A destination brand is shaped by the stories people tell each other. Consumers will share stories about their experiences. Do it right and they’ll do the marketing for you. Under deliver and they will become detractors. It’s the role of the DMO to lead the collection of stakeholders to market to the right people and deliver remarkable experiences.
Fortunately a visitor’s experience is one of the few things a DMO and it’s stakeholders have control over. And NPS, or Nett Promoter Score is the perfect way to measure and benchmark this. NPS measures customer satisfaction by answering one question – How likely is it that you would recommend [brand xyz] to a friend or colleague? On a zero to ten scale, people who score a 9 or 10 are promoters, they will recommend your destination. People who score a 7 or 8 are passive while people who score between 0 and 6 are detractors. They will tell others not to go. When you subtract the number of detractors from your promoters you end up with your Nett Promoter score.
There’s a lot of evidence that a high NPS is a strong indicator for corporate growth. Southwest is known for it’s friendly staff and business practices. It stands out from most other airlines in the US. Southwest built a customer centered culture and considers “a high NPS indicates a strong competitive advantage“. They have posted 39 years of consecutive profits and this blog posts quantifies the results of their customer service efforts.
I’ve been thinking about this for a while and have concluded that every DMO should measure NPS. Because not only is NPS a good indicator of future growth, it will also get staff and stakeholders to focus on the consumer and the customer experience.
Managing your destinations reputation is more important than ever. And it’s a collective responsibility. Use NPS to measure and benchmark it. Read The Ultimate Question to learn more about NPS.
Tags: customer service, NPS, service design, social media
Nailed it. Changing the KPI gives the DMO a new and relavant focus … the visitor.
Random thought to ponder … Bhutans KPI … GNH (Gross National Happiness). Economies around the world laugh at this KPI, but the locals are happy and the travelers flock to go there … hmmmm
Dave
Thanks Dave, great I was able to get my point across. How you measure things lead to how your company culture develops. Not that different from the way Bhutan measures GNH.
Excellent post.
Solid post William.
Completely agree that DMOs and NTOs need to utilize clear, simple measurement techniques…and NPS has potential.
I also like the focus on customer service, which is the foundation for a great social media presence…with or without direct brand involvement on social media.
I also wonder about the changes in the NPS number based upon channel. So, social, email, OVG, website visitors. If you asked the question to specific channels would the NPS result shift? And could that indicate weakness in a specific channel?
But…and allow me to take on my regular role as Devil’s Advocate…could consumers differentiate the destination from the destination marketing organization?
If you had a bad experience at the W in San Francisco, would that impact a NPS survey from San Francisco Travel?
Or is that bad experience part of San Francisco Travel’s brand?
Is the DMO brand clear enough to produce an accurate number?
Of course, that goes back to the larger question: do tourists / consumers understand the role of the DMO?
NPS Article Score: 9
– Troy
Thanks Troy.
The consumer doesn’t see a difference between the destination, the DMO or the destination brand. They’re just visiting a place. Whatever they experience on the ground impacts the score and that’s the whole point.
You can’t fix a bad product with brilliant marketing. By using NPS, a DMO can start pinpointing challenges in the delivery. This could be related to specific operators but also local infrastructure, crime, etc. The DMO can then play a leading role in making the overall experience better.
I like it. And completely agree with the comment on bad marketing.
The NPS score starts to move DMOs away from that marketing-first mentality (to ‘fix’ problems) and shifts them towards managing the destination.
Something we, among others, have talked about at length.
Plus, it begins to deconstruct the idea of a centrally-controlled destination brand…as you said, the place is the brand, the brand is the place…something a lot of DMOs spend too much time worrying about.
Alright, you sold me.
Have you seen any destinations using the NPS metric?
– Troy
I’m not aware of any destination using it. But a university in Australia did a study in 2006. http://www.tmiaust.com.au/downloads/NPS/Mark_Ritson_NPS_Survey.pdf
Hopefully I can convince on of our clients soon…
[…] Disney theme park, it makes sense to strive to make the destination experience best it can be. By Nett Promotor Score (NPS) as a measure you can predict […]
We’re happy to volunteer and try to pilot something on this at South African Tourism
Done, we’ll talk in a few weeks
[…] stages of the customer journey. I like this slide because it’s almost identical to one I use. NPS is the best quantitive measure for the overall destination experience. The science behind NPS shows a correlation between NPS score, loyalty, referral and corporate […]
I’ve been considering this for a while and have determined that every DMO should evaluate NPS. Because not only is NPS a excellent signal of upcoming development, it will also get employees and stakeholders to pay attention to the client and the client encounter.
Features about Number Tracer