Want to measure customer loyalty? Try this marketing question

In Fred Reichheld's classic article The One Number You Need, he makes a great argument for asking only one market research question of your customers. Any guesses on what it is?

Here's the question:
"How likely is it that you would recommend (company X) to a friend or collegue?"

Across most industries, and in both business-to-consumer and business-to-business companies, this single question gets at the heart of a company's marketing operation. Here are the reasons why:

• It helps a company establish how satisfied its customers are.
• It helps quantify how likely these customers are to generate word-of-mouth.
• It helps establish how likely these customers will be to generate referrals.

If your company plans on surveying its customers, don't just ask How strongly do you agree that (company x) deserves your loyalty? or How likely is it that you will continue to purchase (company x's) products? These questions are good, but not great.

Instead ask How likely is it that you would recommend (company x) to a friend or colleague?