-By Maggie Bayless

I'd like to continue where I left off in my last column -- sharing some of the insights we've gained here at Zingerman's from using Net Promoter Score (NPS), a method for evaluating the customer experience that we learned from Fred Reichheld's book, The Ultimate Question. Please read the book for a complete explanation, but -- in a nutshell -- this approach divides customers into promoters, neutrals and detractors. It also correlates improved profitability with increases in the number of promoters an organization has and with decreases in its number of detractors.

The Ultimate Answers
One insight we've gotten from using NPS is that customers in different categories (promoters, neutrals or detractors) are likely to respond differently to certain service techniques -- and that some techniques will be more effective with promoters, say, than with detractors. Using NPS doesn't mean that we stop thinking of our customers as individuals or recognizing that the same person can (and often does!) require a different service experience from one visit to the next. But keeping the NPS categories in mind has helped us think in terms of service techniques that may be especially effective with one category or another, and it has gotten us focused on what we can do to build an even stronger bond with those customers who are already promoters.

Promoters are a great source of information about what is being done well in an organization -- but also about what can be improved. Although it's called the "ultimate" question ("How likely is it that you would recommend our company to a friend or colleague?"), we actually ask one more: "Why did you give the score you did and what could be done to improve your experience next time?" When we started using the NPS approach, we assumed we'd learn the most about needed improvements from detractors, but in fact, we tend to get the most (and most useful) feedback from promoters.

It turns out that customers who are excited about recommending us to their friends and colleagues are also enthusiastic about sharing ideas that they think would make our organization even better. These ideas range from ways the service experience itself could be improved, to products they'd like us to consider carrying, to suggestions for reducing the business' carbon footprint. Promoter feedback often helps us decide where to focus our resources in terms of new products and/or initiatives -- because their suggestions are typically already in line with our organization's long-term vision.

One of the most compelling things we've learned is how much promoters enjoy feeling like "insiders," whether they are regulars who shop with us several times a week or first-time guests who can't wait to share their new find with others. People gravitate toward environments where they feel they belong -- and the more our customers see our businesses as a "home away from home," the more often they are likely to visit and the stronger the likelihood that they will recommend us to others. Here are some ways to help your customers feel like insiders:
• Learn -- and use -- your promoters' names. It may seem too obvious, but it happens rarely enough that I think it bears repeating -- people love to be greeted by name. Learn the names of your regulars and make introducing regulars to new staff part of your on-shift training. Along with names, keep track of favorite foods, seating preferences, etc. At some Zingerman's businesses, we have software to help us with this, but at others, this information is in the heads of the experienced staff, and we have to be very conscious about actively sharing it when new hires come on board.
• Share "secrets." Not everything that we can possibly make or sell is actually on the menu, out on the shelf or in our catalog. For example, at the Deli, we sell potato latkes. They are delicious and we sell a lot of them, served with handmade applesauce and/or sour cream. But the kitchen staff discovered that if you cut a latke into strips and deep fry the strips, you end up with an extra-crispy treat that they've named "latke fingers." Latke fingers aren't on the Deli menu, but employees regularly order them for their employee meal and have shared the fact of their existence with some Deli regulars -- who now order them and get a kick out of knowing about something "secret." Same thing with "retired" sandwiches that were once on the Deli's menu, are now no longer listed, but that are just different combinations of ingredients we have on hand. If you know to ask for them, we're happy to make them!
• Treat promoters as VIPs. It's an unfortunate fact that all too often we don't give our regulars "extra special" treatment because, well, they're here a lot and they're already happy. Otherwise, they wouldn't be regulars -- right? But when you get right down to it -- who better to give that VIP treatment to than the people who support our businesses day in and day out? After all, aren't they the ones who've been recommending us to friends and family, giving us the discreet heads-up when they see problems, and making suggestions for how to improve? So think about what you would do if you knew that some movie star or industry bigwig was going to shop or dine with you -- seat them with your best server, make sure the manager stops by to chat, buy the table dessert, send a follow-up thank-you note -- and do that for the promoter who shops or dines with you several times a week.

For years, we've taught our staff that they are authorized to do "whatever it takes" to make a customer happy when remedying a mistake. And I would not advocate changing that. It's important to handle complaints well in order to minimize the number of detractors who are out there talking down our business. But let's also teach people to make an extra effort to bring an exceptional experience to our promoters -- those regulars who want, on one hand, to be treated like family but that, on the other hand, deserve to be treated like royalty.

Maggie Bayless is the managing partner of ZingTrain, which is the consulting arm of Zingerman's, the specialty food retailer in Ann Arbor, Mich. If you have specific topics you would like to see addressed, please send your suggestions to Maggie at mbayless@zingermans.com. You can read all of her columns at www.gourmetretailer.com -- the first in this two-part series was posted in October. You can visit at www.gourmetretailer.com/stafftraining