The Net Promoter Score

The Net Promoter Score is an incredibly simple yet potentially powerful measure of customer loyalty. Credited with its invention is Fred Reichheld, consultant with Bain & Co., who recognized the need to unravel the knots we usually get ourselves into with lengthy and complex satisfaction surveys. Remarkably, he boiled it all down to a single question, once answered, that lets a company know how it is performing, how it compares to competitors, and even how it stacks up to companies in other industries.

The Question

On a scale of 1-10 (10=Extremely likely, 1=Not at all likely) how likely is it that you would recommend our company to a friend or colleague?

The Calculation

The Net Promoter Score is determined by subtracting detractors (those who gave a 0 to 6) from promoters (those who gave a 9 or 10).

The Net Promoter Score is easy to capture, easy to understand, and easy to share with your organization. But don’t expect or demand that your company score be a 10. Few score this high and some of the companies know for great service score in the 50s. Harley Davidson is a standout at 81%, while FedEx, which thrives on good service, scores 56%.

We expect many companies to benchmark their service using the net promoter score in the years ahead.