Looking Beyond Net Promoter Score: Understanding Customer Loyalty in MedTech

Introduction:

“How likely is it that you would recommend our company/product/service to a friend or colleague?” One simple question that provides a clear line of sight into the company’s customer relationship landscape.

The strengths are obvious:

• It pivots attention from the vague notion of “satisfaction” to the more actionable metric of “loyalty.”
• Customer loyalty becomes a focused metric on executive dashboards.
• The simplicity of NPS allows for broad, quick, and easy deployment across various customer touchpoints.

But what about the front-line managers who need to drive up the NPS?

Managers in the MedTech firms need to dissect NPS results to uncover the root causes of satisfaction or dissatisfaction. They often ask: Are high scores reflecting true loyalty or just a lack of better options? Are detractors driven by specific service flaws, product limitations, or external factors? To address these questions, managers employ additional qualitative research or quantitative surveys, to complement NPS and gain deeper insights – all with the singular aim to isolate the NPS drivers and help prioritize areas for investment and improvement.

Customer Loyalty Framework – An ideal enhancement to NPS programs

“Customer loyalty isn’t just about repeat purchases; it’s a manifestation of a customer’s emotional connection with a product or service, reflecting their trust, satisfaction, and willingness to advocate.”

Experiences shape our Attitudes that drive our Behaviours – is the bedrock for any Customer Loyalty Framework, which should address the following 3 key objectives:

• 1. Gain insight into customers’ relationships by measuring experiences, attitudes and behavioural intentions toward own brand and competitors
• 2. Understand how customers evaluate the performance of own brand and primary competitors across all areas of interaction.
• 3. Identify key drivers of customer loyalty and to prioritize improvement opportunities and leverageable strengths.

MedTech companies would use advanced analytics methods to analyse these data points to arrive at a Customer Loyalty Index (CLI) that indicates the strength of relationship between the brand and its customers. Businesses use the CLI to monitor changes in customer loyalty over time, identify areas for improvement in their products or services, and develop strategies to strengthen customer relationships and enhance loyalty.