changes in customer loyalty and satisfaction levels.

Q: Can you provide specific definitions for promoters, passives, and detractors to include in our review decks?

A: In NPS, promoters are customers who respond with a score of 9 or 10 and are highly likely to recommend your business to others. 

Passives are customers who respond with a score of 7 or 8 and are somewhat satisfied but not particularly enthusiastic. 

Detractors are customers who respond with a score of 0 to 6 and are not likely to recommend your business. 

These definitions help categorize customers based on their likelihood to promote or detract from your brand.

Q: What is considered a decent response rate for NPS surveys?

A: A decent response rate for NPS surveys can vary, but generally, a response rate of 20% to 30% is considered good. However, the higher the response rate, the more representative the feedback will be. Implementing strategies such as personalized invitations, reminders, and offering incentives can help improve response rates.

Q: What is your recommendation on the survey duration for B2B NPS surveys?

A: For B2B NPS surveys, the ideal survey duration is 30 days, but you can also stretch it to a maximum of 45 days. B2B relationships often involve longer sales cycles and more complex decision-making processes, which require more time for customers to provide comprehensive feedback.

Q: Should we use a 5-point or 11-point scale for NPS surveys?

A: It is generally recommended to use an 11-point scale for NPS surveys to allow for more granular responses. The 11-point scale provides a broader range of sentiment, allowing for better differentiation between customers. However, both scales can be used effectively, and the choice depends on your specific needs and preferences.

Suggested Read: 11-Point or 5-Point Scale: Which NPS Scale Should You Use?

Q: How can we incorporate brand-related questions in our NPS survey?

A: To include brand-related questions in your NPS survey, you can phrase them in a way that captures the customers’ perception of your brand attributes. 

For example, you can ask customers which specific attributes they consider important when choosing a partner or provider. This allows you to gather valuable insights about how your brand is perceived and what factors influence customers’ decision-making.

Q: When is the best day and time to send NPS surveys?

A: The best day and time to send NPS surveys vary depending on your specific target audience and their work schedules. However, it is generally recommended to avoid Mondays and Fridays when people are often busy with the start or end of the workweek. Midweek, such as Tuesdays or Wednesdays, during business hours tend to yield higher response rates. Make sure to give them time to experience the product or service though.

Q: How can we effectively cross-sell and upsell to our current customers using NPS data?

A: NPS data can provide valuable insights into customer preferences and satisfaction. To cross-sell and upsell effectively, analyze NPS feedback to identify promoters who are likely to recommend your business. Engage with them through promoter calls or additional surveys to understand their needs and preferences better. Leverage their positive experiences to pitch additional products or services, and ask for referrals to expand your customer base.