Summary:
Every bank wants satisfied customers. But how can your bank know exactly how much your customers love you? Allow us to introduce you to the concept of a Net Promoter Score (NPS). Your NPS is one of the best ways to benchmark just how well you’re doing at keeping your customers happy, and something that we’ve been actually working with here at WSI Digital (but more on that later).
What is a Net Promoter Score (NPS)?
So, what exactly is an NPS? Your Net Promoter Score determines how likely your customers are to be true advocates of your bank and refer their friends and coworkers to do business with you. It measures your customer's experience of products and services you offer, as well as your customer service. This metric can predict business growth and highlight areas in which you can create a better relationship between your customers and the bank.
How to Survey, Calculate, and Evaluate Your Net Promoter Score
A Net Promoter Score is calculated based on three different types of customers. When asked to rank your bank on a 1-10 scale to the question “How likely are you to refer our bank to your friends and coworkers,” your Promoters will rank you between a 9 and 10. These are your loyal enthusiasts who will keep buying from you in the future, refer others to you, and keep fueling your business with referrals.
The second type of customer is a Passive promoter. They rank you between a 7 and 8. Your passive promoters are satisfied, but they are not overly enthusiastic. Passives may or may not refer more business to you. They are not 100% sold that your product or service is better than competing products.
The last group is your Detractors. A detractor ranks you from a 0 to 6. These people are considered very unhappy customers. Detractors can damage your brand by spreading negative word-of-mouth about your bank.
By subtracting the percentage of Detractors by the percentage of Promoters gives you your Net Promoter Score (which ranges between -100 and 100, with 100 being the best you could score).
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The NPS Formula
N = Total number of Responses
D = Total number of Detractors
P = Total Number of Promoters
NPS = (N÷D) - (N÷P)
Our Own Internal Net Promoter Score Process
This past year at WSI, we decided to put our money where our mouth was and conduct our own NPS survey and see how our customers would rank us. To do so, we asked a few key questions.
First, we asked the key NPS question of how likely our customers were to refer our services to their friends and coworkers. Next, we asked, on the same scale of 1-10, how valuable WSI was to their company. Then, we asked an open-ended question, if there was anything else we needed to know about or any other area we could help with. And lastly, we also asked (just to be on the safe side), that if any of the scores were an eight or lower, we wanted to know what we could do better to get a nine or a perfect 10 next time.
To collect our responses, we hired a third-party assistant to make the calls and record the answers. We didn’t use anyone within our company to ask the questions because clients would likely give a more accurate and honest answer if they are talking to someone who does not work directly with them on a regular basis.
If we were unable to reach a client personally after three call attempts over the span of 5 to 10 days, then a follow-up email was sent with a link to a survey with the same questions that are asked over the phone. Our goal was to get at least 75% of our clients’ feedback.
The Results
We were excited and thrilled to discover that our NPS report came in at 91! Given some of the industry averages (that you’ll see below), we’re stoked about these results. We work hard to ensure a happy customer experience as well as reliable results when working with our clients. Our NPS score would not be this great without the work of our WSI team and our partners.
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Leveraging Your Digital Strategy to Influence Your Bank’s Net Promoter Score
Now that you know what goes into an NPS, here’s one way you can get more 9s and 10s: Provide an exceptional online experience for your customers. In today’s marketplace, more people are engaging with your website and social media. Gone are the days of relying solely on in-person interactions to wow your customers.
Think about your bank’s website experience. Is your site easy to navigate? Does it clearly convey your brand message? Are key action items easily identifiable? You may want to check out this article on conversion rate optimization for some ideas here!
Another way to build a great rapport with your customers and boost your NPS - and get more referrals - is to make sure your employees are also building relationships online with social media. Here at WSI, we offer social media consulting and management services to help make sure you’re putting your best foot forward on these highly valuable non-website channels.
Most recently, we’ve launched The LinkedBanker community for banking professionals to take their online relationship-building skills to the next level. When you have a team of bankers who know how to stay on top of their game, your NPS undoubtedly will rise!
However you slice it, we’re here to make sure your bank is doing all it can to delight your customers (just like we’re doing all we can do to delight ours)!