A Net Promoter Score is a customer loyalty metric that measures how likely customers are to recommend a company, product or service to others, expressed a number from -100 to 100. Did you know that companies with positive (when customer sentiment outweighs negative customer sentiment) Net Promoter Scores grow four times faster than companies that don’t? If you want to grow your company, positive customer sentiment isn’t a “nice to have.” It’s critical.
How do you make it happen? How do you grow those positive feelings customers have about you? I’ve found five specific practices help tremendously. These practices are simple to execute, but few people actually do them consistently. If you do, that’s your advantage.
1. Create Your Top 20 Club
Too often, we spend time on opportunities that won’t generate returns proportional to our effort. So, while every customer matters, when it comes to the efficiency of creating positive customer sentiment, create a “Top 20 Club.” Identify the 20 customers most responsible for driving your revenue over the next 90 days. Focus the majority of your time on these accounts. Watch what happens when you shift from scattered attention to concentrated focus on high-value relationships.
2. Build Your Farm Club
Beyond your current top producers, identify 20 customers and prospects with the greatest growth potential beyond 90 days. Begin building those relationships now, before you need them. When those prospects are ready to place orders or develop print management contracts, you want to be the first supplier they think of. Relationships built during low-pressure periods create trust that pays off when stakes are high.
3. Ask “How Can I Serve Them?”
This is the most important question you can ask yourself. Service creates value. Listen for the challenges your customers are facing or opportunities they’re trying to capture. Then figure out how you can help. Sometimes it’s solving a technical problem. Sometimes it’s introducing them to another contact. Sometimes it’s simply being reliable when they need you. Excellent service gets noticed and appreciated.
4. Send Recap Notes
Nothing makes customers feel more listened to than a recap note. After important conversations, summarize what you heard and send it to them. Ask for confirmation that you understood correctly. They’ll either confirm or provide additional information. Either way, you’ve started a dialog and demonstrated that you actually listen – a rarer quality than you might think.
5. Write Thank You Notes
Almost nobody writes thank you notes anymore, especially in business. That’s exactly why you should. Each week during your review, identify people who deserve thanks for their business, their time, their referral or their patience during a challenging time. Handwritten notes are best, but even a thoughtful email stands out.
The Bottom Line
These five practices are simple to execute. That’s also why almost no one does them consistently. Identify your Top 20 and Farm clubs. Focus on serving them. Send recap notes after important conversations. Write thank you notes regularly.
By doing these five simple things, you’ll set yourself apart from competitors who are too busy chasing the next opportunity to nurture the relationships they already have.
Bill Prettyman is CEO of Wise in Alpharetta, GA. Wise manufacturers industrial/prime labels and tags, traditional forms, and digitally printed products and services for resale only. For more information, visit www.wbf.com or email Bill at [email protected].
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