If you want to know how your customers feel, ask them. Much of the feedback you receive will be anecdotal and can help you feel your way through customer relations. But the fact is, we all like numbers. We can�t empirically conclude whether our customers like us, but we can get a strong clue. It�s called Net Promoter.
Net Promoter is widely accepted as the single most reliable indicator about a company�s ability to grow. It was first introduced by Fred Reichheld in his book, The Ultimate Question: Driving Good Profits and True Growth.
Net Promoter asks your customers to answer a very simple question on a scale from 0 to 10: Would you recommend us to a friend or colleague?
 The answers are tabulated and responses fall into 3 categories:
Promoters – Promoters are customers who are very enthusiastic about your company. They will not only continue to purchase from you, but they will recommend your company to their friends and neighbors.Â
Passives – Passives are satisfied customers, but aren�t enthusiastic about your company. They can be lured to competitors offering special deals or lower prices.
Detractors – Detractors are unhappy customers who are looking for someone other than you to do business with.Â
To find out your Net Promoter Score, simply subtract the total percentage of detractors from the total percentage of promoters.
Obviously, having a customer list full of promoters will help grow your company naturally. If the majority of your customers love you, they will tell their friends, and their friends will tell their friends, etc. This will reduce your marketing spend in the long term and your customers will keep returning.Â
Having too many detractors will harm your business. You�ll spend the money spreading awareness about your products, only to lose your customers (and their friends) to competitors.Â
The highest growth companies (Amazon, eBay, Dell) have Net Promoter Scores ranging from 50-80%. The �average� company has a score of about 5-10%.Â
Companies that have negative scores mean that they are creating more detractors than promoters each day.
Here�s how to measure your Net Promoter Score
Step 1: Ask your customers one simple question:Â Would you recommend us to a friend or colleague? Have them rate their likelihood on a scale from 1-10
Step 2: Total the responses and determine the percentages for each response. To do this, divide the number of responses for a certain answer by the total number of submissions for the survey, and multiply that by 100.
For example:
 Answer   # of responses      %
      0                 25              6.25
      1                 20                5
      2                 15              3.7
      3                 30              7.5
      4                 10              2.5
      5                  5              1.25
      6                 20                5
      7                 30              7.5
      8                 35              8.75
      9                 85             21.25
     10                125            31.25
Step 3: Add the percent of promoters (people who selected 9 or 10) together (e.g. 21.25 + 31.25 = 52.5)
Step 4: Add the number of detractors (people who selected 0-6) together (e.g. 6.25 + 5 + 3.7 + 7.5 + 2.5 + 1.25 + 5 = 31.2)
Step 5: Subtract the total detractors from the total promoters (e.g. 52.5 – 31.2 = 21.3%)
The answer is your Net Promoter Score.
If you need software to help you track your NPS responses, I like an application called Survey Monkey. It�s cost-effective and easy to use. Visit www.surveymonkey.com for more info.
For more information on Net Promoter, visit www.netpromoter.com.
Pay Attention to Your People — Your most important customers are your promoters and your detractors. Do not rest on your laurels with either group. Find out why your promoters like you and why they recommend you to others. Make sure you do to others what works so well with these folks. Your detractors are also very important. Not as customers, but as a mirror to your business. Why don�t they like you? How have you failed them? You have even more to learn from your detractors than from your promoters. Use anecdotes, use numbers, but whatever you do, pay attention to your customers.
