Segmenting customers into detractors, passives and promoters can help your business recognise the unique challenges and opportunities of dealing with different sets of customers. By adapting your approach to each segment, you’ll be able to do more of what your customers love, resolve issues quickly, and eventually grow your base of promoters, boosting your NPS.
Promoters
Seeing what is trending with your promoters enables you to do more of the things your customers love - and that’s the best way to do business with promoters, keep doing what they love!
73% of consumers say friendly customer service representatives can make them fall in love with a brand, which is why so much promoter feedback features comments about excellent customer service, helpful team members, and friendly staff.
Sharing positive feedback with your organisation and rewarding people who have provided excellent customer experiences helps build morale and fosters a customer-centric culture. Better yet, identifying stand-out customer experiences creates opportunities for wider team training, so you can replicate exceptional service throughout your business.
Passives
Feedback from passive customers can help identify the difference between good and great experiences. Feedback from passives often includes the proverbial “but” - but, these “buts” are golden nuggets!
“The food was delicious, but it took too long to arrive.”
“The staff were really friendly, but the product was out of stock.”
These “buts” show what changes are needed to turn up the customer experience dial and turn these passives into loyal promoters. The best way to do business with passives is to ensure you act on these gold nuggets to improve your overall customer experience, that way when they return they’ll be ready to make that leap into the promoter category.
If it’s appropriate you could also contact passives to rectify their issue. For example, if the product they want isn’t in stock, you could let them know when it will be available and offer to courier it to them directly. Just by handling their issue well, you could revise their perception and turn them into promoters for your business!
Detractors
These are unhappy customers who have felt strongly enough to send you a clear signal about what bothers them within your business. Did you know that 66% of consumers who switched brands did so because of poor service?
Issues that trend with detractors are most often linked to poor communication, long wait times, bad store experiences, and problems around value and pricing.
It is important to make timely contact with detractors, listen to their concerns and offer alternative solutions to their problems. Often just being able to air their frustrations and feel that they are being listened to helps them feel better about their experience.
Beyond contacting detractors individually, it’s also important to look for themes in their feedback. Perhaps one particular store has a higher rate of detractors, so investigate what you can do to improve this. Is it tweaking the store layout, increasing staff training, or reviewing your product line for the local market? You can be sure that detractors know what’s wrong, so ensure you know too by reviewing their feedback.
For more information about how to turn your customers into raving fans, download our e-book Turning Negative Feedback into Raving Fans.