The Ultimate Question

We've known for a long time that loyal customers are required to drive the success of any business. And while much has been written on how to create loyalty, very little has been written on how to measure it.

A new book by best selling loyalty expert Fred Reichheld, "The Ultimate Question" shows how to turn customers into promoters who generate good profits and true, sustainable growth. The key: one simple question - "Would you recommend us to a friend?" - that allows companies to track promoters and detractors and produces a clear measure of an organization's performance through its customers' eyes.

We've made it easy for SurveyAnalytics customers to put this methodology to work with our new "Ultimate Question" feature. This type of analysis maps directly to the recommendations put forth in the book. If you haven't read the book, we suggest you do. It's a quick, but comprehensive look at the impact that customers have on the health of your business.

New! (Now Available) Read more from Fred Reicheld: The Ultimate Question: Driving Good Profits and True Growth

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According to the book, knowing the answer to one question (The Ultimate Question) is the key to understanding the future success of your business. That question is simply, "Would you recommend this to your friends and/or family?" Respondents are given a sliding scale rating of 0-10, with 0 being "Not Likely at All" and 10 being "Very Likely"

How likely are you to recommend [PRODUCT / BRAND / SERVICE] to your friends or collegues? Not Likely at All (0)                       (10) Very Likely

The Ultimate Question then suggests the following methodology to analyze the results:

9-10	These are your "Promoters" or your "Idea Merchants" - Very satisfied and will trumpet your product or service any chance they get.Users who actively market your product by getting behind it.
7-8	They are your "Passively Satisfied" customers.
0-6	They are the "Detractors" - fairly unsatisfied with you - Most likely to leave you for a competing product or service.

Effective Promoters = Promoters - Detractors

With SurveyAnalytics, any multiple choice question can be analyzed using this scoring model. You simply mark which responses represent Promoters, Passively Satisfied Customers and Detractors. SurveyAnalytics automatically calculates the score for each.