Promoter-Driven Economy and the Next Decade of Innovation in Customer Experience

At Satmetrix’s 8th Annual Net Promoter Customer Experience Conference, Richard Owen, President and CEO of Satmetrix, gave the keynote: Friends with Benefits or Enemies with Consequences: The promoter-driven economy and the next decade of innovation in customer experience. In his presentation, Richard shared five predictions for the next decade of NPS and CX:

  1. Pricing transparency
  2. Lifetime value economics
  3. Customer selectiveness
  4. Customer Journey
  5. Surveys are dead – look to social media for data

It is the internet that brought us the democratization of knowledge and pricing transparency. A central theme in The Customer Experience Revolution, because of price transparency, consumers now know more then providers. The tables have turned! It is no longer a “Buyer Beware” marketplace. Consumers have (literally) a world of information at their fingertips and more often is the case that they know more about competitive pricing then the provider. Smart companies have embraced this. Remember Saturn’s ‘no haggling’ policy? Saturn was the first car company to provide the actual price on the car. Now we can’t image an auto dealership that didn’t do this. All marketplaces are becoming – or have already become – price transparent. Smart organizations are embracing this and are honest, hassle-free with their customers.

Lifetime value economics focuses on loyal customers who are worth far more to your organizations. Loyal customers have a higher retention rate and more rapidly increase their annual spend and share-of-wallet. They also tend to be less price sensitive, require less sales, marketing and advertising costs, and – through word of month – generate referrals – selling your brand for you.

Savvy organizations know what their brand is and who their advocates are. They know not to go chasing after consumers who do not relate to their brand and double down on their advocates. Some organizations are using Net Promoter to determine who their advocates (Promoters) are and focusing on only them. In some cases, they are even breaking down their Promoters into Detractors, Passive, and Promoters to focus solely on their Promoter-Promoter.

Customer Journey Maps will become ubiquitous in this experience economy. A few Experience Makers have been using customer journey maps for a while but we will see a greater adoptions of journey maps across a wide variety of organizations as they realize how important it is to understand their customers relationship with their brand and the value of monitoring, measuring, and improving the interactions – the “moment of truth” where they fulfill their brand’s promise (or don’t). Sophisticated organizations know, measure and constantly improve their Key Performance Indicators at these touch points.

People are tired of surveys! We are over-solicited with surveys – in store, bottom-of-receipts; online; via pop-ups or post-purchase emails; and, more and more, on our mobile devices. We are experiencing survey fatigue. Just because you can survey your customers doesn’t mean you should. Surveys are inherently marketer-centric instead of customer-centric. Use social media, paid ad campaigns, or even in-store signage to let customers know they can submit feedback any time via your website, mobile site or mobile app. Encourage them to ‘leave a review’ or ‘look for the feedback button’ and invite them to share any and all questions, comments or concerns. Avoid survey fatigue with these tips.