Creating exceptional customer enthusiasm is the single strongest way to build and sustain top-tier growth over the long run. Our agency uses the Net Promoter Score (NPS) to measure that enthusiasm, understand how it is created or threatened, and identify what we call "promoters," who are the most loyal and enthusiastic ambassadors of the company.

NPS data is collected through an annual customer (or "member," in our case) and claim satisfaction surveys that are distributed after every claim is closed, regardless of whether a payment was made. They provide rich, quantitative data and insightful comments to help us determine the impact that people, products, services and other interactions have on experience.

The most common element of truly exceptional service occurs when our people not only quickly respond to the damages resulting from a loss, but take the extra step to truly understand the impact that the loss had and address it in unexpected, thoughtful ways. Fast and generous claims settlements create high degrees of satisfaction; using empathy to find thoughtful ways to positively impact someone's life creates an emotional response. Consider the following to see how exceptional customer experience was created during a few common scenarios that we face in our industry:

• Christmas fire