I recently received an email from the Boston Symphony
Orchestra, inviting me to participate in an online survey. I’ve been a
subscriber for a number of years, but not a patron of the Spring Pops which was
the focus. Clearly, the BSO is interested to know something about the crossover
between classical music patrons and Pops patrons; for my part, I am always
interested to know what survey sponsors want to know and how they ask. So I
clicked through to answer the questions.
The surface opportunity of market research is the gathering
of information. The research asks questions of the respondents, and they
answer. But other opportunities accrue as well. Asking for input creates
goodwill. Everyone appreciates being asked. Asking certain types of questions
presents the opportunity to prompt consumers to think about what they need,
want and value. And, of course, the process can stimulate demand—introduce ideas,
products or services that perhaps the respondent has not yet considered, or may
have the opportunity to engage with in the future.
I am not remotely trying to suggest that market research is
nefarious! Gathering insights and data is vitally important, and incredibly
useful. But this leads me to the struggle I had with the questions on this
survey.
Basically, the BSO wanted to know what I think of the Boston
Pops. I think that the Boston Pops are a fun tradition. I listen to the Fourth
of July Esplanade Concert on the radio. I have been to benefit concerts at the
Pops. But I have never gone out of my way to attend a concert, because I prefer
other kinds of music and pursue those.
So how do I answer the question? If I say that the Pops is
“fun” but “not for me,” then am I saying that I’m not fun? If I say that the
Pops is “enjoyable” (which it clearly must be, because it’s popular enough to
suggest that it’s not tortuous) but “old fashioned” … well, what should an
interpreter of this data think? That is, if I don’t attend Pops concerts then
on what basis have I decided that the Pops is “fun” and “enjoyable”? I’ll admit
it: I got pretty confused. I felt like I wasn’t doing a good job answering the
questions. Was I thinking too much?
I have been in most interesting conversations about this
very topic relative to the Net Promoter System (NPS). NPS is an index designed
by Bain & Company to help organizations understand customer loyalty and
compare themselves against others with “efficient growth engines.” Not to get
off topic, you can learn more about NPS here.
The key NPS question is “How likely is it [that] you would
recommend us to a friend?” At the time, the internal version (to measure
employee loyalty) was “How likely is it [that] you would recommend this company
as a place to work?” In theory, the question was used to measure engagement in
the organization, the thought being that happy and productive employees are
assets in creating customer loyalty.
Not at all, but
not necessarily for the reasons you would think. The feedback was shockingly
and disappointingly negative … until one read the comments. They included, “I
don’t want to work with my friends.” and “My friends work in other types of
businesses.” One can understand this logic, literal-minded as it may be.
So what did the score mean? The creators of NPS may have
anticipated and designed around this issue, but the executives of the company
in question didn’t know about that. And they didn’t like their score … so they
pretty much disregarded it.
As it turns out, a different question has been developed for
what is now being called eNPS. It’s “How likely would you be to recommend this
company’s products or services to a friend or colleague?”
Isn’t that so much better? What we really want to know,
after all, is whether the employee is sufficiently engaged and enthusiastic to
be an ambassador—and that’s what this question asks. (Of course, if the friend
or colleague isn’t in the market for the products or services, you’re out of
luck with the literal-minded!)
When we survey, we need to think hard about the mindset of
those we are soliciting. We need to be clear and straightforward, and not
clutter people’s minds with possibilities that have no bearing on what we want
to know.
No, I will not be attending the Pops … even though I
answered that the concerts might be fun (or even enjoyable). But I appreciate
the voucher for $25, to be used toward a ticket for a BSO concert in Symphony
Hall. That, hands down, has my loyalty.
