Making it hassle-free

Posted in: About Valley Northern 19th December 2022

 

We make our service noticeable

 

Regular visitors to valleynorthern.com could be forgiven for not noticing our Net Promoter Score (NPS) on our home page. After all you’re busy and you just want to log in, order your bottles and bags, maybe browse some of our range and then get on with serving your customers.

But what is it? And why am I mentioning it on this week’s blog?

 

Well, our NPS is currently 82.

It’s something that we’re rather proud of. So this week I want to put some context around that ordinary looking number, explain a little about how we achieve it and also share with you some recent customer feedback. 

82 in NPS speak is far from ordinary. It’s exceptional and actually rated world-class, but more on that later.

NPS seeks to measure customer loyalty which is driven by a multitude of factors such as customer service, ease of use, brand loyalty, satisfaction with products and services and value for money. In other words, if you’re delighted with the product, the experience, the cost and the service then you are much more likely to recommend to others.

NPS shows if you are wowing your customers. Yes, there are customers who like a product or a service and will give a referral if asked, and then there are promoters.

Promoters go out of their way to talk about their experience and recommend your business in normal conversation with friends and family.

Here’s a quote from the inventor of NPS – Fred Reicheld. ‘Companies that win make sure their purpose is primarily on making their customers’ lives better. You want to treat your customers so well that they come back and bring their friends.’

Traditionally you might ask 100 customers to rate your service out of 10 and then do the maths but that doesn’t tell you the whole story.

Once the NPS question has been asked the answers are then grouped into three.

People who rate us as 'excellent' are considered ‘promoters’. These people have strong positive feelings towards your company and they are highly likely to come back to you and they’re highly likely to recommend you to friends, family and colleagues.

Respondents who rate us as Good are known as ‘passively satisfied’. They thought the service and the product offerings were ‘OK’ but would consider going to a competitor if they had to, they’re happy but they’re not happy enough to be considered promoters.

People who rate our service as Average or Poor are considered detractors. These are customers who are highly unlikely to make you their first port-of-call in the future and they’re also unlikely to mention your service to friends and colleagues in a favourable way.

So it’s the percentage of your customers who are promoters less the percentage of your customers who are detractors that will give you your NPS.

Converting more of those detractors and ‘passives’ into promoters is your goal. It’s a fluid situation and you can move the numbers.

Anything over zero means that you have more promoters than detractors.

Your first NPS score will give you a solid starting point from which you can judge future progress and make predictions about what actions will make the most impact. This will help you to repeat what works and fix what doesn’t, so you can increase your NPS over time.

Our 82 is on a scale of -100 to +100 and to put that into some context a score above 20 is considered ‘favourable’, any score above 50 is considered ‘excellent’ and any score north of 80 is considered ‘world-class’.

Let’s go back to that quote from Fred Reicheld - ‘Companies that win make sure their purpose is primarily on making their customers’ lives better.’

 

Well that’s our purpose too, we make everything ‘hassle-fee’.

1. We’ve always got it in stock. It can be costly to carry high stock levels but we know that’s what our customers need and expect. A busy pharmacy can’t operate without key packaging and consumables that make their operation run smoothly. We hold thousands of products in stock — and if we don’t stock it, we can look into sourcing it for you.
2. It’s all under one roof. We know what pharmacies need so we know what products to offer. Our customers don’t want to be dealing with several companies, they want one simple solution to their packaging and consumable needs.
3. It’s all delivered quickly. We work hard to ensure our customers get the right products at the time they were promised.
4. It’s all hassle-free. We want to make your experience with us a pleasure.
5. No corners are cut. We pride ourselves on top quality products that you can trust. (That's why we're ISO 9001 certified.)
6. We understand the value in giving back. That’s why we have donated over £21,000 to charities in 2021.
7. When things go wrong we make it our business to put it right fast.

 

 

Appropriate then that we share some recent customer feedback.

 

There are so many to choose from but here’s some of our favourites which tell us that we’re heading in the right direction. We’re super-receptive of developmental points from our customers and will always seek to convert a ‘detractor’ to a ‘promoter’.

 “Can I just say how nice it is to speak to someone quickly rather than pressing this and that.”

“I’ve been in retail for over 20 years. I tell everyone that Valley Northern has the best customer service. Honestly whenever I come off the phone after speaking to you I say it.”

“I must say your customer service and everything your company does for us is brilliant. I’m not just saying that. Whatever we ask or want you always help us, it’s just brilliant.”

“Thank you for such a quick service and nice staff. It’s been a stress-free order.”

“I deal with a lot of companies and there’s nobody like you out there.”

“The service has been outstanding! I deal with hundreds of companies and none have ever done what you have. You never quibble or question, you keep us up to date, it’s amazing.”

“I just wanted to say thank you for the speedy delivery yesterday. It was a 24 hour turn-around. I have never known anything like it before so thank you.”

“I’m really happy with your service. You are on-time, you help me, you keep me updated. It’s excellent service and you don’t get it with other companies, you know.”

“It’s been a stress-free order.”

“To be honest I’m glad I deal with a company like you.”

“I was very impressed with your speedy service.”

“Anything else we need help on we’ll be there. You’re at the top of my pile.”

“Everyone is so friendly. I’ve got a very strong relationship with my rep and relationships mean a lot to me rather than just emails.”

“You are our main supplier for packaging materials. You are reliable and quick to deal with any question. You make me feel as though I’m your only customer.”

“I wish everyone was like you.”

“We can always rely on you as our supplier.”

“I love it when I call as you know who I am before I say my name! I like dealing with you because you’re happy and always able to help. I don’t know another company like you.”

“What a brilliant team you have there, I wish they all worked for me! Everyone is excellent and your service is second to none.”

“I have been in the industry for years and I have never had such good service.”

“Every time someone from your company calls they’re so happy, it’s always lovely to hear.”

“We have never had anything out of stock with yourselves and we get very good customer service so we can’t fault you.”

“Thank you for your delivery. We ordered some stuff from another company and that didn’t turn up, but as usual Valley Northern’s was all there.”

“It was excellent service, we ordered one day and there it was the next.”

“If only other suppliers were as efficient and good as Valley Northern. You sort us out with no questions or qualms and we do appreciate that.”

“We will be getting all of our order from you from now on, and thanks for the samples you sent.”

“Valley Northern has always been so easy to deal with. Because we are a small company, some companies don’t want to know. Nothing seems too much to ask from Valley Northern.”