In early March of this year, FairlawnGig surveyed its business customers in an effort to better measure the impact the network has on the community. To drive participation, we kept the survey to ten questions, lasting less than two minutes. Approximately 60 businesses participated in the survey. We attribute our lower response rates this year to a year where “work from home” was the preeminent means of working during a pandemic.
Overall satisfaction is an astounding 95% with more than 4 in 5 (85%) saying they are “very satisfied” with FairlawnGig.
A full two-thirds (67%) say FairlawnGig is “extremely important” to their business while not a single business said FairlawnGig was not important to their Fairlawn-based business.
More than half (53%) say FairlawnGig is “extremely” or “very important” to why they are in Fairlawn while another 16% say it is “somewhat important.” Less than a third (31%) say FairlawnGig was “not important” to their Fairlawn business location.
A significant reason for the investment in FairlawnGig was economic growth for the area. Nearly half (45%) of businesses are opening new markets thanks to FairlawnGig.
Another investment driver for FairlawnGig was job creation. A third (33%) say all of the jobs at their location are fully attributable to FairlawnGig while an additional 13% attribute at least some of the jobs.
Of the businesses who brought jobs to Fairlawn because of FairlawnGig, surveyed businesses average 13 new FairlawnGig-enabled employees.
Both FairlawnGig’s service and value were considered important by 100% of businesses surveyed.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, is the “Net Promoter Score” (NPS). A Net Promoter Score gauges customer loyalty and should correlate with revenue growth. The NPS is figured with one simple question:
How likely is it that you would recommend FairlawnGig to a friend or family member? (on a scale of 0-10 where zero is “not at all likely” and ten is “extremely likely.”
This question produced a NPS for FairlawnGig of 80. This puts FairlawnGig is solidly in the top quartile of organizational scores and much higher than the typical ISP, which typically have sub-20 NPS scores.*
When examining the actual numbers given by respondents, 79% answered a 9 or a 10 while the average numerical answer was 9.13.
NPS classifies FairlawnGig’s customers in its standard categories that follow:
- Promoters (79% of FairlawnGig customers). Responded 9 or 10. Likely to exhibit value-creating behaviors including buying more, remaining customers for longer, and making more positive referrals to other potential customers.
- Passives (13%). Responses of 7 or 8, unlikely to help or hurt brand.
- Detractors (8%). Responded with a score of 0 to 6. Less likely to exhibit value-creating behaviors for the brand.
* The average Net Promoter Score for Internet Service Providers is in the range of 0, with the lowest being -16 and the highest 19.
Sampling of Open-End Responses
“Having fiber optic dramatically shortens the upload times for business related videos. During COVID, having fiber optic has been very important do conducting business via Zoom.”
“This is our primary ISP provider for our facility. Not only is the speed great compared to the cost, but we rely on this daily for that facility to function and get our jobs done.”
“A reliable, fast and affordable internet connection that has been an absolute dream.”
“Tech service is always there to help. Couldn’t ask for better service!”
“The increased speed of Internet, the professionalism of the support staff, the outstanding service, and prompt attention to every detail makes a huge impact on our business.”
“Remote work has made network connectivity absolutely critical in 2020 and 2021. Knowing that it will ‘just work’ has been comforting.”