NPS (Net Promoter Score)
NPS, or Net Promoter Score, is a loyalty index based on one question, how likely a client is to recommend the company, calculated as promoters minus detractors.
How it is calculated
Clients answer one question: “How likely are you to recommend us to a friend or colleague?” on a scale from 0 to 10. Those who answer 9 or 10 are promoters, 7 or 8 are passives, 0 to 6 are detractors.
NPS = % promoters − % detractors. If out of 200 answers 90 are promoters and 30 are detractors, NPS = 45% − 15% = 30. The score can range from −100 to 100. The numbers here are only an example.
Why it matters
NPS is a simple way to track client loyalty over time. A falling score often warns about churn before it shows in revenue. Split by product, rep or client segment, it shows where the experience is good and where it hurts.
The follow-up question, “why did you give this score”, is often more valuable than the number itself. It tells you what to fix.
Typical mistake
Chasing the number. When reps are rewarded for NPS, they start asking only happy clients or hinting at the right answer. The score rises, loyalty does not.
Another mistake is comparing your score with numbers from other industries or countries. Different audiences answer differently, so only your own trend is meaningful.
A third is collecting scores and doing nothing with detractors.
What to do
Ask regularly, in the same way, at a consistent moment of the client journey. Read every comment from detractors and contact some of them personally. Watch the trend over months, by segment, rather than a single figure.
More in Signals
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- Sales rep KPIs in chat: what to measure and what only gets in the wayMeasure what is tied to money: time to first reply, abandoned conversations, the share that ends in an agreement, promises kept and revenue per conversation. The number of messages sent and time online say nothing about the work. Metrics are for a conversation with a person, not for punishment, otherwise the team starts playing the number.