Creating Moments of Enthusiasm

A main focus for brand managers these days is the Net Promoter Score, NPS for short. They want as many ‘yes’s’ as possible in response to the question ‘would you recommend us?’ The initiatives in the companies that follow the NPS programmes, however, start with the ‘no’. With great effort, analyses are carried out, information is collected and projects are started to combat the reasons for the ‘no’.

The aim is to improve where the competition is ahead. As brand experts, however, we know that this is just a way to catch up on missed homework. If, on the other hand, you would focus on standing out even more from the competition in those areas where you are already succeeding, then your customers will become fans.

Friday night on the motorway to Germany. Shortly before the destination, my Mercedes is flat. The safety mode has been switched on. We can only make progress by crawling. One thing is certain: I have to get back to Zurich on Sunday afternoon. I remember the ‘mobility guarantee’ that the Mercedes salesman had described so nicely to me. So I dial the Mercedes customer service.

"Don’t worry, you will definitely be driving back to Zurich in your car or a replacement car we provide to you. May we pick up your car tonight?”

“Sure.”

“When can we get back to you with the fault diagnosis?”

“As soon as possible.”

The phone rings at 1 a.m.

“We've found the fault and fixed it, should we still bring your car back to you tonight?”

“Tonight? Well, better tomorrow morning around ten.”

“Wonderful, with pleasure. Have a good night and please excuse the inconvenience.”

At a quarter to ten, the tow truck pulls up with my car. Washed and vacuumed. A friendly handshake, a handover of keys, and I'm mobile again. What a top service. The Mercedes brand promise ‘the best or nothing’ implemented in a first-class manner. My answer to the question of all questions would be ‘yes’.

Creating Position-Enhancing Moments of Enthusiasm

What this example taken from real-life shows is that the Mercedes brand is not driving the ‘closing the gap’ strategy. It does not simply optimise services that the competition provides better. Instead, it works on real, brand-strengthening differentiation. Where you are already good, you go one better and make sure that the experience for the customer is significantly better than he expects. So good that the customer remembers it and talks about it.

Simply catching up with the benchmarks is not enough to do this. It leads to expectations being met. But it does not lead to exceeding them and thus to triggering enthusiasm for a brand that turns customers into fans. Fans who would not only recommend the brand to others (as the question in the NPS rating checks) but who actually do so. The result is that theoretical recommendations result in a real business impact.

Strong brands look at the dimensions in which they are already performing well - and set differentiating and position-strengthening moments of enthusiasm at this point. For example, if I, as an insurance company, already know that I am good at service but am perceived as too expensive, optimising the cost structure and price communication as an NPS initiative is certainly important. Truly differentiating and thus at least as important is the ‘Service Experience Boost’ project, which builds on existing strengths in such a way that real differentiation and recommendations are triggered.

What are your brand's moments of enthusiasm? Do you know them? And your employees, do they have the necessary support to realise moments of enthusiasm? Does the goal-setting follow the implementation?

Know, Want, Can, Do!

These questions can be answered with the help of the brand perspective. The brand perspective provides orientation in defining the strengths of a brand and in the question of how these can be developed into real enthusiasm factors. This does not happen on its own but must happen within the organization.

So the first thing to do is inspire the employees to emphasise their own strengths even more clearly. However, incorporating this in ‘Management by Objectives’ is not enough. At this point, we support the brand managers in getting the topic onto the C-level agenda so that the necessary resources (human and financial) are made available.

This is then followed by the supreme discipline, ‘the doing’. Together with the brand managers, we ensure that the goal does not remain a vision, but becomes reality (because there is nothing good unless you actually do it). For us, brand-oriented management means building on the strengths of a brand. They generate appreciation among customers and contribute to value creation. This is then reflected in the NPS, but, more importantly, in customer loyalty and new customer acquisition, is triggered by ‘word of mouth’.

So Popular Because Everyone Understands It: About the NPS and How It Is Measured

For some time now, companies have understood that not only are sales important, but satisfaction is an essential KPI. After all, positive customer experiences increase sales. And this is where the Net Promoter Score (NPS) comes into play.

The NPS is a customer loyalty metric developed by Fred Reichheld, Bain & Company and Satmetrix. The metric is based on a single question: how likely are you to recommend our company/product/service to a friend or colleague? Answers can vary from 0 to 10:

9 - 10

Promoters: They are happy and loyal and should be used as testimonials by your brand.

7 - 8

The Passives: They are happy but are also quick to move on to a competitor.

0 - 6

The Critics. They are dissatisfied and can be dangerous to your brand by spreading negative messages and reviews.

The Net Promoter Score is calculated by taking the percentage.