About
Measuring Your Net Promoter Score®
Measuring Your Net Promoter Score®
Sustained value creators have Net Promoter Scores two times higher than the average company.
Asking the ultimate question allows companies to track promoters and detractors, producing a clear measure of an organization's performance through its customers' eyes, its Net Promoter Score. Bain analysis shows that sustained value creators—companies that achieve long-term profitable growth—have Net Promoter Scores (NPS®) two times higher than the average company. And Bain's Net Promoter System® leaders on average grow at more than twice the rate of competitors.
To calculate NPS, start with the ultimate question, “How likely are you to recommend us to a friend or colleague?” and score the answers on a zero-to-ten scale. Your Net Promoter Score is simply the percentage of customers who are promoters (those who scored 9 or 10) minus the percentage who are detractors (those who scored 0 to 6).
How the Scoring Works
How the Scoring Works
We score the answers to the ultimate question on a simple zero-to-ten scale. This scale is familiar and easy for customers to understand. And the responses tend to cluster in three groups, each one characterized by different attitudes, and more importantly, different behaviors linked to economic value.
Promoters (9 to 10)
Promoters are loyal, enthusiastic fans. They sing the company’s praises to friends and colleagues. They are far more likely than others to remain customers and to increase their purchases over time. Moreover, they account for more than 80% of referrals in most businesses. They are, in general, pleasant for employees to deal with.
Passives (7 or 8)
We call this group "passively satisfied" because this group is satisfied—for now. Their repurchase and referral rates are as much as 50% lower than those of promoters. Their referrals are likely to be qualified and less enthusiastic. Most telling: If a competitor’s ad catches their eye, they may defect.
Detractors (0 to 6)
Detractors are unhappy customers. They account for more than 80% of negative word of mouth. They have high rates of churn and defection. Some may appear profitable from an accounting standpoint, but their criticisms and bad attitudes diminish a company’s reputation, discourage new customers and demotivate employees.
The Net Promoter Score
The Net Promoter Score
Your Net Promoter Score is simply the percentage of promoters minus the percentage of detractors. It’s a number you can compile and track regularly, not only for a whole company but also for each business, product, store or customer-service team. You can also track it for customer segments, geographic units or functional groups. It helps everyone focus on the twin goals of creating more promoters and fewer detractors. It is, quite simply, your customer balance sheet.
The Net Promoter System
The Net Promoter System
But the Net Promoter System is much more than just the score. Net Promoter System practitioners ask customers the reasons for their ratings using an unstructured, open-ended question. This provides employees throughout the organization the opportunity to hear comments from customers every day—in their own words. These leaders build that feedback into their operating systems, using it both to address customer concerns and to fuel the innovations that generate more promoters. They use this closed loop to learn more about how they can improve their processes, people, products and pricing for the long term.