The Net Promoter Score (NPS) was developed by Management Consultants Bain & Co and is a metric used across a number of industries to measure customer loyalty. It asks your customers one question – ‘How likely, on a scale of 0-10, are you to recommend (my product/service) to a friend or colleague?’
Those who score you 0-6 are termed ‘detractors’ ☹️
Those who score you 7-8 are ‘passives’ 😐
Those who score you 9-10 are ‘promoters’ 😀
Your NPS score is calculated by calculating the percentage of promoters and detractors and subtracting the latter from the former so 😀 – ☹️ = NPS
Your score can range from -100 to 100, a ‘good’ score is above 40 and Bain’s UK Consumer Study, published last year found only 10% of UK businesses score over 40. NPS provides a great customer satisfaction benchmark for your business and if you’re not currently collecting customer feedback, this is a great place to start.
I would add one caveat though – an NPS score alone has limited value. You need to ask a qualitative follow-up to ask why the respondent scored that way. This is where the real, actionable insight comes from.
Just asking the NPS and one additional question – ‘Why did you score that way?’ Will give you a great starting point to identify your advocates and those clients who may need a little more love!
What about the passives?
Although don’t they ‘count’ in your NPS calculation, do they matter? Absolutely they do – ignore them at your peril!
In NPS terms, passives are people who are a bit ‘meh’ 🤷🏼♀️ about your business. They like you but they might pause before recommending you, recommend you with a caveat or recommend you and your competitor.
You need to spend time finding out what your passives think about your business and what could move them up the relationship ladder so they become a promoter. Are there any little niggles preventing them from scoring you a 9 or 10? If there are then rectify them straight away.
Conducting a listening exercise with those clients who sit in the passive camp could also uncover those at risk of becoming detractor and bringing down your NPS. Better to proactively reach out to a client you think might not be completely satisfied (as uncomfortable as it may feel) and trying to turn things around (or have them leave without any ill feeling, if you’re not fussed about keeping them) than letting acrimony creep in.
As I say above – NPS is a great client satisfaction benchmark but getting your score isn’t the end of the exercise – it’s just the beginning!
If you’d like to find out how I can help you to implement the NPS into your business, please get in touch.