The Net Promoter Score (NPS) has become something of a barometer for customer satisfaction. But what exactly is it? What does this indicator actually measure? And above all, how can you decipher and integrate NPS scoring into your marketing strategy to realize its full potential? We explain everything!
Net Promoter Score: What exactly is it?
The Net Promoter Score, or NPS for short, is a key indicator that measures the propensity of customers to recommend a brand, product or service. Designed in 2003 by Fred Reichheld of Bain & Company, an expert in customer loyalty, this tool aims to offer a simple and effective view of consumer satisfaction and loyalty at a given moment.
The principle is simple: customers are asked to rate, on a scale of 0 to 10, the likelihood that they would recommend a brand or product to those around them. Depending on their response, they are classified into three categories: detractors, passives and promoters. What is the advantage of the system? Nothing too complicated… Thanks to the NPS, you can get an overview of the relationship a company has with its customers. As a bonus, you get a solid basis for monitoring the evolution of this relationship over time. And the more data you collect, the more representative and reliable your NPS will be.
Moreover, some companies can boast an excellent NPS, which is notably the case of the Daniel Moquet franchise, which obtained a very good score according to an independent study carried out in 2021!
Types of NPS surveys: which tools for which data?
When it comes to NPS, it is important to realize that there is not just one type of survey. Each survey has its own specific objective, whether it is to gauge overall satisfaction or to evaluate a specific interaction.
Let’s take the relational NPS first, a kind of long-term customer satisfaction thermometer. Sent out regularly (quarterly or annually), it allows you to take the general temperature of the entire brand or offering. The idea is to see how the relationship between you and your customers is evolving, and to compare the results over time to identify trends.
Then there is the transactional NPS. Here, we are interested in a specific interaction. It is the little zoom that comes just after a purchase, a registration or a phone call to customer service. This type of survey provides a much more detailed view of the customer experience and measures the impact of a very specific moment.
Finally, there is also eNPS. This time, we are changing fields: the survey is no longer about customers but employees. This survey measures the commitment of teams by assessing their propensity to recommend the company as an employer. Be careful, however, the eNPS should not be used on its own. It is true that it provides a good overview, but it lacks depth to analyze the real levers for improvement. It is therefore preferable to accompany it with other more in-depth surveys.
