NPS Doesn’t Measure Experience: Return on Experience (ROX) as a Better Metric
Why NPS Doesn’t Measure Experience
We are all familiar with the importance on ROI as one of those ‘go-to’ measures we rely on to demonstrate how our team, department and organisation adds value.
For many businesses, we balance this with an NPS score so that we can demonstrate adding value to shareholders and customers. This has been our standard way of working.
Our own research and the latest thinking are starting to tell a different story. It’s a story driven by our clients and customers.
Return on Experience (ROX): A New Way to Measure Experience
Many of our clients look for our help to increase their NPS score.
This is a tough one for us, especially when it is used to measure customer teams.
Why?
Because an NPS score is based on our perception of the whole brand experience, not a single conversation. I could have had a great experience with you right now, but I don’t feel connected enough to your business to advocate you to other people. The reasons are nothing to do with the individual taking that call or serving that person, it is simply an overall feeling.
The challenge is, what else do we have?
The start point is clear. We need to first understand what our customers want before we can measure if we are giving it to them. You’d be surprised by how many businesses describe a customer-centric strategy and purpose without ever talking to a single customer about their needs.
Most businesses already have the perfect people to find out all about this: their frontline colleagues that serve customers every day; yet, do we trust them enough with this job? If not, we should.
Next, we need to get under the skin of what makes up a business’ experience. Without this definition, we have no chance of measuring the return on it.
The first question is not just what, but who you are measuring.
Customer experience starts with strategy and the alignment of that strategy with day to day actions and behaviours.
Think of NPS as being one dimension, one perspective; whereas, enabling consistently great experiences in your business requires the leverage of more than one question.
In fact, here at Imparta, we have defined the three dimensions that surround us as we create experiences for others.
It all starts with ourselves.
With knowing who we are and the role we play, be that as;
- A senior leader providing strategy & direction
- An operational leader with people to inspire, motivate and engage, or
- Front-line colleagues who create the band experience for customers.
Then we have the three dimensions everyone in your business can leverage; Insight, Influence and Trust.
Developing a strong Return on Experience (ROX)
Developing a strong Return on Experience is all about understanding the critical actions and behaviours that individuals in the business can adopt to drive a return
Think of your Senior Leaders as the creators of your Leadership experience or LX. What culture is your strategy and operating model driving? Where is there friction, lack of clarity or potential blocks?
Next, are your people-leaders the creators of your employee experience or EX? How do they take that strategy and build an environment of trust, how do they use the commercial insight? How are they influencing people to harness their potential?
And your front-line colleagues the creators of the customer experience or CX? How are they driving value for the business and the customer?
Four Value Points That Create Customer Experience Value.
Research backs up these points as being the key to building advocacy and trust in your brand:
- Emotional Connection/ Staff Engagement – How emotionally engaged are your people? Do they connect with your purpose? Are they passionate? Does this translate into their conversations?
- Expectation ID – Do they identify expectations with your customers? Are they curious and brave, and do they add value by truly understanding your customer and their needs?
- “Emotional Activation” Personal Touch/Personality/Individuality/Memorable Experience – Are you eliciting an emotional response from your customers, something that makes you memorable? Surprise, delight, intrigue; all of these emotions ease the ‘path to purchase’ for customers because they feel invested and they trust you and your expertise.
- Streamlined Experience – Do they allow decision making and action, friction free? Is it easy to do business with you? Can colleagues end the experience with a peak that connects the customer to the brand?
There are lots of questions. And that is the point.
Are you curious enough to understand the impact you are having as a business?
What gets measured gets done. Prioritising the four key value points with every customer interaction, and across the organisation, will allow you to track and develop the critical actions that drive the best results.
Here at Imparta, we start simple. If you want to deliver a true return on experience, you need to understand your critical actions.
From there, we create a ROX scorecard based on each dimension we know is available to everyone: self, insight, influence and trust, and from here we help you build the measures that are right for your business.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Why does the article argue that NPS doesn’t measure experience accurately?
The article argues that NPS doesn’t measure experience accurately because it reflects a customer’s perception of the whole brand, not a single interaction. Someone may have a great conversation yet still not feel ready to recommend the brand, for reasons unrelated to the individual who served them.
What is meant by “Return on Experience” (ROX) in this context?
Return on Experience (ROX) refers to understanding and measuring the value created by the experiences your organisation delivers. It focuses on the critical actions and behaviours that individuals adopt across leadership, employee, and customer experience, and how these drive advocacy, trust, and business results beyond a simple NPS score.
Why is relying only on NPS a problem for customer-facing teams?
Relying only on NPS is problematic because it is often used to judge customer-facing teams for something they can’t fully control the overall brand experience. Their performance in single conversations may be strong, but a low NPS can reflect broader issues in strategy, culture, or operations.
How should organisations start if they want to improve Return on Experience?
To improve Return on Experience, organisations should begin by understanding what customers actually want, rather than assuming or claiming to be customer-centric. They should involve frontline colleagues, define what their experience consists of, and identify the critical actions and behaviours that create value across self, insight, influence, and trust.
What roles shape Leadership, Employee, and Customer Experience in the ROX approach?
In the ROX approach, senior leaders create the Leadership Experience (LX) through strategy, culture, and operating models. People-leaders shape the Employee Experience (EX) by building trust and using commercial insight. Front-line colleagues create the Customer Experience (CX) in every interaction, driving value for both the business and the customer.
What are the four value points that drive a strong Return on Experience?
The four value points are: emotional connection/staff engagement, expectation identification, “emotional activation” through personal touch and memorability, and a streamlined experience. Focusing on these elements builds advocacy and trust, making it easier for customers to buy and stay loyal to your brand.
How do the dimensions of Insight, Influence, and Trust link to Return on Experience?
Insight, Influence, and Trust are dimensions everyone can leverage to drive Return on Experience. Insight means understanding customer needs and expectations, Influence is how you shape decisions and behaviours, and Trust is built through emotional connection and reliability, together forming a basis for a meaningful ROX scorecard.
How does Imparta help organisations measure and improve Return on Experience?
Imparta helps organisations measure and improve Return on Experience by starting with critical actions, then creating a ROX scorecard around self, insight, influence, and trust. This multi-dimensional approach goes beyond NPS, enabling businesses to track, develop, and prioritise the behaviours that drive the best experiential and commercial results.