Investors Capital Corporation Utilizes Net Promoter Score (NPS) to Deliver Premier Service to Financial Advisors

LYNNFIELD, Mass.--(Business Wire)--
On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely are you to recommend Investors Capital to a
friend or colleague? That question, sans the Investors Capital reference, is the
foundation of the Net Promoter philosophy pioneered by Fred Reichheld at Bain &
Co. It is also one of many ways Investors Capital Corporation (ICC)
differentiates its brand from its competitors and ensures that it delivers
premier service to its nearly 700 financial advisors nationwide.

"In a highly commoditized industry like financial services, you can only
differentiate your firm so much when it comes to payout and product; even
technology is a leapfrog situation," said Timothy B. Murphy, President and CEO
of Investors Capital. "However, we know our competitors can`t replicate our
culture, people, or our level of service. The feedback we get from our advisors
via Net Promoter is invaluable in that regard. It helps us maintain a solid
brand advantage in those critical areas."

Net Promoter measures "referability," which, according to Reichheld, is a much
more reliable barometer of customer loyalty and future business growth than
measuring "satisfaction". It works in the following manner: customers that give
you a 10 or 9 in answering the question are "promoters"; those that give you an
8 or 7 are "passives"; those that give you anything less are "detractors". By
subtracting the percentage of detractors from the percentage of promoters, you
get a Net Promoter Score (NPS)-the percentage of your customers who are willing
to put their reputations on the line with friends or colleagues by recommending
your company. Increasing the number of customers who are promoters (i.e.,
creating programs that convert detractors and passives into raving promoters
that refer new business) allows companies to achieve sustained growth in
revenues, profits, and market share year-after-year.

"We had been conducting roundtables at our national conventions the past few
years asking our advisors what they liked about ICC, what they didn`t like, and
what they`d change to improve the firm, but we couldn`t quantify that feedback,"
said Robert Foney, Investors Capital`s Chief Marketing and Branding Officer.
"Adding NPS allowed us to assign a number to our level of service. It gave us a
tangible dashboard metric that we could benchmark from and that had meaning.
Taken hand-in-hand with our qualitative feedback, the two provide an excellent
window into what we`re doing well and what we can improve upon to continually
deliver premier service."

"Premier service can mean different things to different people, making it
challenging to quantify or measure," said James Wallace, Senior Vice President
of Trading and Operations at Investors Capital. "In response to this challenge,
we adopted the concepts contained within Fred Reichheld`s book, The Ultimate
Question. Utilizing these measuring techniques has proven to be critical in
determining the loyalty of our representatives."

Investors Capital`s NPS for the first quarter of 2009 was 66%, up from 60%,
60.2%, 60%, and 49% for the four quarters of 2008. How does that score rate?
According to Reichheld, the best companies have net promoter scores above 50%:
Federal Express, Southwest Airlines, American Express.

Conversely, the average NPS for an American company is a lowly 11%, and the NPS
for a typical company lies between 5% and 10%. In other words, promoters barely
outnumber detractors. Netpromoter.com states that: "some firms-and some entire
industries-have negative Net Promoter Scores, meaning that they are creating
more detractors than promoters day in and day out. These abysmal Net Promoter
Scores explain why so many companies can`t deliver profitable, sustainable
growth, no matter how aggressively they spend to acquire new business. Companies
with the most efficient growth engines-companies such as Amazon, HomeBanc, eBay,
Harley-Davidson, Costco, Vanguard, and Dell-operate at NPS efficiency ratings of
50 - 80%. So, even they have room for improvement."

A true NPS system has three requirements: first, you must systematically
categorize your customers into promoters, passives, and detractors; second, you
must create closed-loop processes that investigate the root causes that drive
customers into these categories; third, you must have executives that make
creating more promoters and less detractors a priority within the organization.
Investors Capital is in the process of creating the closed-loop processes
essential for the second requirement.

"For us, NPS is not just about basking in a high score," said Foney. "It`s about
really listening to your customer and converting those detractors and passives
into promoters by putting business processes in place that eliminate the root
causes that lead to low scores. One of the best opportunities in business to
build loyalty is to turn a disgruntled customer into a happy one. Customers will
tell you how to turn your business into a goldmine. You just have to be willing
to listen and, more importantly, act."

About Investors Capital Holdings, Ltd.:

Investors Capital Holdings, Ltd. (AMEX:ICH) of Lynnfield, Massachusetts is a
diversified financial services holding company that operates primarily through
its independent broker/dealer and investment advisor subsidiary, Investors
Capital Corporation. Our mission is to provide premier, concierge-level service
and support to our valued registered representatives, including advisory
programs, strategic practice management and marketing services, and technology,
to help them grow their businesses and exceed their clients` expectations.
Business units include Investors Capital Corporation, Investors Capital Advisory
Services, ICC Insurance Agency, Inc., and Investors Capital Holdings Securities
Corporation. For more information, please call (800) 949-1422 x4814 or visit
www.investorscapital.com.

Investors Capital Corporation
Robert Foney, 781-477-4814
Director of Public Relations
rfoney@investorscapital.com
www.investorscapital.com

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