Customer oriented sales organizations should always know what their customers think about their products and service. The ultimate measure of a happy customer is whether or not they would recommend you to a friend. If you ask your customers what they think of you, your questions (which should not exceed five) should always include the following; How likely would you be to recommend our products or services to a friend, family member or co-worker?” The illustration below shows the calculation average to your “net promoter score.” This is a fantastic benchmark of your service.

According to “Social Made Simple,”  “businesses with high net promoter scores will generally gain more market share and spend less time and money marketing, generating more profits than competitors.” However, many business owners who are committed to differentiating their brands through superior customer service find it challenging to replicate those customer service best practices at the multi-unit level. Franchise companies especially run into this problem. Well-intentioned owners with diverse personalities and priorities can sometimes stray from implementing and ensuring that the mechanics of your customer experience are happening. In franchising consistency is everything and is the number one driver of high net-promoter scores. Many of the companies who score high on the net promoter chart are also very large, take Apple or Nordstroms for example. So big companies can still achieve this level of consistency and service for their customers at all of their locations if they are committed to it and truly internalize that mission.

Brand Standards Reviews      

Our Action Card clients vary by industry and practice. However, they have one common denominator; a commitment to consistency. I review the operating compliance standards for many companies every week. Whether they call them reviews, inspections, audits or simply consultative visits, these organizations have invested in driving their standards with each owner or manager. Action Card reinforces their standards because the reviews, the language and the process are the same. Visits follow a model in the same way that your owners and managers should be following yours. We added a customer satisfaction tool as well to provide our clients with that added level of feedback. When these reviews are done regularly, there is much more visibility into how well brand standards are being driven across the network and it communicates the importance of these standards to your owners.

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