AskNicely hot takes: Responding to passives is just as important as detractors

Each month, we ask the AskNicely team for their hot takes on customer feedback or the customer experience management industry. It can be something they wish more customers knew, or common blockers they help AskNicely customers overcome. Then we share those tips to help you learn from others and find success for your own business.

This month’s hot take comes from Nicole Pierce, AskNicely Customer Success Manager:

“It's just as important to respond to passives as it is to detractors since passives are more likely to become fans if their issues are addressed.”

While it’s always valuable to respond to your detractors, that doesn’t mean you should let the passives go unnoticed. They’re an opportunity to create more promoters after all. 

What’s a passive?

A Net Promoter Score survey asks customers, “How likely are you to recommend (company/product/service) to someone else?” Customers can respond with a number 0 through 10, with 0 being unlikely and 10 being the most likely. Passives are those who give a rating of 7 or 8. A “passive” customer is neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with your business. These customers are neutral on their experience and the least likely to leave you a review online, good or bad. 

Why prioritize responding to passives?

It may feel easy to deprioritize responding to these customers, but doing so would be a missed opportunity for business growth. They can easily become promoters with a bit of follow-up, or detractors if you aren’t careful. 

How to respond to passive customers:

• Add an open-ended question to your NPS survey: If you’ve already gotten some passive responses and want to proactively collect feedback on future neutral scores, consider adding an open-ended question to your NPS survey. This can be as simple as asking customers what one thing they would change about their experience, or why they gave the score that they did. 

• Thank them for their feedback: Ideally, you’re already reaching out to customers who provide any feedback. When you reach out to passives, tailor the message to them to ask specific questions around the customer experience and their rating. This will hopefully get you deeper insights into the
  
  
• Incentivize feedback: Another great way to gather feedback from potentially unengaged customers is through incentives. Offer a coupon, early access to new products or a sale, or loyalty points in exchange for feedback to help you improve the customer experience. 

Turning passives into promoters

It’s clear that following up with customers is the first step in turning your passives into promoters, but what other steps should you take?

Step 1: Personalize the customer experience

Take extra care to tailor communication, offers, and support to the specific needs and past experiences of your passive customers. This gives you the chance to

Step 2: Improve ease and consistency 

Take the time to reduce any friction that can occur in the customer experience during key moments like onboarding, billing, and support interactions. You can improve the experience, and hopefully turn those passives into promoters. 

Step 3: Surprise and delight with value  

Surprise customers with helpful tips, new features, or loyalty perks before they even ask.

Step 4: Empower front-line teams 

Train and align employees to solve problems fast and reinforce positive emotional moments.

The outcome will hopefully be higher NPS, stronger referrals, and more promoter‐driven growth.

To learn how AskNicely can help you achieve this success, book a demo or take a product tour.