Whether Transactional or Relational,  Net Promoter Score (NPS) has a massive advantage in the larger feedback arena. An NPS survey at pivotal moments in the customer lifecycle can yield invaluable information. It’s versatile with a capital V.

NPS surveys often occur on a 3-month schedule or in alignment with touchpoints or highlighted events (i.e., those where a cause-and-effect measurement is desirable). So, here’s the catch:

• Do we use NPS periodically to test the waters, irrespective of market ups and downs?
• Or, is it most telling directly after identified events?

The answer isn’t simple.

There are pluses and minuses attached to both situations. The following content should serve as a useful guide for deciding which of these options, Transactional NPS or Relational NPS, should be your go-to for feedback.

One big takeaway is that both methods can facilitate your business growth by opening up how buyers feel about your brand, products, and services. From different angles, yes, but enlightening nonetheless. It should give you substantial clues toward improving customer retention and, conversely, stopping customer churn in its tracks.

What is Relational NPS?

Relational NPS is known as “on-demand” or regular NPS which is focused single-mindedly on a marketer’s relationship with its customers. It seeks to answer the question, “Is our company measuring up to customer satisfaction standards or not?” If not, what do we need to do to erase the negativity. Thus, when considering a Relational NPS survey, your goals should center on timing and the segment you want to overview.

It’s like sailors wetting their thumbs and holding it up to feel wind direction every now and then. As crucial as the wind direction is to a yachter, so is a rewarding customer experience to a business. Regular Relational NPS surveys across a representative sample of identified customers should serve as a reasonable customer satisfaction and customer feedback barometer.

Companies that believe in Relational NPS employ it:

• On a recurring rotation system.
• Using general language within the customer satisfaction survey questions.
• Without reference to a specific event or transaction.

It makes sense because the exercise aims at overall customer sentiment that’s likely to include multiple brand touchpoints.

What is Transactional NPS?

You’ve probably guessed it by now — it relates to a specific transaction, thus moving off the relationship platform.

Let’s look at an example:

After customers phone in for technical support, the company wants to see how they felt about that specific service quality. In these instances, the NPS survey wording is quite narrow. To illustrate, I have received the following on many occasions from a support team I connect with often:

Thank you for reaching out to the XXXXX Support Team. We hope you’re satisfied with the way your issue was handled. If you still need help, please reply to this email, and we will get in touch with you as soon as possible.

We would love to know more about your experience with your support representative. To leave your feedback, please answer the question below.

(Please note: this question applies only to the service you received from your representative. To leave feedback on service or policies, please reply to this email.)

Thanks for sharing your feedback—it will help to make XXXXX a better workplace for everyone.

Happy working,

The XXXXX Team

I receive this communication every time, minutes after my company interaction. As you can see, it has a definite focus. It’s not asking me how likely I am to recommend the company or brand to family and friends (i.e., the wording that relational NPS often uses). The business directs me to rate the transactional experience only. When I click on my choice, it prompts me to leave an optional further comment.

So… it’s not a competition?

Correct, Transactional NPS and Relational NPS are not a “versus” kind of relationship, after all.

Think of a situation like this:

• A company conducts Relational NPS surveys regularly, and the indication has been that customer satisfaction is holding firm.
• Then one (the latest) suddenly signifies a U-turn in sentiment across a significant number of responders.

You may well guess what caused this, but because marketing involves so many moving parts, all it is is a guess.

On the other hand, let’s say the same company conducts Transactional NPS surveys, and there’s one on record that coincides possibly with events like:

• A changeover in your support team.
• A recent promotion.
• A price increase with some warranted added value.

Whatever the case is, the Transactional NPS is specific, and it indicates that the change isn’t resonating with your customers. From there, it’s easy to add two and two and come up with a number bigger than the sum of four. Without the Transactional NPS, the Relational NPS tells you something is afoot, but precisely what it is maybe elusive at best. It hasn’t got the teeth to drive remedial action. Reading them together gives the NPS feedback serious traction.

When to use Transactional NPS

Here are the touchpoints where Transactional NPS surveys are rearing to give you insight, even while Relational NPS schedules go on as usual:

• Customer Support
  • Suppose you find that the customer feedback is substantially negative (as opposed to an occasional bad call). It pinpoints an area of weakness. On any customer or prospect journey:
    • It only takes one disruptive touchpoint to disintegrate loyalty.
    • A single hiccup on the road to the buying cart can throw an interested party off-course.
    • The ROI devastation through lost revenue and wasted promotional investment can be mind-blowing.
• Customers getting stuck (or zooming ahead faster than expected) between an actual and an anticipated touchpoint:
  • As you observe it happening, a Transactional NPS may give you the insight to rectify things or consolidate confidence, respectively.
  • More specifically, it may embrace product updates, brand launches, pivotal promotions, and shipments that went awry. The list is endless if you put your mind to it.

As a proactive marketer, knowing about CX spurs and obstructions is highly actionable. You can zone right in on them as they happen. When you look at these results alongside the Relational NPS feedback, it will indicate how lasting the effects of any event are on customer loyalty. The two work hand-in-hand.

Conclusion

Sogolytics and other professional consulting companies in the CX arena understand the different ways to combine the two NPS platforms. Its team’s experience with companies in a diverse range of industries makes the NPS feedback system an easy and seamless process for clients. Moreover, Sogolytics has a library of templates earmarking the right NPS survey formats, indexed situation by situation. Take advantage of these resources. Thus, reducing the aggravation, increasing the efficiency, and creating unsurpassed affordability. Why reinvent the wheel when it’s spinning nearby and available at the push of a button?