Before some of you get too excited, I have to disclose this article is about how you score with your customers.  While this article may not be as exciting as you thought it was going to be, it could be the most profitable article you read for your auto body shop. So please read on...

In a recent article in Body Shop Business Magazine, a story pointed out how the average consumer only has a collision once every 7-years. With this in mind, it makes all the more important for a collision repair shop to score big on customer satisfaction, more pointedly, to make a customer more than satisfied, but to make them a huge fan of your body shop; the kind of customer who will gladly tell a friend in need of your service "You really should go to this shop, their service was the BEST!" It's what many business savvy people now call a "Promoter".

A "Promoter" is more than a satisfied customer; they are customers who will go out of their way to send you new customers. When a body shop makes customers Promoters, it not only ensures customer loyalty, it means your shop is likely to be in the top tier of growing collision repair facilities in your area. There is solid research to prove this to be true and is more than just a feel-good thing for you as an owner or shop manager, it will add to your bottom line if you can grow the number of Promoters your body shop builds. Companies such as Dell Computers, e-Bay, Marriott Hotels and many other big name companies saw their profits grow once they started measuring how many Promoter customers they were adding. And here is the best part for all small, locally owned businesses out there; it doesn't cost any meaningful expenditure to start measuring and building your collision repair shops "Promoter Customers".

Many body shops conduct customer satisfaction surveys and like most well intended surveys, they get way to long and understanding the results can be even more trying. When one measures their "Promoters", the results are referred to as the "Net Promoter Score (NPS)". It's a process where you use a 2-3-question survey and add and subtract the results based on those whom answer that they are absolutely willing to recommend your shop to a friend or colleague. Here's what we would suggest for your survey:

Ask your customers to rate your shop on a scale of 0-10 on how likely they are to refer others to your shop, then ask them why they scored you the way they did. Lastly, ask them how they heard about you. These three questions gives your shop all the information you need to measure how many Promoter Customers your shop is building, what you do well and or where you need to make changes. It also let's you measure how much business is coming from Promoters and will tell you just how profitable your efforts in referrals are growing. This is very important for an owner or shop manager to know if this program is really building your business.

The average firm sputters along at an NPS efficiency of only 5 to 10%. In other words, Promoters barely outnumber Detractors. Many firms - and some entire industries - have negative Net Promoter Scores, which means that they are creating more Detractors than Promoters day in and day out. These low scores explain why so many companies can't deliver profitable, sustainable growth, no matter how aggressively they spend to acquire new business. Companies like Dell are seeing their score at 40+, which explains their continued growth.

At Web-Est we have been using this program as our road map to improving our Collision Estimating Software and the results have been growth of over 300% in one year. Selling body shop software or collision repair software is really no different than selling repair jobs. The best way to grow ones business is to build the number of sales people you have out in the market place. Think about it, every customer could become a sales person for your body shop.... and you don't even have to add them to your payroll. Now that is building good profits for everyone involved!

eseidel@web-est.com

Survey Example for Net Promoter Score
"Dear Customer"

As a local business, we are trying to improve our service and are requesting your candid feedback about our company. Please answer the three questions below; your input is the single most road map for our success.

Thank you for your time and for being our customer!

On a scale of 0 to 10 (0 being never, 10 being always) can you tell us how likely you are to recommend our body shop to family, friends or a colleague? ______

Please tell us the reason(s) you gave us the score you did in question one?

How did you hear about our body shop?

TIP: Try collecting your customer's email address, this makes for a better response and most experts feel the data will be more honest.
How to Calculate Your Score
NPS is based on the fundamental perspective that every company's customers can be divided into three categories: Promoters, Passives, and Detractors. By asking one simple question - How likely is it that you would you recommend [Company X] to a friend or colleague? - you can track these groups and get a clear measure of your company's performance through its customers' eyes. Customers respond on a 0-to-10 point rating scale and are categorized as follows:

View NPS to see the Net Promoter Score Scale.
-Promoters (9 & 10) are loyal customers who will keep buying and refer others, fueling growth.
-Passives (7 & 8) are satisfied but unenthusiastic customers who are vulnerable to competitive offerings.
-Detractors (0-6) are unhappy customers who can damage your brand and impede growth through negative word-of-mouth..
To calculate your company's Net Promoter Score (NPS), take the percentage of customers who are Promoters and subtract the percentage who are Detractors.

Posted 7/21/2009