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add up to very high customer satisfaction. Some suggestions have included 181
specific changes to furniture assembly instructions, asking for eâ•‚mails at cer-
tain times in the delivery process, and letting us know when we need to give ■ ╇ T hree T hings to D o ( and W hy )
kudos to a particular staff member.”

Look back at the implementation and you’ll see that the company knew its

customers and what they would say. NPS was used in the context of a larger measure-

ment program. NPS was used to drive continuous improvement and thereby loyalty.

The implementation of NPS at Formaspace exemplifies exactly the processes articu-

lated in this book thus far, and it has paid off. Formaspace was originally acquired as

a turnaround opportunity in 2006. Recovering and rebuilding customer loyalty was

absolutely a key measure of whether its new owners were turning the company around.

Based on prior customer satisfaction and loyalty surveys, Jeff and his team estimated

that its NPS score would have been negative in 2006, and in the 30 to 50 range

between 2007 and 2008. The measured score was 77 in 2009, and the company’s goal

is to surpass 80 in 2010. That is impressive.

There’s a bigger insight here too: Paying attention, in detail, to customer con-

versations and measuring and tracking results doesn’t just boost measures like the Net

Promoter Score: it actually drives business. Again, listen to Formaspace CEO Jeff Turk:

“When we took over the company, it was doing so poorly at servicing cus-
tomers that it sprouted competitors left and right. Today it would not be an
exaggeration to say that Formaspace is the go-to resource for companies that
use technical and laboratory furniture. We are rapidly becoming known as
the “it” brand—so much so that our furniture is on the Discovery Channel,
ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy, in NASA’s mission control center in Houston, and
will soon be seen on the sets of more than one major motion picture. Many
people import furniture from China: Ours is in sufficient demand that we
send it the other way.”

Because I am a former product manager, this last exchange really hit home.

When I served in this role at Progressive Insurance Company, before we turned fully

toward a customer orientation, we too were sprouting competitors. Nearly all of

Progressive’s early competition came from former Progressive product managers and

executives who simply copied the Progressive rate books and undercut the prices.

Whether it’s extreme price sensitivity (technically referred to as high elasticity) such

as was the case at Progressive, or poor quality or bad service, negative factors like

these are invitations to more competition and lower margins. Formaspace engaged its

customers, turned high quality to its advantage, and put itself—in brand-speak—on a

different ladder. To learn more about Formaspace—and to see the great products they

build—check out Formaspace.com.

As an important note, the Net Promoter may not be for everyone (see sidebar),

nor is it the only metric available to you (although if you had to choose only one, it