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Is AI More Powerful than the Net Promoter Score?

Written by Cairee Paugh | Jul 20, 2023 9:09:01 PM

To understand customer experience journeys, the first metric many professionals turn to is the Net Promoter Score (NPS): a quick way to gauge brand health and customer loyalty. While the NPS is tried and true, new AI tools are changing the way businesses use this score to better inform growth and strategy.  

 

Net Promoter Score: The Ultimate Measure of Business Health 

The tried-and-true NPS is used in all industries to benchmark success. It is based on the answer to just one question: ”On a scale of 1-10, how likely you are to recommend a product, service, or brand?” The percentage of respondents that are likely to promote the business (9, 10) is subtracted from the percentage of those who would detract or speak negatively about the company (0-6) for one neat score. Generally, a score of 0-50 is considered “good,” though specific industry numbers could trend higher or lower.  

AI Provides Additional Insight Into NPS 

As AI tools advance, businesses are implementing developing platforms to better serve customers and understand their brands. As market researchers, we wondered how AI could impact NPS. The “passives” in NPS are usually forgotten (7,8)—as they are neither likely to promote nor detract from a business. Could we glean more insight from AI? 

 
The answer, of course, is yes! 

 

AI is changing how brands use NPS. In a traditional online survey, respondents self-report by typing their responses, which are then analyzed by software and a human eye. AI-powered platforms could extract even more robust information from this data. Automated chatbots and personal assistants are becoming a more significant part of our everyday experience, especially in the workplace.

 

Here are five ways that AI can help enrich the NPS experience both on the front-end and the back. 

 

1. Personalize Customer Experiences with AI

AI algorithms can analyze vast amounts of customer data, enabling businesses to understand their customers better. In a much shorter amount of time, AI can deliver personalized experiences, tailored recommendations, and targeted offers based on additional feedback from NPS scores. This level of personalization enhances a company’s ability to process and implement feedback to improve customer satisfaction.

 

 
2. Chatbots and Virtual Assistants 

AI-powered virtual assistants have become ubiquitous in customer service. These intelligent systems can provide instant and accurate responses to customer inquiries, efficiently addressing common questions and concerns. NPS prompts are already automated, but generative AI chatbots could provide an immediate probe into a lower NPS and dig deeper to determine opportunities. 


3. Sentiment Analysis 

AI algorithms with natural language processing and sentiment analysis techniques can process customer feedback from diverse sources such as surveys, social media, and online reviews. By analyzing customer sentiments, businesses gain valuable insights into their experiences. This allows for identifying areas for improvement and implementing proactive measures to address customer concerns, adding context to an NPS. 

 

 
4. Voice and Speech Recognition 

With AI-powered voice and speech recognition technologies, businesses can better understand customer interactions during phone calls and other voice-based interactions. AI can provide real-time insights to customer service representatives by analyzing speech patterns, tone, and keywords. This understanding helps representatives address customer sentiments and needs more effectively, improving customer experiences and elevating NPS scores. 


5. Feedback Analysis 

AI algorithms excel at analyzing large volumes of customer feedback, identifying patterns, and detecting trends. By categorizing feedback into themes and pinpointing recurring issues, businesses can prioritize areas for improvement and take proactive actions to enhance customer satisfaction. This continuous feedback loop helps by analyzing NPS results and helping businesses rapidly identify where to redirect resources depending on its findings. 

NPS remains the strongest and simplest measure of brand performance, but well-directed AI can powerfully augment its results. This list is not exhaustive but represents a sample of how AI will change how we view and measure our brands. 

 

Working to understand your business’s NPS?

MDRG can help!

Our human-centric research is supplemented by AI tools which allow us to get a rich and comprehensive perspective on brand health.