We all want great customer feedback. We want the high scores, the glowing comments, the reassurance that we’re doing well.

But somewhere along the way, many businesses have become more focused on looking good than actually getting better.

I was reminded of this recently after a trip to a fabulous holiday park in SE Queensland. Lovely location. Friendly people. Definitely the kind of place you’d consider visiting again.

On the day of departure, the feedback email arrived — the familiar post-stay ritual. + because we’ve spent decades working with Net Promoter Score®(NPS), + even dedicated a chapter of our book to Customer Advocacy, we always pay attention to how the question is asked.

The traditional NPS question is delightfully simple:

“On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend us to a friend or colleague?”

No explanation. No judgement. No parameters. Just a gut reaction.

But this survey took a different approach. It told us what each score meant.

9–10 meant: You’d definitely return + recommend.

7–8 meant: You’d be unlikely to return or recommend.

+ anything lower? Well, that’s a score they clearly don’t want, so best you get in touch.

Suddenly, all the nuance was gone. There was no room for “I enjoyed it, but something was missing.” No space for “We had a great time, but we might try somewhere new next holiday.” No moment of hesitation where true improvement begins.

Instead, the scale positioned customers into one of two camps: ✅ You love us. ❌ You don’t.

+ if you didn’t feel comfortable saying “no,” you were gently funnelled into saying “yes.”

This isn’t feedback. It’s performance management disguised as customer insight.

Why This Matters

When we manipulate scores, we:

• Lose insight into what customers are actually thinking
• Blind ourselves to emerging issues
• Deprive teams of useful coaching moments
• Make the business feel better while becoming worse

The most dangerous feedback isn’t negative. It’s dishonest.

When organisations treat NPS as a scoreboard instead of a learning tool, they break the system. The data becomes unreliable. Leaders make the wrong decisions. + customers notice — because they always do.

What Great Businesses Do Differently

They don’t try to earn a high score. They try to earn the truth.

They create surveys that invite honesty. They make it safe to say, “It was okay, but…”

Because that’s where the gold is. That’s where real improvement lives. That’s where loyalty is actually built.

+ here’s the irony: When you stop gaming the system… your scores get better anyway. Not because you forced them, but because you deserved them.

What This Really Means

Customer advocacy isn’t created by a number. It’s earned in the way we respond to what that number tells us.

So here’s my nudge to every business leader:

Stop chasing perfect scores. Start chasing perfect honesty.

Your customers will thank you for it. + your business will be better because of it.