Time Warner Cable’s Road Runner Tops First Net Promoter Telecommunications Industry Research

A company’s Net Promoter Score, a metric created by loyalty expert Fred Reichheld of Bain & Co. and Satmetrix, is based on actual customer feedback data and links a customer’s experience to profitable growth. Customers are asked to respond to the simple and radical question: How likely is it that you would recommend us to a friend or colleague? It allows companies to track promoters (customers who have a favorable view of doing business with the company and who will actively promote it) and detractors (customers who have a negative view and will tell colleagues, encouraging potential customers to take their business elsewhere). The Net Promoter Score produces the single most reliable indicator of a company’s ability to grow by measuring an organization’s performance in its customers’ eyes.

Among the telecommunications companies studied, the report shows that Road Runner has the highest Net Promoter Score of all companies surveyed. Road Runner’s detractors equal 10%, passives equal 25%, and promoters equal 65%. The company with the lowest Net Promoter Score within this report has less than half the percentage of promoters as Road Runner, and more than five times the percentage of detractors.

Respondents who commented on Road Runner identified the following items as having the biggest impact on their likelihood to recommend the company to others:

• product/service delivery
• ease of use/user friendliness
• speed of connection
• sales/buying experience
• on-line services
• billing
• ease of doing business

"The telecommunications industry has been converging in the last few years with merger and acquisition activity disrupting the industry and putting companies at risk of losing their customer base," said Dr. Laura Brooks, vice president of research and business consulting at Satmetrix Systems, Inc. "By keeping a close eye on its Net Promoter Score, a company can manage change more effectively, and both retain its most valuable customers and attract new ones."

The results of the Net Promoter Industry Report 2006: Telecommunications are based on actual responses from customers regarding their experiences with a particular provider. An email invitation explains the purpose of the survey, offers an incentive for participating, and provides a link that allows individuals to click through to the Satmetrix survey site. All respondents are familiar with the products and services that are the subject of the survey, having purchased them as a private consumer. Company names are standardized across the report to capture accurate ratings for each company. The study was fielded during the first half of 2005.