Gaming to Boost the NPS
The woman on the phone from the energy company ends the call; “Ma’am, you’ll receive an email shortly with a questionnaire. It will also ask you to give a rating. This is for my personal evaluation. What rating would you give me? Between 0 and 10?” I’m slightly taken aback and stammer, “A nine.” She doesn’t ask why I gave that rating, and we hang up. (This isn’t exactly what was said, but it certainly captures the gist.)
Is this new? That the call center agent asks for the number first? It was clear to me the first time, and I really don't understand it at all. From a CX perspective, I'd call this a strange practice.
Looking back on it, I recognize three instances of “gaming,” which I’ve given my own names. (“Gaming” refers to manipulating scores (NPS, CSAT, CES, and so on).)
- The effect of asking about the grade and the fact that it is important for her personal evaluation. We call that bribery.
- The effect is that I’m caught off guard by this question and don’t want to give a low rating over the phone. So I give a relatively high rating, even though the conversation really wasn’t worth it. This is what we call the social desirability effect.
- First, letting me know that I’m going to receive a survey, and then asking me personally. This is called “framing,” and it encourages me to fill out the survey. As a result, they get a higher response rate.
What strikes me most is that, half a day after the interview, I still haven't received a survey.
I also wonder why I still have to fill out a survey. Don’t they have speech analytics that would let them extract the rating directly from the conversation? And what’s even more striking, of course, is that the employee does ask for the rating but isn’t allowed to enter it into the system herself. Which, by the way, often leads to “gaming” the system—because what could be better than giving yourself a higher rating? Especially if it happens to be low by accident?
The most important thing when asking for customer feedback is, of course, curiosity about what I experienced as a customer—not the final score. That’s where it goes wrong. Sigh. A deep sigh.
Now I'm curious. What kinds of gaming have you experienced in recent weeks? The kind that wasn't about curiosity at all, but purely about getting the highest score possible?
** Sign upfor her monthly CX Greetz. **
*****
Nienke Bloem is often referred to as the Customer Experience speaker in the blue dress.
She is a global CX thought leader, educator, and keynote speaker who inspires audiences with best practices and proven methodologies. She runs a speaking practice, a CX game company, and a training business; she lives and breathes Customer Experience and is the author of two books on CX.
Her two-day Customer Experience Masterclass is known as the best program to prepare for the CCXP, and she is the go-to person for CX leaders who want to advance their leadership and achieve immediate results from their Customer Experience transformation programs. Since 2020, she has been hosting a CX Leadership Masterminds program and helping leaders enhance their leadership skills and deliver an engaging CX story, including a solid CX strategy. In addition, she is a modern-day pilgrim and has drawn parallels between her journey and leading customer-centric transformations.
With over 20 years of corporate experience, she speaks the language of business. Her keynote speeches and training programs on customer experience are inspiring and practical. She is one of the few Recognized Training Partners of the CXPA, and her mission is to make customer experience work and help you achieve business results.
