For a restoration business, it can be difficult to determine a clear growth indicator. There are several elements that play a tremendous role in a company having success, and differentiating between them is important for business owners. Too much of a focus on the wrong section of a business can mean setbacks down the road and potential loss for the company.
Research has proven that a Net Promoter Score is one of the most important evaluators of a business’s growth. Using a 0-10 scale, NPS looks at how well a company is growing in comparison to its competition in the market. With an impact in sales, marketing, products and services, the NPS can help a business determine what areas of the company assist customers the most. The owner of a restoration business that wants to evolve and improve his or her business needs to know the company’s NPS.
“For a measure to be practical, operational, and reliable – that is, for it to determine the percentage of net promoters among customers and allow managers to act on it – the process and the results need to be owned and accepted by all of the business functions,” author Frederick F. Reichheld wrote in the Harvard Business Review about NPS.
“The path to sustainable, profitable growth begins with creating more promoters and fewer detractors and making your net-promoter number transparent throughout your organization. This number is the one number you need to grow. It’s that simple and that profound.”
For restoration businesses, knowing a NPS can be the key to growing a customer base and thriving as a company.
What an NPS conveys
The goal of an NPS is to give a business actionable insights that they can implement moving forward. As a restoration business owner, knowing what factors play a role in a company’s success are invaluable. Spending the time and resources needed to improve these aspects of a business can lead to great profits down the line.
“The NPS studies how well a company is performing for its customers.”
The NPS studies how well a company is performing for its customers. The higher the score, the more likely a person is to use a business again or recommend it to others. Customers are broken into three sectors, given their score: Promoters, passives and detractors. Promoters are obviously the best, as they have given a business a high score and will either keep using or tell others to use a company. Passives are generally satisfied by a service, but won’t go out of their way to recommend the business to peers. And detractors are unhappy, meaning they could actively impact business through negative word of mouth.
A restoration company can see how customers are grading them and make changes from there. If most customers are promoters, the company needs to spend less on marketing and advertising and can spend more on adding staff, since positive feedback will help spread the word. However, if a great deal of the responses are passives and detractors, improving service and performance needs to be the top priority.
Forbes explained that the power of NPS is narrowing the gap between reputation and ability. A score doesn’t convey how long a company has been in business or what it has done in the past. Instead it only looks at how well customers feel a company is doing and how eager they are to refer that business to others.
How outside factors can help
Many restoration businesses do not have the resources to focus on customer engagement. Staffs tend to be small and much of the effort is connected to doing the actual restoration work, instead of advertising or customer service. Yet because a NPS is so important, it is often wise to look to outside help.
Businesses like Listen360 help companies reach customers and improve scores, so that people who use a restoration business are likely to go out and help spread the positive work. Listen360 is a customer satisfaction surveying company whose main goal is to help companies raise their NPS, so that they can stay ahead of the competition.
One way Listen360 and other outside marketing companies work is by utilizing various outreach tools available online. Sometimes that means building applications for customers to use on smartphones and tablets. In other cases, it involves building up social media accounts so that people can stay up to date on all of a company’s news and updates via Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and other platforms.
Social media tools can help a business promote itself and raise its NPS.
Maximizing the Web
Social media tools are not the only way a business can boost its NPS through the Internet. Using modern business programs also are a huge asset. Cloud-based software programs such as DASH help restoration businesses owners stay connected – both to their employees and customers.
Gregg Gaskins, a small business owner in South Carolina, explained to Franchising World how online tools have helped him promote his business.
“Technology has played a significant role in our business environment,” Gaskins said. ” First and foremost, it allows us to communicate with our customers much more often and in a more cost-effective manner while providing relevant information to make their lives a little easier.”
The cloud, specifically, is of great help. From tracking workers and equipment to updating the status of a restoration project with customers, DASH helps restorers take care of business.
“This year we plan to take advantage of cloud computing and the benefits it would afford us with multiple locations,” Gaskins added. “Cloud computing offers a very inexpensive way to store large amounts of data and share resources only accessible by defined users from any location. We plan to use cloud computing to store everything from basic forms to material safety data sheets and everything in between. This makes effective management of a multi-site business much simpler.”
The hope is that by utilizing the various tools the Internet has to offer, from social media to cloud software, a restoration business and its outside assistance can do its jobs more effectively. That, in turn, should lead to more satisfied customers and higher NPS.
