So everybody is in love with NPS. NPS is an industry-accepted parameter of how a SAAS software is adopted, used, and recommended. Great statistic to show as part of customer success performance, investor presentations, and CEO reviews. But there is also an alternate debate going on in the SAAS world. Is NPS Dying? Is it just a mere statistic? What is the tangible benefit of NPS? How can it be measured?
NPS works well when it is integrated with a customer referral program. NPS is the starting point and not the end. It gives the data of all customers who should be enrolled in the program and rewarded, as their referrals convert into prospects and paying customers. The misalignment in the SAAS world is companies invest in NPS and the relevant technology to run it but not in a customer referral program that delivers.
At ThinkCap Advisors, we follow a Customer Referral Framework to build a customer referral program
ThinkCap Customer Referral Framework
Some Additional Points To Be Considered:
- Timing of asking for a referral – Do you have sales guys who ask for a referral when they close deals? Wrong timing.
- Keep in mind customer referral is also advocacy. Get your clients to do press releases and case studies. Use them as references to close deals.
- Customer referral is everybody’s KPI. Sales, Customer Support, Customer Success, and Marketing. A customer might have a great relationship with the support manager and not the account manager. However, it is important that one division has complete ownership of driving the program.
- Building customer referral program is a journey. It will evolve as your product & the GTM evolves. The key is to start early.