Forget net promoter score, it’s now about 'net easy score'

Making ‘my life’ easy in this complex world is customer experience gold. However, everybody obsesses about their net promoter score (NPS).

If you haven’t heard about NPS before, it’s a metric for assessing customer loyalty for a company’s brand, products or services. Many companies use NPS as part of their customer relationship management (CRM) strategy because the metric is easy to calculate.

Getting promoted more often for the right reasons is only underpinned by how well we address our customers’ needs and priorities and how easy we make the experience for them.

Too many companies have not addressed the customer’s buying journey and their experience on that journey. They seem to, usually unintentionally but not always, make it difficult for the customer to buy from them.

You could be forgiven for asking the question, ‘do you really give a damn about your customers?’ given the experiences many of us have.

This is the first in a series of articles where we explore how to make ours and our customers’ lives easier.

Despite the slick websites and shiny marketing messages promising a great experience, many organisations let themselves down completely when the customer comes into contact with the company’s reality.

I’m not talking about over servicing and satisfying the ‘entitled’ customers who think everyone owes them and you are at their beckoned call. I’m talking about keeping the promises you make and making ‘my life’ easier as a customer when dealing and interacting with you.

Net easy score is the next customer experience frontier for businesses

With the obsession for everything going online and the push to get customers clicking and paying directly, technology is really help streamline the customer buying experience.

Except when it doesn’t.

Online buying is great for straight forward transactions and the ability to compare and assess products.

Amazon have been doing this for years. However, they have even had to resort to putting a telephone number on their website when things go awry.

Easy doesn’t equate to simple.

Regardless of your offering, simple through to complex, we need to think about how we can make it easier for our customers to buy and have a great customer experience. If we address this then our NPS will go through the roof.

It’s when things get complicated or when complex customers need to speak to a human being who can help us sort through our concerns or genuine enquiries.

There is nothing more frustrating than rummaging around a website, looking for a number to call so you can speak to a human being. Or listening through seven options about who to speak to in relation to your enquiry. Or finding out the promise of easy-to-design, bespoke offerings don’t live up to their ‘easy to do business with us’ promise.

When clients and prospects encounter this kind of dichotomy there’s a big chance for the selling organisation to lose the business (and credibility).

Why make life so difficult for customers? All you need to do is keep them informed, stay on track and work together.

When you find a business or staff member that really does care about you and what you do, and makes an effort to help you and keep you informed, it’s fantastic. It’s amazing.

It should be the norm if this is what you are promising.

Seriously, as a person you don’t have to do much to help people have a great experience.

So here are some questions to consider if you want to make life easier for your customers:

How easy is it for customers to contact a real person if they have questions?
When things get complex, do you have a way for customers to get their issues resolved effectively and quickly?
How capable are your real people in helping your customers address their concerns, needs or priorities?
How easy are your systems to use and navigate, both internally and externally, to make things run smoother?
How effective is your communication, both internally and externally?
Are you able to keep the promises you make to customers?
Does your team and business give a damn about customers?

Watch this space for more on the NES topic.

Remember everybody lives by selling something.