The Ultimate Question 2.0 (Revised and Expanded Edition): How Net Promoter Companies Thrive in a Customer-Driven World [Hardcover]

Fred Reichheld (Author), Rob Markey (Contributor)

Book Description

Release date: September 20, 2011

In the first edition of this landmark book, business loyalty guru Fred Reichheld revealed the question most critical to your company’s future: “Would you recommend us to a friend?” By asking customers this question, you identify detractors, who sully your firm’s reputation and readily switch to competitors, and promoters, who generate good profits and true, sustainable growth.

You also generate a vital metric: your Net Promoter Score. Since the book was first published, Net Promoter has transformed companies, across industries and sectors, constituting a game-changing system and ethos that rivals Six Sigma in its power.

In this thoroughly updated and expanded edition, Reichheld, with Bain colleague Rob Markey, explains how practitioners have built Net Promoter into a full-fledged management system that drives extraordinary financial and competitive results. With his trademark clarity, Reichheld:

• Defines the fundamental concept of Net Promoter, explaining its connection to your company’s growth and sustained success
• Presents the closed-loop feedback process and demonstrates its power to energize employees and delight customers
• Shares new and compelling stories of companies that have transformed their performance by putting Net Promoter at the center of their business

Practical and insightful, The Ultimate Question 2.0 provides a blueprint for long-term growth and success.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“This year, Reichheld, who is a fellow at Bain & Company as well as the founder of its loyalty practice, and Rob Markey, head of the company's global strategy and marketing practice, published The Ultimate Question 2.0: How Net Promoter Companies Thrive in a Customer-Driven World, an updated and expanded version of The Ultimate Question. The original lit the spark for the Net Promoter fire in 2006.” — CRM magazine

“wonderful new book” – FORBES.com

“A variety of companies have started using this: Charles Schwab, Apple, Progressive, Virgin Media, and more. Check out the book and see how to use it for your company.” – 800 CEO READ

About the Author

Fred Reichheld is a Fellow at Bain & Company. He is the bestselling author of The Loyalty Effect, published by Harvard Business Review Press, as well as numerous articles published in Harvard Business Review. Rob Markey is a partner and director in Bain & Company’s New York office and head of the firm’s global Customer Strategy and Marketing practice.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press; Rev Exp edition (September 20, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1422173356
• ISBN-13: 978-1422173350
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 0.9 x 9.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #29,801 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #46 in Books > Business & Investing > Industries & Professions > Customer Service

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Here is an open-source system whose "engine" can drive profitable growth October 5, 2011

By Robert Morris HALL OF FAMETOP 100 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

This is a revised and expanded second edition of a book published in 2006. In it, Fred Reichheld skillfully develops several concepts in much greater depth. In most of his previous books and articles, he focuses his primary attention on how to build and then sustain trust between and among those who share a workforce. Trust is again an important theme in this latest book because, if customers do not have trust in a company, its people, and its products and services as well as in its values, they will have little (if anything) to do with it and will certainly not recommend it to others.

The eponymous book titles refer to a question of ultimate importance: 'On a zero-to-ten scale, how likely is it that you would recommend us (or this product/service/brand) to a family member, friend or colleague?' As Reichheld explains, the phrasing of that question is 'a shorthand wording of a more basic question, which is, [begin italics] Have we treated you right, in a manner that is worthy of your loyalty? [end italics] 'But the question really wasn''t [and isn't] the heart of things. After all, no company can expect to increase its growth or profitability merely by conducting surveys, however the question or questions might be phrased.'

With assistance from Markey, what Reichheld does is provide a cohesive, comprehensive, and cost-effective management system by which that has three central components: categorizing customers into one of three categories (i.e. Promoters, Passives, an Detractors) through a simply survey, creating an easy-to-understand score based on that categorization, and finally, 'framing progress and success in these terms, thereby motivating everyone in the organization to take the actions required to produce more promoters and fewer detractors....' In other words, on an on-going basis, use current scores and related feedback to drive improvements.

With regard to the scores themselves, Promoters are those who provide a rating of 9 or 10, Passives 7 or 8, and detractors 6 or less. For purposes of illustration, let's say 100 customers respond as follows: 35 Promoters, 45 Passives, and 20 Detractors. The net score is determined by subtracting the total number of Detractors (i.e. 20) from the total number of Promoters (i.e. 35) and that is 15. That is a baseline against which subsequent efforts to increase Promoters and decrease Detractors are measured. Reichheld calls it the Net Promoter Score (NPS) and so shall I.

In my opinion, with all due respect to the importance of the NPS metrics, the implications of the measurements are of far greater importance. Think of the measurements as a mirror, one that reflects multiple realities. Only by understanding those realities -- and how to respond to each effectively -- can appropriate change initiatives be initiated to achieve and then sustain a never-ending process of improvement. 'Flexible it may be, but without the following elements, NPS just won't work.' They are:

1. Companies must systematically categorize promoters and detractors in a continuous, timely, and accurate manner. I think it is also important to note when Promoters become Passives and when Detractors become Passives. Also, to understand WHY.

2. Companies must create closed-loop learning and improvement processes and build them into their daily operations. In other words, NPS is not ' and must never be viewed as ' a customer relations improvement initiative or even a program. It must become and then remain an [begin italics] organic [end italics] system.

3. CEOs and other leaders must treat creating more Promoters and fewer Detractors as mission critical. I'd say 'mission imperative.' As Peter Drucker once observed, 'Without customers, there is no business.'

