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  • 1.  Applying the 0-10 NPS scale consistently on surveys?

    Posted 03-01-2016 05:38 PM

    For those of you who use the NPS 0-10 rating scale for surveys, do you use the scale consistently for all ratings type questions or only for the "likelihood to recommend"/ultimate question? Aware of any best practices related to this matter?

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    Fred Schweppe
    AL
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  • 2.  RE: Applying the 0-10 NPS scale consistently on surveys?

    Posted 03-02-2016 01:06 AM

    We at China Mobile Pakistan are  measuring Customer Experience Index  & NPS Both Using Scale 0-10. Reason behind measuring this scale is further analysis scope Plus we can regress multiple aspects with NPS using this scale.

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    Farooq Buzdar
    Assistant Manager Customer Experience Manager
    China Mobile Pakistan (ZONG)
    Islamabad
    313-3372345

    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Applying the 0-10 NPS scale consistently on surveys?

    Posted 03-02-2016 10:30 AM

    Hi Fred,

    Good question on the scale - we tend to use various scales across different surveys that we do, depending on what best suits the research. For example, when using the Customer Effort Score, we use the recommended 1-7 scale for that survey. I've also found that if we use 0-10 other surveys, it's temps people to try and calculate the results using net method as well, which may not always be relevant to the question being asked.

    I hope that helps.

    -Tabitha

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    Tabitha Dunn
    Vice President, Customer Experience
    Concur Technologies
    Bellevue WA

    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Applying the 0-10 NPS scale consistently on surveys?

    Posted 03-02-2016 11:32 AM

    Hello Fred,

    I can't claim comprehensive best-practice knowledge, but I can comment based on my experience:

    1. Context rules. So if the NPS question is being presented / displayed on the same page or screen as similar "overall" questions such as satisfaction, likelihood to continue / renew, etc. I would argue that scale consistency is important so you are not forcing respondents to keep switching mental gears quickly from item to item. I am not aware of any research-on-research that examines the actual effects of "scale switching" but it's common sense.
    2. Considering point #1, it is okay to use 0-10 only for NPS if it is displayed first and separately, then switch to a simpler scale for the remainder of the survey. Same would go for telephone and IVR.
    3. I personally object to the bullying effect of the 0-10 scale: "We must use it for NPS and so therefore we must use 0-10 for all ordinal rating-style questions...". There are two problems with this: (a) the only good reason to use the 0-10 scale for NPS is because you are absolutely going to use 3rd-party benchmark data that also uses 0-10 (in practice, there are many scales used with likelihood to recommend that work perfectly well and can just as easily produce a "net" score -- the key is internal consistency); and (b) once you get beyond 5 or certainly 7 scale points, very little information is added, i.e. there is a rapidly declining marginal utility. Notice that NPS itself is really just a 3-point scale: detractor, neutral, and promoter. In other words, for example, a rating of 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 is equivalent for purposes of actually using the data in practical application. We're measuring opinions and attitudes here, not the surface temperature of the oceans...more scale points create an illusion of precision that isn't really there. 
    4. I believe a growing obstacle to the ubiquitous use of the 0-10 scale is mobile...mobile-optimized surveys are rapidly becoming necessary (not just useful) and an 11-point scale just isn't smartphone friendly, regardless of how it is displayed (radio-buttons, drop-down, slider, etc.) -- certainly not in comparison to the simplicity of a 5-point scale. You can still get away with the option I outlined in #2 above, but again why is that necessary?

    I hope these thoughts are helpful to you!

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    Brian Lunde
    Vice President and CCXP
    CMI
    Atlanta GA
    312-600-4898

    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Applying the 0-10 NPS scale consistently on surveys?

    Posted 03-03-2016 07:23 AM

    Fred,

    When I started out developing surveys it was all done using a 5-choice scale.  Notice I didn't say 5-point because we used words describing each of the five levels of satisfaction and not numbers to define our scale and every satisfaction question we asked in the survey used that scale.  

    Even when it came to the "recommend" question we used the same scale but words were built around "likelihood" to recommend. Later on when we all got enamored with NPS and wanted to compare ours to that of other companies (which is problematic to impossible unless you are conducting a benchmark study) we switched over the Reichheld scale, not only for the "recommend" question but for all of the survey questions.  The anchor words were only placed at the extreme ends of the scale--Extremely Likely and Extremely Unlikely. During the transition year, we used both the 5-choice and the Reichheld scale in measuring the NPS and both scales produced the same NPS within a point so we felt we validated the switch. We never could realistically compare our NPS to other companies for the obvious reasons.

    Using the Reichheld scale for all survey questions was done for consistency, as was pointed out.  After some years of using that scale, I've come around to believe that the 5-choice model was and is the better option.  It's easier as words are used rather than numbers and it reduces the number of choices the customer has to face and, as I said, you still can calculate an NPS if that excites you and honesely it doesn't excite me much these days.  

    The bottom line here I feel is to use whatever scale you like for your organization but just be consistent and by all means make things easy for your customer by keeping surveys short.  I have personally abandoned more surveys coming at me these days because of length. More data isn't better than better data.

    Karl

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    Karl Sharicz, CCXP
    Founder | Principal
    CX Partners, LLC
    Quincy, MA 02169
    508 989-7379

    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: Applying the 0-10 NPS scale consistently on surveys?

    Posted 03-03-2016 10:56 AM
    Edited by Kyle Groff 03-03-2016 11:00 AM

    Brian's 3rd point is spot on. From a purely best-practice perspective, an 11-point scale is simply not the way to go. It skews responses and adds no utility over 5 or 7-point alternatives. This is particularly true when the scale ends up being artificially trichotomized on the backend; whether intentionally as NPS dictates or unintentionally as another poster noted.

    That being said, NPS is something that the CX community has embraced and doesn't seem to be going anywhere. Because of this, should you choose to use an 11-point scale for the entirety of your survey, there are benefits in terms of reducing cognitive load on your respondents (i.e.- not switching between scales). On the flip side, using a 5 or 7-point scale for all non-NPS questions would insure you are taking steps to adhere to best practice.

    When analysis is concerned, it really depends on what you are looking to do. Methods like SEM are robust to scale differences whereas less sophisticated analysis may require you to standardize scores (e.g., Z-score transformation).

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    Kyle Groff, Ph.D.
    Principal Consultant, CX
    Qualtrics
    Salt Lake City UT
    kyleg@qualtrics.com

    Original Message