The Ultimate Question

Business leaders have lost sight of what makes a company grow. Indeed, almost 80% of the world's top 2000 firms failed to achieve a modest 5% real annual growth in sales and earnings over the past decade. The problem is that while there are two fundamental requirements for business success and growth, good profits and good relationships, only one gets measured. The science of measuring profits has progressed steadily since the advent of double-entry bookkeeping in the fifteenth century. However, measuring the goodness of relationships remains trapped in the nebula between sociology and the pseudo-science of satisfaction surveys. For years, these surveys have failed to make it out of the marketing department and their design failed to distinguish between passively satisfied customers, those who are pleased enough with a company's performance and service not to leave, and true promoters, those who actively recommend the company to others. Now, loyalty guru Fred Reichheld has discovered in the course of extensive research that one simple measure, the number of a company's promoters vs the number of detractors, or its net promoter score points accurately and consistently to company growth rates across a range of contexts and industries. This is a very powerful idea: one number, one measure, that is the necessary condition for company growth. Of course other factors matter, but the simple, powerful truth behind Reichheld's discovery is that the best way to grow is by treating customers so well that they come back for more and refer their friends, i.e., to get more promoters and fewer detractors. And when leaders rigorously measure and publish their net-promoter statistics, organizations can begin to manage growth as carefully as they now manage profits. In this way, companies are like communities comprised of mutually beneficial relationships (among investors, suppliers, employees, channel partners). Any community's ability to grow and prosper depends on its ability to recruit constituents and convert them into loyal community members. Whether the community is a church, a school, a charity, or a business enterprise, it is this same formula that generates growth, get more promoters and fewer detractors. This audio book shows how companies can develop practical, real-time feedback that identifies customer promoters and detractors. It's three-part structure shows readers (1) how one number can solve your growth problem; (2) how to measure the one number; and (3) how to improve the one number by making your company more like a community. This is the tool, and the audio book, that can help you drive accountability for relationships, and ethics, down to the small team and individual level. It's the one number you need to grow.