the social metrics

Net Promoter Score Plays Well With Others

I like the idea of a Net Promoter Score (NPS). I don’t think it makes sense to ask only one question and judge a company on one score - lots of smart people have debated the merits of focusing on one metric like NPS and I’m not sure the dust has settled yet. 

But when mixed with other data from social media, research projects and data trends - the idea of a score, like NPS, that drives improvement in customer service seems like a good thing.

NPS, by itself, doesn’t give businesses much to work with. NPS needs other data sources for context and to be actionable. However, the great thing about NPS is that employees can rally behind something that puts the customer first. 

My 2 cents on NPS for a Monday afternoon tale …

Research Is Not “One Size Fits All” - Friday Folly

Part of my brand-spanking-new Friday Folly about life as a researcher in the business world. Warning - these might ramble on a bit. I’ll try my best to keep them short but things might get a little crazy.

Researchers often fuss (or sweat) over the details. Like sampling errors, significance and scales. I’ve done it plenty of times over plenty of different projects.

I think part of why it happens is because we want our research to be really, really good. We also see it tied to our professional value or the value we offer to business. And we also do it because it’s drummed into us from the early days of research training and discussions. 

After a few years of research as a young-whipper-snapper, I realized that not every one cares about these pesky little research details. A business manager doesn’t always want to know about the sampling error. A CEO doesn’t want the technical details about weighting … or scales … or screener questions. 

Some might. A lot don’t. 

As I redesigned our research portal earlier this week and started migration from the old to the new, I was thinking about all the different audiences I need to consider when distributing research. And I was reminded that catering to the audience is very important in promoting research use. 

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