Hundreds of the world's largest and most complex organizations have adopted NPS but I hasten to point out that it can also be of substantial value to almost any company, whatever its size and nature may be. In recent years, it has been my great pleasure as well as privilege to work closely with owner/CEOs of hundreds of companies whose annual sales are less than $20-million. I would recommend NPS to each without hesitation or qualification. As Reichheld explains, it is 'a business philosophy, a system of operational practices, and a leadership commitment, not just another way to measure customer satisfaction.' Read more ›

35 of 42 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Great idea but 300 pages? October 5, 2011

By Mark G. Brown

Format:Hardcover

On a scale of 1-10 I would rate this one about a 4. Not because net promoter score (NPS) is not a good idea, and not because this is not a well written logical book, but because you don't need to read a book to start doing it. How you stretch an article about using a one-question survey as a measure of customer satisfaction into a 300 page book is to provide lots of examples. When I look at the list of the companies using net promoter score surveys, I'm reminded of past management fads that everyone followed such as TQM, ABC, EVA, CRM, Lean, and others. In fact, if it has three letters (NPS) and it is being pitched by a consultant, beware. . . If it sounds too good to be true it probably is. What is different about NPS is that is easy, logical, and something you can do yourself. All these other three-letter programs require lots of time, $, and use of consultants.
Certainly a one-question survey is more likely to get a better response rate than some of the 30+ question surveys I get from hotels, airlines, and car companies. I think this a trend in the right direction. However, what you gain in increased responses, you lose in diagnostic data. The authors suggest asking a second or third question in addition to the overall 1-10 rating to determine why someone gave a high or low rating, but now you are starting to aggravate the customer more. I don't need to take my time to tell you how you screwed up - I just won't go back.
I would strongly recommend using net promoter score as one of the suite of metrics you use to assess customer or employee satisfaction. Combined with other metrics, this can be a simple and easy to use measure. However, to rely on NPS as your only measure of something as important as customer satisfaction is a major mistake.... You would never find a company that relies on a single measure of financial performance to assess its health. Similarly, relying on a single measure of other aspects of performance is foolish. It would be nice if we could measure our health by just checking our blood pressure and that's it. It would also be nice to measure and predict customer loyalty with a single question survey. Sadly, life is not that simple, and measuring anything accurately usually requires a variety of different measures.
What I love about NPS is its simplicity. What makes it dangerous is its simplicity. Management understands it and it is often too tempting to use this as the only measure of customer or employee satisfaction. If you need ammunition to sell executives in your company on using NPS, this book contains plenty of stories from top-name companies and you will probably find it useful. The book is logical, easy to follow and presents some compelling evidence on NPS. Read more ›

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Better Business World September 20, 2011

By A Promoter

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Fred Reichheld and Rob Markey have consistently created and promoted the best of business practices. By following the Golden Rule and treating others as one would wish to be treated, they have proven through use of the Net Promoter Score and the Net Promoter System, both clearly explained in The Ultimate Question 2.0, that doing what is right for your customers really works (i.e., happy customers result in happy profits!). Through their use of countless real business examples of both good profits and bad profits, they make it easy to understand how to build one's business into an organization that one can be proud of, and that generates good profits and growth. Anyone who is trying to find ways to build their business will profit (pun intended!) from reading and employing the methods described so clearly in this very valuable book. Help make the business world a better place for customers and businesses. Buy it! Read it! Use it!

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars A few good ideas, repeated over and over September 28, 2011

By A. Fineman

Format:Hardcover

The authors of this book have some interesting ideas, and use some good, in-depth case studies of real businesses to illustrate their theories in practice. However, at around 300 pages, we find repetitive conclusions at the ends of every chapter, and unnecessarily verbose introductions that don't really tell us anything. At 150 pages, this book could have been a tight collection of theory, case studies, and commentary by business executives.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Not so much focus on the hard part August 6, 2012

By T. Sales

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I had read "The Ultimate Question" in 2006 and read this updated edition to see how Fred Reichheld updated the approach in a business environment that has become more social. In addition, I've been tracking his website and conference announcements over the past 6 months and have a friend who has made presentations about how his company has implemented the Net Promoter program. It seems this approach is gathering momentum, and why not -- it's much more practical than taking mind-numbing surveys about every aspect of the company's business model and customer experience.

The focus on only one key question with follow-up is something every employee can conceptually understand and relate to each customer with whom s/he interacts. So the straightfowardness and elegance of the approach solves a major problem many organizations have with implementing such programs. As another reviewer commented, it seems a little bit of overkill to have a whole book to explain that.

The bigger issue in my opinion is whether the organization's culture will empower employees to do something to improve a customer experience on the spot to rescue a 0-6 detractor to make that interaction successful. And bigger picture, are the employees able to recognize how current practices could be improved so as to make improvements in best practices and customer experiences that would elevate more customer responses to '9's' and 10's' across the whole organization? To me, this is the bigger challenge and one the book doesn't get into as much. Perhaps that's to be expected because each culture is different and there may not be one best way for that to be done....

My friend's company was a great candidate for implementing Net Promoter because much had been done to put their employees into positions where they were empowered to delight the customer, to suggest best practice improvements to their supervisors, and to lobby for their acceptance. Once they've been enabled to do those things, then Net Promoter would be easily implemented. Read more ›