Benchmarks are B*llocks. Mostly.
Benchmarks are a staple of customer experience and brand tracking programmes. They promise context, comparison and a quick answer to the question every insight team eventually faces: is our score good or bad?
But in market research, benchmarks are rarely as robust as they appear. Differences in methodology, category expectations and cultural response styles can turn a seemingly objective comparison into little more than noise.
In this article, Andrew Wiseman explores why CX and NPS benchmarks often mislead organisations – and why the most valuable insight usually comes from understanding your own customers, rather than comparing your scores with everyone else’s.
Why customer satisfaction is only half the story
Andrew Wiseman reviews the latest UKCSI retail results, and wonders why the focus doesn’t move beyond satisfaction. When my Retail Gazette daily newsletter dropped this morning, one of the main headlines was that John Lewis has topped the UK customer satisfaction rankings again. Never Knowingly Undersold and all that. Cue the headlines, the applause, the […]
Net Promoter Score: Simple. Popular. Misleading?
Net Promoter Score is simple and popular — but does it truly reflect how and why people recommend brands? Colin Auton explores the limitations of NPS, why it can mislead decision-makers, and what a more holistic approach to measuring word-of-mouth really looks like