Pop quiz.

1. Which of the following is made with dried fish bladders: a) sushi, b) cod liver oil, or c) real ale?

2. Which of these can be found in fire extinguishers: a) diamond shards, b) avocado skins, or c) cow hooves?

3. Which substance is used to produce high-end perfumes? a) egg shells, b) metal filings or c) undigested squid beaks vomited up by whales?

If you answered ‘c’ each time, then congratulations: you’re super smart! Not Alexander Fleming smart – the guy who repurposed mould to invent antibiotics – but probably smart enough to do what BT do and make use of something else that’s generally thrown away like a baby with the bathwater: positive Net Promoter Scores.

It might seem obvious, but BT’s NPS strategy is actually incredibly radical. Like most brands, they take negative NPS responses super-seriously, using them to improve their overall customer experience. But unlike most brands, they also make use of positive responses – giving customers who’ve said they’d be happy to recommend BT to their friends, family and colleagues the chance to do just that.

And, by using the Buyapowa advocacy platform – which integrates seamlessly with their NPS tools – BT didn’t even have to do any development work to get things up and running. It just worked – at scale – converting what most brands see as a useless by-product into an incredible acquisition channel.

So, ask yourself: are you bold enough to follow BT’s lead? Or, to flip the question around, are you bold enough to ignore it? Why not get in touch and let’s find out?