Simple Steps to Calculate How Specific Issues Affect Your NPS

Li Xia
Last Updated:
November 19, 2024

Diving into the world of customer experience metrics can feel like playing detective in a mystery where the Net Promoter Score (NPS) is the main suspect. It's the ultimate question: "Would you recommend us?" Customers' answers sort them into Promoters, Passives, or Detractors, but NPS plays hard to get, offering scores without spilling the beans on what's really behind them.

This blog post is your flashlight in the dark, aiming to turn the vague whispers of customer feedback into clear directives. We'll slice through the complexity with wit and brevity, showing you how to pinpoint and quantify the impact of specific issues on your NPS.

Strap in for a fun ride through the ins and outs of NPS analysis. By the end, you'll be a maestro at identifying what ticks off customers and how to turn their frowns upside down, boosting your NPS score and customer satisfaction in one fell swoop. Let’s unravel the mystery of NPS together, shall we?

Background on NPS

Ah, the Net Promoter Score (NPS) – the three-letter acronym that's become the holy grail of customer satisfaction metrics. Let's break it down, shall we? At its heart, NPS is like the popularity contest of the business world, asking the all-important question: "On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend us to a friend?"

Your customers' answers sort them into three camps: the Promoters (those who'd shout your name from the rooftops), the Passives (the 'meh' middle ground), and the Detractors (those who've probably already started a blog about why they're not your biggest fans). The magic of NPS lies in its simplicity – subtract the percentage of Detractors from the percentage of Promoters, and voilà, you've got your score.

But here's the kicker: while NPS tells you how much your customers love (or don't love) you, it's a bit like a gossip magazine headline – juicy, but lacking in details. Knowing that you have a score of X is great, but without the why and the what can be done about it. That's where we dive deeper, beyond the numbers and into the actual feedback, to uncover the plot twists behind your NPS score.

Identifying Issues That Impact NPS

Now, imagine you're a detective in a crime novel, but instead of chasing after villains, you're on the hunt for those sneaky issues tanking your NPS score. The plot thickens as you sift through customer feedback, the breadcrumbs left behind at the scene of the crime. This is where the magnifying glass meets the feedback form.

We assume you have already gathered data from customers via the NPS survey tool of your choice. This is your dossier of evidence, ripe for analysis. Your mission: categorize this feedback into identifiable issues. Is it the endless wait times causing uproar, or perhaps the cryptic nature of your website sending customers into a spiral of despair? Maybe it's the product itself that needs a dash more brilliance.

As you sift through the feedback, remember, not all comments are equal. Some are as ambiguous as a foggy night, others as sharp as a detective’s intuition. Your task is to discern the patterns, to identify the recurring themes that truly resonate with your customers, either lifting their spirits or dampening their enthusiasm.

Sifting through each piece of feedback is a laborious but critical part of the process. Rather than doing this manually, we suggest using Sondar, which employs innovative AI to decode feedback into insights in minutes, turning this overwhelming task into a streamlined, efficient operation. Sondar is like your sidekick in the investigation, enabling you to uncover actionable insights with the precision of a detective’s intuition.

By the end of this thrilling chapter, you'll have a lineup of usual suspects – the issues most impacting your NPS. Now, the game is truly afoot as you prepare to delve into the heart of the mystery: quantifying just how much these issues are affecting your score. Will the culprits be brought to justice? Stay tuned, detective.

Simple Calculation Method for Estimating Issue Impact

Diving into the heart of our NPS mystery, we've reached the pivotal moment where we quantify the impact of identified issues on your score. Here’s a straightforward method that doesn’t require a PhD in mathematics, just a keen eye for detail and a willingness to dive into your data.

Step 1: Isolate the Feedback

First up, separate the feedback related to each specific issue you've identified. Imagine you're segregating clues into different envelopes, each labeled with an issue – be it wait times, website navigation, or product features.

Step 2: Categorize Respondents

Next, categorize your respondents based on their feedback about the issue. This step is akin to identifying witnesses, bystanders, and those unaffected by the incident. You'll have:

  • Affected Promoters: Those who still recommend you despite the issue.
  • Affected Passives: Those who are neutral but mentioned the issue.
  • Affected Detractors: Those whose experience was marred by the issue, pushing them to not recommend you.

Step 3: Calculate Adjusted NPS

Here’s where the magic happens. Temporarily remove the affected respondents from your NPS calculation to see what your score would be without the impact of this issue. This gives you an "adjusted NPS," showcasing a world where this specific problem doesn’t exist.

