Ask the right question and you are bound to get the right answer. This holds true not just in everyday communication, but also in a Net Promoter Score Survey.
An NPS survey is a single question survey. It asks customers to rate the likelihood of them referring the business to their near and dear ones.
If the NPS survey question is written in the right tone, phrased to convey the question you want to ask it will fetch the response you are looking for. Those responses that you get for your NPS Score can influence how the business will treat customers and serve products or services in the future.
That said, it is imperative that we need a solid Net Promoter Score Survey template.
Why a template? Templates standardize a process. They ensure that all the checkboxes required to do something in the right fashion are ticked. Also, they help in automating the process of sending Net Promoter Score surveys. You don’t have to waste time every time you want to send an NPS survey.
They ensure that all the checkboxes required to do something in the right fashion are ticked. Also, they help in automating the process of sending Net Promoter Score surveys.
You don’t have to waste time every time you want to send an NPS survey.
Choose the right NPS Survey Question!
There are two components to an ideal NPS survey.
One is the NPS question which asks customers to rate the business/product/service on a scale of 0 to 10.
Second is the open-ended question that seeks to find out why the customer has given the specific score.
No NPS survey is complete without these two components. Once the customer gives the rating, which is the first component, they are directed to the second component — the open-ended question. Once the responses for both these components are given, customers are usually redirected to a ‘Thank You’ or an in-page popup.
The standard NPS question is as below:
On a scale from 0-10, how likely are you to recommend our business to a friend or colleague?
However, this same question is not used every time. Depending on the business, its offerings, it is customized to gather customer feedback.
So, how you can customize each component of an NPS survey question so that the most genuine feedback can be elicited from customers.
Let’s begin with the rating component.
1. Requesting a rating
The primary responsibility of this component is to collect a rating from customers. The rating is usually collected in the range of 0 to 10. And the customers are segmented into promoters, passives, and detractors based on the ratings that they give. So this question of the survey must be straight-forward and without any ambiguity.
The use of a 0 to 10 scale helps maintain uniformity across all surveys. Also, across all industries where NPS surveys are used, this same scale is in effect. This simplifies the task of comparing your NPS score with the industry average and competitor NPS score as well. Hence, it is recommended to stick to a scale of 0 to 10.
Asking for a rating also has several other advantages.
- It is an ideal way to begin a survey if you are sending it for the first time.
- It quantifies customer feedback into an absolute number.
- It is possible to target specific customers and their pain areas based on the rating provided.
Now that we have covered the rating component, let’s look at how to structure the open-ended question of the NPS survey.
2. Open-ended questions in the NPS Survey
The purpose of open-ended questions in Net Promoter Score Surveys is to unearth the logic behind customer’s ratings. But, what is an open-ended question? How is it different from a close-ended question?
Open-ended questions are those which require the respondent to craft a descriptive response as opposed to a simple ‘Yes’ or ‘No’. Open-ended questions are necessary for an NPS survey since they push the customer to give a descriptive response about their experience or feedback instead. Descriptive feedback helps the business learn in detail the customer’s sentiments and act accordingly.
For instance, let’s take the case of a detractor. What negative experience made them give a low rating? Alternatively, in the case of a promoter, what positive experience made them give a high rating?
Open-ended questions help understand the reason why customers gave a specific rating.
A typical open-ended question for a detractor would look like this:
What was missing or disappointing in your experience with us?
As you can see from the question, it forces customers to open up and speak at length and in detail about the experience that they had.
Usually, while writing reviews, customers find it difficult to state their frank opinions. However, an NPS survey that has an open-ended question like this makes them comfortable to speak out their concerns in detail.
Similarly, for passives the question can be customized as below:
What can we do to improve your experience?
Here the question is specifically focusing on the improvement aspect. It will persuade the passive customer to cite specific instances in service or product features that they wish were better.
The open-ended question for promoters would be more focused on identifying the positives that impressed them. This could be product features, a delightful shopping experience, and so on.
Hence, the open-ended question for a promoter would be:
What do you like the most about us?
The logic behind this question is to make the customer list down specific features or highlights that make them a promoter for the business.
Let’s say Apple is conducting an NPS survey. The above NPS survey question will make the customers spell out specific Apple product features like great design, sturdy build, reliable support, and so on. The absence of such a question would allow the customers to cut short their feedback with monosyllables.
There is another allied benefit of this question is that it gives you user-generated content that can be used as testimonials. These customer testimonials can be used in landing pages, case studies, and in other marketing collaterals where customer proof is necessary.
3. Ending the Survey with a ‘Thank you’
Although the NPS survey is fairly quick and easier to respond to, it is implied that we thank the customers for taking the time and energy to do it. It is an act of good faith that will make the customers fill up the next time you send an NPS survey.
4. Power of Personalization
Finally, do not forget the power of personalization. A well-personalized survey question can make customers feel attended to individually even when the survey is sent to thousands of customers.
For example, in an NPS survey, a simple ‘Thank You’ is not adequate. It has to be personalized. Depending on the response of customers, you can tweak the thank you note so that they get the impression that the business is going to act on their feedback.
Let’s take the example of detractors — the most disappointed lot of all. Instead of popping up a “Thank you for responding to our survey’ message, you can use something more elaborate and personalized like, “Thank you. We will work on your feedback to improve the [feature name]/service.”
Similarly, for passives, it could be, “Thank you for responding to the survey. We would be happy to work on your feedback and make the feature/service the way you want it. Stay tuned to our updates.”
And for promoters, it could be, “We are super-excited to know that you liked our product. Thank you for responding to the survey. Do spread the message.”
Net Promoter Score surveys for Employees
NPS surveys are used not only for gathering customer feedback but also for gathering employee feedback. NPS surveys used for collecting employee feedback are known as eNPS (employee NPS) surveys.
Net promoter score is the go-to metric for businesses that are curious to know what their customers or employees feel about them. In one sentence, the NPS score is a quantified score of how your customers see your brand and how loyal they are.
It is often regarded as the holy grail score that drives an organization’s CX initiatives. And many studies state that NPS has proven to be a reliable predictor of future repeat business growth or decline.
It is a powerful metric to measure a customer’s core sentiment towards your brand. And several studies indicate a high correlation between NPS and customer experience.
Why?
eNPS surveys aid in several ways, like:
- They aid in identifying promoter employees who will refer new smart employees to the business
- it helps identify high-performing employees who remain loyal for a foreseeable future
- It helps to identify promoter employees who will act as word-of-mouth brand ambassadors for the company
- Most importantly, it also leads to identifying bottlenecks in employee productivity or pain areas that the business should address
The final note
An NPS survey helps you create a direct connection with your customers and understand their emotions and expectations out of your product or service.
However, the general impression of surveys is that they are too long and are complicated to respond to. Not so with an NPS survey. They are short, focused, and can invoke a straight-forward response from customers.
If you are worried about creating specific NPS surveys for each round, you can rely on templates.
Net Promoter Score Survey templates are basically questions for each scenario and segment of customers. They simplify the task of planning and executing the NPS survey.
Finally, do not forget the power of personalization. A well-personalized survey question can make customers feel attended to individually even when the survey is sent to thousands of customers.
You may not hit the sweet spot with a template in the first try itself and it is perfectly alright. Keep experimenting with tweaks and improvements until you get the maximum NPS survey response.
Are you ready to create your own NPS survey now?
