CFiq versus NPS

It looks like the IBM Global Businesss Services group has developed a new measure for customer advocacy that may be intended to compete with NPS. the IBM measue has the acronym CFiq which stands for Customer Focused Insight Quotient. In fact, they have Trademanrked the CFiq acronym.

IBM has published two reports using this measure; one is for retail banking and the other is for the property and casualty industry. The three questions IBM appears to be using for the property and casualty industry are:
1. I would recommend my insurance agent/carrier to friends and family.
2. I would buy my next product from my agent/carrier.
3. If another insurance carrier offered me a competitive insurance product I would remain with my insurance agent/carrier.

For the retail banking study IBM apparently used the following questions:
1. I would recommend my bank to friends and family.
2. I would go to my bank first for future financial services needs.
3. I would stick with my bank if offered a competitively priced product.

The two sets of questions are suffiently similar to conclude that CFiq will probably apply to many industries.

Their analysis allocates customers into three groups; namely
1. advocates, those who have a high likelihood to recommend, high purchase intent and low switching intent
2. apathetics, those in the middle tier
3. antagonistic, those customers in the lowest tier who probably have characteristics opposite the advocates.

This metric appears to be well researched and according to their reports was created by surveying over 18,000 consumers across multiple industries.

IBM has characterized a customer focused enterprise (those that would be users of CFiq) with the following;
1. the company understands customer authority.
2. the company maintains a customer dialog.
3. the company integrates its functions to provide a consistent experience for their customers.
4. the company seeks solution experiences that address broader customer needs and desires.
5. the company focuses on a human performance approach that allow employees to better meet their personal and organizational objectives.
6. the company focuses on transforming its own organization to fullfill customer-centric strategies and objectives.

I believe IBM is making a statement that CFiq is to be preferred over NPS when they make the statement in their report "Unlike other satisfaction or advocacy measures, the CFiq goes beyond a single measure of satisfaction or a likelihood to recommend."