Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a popular customer experience metric that helps businesses assess customer loyalty and satisfaction. But what is a Net Promoter Score, exactly? It evaluates loyalty by measuring the likelihood that customers will recommend a company’s product or service to others, which often translates to a predictor of business growth.

How does Net Promoter Score (NPS) work?

A single survey question determines NPS: “On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend our product/service to a friend or colleague?”

Respondents fall into one of three categories: 

• Promoters: These respondents chose 9 or 10, indicating they are devoted supporters who are likely to continue buying and refer others.
• Passives: These respondents chose 7 or 8, indicating they are content but indifferent customers who are vulnerable to competitive offerings.
• Detractors: These respondents scored the company between 0 and 6, indicating they are unhappy customers who can harm the brand through negative word of mouth.

Brands subtract the total percentage of detractors from the total percentage of promoters to determine NPS. Scores can range from -100 to +100. In the former, every customer would be a Detractor, whereas in the latter, every customer would be a Promoter. 

Why is NPS important?

Net Promoter Score (NPS) offers a snapshot of customer sentiment, indicating where brands are succeeding or failing. A high NPS equates to a healthy relationship with the customer base, often yielding more referrals, repeat business, and overall growth. A low NPS alerts brands about deeper issues that may exist with quality or customer experience. 

NPS is a simple, industry-agnostic metric that is easy for any brand to implement. Organizations can use this metric to track sentiment over time, making it a valuable key performance indicator (KPI) directly tied to customer success and retention. 

While a Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a valuable metric, brands shouldn’t lean on it as a single source of truth. It works well to alert brands to potential issues, but it does little to explain what those specific issues are or provide additional context for customer gripes. Similarly, positive feedback is limited to a number, not specific information about customer satisfaction. A holistic picture depends on a comprehensive understanding, which can be best collected using more detailed surveys or measurements. 

As a “bird’s eye” tool, Net Promoter Score (NPS) offers a finger on the pulse of customer sentiment towards a brand, product, or service. When used in conjunction with other measurement tools, it can inform strategies that enhance customer satisfaction and retention, driving growth.

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