Getting the Best Value Out of Your Net Promoter Scores

“On a scale of zero to ten, how likely is it that you would recommend [brand or company A] to a friend or colleague?”

Chances are you have been through a survey like this.

Net Promoter Score (NPS), which this question tracks, is ubiquitous and, as of 2020, was in use in two-thirds of the Fortune 1000 companies.

NPS tracks the loyalty or advocacy for a brand or a company. Based on the score, the survey throws up three customer segments –

1. Promoters – Enthusiastic and loyal customers who recommend the brand to others.
2. Passives - Satisfied but not excited enough to recommend and
3. Detractors – Unhappy customers who are likely to discourage others from buying the brand.

Promoters score 9 to 10, Passives 7 to 8, while Detractors score 6 or less.

To calculate your Net Promoter Score score, subtract the percentage of detractors from the percentage of promoters.

Here are a few ways to get the best value out of the NPS tracking in your organization:

• Ensure you rely on a double-blind competitive benchmarking. What this means is that customers don’t know which brand is doing the survey.
• Don’t use NPS as a sales KPI or target for incentives. For example, imagine your doctor checks your pulse and gives you a target pulse rate to achieve for your next visit. Instead, figure out the underlying drivers in your product and service and improve them.
• Rely on NPS trends rather than absolute scores
• Decentralize operations. Turn the frontline cogs back to humans with autonomy and power to act.
• Make the NPS scores highly visible throughout the organization.