There has always been an open debate about Net Promoter Scores as the system for measuring customer satisfaction.  With such strong trade offs, the debate is strong when the focus turns to smaller, growing businesses.

Ground Up

Two things are central to a growing business:

1. Building strong customer focused DNA

2. Generating referrals as brand visibility develops

Both point towards the inclusion of Net Promoter based customer satisfaction measurement in the early stages of the business.

DNA

A company’s DNA develops early in the life of the business and is hard to change at later stages.  Most smaller companies tend to have a product centric DNA — which executives leverage to mould competitive advantage as the business grows.

NPS can be driver of another dimension of DNA — customer centricity.

Customer feedback can be like shock therapy — driving organizational behavior towards being more customer centric.

Importance of Referrals

Net Promoter puts the spotlight on a single measure of customer satisfaction: Likeliness to refer close contacts.  The alignment with new ventures is clear: as brand is developing and marketing funds are stretched, referrals are key to early growth.  Referrals come with both brand positioning and initial marketing in place, allowing new ventures a head start that only heavy marketing spend can achieve.