Net Promoter Score (NPS®) is a proven methodology for measuring customer loyalty through first-hand feedback. Net Promoter Score is a popular customer experience metric because it is simple, effective, and correlated to revenue growth.
So what is NPS? Net Promoter Score is a customer experience metric that measures loyalty and is predictive of business growth. NPS is calculated by asking an initial survey question on a 0–10 rating scale. Then, the accumulated ratings are graded as one number between -100 and 100. This number expresses how customers perceive a company.
Fred Reichheld, a partner at Bain & Company, developed the NPS metric in 2003 after analyzing how traditional customer satisfaction survey questions correlate to consumer behavior. The carefully phrased survey question, “How likely are you to recommend [company] to a [friend or colleague]?” is now utilized by millions of brands.
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NPS provides a score, ranging from −100 to 100, that serves as a report card, grading your overall customer experience. Customers are segmented into three groups (promoters, passives, detractors) according to their numerical response to the 0–10 rating question.
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If you already have responses from a previous NPS survey, you can make your Net Promoter Score calculation with our interactive NPS calculator or benchmark your NPS score against others in your industry.
To find out what is a good NPS score or to get more information on how to calculate NPS, check out our NPS resources.
So, what is a Net Promoter Score grouping and what do the different groupings on the NPS score scale actually mean?
Score of 9 or 10
“I really love your product. It’s exactly what I have been looking for!”
A promoter is often a loyal enthusiast who will go out of their way to follow your brand and recommend your products or services, often unprompted. They are willing to put their personal reputation on the line for it.
Score of 7 or 8
“It’s pretty good. I had a few issues here and there, but it got the job done.”
A passive probably liked your product or service, but it wasn’t a slam dunk. They may mention it in the right context, but they are unlikely to personally vouch for it as the best available product in the marketplace.
Score of 6 or below
“I wasn’t able to get it to work. I tried for hours. This is so frustrating!”
A detractor will proactively take any opportunity to dissuade people from using your product or service. They often speak louder than promoters, and can have a highly negative impact on your overall NPS score.
Understanding how Net Promoter Score groupings come together can help you grow.
Now that we’ve gone through the NPS definition and its value in-depth, let’s walk through how you can use the Net Promoter system for your business.
Collect a range of verbatim feedback from happy and unhappy customers alike.
Net Promoter Score is comprised of a carefully crafted single-question survey. Customers answer this question in two parts. The first part is a 0–10 numerical rating. This provides a standardized quantitative benchmark that can be tracked over time and compared to others in your industry.
Respondents are able to explain their rating in the second part of the survey: a free-form follow-up question. This is where the real power of the Net Promoter Score system reveals itself. It allows the customer to provide context for their rating in their own words, free from any bias that targeted survey questions might impart.
Your Net Promoter Score survey can be distributed through a variety of methods – email, link, or on your website. Most companies find it helpful to have a dedicated NPS tool to deliver the survey automatically after the customer has had a full experience of the brand. These platforms also help tally the responses and calculate your NPS score.
What is Net Promoter Score in relation to tracking? Your score allows you to quantify how changes you make to your product or service affect the customer experience and long-term business performance.
While calculating NPS gives you an easy way to know where you stand with your customers at a glance, the true value of Net Promoter Score comes from the customer feedback. Analyzing and acting on survey feedback insights is what will continue to move your business forward.
Traditional online surveys bias feedback to what the company wants to hear, not what the customer wants to say. Net Promoter Score passes the microphone to the customer, so they can validate or course-correct your business decisions that may impede growth.
“I am so glad I found you guys. I have been searching for the perfect gift for my grandmother and this is PERFECT! This will mean so much to her. It’s like you read my mind!”
Language is rich with “between the lines” messaging. Emotion and nuance are lost when customers are forced to choose from a selection of pre-defined answers that sterilize feedback. Net Promoter Score lets the Voice of the Customer permeate your organization and drive change.
“You have some REALLY cool hidden gems, but I have a really hard time finding them. I know they are there, but after a 12-hour workday, I just don’t have the patience to go searching.”
When NPS is fully integrated into your organization, it creates a perpetual cycle of product and customer experience improvement. As data trends emerge, your teams can access and act on insights quickly, and immediately measure the impact they have had, in very human terms.
“I was disappointed to find that your packaging was not compostable or biodegradable. What a shame! I can’t recommend any service that does not respect the environment.”
Net Promoter Score measures customer sentiment in a way that’s easy to understand and easy to share. NPS management is also a clear way to align organizations around customer expectations.
Regardless of your size or industry, Net Promoter Score is a great way to understand your customers. Connect with shoppers after their order arrives, identify why satisfied customers choose your software over competitors based on verbatim insights, or get feedback from hotel guests after their stay.
For most companies, feedback arrives via the relatively small percentage of people who contact customer service for specific issues. Everyone has a story, and the vast majority of stories go untold. Net Promoter Score surfaces feedback from enthusiastic customers who you would have not otherwise heard from.
Your detractors are unsatisfied customers who are at risk of leaving you for a competitor. Recurring Net Promoter Score surveys provide you with the feedback necessary to turn their experience around and monitor customer health.
Your happiest customers can also be your brand evangelists. Identify your promoters through NPS tools and ask them to review you on 3rd-party sites or participate in case studies to keep your business reputation strong and advocate for your brand.
Delighted helps some of the world’s most coveted brands gather actionable customer feedback and make customer satisfaction a competitive advantage.
Net Promoter Scores help businesses across all industries to gather feedback quickly, develop a strategy for improving experiences across the customer journey, and as a result, increase their brand loyalty and revenue for long-term success.
