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100% it's cultural. In the Netherlands, companies brag about a 7 or 8 out of ten as proof of their amazing customer service. When I lived in America, it seemed

100% it's cultural. In the Netherlands, companies brag about a 7 or 8 out of ten as proof of their amazing customer service. When I lived in America, it seemed the consensus of anything under a 9 is killing puppies. Coincidentally, NPS is entirely based on this fact. 8+ is required for a "happy customer". 7 is given a little wiggle room to win them back and under 6 is a lost cause.

user_7832 3y ago
> In the Netherlands, companies brag about a 7 or 8 out of ten as proof of their amazing customer service. Huh, could you give an example of it? I am new to the Netherlands and hadn’t realized this yet.
- yurishimo 3y ago
  Sure. I was looking up energy price comparisons last night and came across this. https://www.overstappen.nl/energie/vergelijken/ https://www.overstappen.nl/energie/vergelijken/ Under "Beste energievergelijker" > Onze klanten beoordelen ons daarom met gemiddeld een 8,6. If you scroll further, you can see their ratings for other services; none reach even an 8. Compare that to Nerd Wallet's "Best Life Insurance Companies" (a segment that is nearly identical from all providers if you purchase term life). https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/insurance/best-life-insurance-companies https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/insurance/best-life-insur... 5/5 across the board for all parties. I get that it's a "best of" list, but you seriously mean to tell me all of these companies are exactly the same? The rest of Nerd Wallet's top pick lists are the same.
- dahwolf 3y ago
  How we rate things in the Netherlands is a reflection of the rating system used in schools. 1-5. Ranging from pathetic to inadequate, in any case you didn't pass. 6. Adequate, the minimum needed to pass. A culturally important number as it expresses the "zesjescultuur", a phenomenon where somebody is intentionally doing the absolute bare minimum to not get into trouble. 7. More than adequate. 8. Good. Even if near-perfect, few Dutch people would rate above this number because we don't want you to get all cocky. 9. Excellent. In service, only awarded when you did something completely unexpected or memorable. 10. Perfect, flawless.
autarch 3y ago
At my last employer they ran regular eNPS surveys using this 1-10 response scale where only 9 or 10 were considered positive. After much complaining from me that this was batshit crazy (I phrased this more appropriately at work), they finally switched to using just three possible responses. The question was something like "Would you recommend an acquaintance or friend with the appropriate skills to apply for a job at $Company?". The three responses were "No", "Maybe", and "Yes".
MandieD 3y ago
Fun related fact about 1-5 survey responses in Germany: make sure you specify that 5 is the top mark and 1 is the bottom, otherwise you’re liable to get some really odd results. This is because 1 is the highest grade (mark) in school, and 5 is failing, as is the even-worse 6. And even so informed, or accustomed to 1-5 scale used by everyone else, Germans are more likely than Americans to give a 4 instead of a 5 to something that they were happy with, but was not the best they’d ever experienced.
ahartmetz 3y ago
I've noticed that many decent German TV productions (I'm talking about somewhat positive outliers here, like the best few Tatort episodes in a year) get scores of 6 to 7 on IMDB - especially the ones that are only shown in Germany. So, the Netherlands and Germany are pretty similar about that.
avgcorrection 3y ago
> When I lived in America, it seemed the consensus of anything under a 9 is killing puppies. I also get the impression that American grades are like this: - A is good. You made an effort. - A [however modified with +/++]: great job! - C is terrible. You skipped all classes or fell into a coma.

user_7832 3y ago

> In the Netherlands, companies brag about a 7 or 8 out of ten as proof of their amazing customer service. Huh, could you give an example of it? I am new to the Netherlands and hadn’t realized this yet.

yurishimo 3y ago
Sure. I was looking up energy price comparisons last night and came across this. https://www.overstappen.nl/energie/vergelijken/ https://www.overstappen.nl/energie/vergelijken/ Under "Beste energievergelijker" > Onze klanten beoordelen ons daarom met gemiddeld een 8,6. If you scroll further, you can see their ratings for other services; none reach even an 8. Compare that to Nerd Wallet's "Best Life Insurance Companies" (a segment that is nearly identical from all providers if you purchase term life). https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/insurance/best-life-insurance-companies https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/insurance/best-life-insur... 5/5 across the board for all parties. I get that it's a "best of" list, but you seriously mean to tell me all of these companies are exactly the same? The rest of Nerd Wallet's top pick lists are the same.
dahwolf 3y ago
How we rate things in the Netherlands is a reflection of the rating system used in schools. 1-5. Ranging from pathetic to inadequate, in any case you didn't pass. 6. Adequate, the minimum needed to pass. A culturally important number as it expresses the "zesjescultuur", a phenomenon where somebody is intentionally doing the absolute bare minimum to not get into trouble. 7. More than adequate. 8. Good. Even if near-perfect, few Dutch people would rate above this number because we don't want you to get all cocky. 9. Excellent. In service, only awarded when you did something completely unexpected or memorable. 10. Perfect, flawless.

autarch 3y ago

At my last employer they ran regular eNPS surveys using this 1-10 response scale where only 9 or 10 were considered positive. After much complaining from me that this was batshit crazy (I phrased this more appropriately at work), they finally switched to using just three possible responses. The question was something like "Would you recommend an acquaintance or friend with the appropriate skills to apply for a job at $Company?". The three responses were "No", "Maybe", and "Yes".

MandieD 3y ago

Fun related fact about 1-5 survey responses in Germany: make sure you specify that 5 is the top mark and 1 is the bottom, otherwise you’re liable to get some really odd results. This is because 1 is the highest grade (mark) in school, and 5 is failing, as is the even-worse 6. And even so informed, or accustomed to 1-5 scale used by everyone else, Germans are more likely than Americans to give a 4 instead of a 5 to something that they were happy with, but was not the best they’d ever experienced.

ahartmetz 3y ago

I've noticed that many decent German TV productions (I'm talking about somewhat positive outliers here, like the best few Tatort episodes in a year) get scores of 6 to 7 on IMDB - especially the ones that are only shown in Germany. So, the Netherlands and Germany are pretty similar about that.

avgcorrection 3y ago

> When I lived in America, it seemed the consensus of anything under a 9 is killing puppies. I also get the impression that American grades are like this: - A is good. You made an effort. - A [however modified with +/++]: great job! - C is terrible. You skipped all classes or fell into a coma.