When it comes to customer loyalty, it is no secret that consumers play favorites all the time. What is often a secret, however, is how to know what brands achieve the highest levels of customer loyalty, and why. Savvy brands must understand how they stack up to the competition and find ways to improve CRM, so this is incredibly crucial information, which is why Satmetrix® was excited to release the UK Net Promoter Customer Loyalty Benchmarks Report.
Satmetrix, a worldwide administrator of cloud-based digital services that provides actionable customer experience solutions, ranked over 60 UK brands from numerous industries including entertainment, insurance, telecom, finance, and more. These brands were ranked according to responses solicited from over 11,000 individuals from all across the UK. Based on a 0-10 point scale, NPS scores were then calculated with regards to the customer experiences of these consumers.
Specifically, NPS is determined by the percentage of customers who rate brands at a 9 or 10, which is then subtracted from the percentage of detracting customers that rate brands at a 6 or lower. Satmetrix also collected data on additional factors affecting customer experience such as quality of products, the level of service, and overall brand value. This information allows Satmetrix to further determine the reasons behind NPS brand rankings.
This year, First Direct significantly lead all other UK brands with a NPS of +73. Nationwide Building Society came in at a distant second with an NPS of +43. Two brands, Freeview and Tesco Mobile, tied for third with +38. Plusnet was fourth on the list. LV and Hargreaves Lansdown rounded out the top five with another tie at +28.
"We are pleased to announce Net Promoter Benchmark reports for the UK this year, replicating our research in the US, which has become a crucial resource for companies looking to get ahead of the competition with their customer experience," said Brendan Rocks, head of data science at Satmetrix. "The Net Promoter leaders are more likely to enjoy high customer retention, lower customer acquisition costs, and ultimately benefit from more sustainable growth. Many of the companies at the bottom of the rankings have huge potential to improve, and Satmetrix's research brings to light the areas of the customer experience where they lag competitors."
Other key highlights of the report reveled that consumer banking has the biggest disparity between brands. The highest, First Direct, scored +73 verses Royal Bank of Scotland, which scored -19. By placing an emphasis on a community focused customer experience, MBNA was able to out rank all other credit card companies with an NPS of +4. EE (-7) and Vodafone (-17) ranked lowest on the list of mobile and Internet service providers.