What Companies with Exceptional NPS Scores Tell Us About What We Sell and How We Retain Customers

by William Walsh | Aug 1, 2023 | 2023

By Scott Gillum
Estimated read time: 5 Minutes

Insight from buyer and employee research from 20 companies with 70+ NPS scores

Are customers just buying your products?  

Yes, as you will see, it is true a good product will sell itself but there is more to that decision than what is on the surface. 

Recently, we were able to conduct research on close to 20 companies that have net promoter scores (NPS) above 70, with a handful at 90+. To put that into perspective, scores 10 to 60 are typically detractors, 70 to 80 are passives, and above 90 are active promoters.

While an average of 70 or above might not sound all that impressive, it’s higher than the Top 7 industries ranked (see below). And, it is extremely rare to find an organization that reaches a score of  90 or above.

The companies included in our research span industries from Aerospace, Hi-Tech, GovCon and Manufacturing, to Cannabis and Agriculture, with services as complex as cybersecurity, to as simple as producing  labels for  food items. Buyers ranged from Engineers and Chief Security Officers, to Procurement and  small business owners. 

What also made this opportunity unique is that we were able to interview over 100 customers, and survey more than a 1000, who represented the areas listed  above allowing us to gain insight into what was driving the scores.

 The top 3 purchase drivers are listed below, and this is what we learned:

1. A great product makes for a great score – without question, the quality of your product is the biggest driver of purchase satisfaction (93%). In addition to quality, reliability was  critical. 
2. Usability is second. This includes ease of use, integration, configuration, works as designed, etc. 
3. And third is Value, including affordability, value for the money, price competitiveness, etc. 

Now for the key question… What is interesting about the key purchase drivers, and how we sell?

None of the three purchase drivers are realized during the sales process. It’s only  once they have purchased the product  that they truly experience the quality and value.  

So, this tells us we are selling something else during the buying process. In fact, we found that there are four things you are selling  before you close the deal.  

1. Hope – Customers, especially newly acquired ones haven’t experienced your product, service, and support so they are buying a promise. The most motivating thing you can sell early in the process is hope. Give prospects the hope that their work lives can be better, that your solution can solve their problems or pain. But, you can only do that if you find the pain. In today’s economic environment, if there is no pain, reps will have no hope of making a sale.
2. Credibility – we had a chance to survey Chief Information and Security Officers (CISO) during this period on what they  looked for in a sales rep. CISO stated that they preferred a representative to be highly knowledgeable of both products and services, (three times more likely than a relationship.) In some industries, like Cybersecurity, there is nothing more important than your credibility. Why? Buyer’s top 4 information sources are all people channels (Peers, Colleagues, Influencers, Analysts). Your reputation is everything. Every word written or spoken is critical. Opinions don’t matter, and reps have to do their homework. 
3. Trust – trust and credibility are a one two punch. If you’re not credible, you probably don’t have a shot at being trusted. There is no undervaluing the importance of trust in the purchasing process. When we asked customers to rank brand attributes, Trustworthiness tied for first along with Reliability. Not only is it important to the acquisition, it is critical for retaining customers. And, trust is the most broadly defined attribute – the brand, product performance, availability, service, pricing, staff, shipping, etc. 
4. The Business Argument – did you notice that I didn’t write ROI, or business case? In reality, few companies can deliver on the ROI used to close the deal. Additionally, few businesses produce (or can prove) the outcomes predicted, and buyers know it. In fact, researchers have tested upside gains versus downside risk reduction with buyers. Buyers, interestingly, discount upside predictions and are more likely to believe risk projections. It’s why a solid, logical business argument is the most believable and compelling reason for making a purchase decision…e.g. “You’ve invested XXX dollars into this solution, why wouldn’t you want to optimize by enabling this functionality…”

One of the most interesting discoveries in our research came through one on one interviews. The discovery was Ben, a senior sales representative who worked for a PE owned company that had several brands selling into complex manufacturing companies. 

Ben was an eye opener. He was a multidimensional product expert, sales and service machine. In our interviews with customers, they offered up his name but never for the same thing twice. In one conversation with a buyer, they  highlighted how Ben was just talking with their engineers about a new product design and in another one with procurement,  talked about him being able to create one invoice with products from multiple manufacturers.

One of the goals of the work we were doing was to uncover opportunities for more cross selling of products…Ben was already doing it! But, one of the most important statements about Ben that stuck with me was “Ben answers his phone.”

Ben had their trust because he was credible with the internal buyers – the engineers. He solved procurement problems, but most importantly gave them hope. Most of their orders were urgent or hard to find products. Ben knew this, he answered his phone because he also knew that they relied on him to find a way to get them what they needed. 

Ultimately what we learned was companies that perform the highest with customers also scored the highest on employee satisfaction. We surveyed over 1000 employees across companies and found that what drove their satisfaction in their role was the connection to their customers. 

Here’s the reason, when asked the question; 

“Beyond the products we offer, why do you think customers choose to shop with the brand(s) you work with?”

The number 1 answer, mentioned by 80% of the employees, was Trust. It connects customers to you, and you to your customers.   

NPS scores are notoriously difficult to move. In fact, some companies abandon using them because of it. Maybe it isn’t that difficult to improve after all. Perhaps it just comes down to focusing on building trust – companies trusting employees, sales building trust with customers, and service and product maintaining that trust through delivery. 

And of course, a quality product.