Comments

Tom - This is the one great question to ask about any organization/product, since it all boils down to this. (For personnel references, I'm always surprised by how few people ask THAT one great question: would you hire this person again?)

Posted by Maureen Rogers at May 4, 2007 11:57 AM

Personally, I think that most are afraid to ask because they are afraid of the answer they may(will) receive. It is easier to assume than to know the true opinions of the people they are serving.

Posted by paul etheridge at May 4, 2007 12:17 PM

I've been using variants of this since I first read Reichheld's book. For speaking engagements the question is "Would you recommend me to other meeting planners?"

For consulting engagements it's first, "Would you recommend ..." I follow up six months later and ask "Have you recommended ..." and I ask one more question: "May I contact you to find out more about your answer?"

Response rates are far higher than for the old surveys. The six month follow-up questions have generated great discussion and discussions of things clients would have liked different, even though every result so far has been positive.

Posted by Wally Bock at May 4, 2007 12:45 PM

I routinely ask customers of my services if they will recommend me to potential customers. I don’t understand why you say 'Okay, get up your nerve.' It’s not risky at all. If I’ve done a crap job it’s my fault and actually I think I would know if I had not delivered! Customers are always the best judge of my competence.

Posted by Trevor Gay at May 4, 2007 2:46 PM

I'm not certain this works as well for small (one person) businesses as for large ones because most people want to be "nice" and therefore say yes but don't actually refer. Giving anonymity is difficult to prove to the person answering. I guess the process has to include follow up after they say yes.

Posted by Stuart Jones at May 5, 2007 7:26 AM

A great deal could be learned from the way people respond to this question - especially if we could observe them in person.

Stuart, I have tried asking people directly after I engaged with them on a project, such as right after delivering a seminar.

Another thing I do is to let float my contact and see how many people respond, what is their level of curiosity, etc. This "let go" approach yields some great insights about one's true worth.

Posted by Ramla A. at May 5, 2007 10:43 AM

Stuart, on the money, people often ACT nice, "Oh yes I will recommend you" but you know nothing happens.

However that said, it is vital to get to the core and fast! Perhaps there is a way to provide a more influential question that provides pay dirt.

Posted by Steve Gray at May 5, 2007 6:43 PM

I have a real love/hate relationship with this question.

On the plus side, as has been commented above, it does sometimes get the core of the quality of work

on the down side

1) To me it comes across as a bit naff! and not very professional
2) I always answer "no". Not because the service is bad but because I simply don't go around talking about my work to my friends (i.e. I answer it literally). Many of the customers I deal with are large corporate accounts but the people I deal with are often techies - trust me many of them would answer this question literally too!
3) I REALLY dislike the subtext which is "please refer us and make us more successful". I feel as if I am being manipulated. - Big Turn off

Posted by PaulH at May 8, 2007 2:14 AM

It is not whether you ask the question or not. Do they recommend you??? I am certain I could not keep my business going without positive word of mouth...

Posted by Mike Neiss at May 8, 2007 6:19 AM

This is a great way to measure how well you're doing. A recent article in the UK’s weekly ‘Marketing’ journal discussed how T-Mobile, American Express, General Electric, Allianz and more, are increasingly measuring customer loyalty using the Net Promoter Score (NPS) from management consultancy Bain & Co. The NPS identifies the percentage of customers that are likely to recommend a brand or company and uses this as a predictor for future growth. The NPS score is actually a percentage which you can use to benchmark year on year improvements.

For me this has got to be essential for small businesses. First of all ask if your customers if they are happy to refer you and the more importantly ask them to do so. Many of the small businesses (both good and services) would not survive without good referral programmes.

Posted by Andrew Bargery at May 13, 2007 2:27 PM