Scorecard terms

Who runs it

The CNS Needs Scorecard is run by Customer Needs Solution (CNS), which is run by me, Stephen Hewett. You can contact me about it at [email protected].

Cost, who can take it, closing date and limits

• It’s free. No payment is asked for or taken.
• Anyone can take it. The questions are written for people who run or work in a business, but there are no eligibility checks.
• There’s no closing date.
• There’s no limit on how often you take it. The only limit is on result emails: the site sends the same email address no more than one result email an hour, and sends no more than five result emails an hour to requests from the same internet connection. This is to stop the form being misused.

How it works

There are six questions, one for each of the six CNS Needs Groups: Effort, Engagement, Value, Pace, Knowledge and Environment. Each is written as your customer would say it. For each one you pick how well you think your business meets that need today, on a 1–5 scale: 1 “It was a nightmare”, 2 “Not great”, 3 “OK”, 4 “Pretty good”, 5 “Excellent”.

How the score is worked out

• Answers of 4 or 5 count as positive, 3 as passive, and 1 or 2 as negative.
• Your score is the percentage of positive answers minus the percentage of negative answers, rounded to a whole number. It runs from -100 (all negative) to +100 (all positive). With six questions it moves in steps of about 17.
• This is the same way NetCNS is calculated. But the scorecard records your own view, not your customers’, so the result is indicative. A real NetCNS comes from what your customers say, and it can differ from what the business thinks.
• The result also names the Needs Group or Groups you rated lowest, as the place to look first. It doesn’t compare you with other businesses.

What happens to your answers

If you just take the scorecard

Your score is worked out in your browser. Your answers aren’t sent to me or stored anywhere. The site only counts that a scorecard was started and finished. These counts don’t include your answers, your email address or your IP address.

If you ask for your result by email

The scorecard asks only for your email address. It doesn’t ask for your name or company. When you send the form, the site stores:

• your email address
• your six answers and your score
• the date and time
• the page you first arrived on, the website that sent you (if any) and any campaign tags in the link you followed
• your browser’s user-agent (the browser and device type it reports)
• the country Cloudflare detects from your connection
• whether your result email was sent
• whether you ticked the box asking me to keep you updated about CNS, and when

This is stored in the site’s storage on Cloudflare, which hosts the site and sends its emails. Your IP address isn’t saved with your answers. It’s used only for the hourly email limit above, and that record deletes itself after an hour.

A copy of the same details is emailed to me, so I know someone has taken the scorecard.

Who sees them

I do, along with the tools I use to run the site. I don’t sell your details or share them with anyone else.

How long they’re kept

Scorecard records are deleted automatically 24 months after you submit them. If you unsubscribe, your email address stays on the unsubscribe list so I don’t email you again. You can ask me to delete your details sooner (see below).

Your results email

Your result is emailed to the address you give. It comes from “Stephen Hewett (CNS)” at [email protected], and replies go to [email protected], which reaches me. The email shows your score, your answers and how the score is worked out, with links to more about CNS and the subscription.

Every results email has an unsubscribe link, which asks you to confirm. It also supports one-click unsubscribe in email apps that offer it. When you unsubscribe, your address goes on an unsubscribe list, and the site won’t send it any more CNS emails, even if you take the scorecard again.

Will I hear from you again?

The site sends only the results email automatically. There’s no automatic newsletter or series of follow-up emails.

The email form has an optional box, which starts unticked: “Keep me updated about CNS”. Only if you tick it will I email you updates about CNS. Your result is emailed to you whether or not you tick it. Ticking it doesn’t commit you to anything. If you’ve unsubscribed, you won’t get updates.

Deleting your details

To have your details deleted, email [email protected], reply to your results email or use the contact page. Tell me the email address you used, and I’ll delete your scorecard record and let you know when it’s done.

If you just want to stop the emails, use the unsubscribe link in your results email. To stop getting updates but keep your result, just tell me.

Cookies and analytics

The scorecard doesn’t use cookies. The site uses Cloudflare Web Analytics, which counts visits without cookies, and its own simple click counters, which store no personal details. While you browse, your browser keeps a note of the page you arrived on, the referring website and any campaign tags in the link (in session storage, which clears when you close the tab), so they can be included if you send a form.

This page explains how the scorecard works. It isn’t a full privacy policy. Last updated 31 October 2026.

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