Dealing with Detractors
You’ve sent your surveys, and the results are coming in. What now?
While there are several steps to the process, the highest priority is to first address the members who need the most attention—both in terms of their own happiness and what they mean to the credit union. Just like the famous “squeaky wheel” it is your Detractors, the most dissatisfied survey respondents, who are first on the priority list.
Why Detractors Matter
Detractors are members that scored your credit union from 0-6 on the NPS scale. The low rating means Detractors are a much higher risk of leaving the credit union and are more likely to spread negative word-of-mouth. It is important to immediately respond to detractors—you might even be able to “recover” the relationship.
Top performing organizations are much more likely to consistently reach out to detractors. In fact, over 75% of NPS leading organizations have procedures to reach out to detractors and work to fix service issues, move them into being Passives, or even into Promoters.
3 Goals when Following-up
When creating a process for reaching Detractors, there are three goals you should have in mind.
1. Service Recovery (retention)
2. Root Cause Learning
3. Conversion
Service Recovery
When following up with detractors, the first goal should be to try to fix the situation which resulted in a complaint. Even when you can’t resolve it to the member’s satisfaction, just the fact that you tried will often generate member goodwill toward the credit union.
Immediate follow-up and attempted resolution is also a powerful way to reduce negative word of mouth. In the old days, when a member was upset they would pick up the phone and call your contact center. Now, the member picks up their smartphone to angrily inform to their 432 Facebook friends how terrible their Credit Union is! Keep your Facebook profile clean by following up to negative survey responses immediately.
Root Cause
Secondly, try to find out the root cause of their unhappiness with the experience. This can be more difficult, but is also very rewarding. Understanding the “root cause” behind dissatisfaction (and tracking it with your survey software) will help uncover areas of your credit union where changes can lead to a big improvement in NPS performance.
Conversion
Probably the most difficult to achieve (in a single phone call) is to convert a Detractor into a Passive (or even a Promoter). However, consistent improvement in systems and policies that are causing members to become detractors will reduce the overall number of Detractors, and immediate follow-up to complaints will create memorable service opportunities that could convince a member that you deserve their loyalty.
Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day
One last piece of advice: be patient.
Creating a loyalty-inducing member experience takes time, but it’s worth it. The results won’t necessarily show up overnight, but the consistent effort to seek out member opinions, dig deep to find out what’s causing them, and honest attempts to make things better will create a loyal membership and a great foundation for long-term growth.
