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      Book

      The Ultimate Question 2.0

      The Ultimate Question 2.0

      How Net Promoter evolved from a well-known customer loyalty metric into a game-changing management system.

      By Fred Reichheld and Rob Markey

      • min read

      Book

      The Ultimate Question 2.0
      en

      A quiet revolution is sweeping the business world, stoked and accelerated by the development of social media and the Internet. Customers and employees post blogs, tweet and text about their experiences in real time. They tell each other what’s really going on, overwhelming the carefully crafted messages proffered by corporate advertising and communications departments.

      How can you come out on top in this revolution? By getting in front of it. By creating a customer experience that competitors can’t match. By inspiring your frontline teams to delight your customers every day.

      Five years ago, Bain partner Fred Reichheld published The Ultimate Question and introduced the Net Promoter system, a method of building customer feedback into a company’s everyday operations and using that feedback to make the customer experience better and better. Since that time, Net Promoter has proven to be a game-changing system for growth and sustained success.

      July_RB_2011_graph_image

       

      The basics of the system haven’t changed. Companies that use Net Promoter regularly ask customers the one question that predicts their behavior: “Would you recommend us to a friend?” The answers enable companies to identify promoters—who strengthen a company through their loyalty, their spending and their positive word of mouth—and detractors—who tarnish a firm’s reputation.

      What’s new is the scale of the movement, led by companies that have learned to put this feedback to work. Apple, Charles Schwab, Vanguard, Philips, Virgin Media and thousands of other companies have dramatically improved their performance by placing Net Promoter at the center of their business. Fred and Bain partner Rob Markey have teamed up with Harvard Business Review Press to publish a thoroughly revised and updated edition of this landmark book. In the new edition—The Ultimate Question 2.0—the authors:

      • Define the fundamental concept of Net Promoter and explain its connection to sustained growth and profitability

      • Describe the closed-loop feedback process that companies use to learn from their customers

      • Show how that process energizes managers and employees at every level to do a better job day in and day out

      • Share in detail how a wide array of companies have boosted growth, profitability and customer delight through Net Promoter

      The book also shows how you can lay the groundwork for an effective Net Promoter initiative, by assigning the right leaders, forging links across functions and reorganizing frontline teams around the customer. It includes advice from seasoned users of the Net Promoter system on how to start the journey and surmount the challenges you’ll encounter.

      Times are changing. We believe The Ultimate Question 2.0 can point your company toward long-term growth and success in the new environment.

      Learn more or order the book today at www.netpromotersystem.com.

      Authors
      • Headshot of Fred Reichheld
        Fred Reichheld
        Bain Fellow, Boston
      • Headshot of Rob Markey
        Rob Markey
        Advisory Partner, Boston
      Contact us
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      • Sales and Marketing
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      • Net Promoter®
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      Turning Rewards into Loyalty

      Many consumers cherish rewards programs. Yet most such programs do not generate enduring loyalty.

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      Loyalty
      After Years of Customer Loyalty Programs in Insurance, What Works, and What’s Next?

      Based on Bain’s 10 years of research, five themes describe the progress and challenges of earning customers’ advocacy in an increasingly digital experience.

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      Sales and Marketing
      What Agency Consolidation Means for CMOs

      As agency holding companies get bigger and deeper, CMOs must rethink ownership, integration, and how to stay in control.

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      Loyalty
      Customer Behavior and Loyalty in Banking: Global Edition 2023

      Banks’ big challenge is the great unbundling by consumers.

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      Loyalty
      The Essential Role of a Customer Advocacy Office

      It takes more than a CEO to create a customer-centric business.

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      Published in September 2011
      Tags
      • Customer Insights & Segmentation
      • Loyalty
      • Net Promoter®
      • Sales and Marketing

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