Gaming for a higher NPS
The lady on the phone from the power company closes the call; "Madam, you will receive an email with a questionnaire later. It also asks you to give a grade. This is for my personal review. What grade do you give me? Between 0 and 10?" I'm slightly bewildered, stammer 'a nine'. She doesn't ask any further questions about why this figure is made and we hang up. (this is not exactly what has been said, but certainly the gist)
Is this new? That the call center agent first asks for the grade? For me it was clearly the first time and I really don't understand it. From a CX point of view, I refer to these as weird practices.
Looking back, I recognize three instances of Gaming, which I have given my own name. (Gaming is influencing scores (NPS, CSAT, CES, and so on))
- The effect of asking for the grade and that this is important for her personal assessment. That's what we call bribery.
- The effect that I am surprised by this question and its personal does not waste so on the phone. So give a relatively high grade, while the conversation really wasn't worth it. We call this the effect of social desirability.
- Telling them first that I'm getting a survey and then asking me personally. We call this 'framing', with the effect that I fill out the survey. And so they get a higher response rate
What is most striking for me is that half a day after the interview, I have not yet received a survey.
I also wonder why I need to get another survey. Don't they have speech analytics that allow them to extract the number from the conversation? And what is of course even more striking is that the employee asks for the grade, but is not allowed to enter it into the system herself. Which, by the way, often also causes Gaming, because what is nicer than giving yourself a higher grade. Especially if it's accidentally low for once?
Of course, the most important thing when asking for customer feedback is curiosity about what I have experienced as a customer. Not the outcome in a number. That's where things go wrong. Sigh. Deep sigh.
Now I'm curious. What forms of Gaming have you experienced in recent weeks? Who weren't about curiosity at all, but purely about getting the highest possible grade?
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*****
Nienke Bloem is often called the Customer Experience speaker in the blue dress.
She's a global CX thought leader, educator and a global keynote speaker who inspires audiences with best practices and proven methodologies. She leads a speaking practice, a CX game company and a training business; she breathes Customer Experiences and is author of two CX books.
Her two-day Customer Experience Masterclass is known as the best program to prepare for your CCXP and she is the go-to person for CX leaders who want to advance their leadership and bring direct results from their Customer Experience transformation programs. Since 2020, she hosts a CX Leadership Masterminds program and helps leaders spice up their leadership and deliver an engaging CX Story including a solid CX Strategy. Besides, she is a modern-day pilgrim and found the parallel with leading customer centric transformations.
With her over 20 years of corporate experience, she speaks the business language. Her keynotes and education programs in Customer Experience are inspiring and hands-on. She is one of the few Recognized Training Partners of the CXPA and it is her mission to Make Customer Experience Work and help you deliver business results.