Step 4: Estimate the Impact

Finally, compare your original NPS with the adjusted NPS. The difference between these two numbers is the estimated impact of the issue on your overall NPS. It’s the moment of truth, revealing how much lifting this particular weight could potentially raise your score.

Example:

Imagine your original NPS is 30, made up of 60% Promoters, and 30% Detractors of  After removing respondents affected by long wait times, there are now fewer detractors, 20% so your adjusted NPS increases to 40.4. Voilà, you've just discovered that addressing wait times could boost your NPS by a whopping 10.4 points!

This method, while simple, is incredibly powerful. It helps prioritize issues based on their potential impact on customer satisfaction and loyalty. Armed with this knowledge, you’re no longer shooting in the dark; you’re making informed decisions that can significantly improve your customer experience and, by extension, your NPS. So, grab your detective hat and start crunching those numbers; the solution to your NPS mystery awaits!

Before we move on, let's spotlight a game-changer! Using Sondar to analyse your NPS data automates this entire process. Not only does it isolate feedback and categorize respondents, but it also calculates the adjusted NPS for you. Even more, Sondar sorts the issues impacting your NPS and provides an estimated impact each issue has on the score. It's like having your own detective agency at your fingertips, decoding the mystery of customer satisfaction with precision and ease.

Analyzing the Results

With the estimations in hand, courtesy of our trusty method and the invaluable assistance of Sondar, it's time to don our detective caps once more and delve into the analysis of our findings. This phase is where the clues start to form a coherent narrative, painting a picture of how individual issues influence your NPS score and, by extension, customer loyalty and satisfaction.

Top issues impacting NPS is a report available in Sondar. In addition to quantifying every issue, Sondar calculates and sorts the impact every issue has on the overall NPS score.

Understanding the Impact

Each issue's estimated impact on your NPS, isn't just a number—it's a story waiting to be told. A significant drop suggests a critical pain point that, if addressed, could substantially elevate your customer experience. Conversely, a minimal impact might indicate areas where resources could be better allocated elsewhere.

Prioritizing Issues for Maximum NPS Improvement

Armed with insights on the impact of each issue, the next step is prioritization. Not all issues are created equal, and your resources are not infinite. Prioritize based on a combination of factors:

  • Impact on NPS: Naturally, issues with a higher impact on NPS should float to the top of your list.
  • Feasibility: Consider how easy or difficult it is to address each issue. Sometimes, quick wins can provide significant NPS boosts.
  • Strategic Alignment: Ensure the issues you decide to tackle first align with your broader business goals and customer experience strategy.

Implementing Changes and Monitoring Impact

With priorities set, it's time to sketch out your action plan. This involves setting clear objectives, defining timelines, and allocating resources. It's crucial to involve cross-functional teams in this process, ensuring that every part of your organization is aligned and moving towards enhancing the customer experience.

The true test of your efforts comes in measuring the changes in your NPS after implementing improvements. This isn't a one-and-done deal. Continuous monitoring and reevaluation are key, as customer expectations and behaviors evolve. Celebrate the wins, but also be ready to dive back into detective mode at a moment's notice to unravel new mysteries as they emerge.

Embedding a culture of continuous feedback within your organization ensures that this process becomes a cycle of perpetual improvement. Encourage ongoing communication with your customers and make it easy for them to provide feedback. Use tools like Sondar to regularly analyze this feedback, keeping your finger on the pulse of customer sentiment.

By analyzing the results with a critical eye, prioritizing effectively, and planning targeted actions, you can transform insights into tangible improvements. This not only boosts your NPS but also strengthens the bond between your brand and its customers, fostering loyalty and satisfaction that echo far beyond the numbers.

Conclusion

As we conclude our dive into the nuances of NPS improvement, it's evident that transforming customer feedback into actionable insights is both an art and a science. With tools like Sondar, we're empowered to pinpoint, prioritize, and address the specific issues that sway our Net Promoter Score. This journey isn't just about adjusting numbers; it's about fostering deeper connections with our customers through thoughtful improvements.

Prioritizing actions that strike a balance between impact, feasibility, and strategic alignment paves the way for meaningful change. Remember, enhancing NPS is a continuous cycle fueled by ongoing dialogue with customers. This process of feedback, analysis, action, and reassessment is key to maintaining a dynamic approach to customer satisfaction.

In short, our exploration into NPS analysis highlights the importance of understanding the stories behind the scores. By committing to this cycle of improvement, you're not just boosting a metric—you're building lasting customer loyalty and driving your business forward. Keep these principles in mind as you continue to refine your customer experience strategy, and watch as your efforts translate into tangible results.

See how Sondar AI can uncover insights from your data. Book in a demo with your data today.