Net Promoter Score
NPS is a loyalty metric that measures how likely a guest is to recommend a product or service. At Timber Ridge, the most common complaints are tracked and discussed on a weekly basis. The current top five issues (that we can control), serve as a topic for discussion every month. Some of these topics become themes for the entire resort staff to improve on – allowing the issue to disappear completely from the list of recurring issues in many cases.
Because Timber Ridge Lodge & Waterpark consists of 225 condominium suites, a 50,000-square-foot indoor-outdoor waterpark, a 3,000-square-foot arcade, a 3,500-square-foot ballroom and Smokey’s Bar-B-Que House restaurant, there is a wide range of areas and departments where we need to measure and monitor customer service.
The NPS scoring system seeks to measure customer loyalty based on an easy question format: How likely is a guest to recommend “X.” The response options range from zero (not at all likely) to 10 (extremely likely). We ask our guests three simple questions immediately following their stay while their experience is still top-of-mind:
How likely are you to recommend our rooms?
How likely are you to recommend our waterpark?
How likely are you to recommend Smokey’s?
Responses are then categorized into the following segments:
Promoters: Responses range from 9-10
Neutrals: Responses range from 7-8
Detractors: Responses range from 0-6
To achieve the NPS, the percentage of detractors is subtracted from the percentage of promoters. For example, 100 promoters, 30 passives and 80 detractors equates to a NPS of 20 percent (100 – 80 = 20). This means there are 20 percent more promoters than detractors.
To further illustrate, suppose your hotel spoke with 1000 guests and collected the following results:
The overall scoring system ranges from negative 100 to positive 100 and is always shown as an integer.
From the period beginning June 1, 2012, to date, we achieved a 51.19 percent NPS. This number is not easy to achieve considering the amount of neutrals and detractors that can crop up on a daily basis.
NPS Advantages
There are several advantages to the NPS measurement system:
- The NPS system is simple to understand and we are able to collect data directly from our customers on a daily basis.
- Instead of delivering a survey of 90 questions, we allow guests the opportunity to discuss their issues in a simple three-question format. As a result, we have been able to collect eight percent more surveys each year, enabling our resort to continue to provide the top-quality services our guests expect.
- The measurement system focuses on quality over quantity. By asking only three questions, guests are able to address their issues quickly – would they recommend us, or wouldn’t they and why?
- For each question, they are also able to expand on their rating by providing additional comments, giving us an in-depth look at specific issues and areas of strength and/or improvement.
- NPS results trace directly back to our guests’ room and phone number. We can contact them immediately if they leave a vague comment about being dissatisfied with their experience to learn more about their concerns and take a proactive role in addressing the issue.
NPS at Work
Over the past year, Timber Ridge has achieved a 25 percent increase in our NPS. How did we do this successfully? Below are a few examples taken from actual reports in the past year:
Example 1: Sofa Beds
Earlier in the year, we noticed a unifying theme in our room ratings. Guests were continually rating the rooms low because the sofa beds were uncomfortable. After several of the same complaints, we presented a case to the resort’s owners using tangible guest feedback collected through NPS. After discussing the numerous complaints, the owners purchased new sofa beds and the issue was resolved.
Example 2: Waterpark
Another reason NPS has worked so well for our resort is that it allows us to address specific issues with our staff on an ongoing basis. In one instance, we began noticing a common trend popping up across our waterpark recommendations. We have over 70 lifeguards employed at Timber Ridge, and in training, our lifeguards are told to take their job very seriously and that their primary responsibility is to watch the water to make sure that our guests have the safest experience possible.
We started to get feedback from our customers on a regular basis that our lifeguards seemed “aloof.” From this feedback, we were able to open the door for conversation with our lifeguard team about this issue. Knowing that our lifeguards are committed associates, we reinforced the importance of their job, but also emphasized that we are in the hospitality business and need to please our customers by being friendly and accommodating as well. After this discussion, we began seeing a very positive change in waterpark feedback. Comments about unengaged lifeguards turned into comments about how polite and helpful our staff was. Here’s an example: “Everyone was extremely helpful. My wife and I were surprised at how accommodating everyone was, including the young kids who can sometimes be disrespectful. All staff was pleasant.”
Example 3: Restaurant Menu
We can also learn how customers perceive our restaurant menu through the NPS system. About a year ago, we offered a lunch and dinner menu. Both menus were very similar and there was not much variety between the two. In reviewing our guest feedback forms, we noticed guests began commenting that our menus needed improvement, we were lacking variety in our offerings and that the lunch items were a bit pricey. To solve this issue, we worked with our chef to create a separate lunch menu that offered greater variety and healthier options at a lower price point.
While the changes to the new lunch menu were met with success, not all changes receive the same positive feedback. For example, when we changed our brisket and pizza crusts, our guests let us know immediately that these changes were not welcomed. We were able to quickly catch guest’s negative feedback and make adjustments to those menu items to improve our standards.
Example 4: Unsolicited Feedback
Using the NPS system, we can also monitor unsolicited feedback. For example, at Timber Ridge, we employ several mascots to enhance the family-friendliness feel of the resort. Bruce the Moose, one of our mascots, started greeting families in the lobby area during heavy arrival times. Not long after Bruce began greeting guests, we noticed comments on our customer feedback forms about how much they enjoyed having a mascot greet them at arrival. As a result, we put this positive feedback to use and now have our mascots not only greeting guests, but walking around the waterpark and restaurants, attending events and participating in many more activities, providing entertainment throughout the resort.
Is NPS Right for You?
As every hotelier looks to find the right guest service measurement tool for their property, there are many considerations to consider. The size of your property can be one consideration. Also, numbers are an important part of the NPS measuring system and there is a lot of time that goes into understanding the numbers. It’s not enough to simply collect the data. Collecting data for the sake of data does no hotelier any good. At Timber Ridge, we view our daily NPS reports as a progress report. How did we do today? How can we improve? How can we be better tomorrow? We share our scores with our entire team (when appropriate) so that change can be implemented across the property, from restaurant managers and servers to the housekeeping staff and the lifeguard team.
While NPS continues to be a work-in-progress, it is a constant reminder that our ultimate success lies in how our resort is perceived in the minds of our customers.
Using NPS we have been able to improve our operations by:
- Contacting guests in a timely manner to clarify or expand upon survey feedback
- Determine why guests feel the way they do about our rooms, waterpark and Smokey’s
- Track changes over time
- Correct major or recurring issues and capitalize on strengths
- Build positive relationships with our guests in all three groups (promoters, neutrals and detractors)
- Understand our guests’ perceptions of our resort to determine if they would recommend our resort to others
We will continue using NPS to reduce the daily number of detractors, with the long-term goal of turning those detractors into promoters. By measuring the number of promoters, neutrals and detractors, we are able to track common issues, manage to those issues and achieve meaningful results to foster a customer service culture that keeps guests coming back to Timber Ridge.
Leslie Johnson is general manager of Timber Ridge Lodge & Waterpark in Lake Geneva, Wis. Managed by Marcus Hotels & Resorts, a division of The Marcus Corporation (NYSE: MCS). Ms. Johnson joined Marcus Hotels & Resorts in 2008 as director of restaurant sales and promotions, where she oversaw the management teams and organizational systems for the company’s Milwaukee-area restaurants. Most recently, she served as director of rooms at the Grand Geneva Resort & Spa. Prior to joining Marcus Hotels & Resorts, she spent 12 years in various positions within the hospitality industry focused on catering and marketing.
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