Net Promoter Score®, or NPS®,  is a trademarked tool used widely to gauge customer experience and predict business growth as an outcome of that measure. It rates the willingness of customers to recommend a company’s products and services to others. Net Promoter Score® is universally considered to be a core metric for customer experience management programs.

Net Promoter Score® is calculated by asking customers to answer one key question on a 0-10 scale. The question is typically some version of:

“Based on X experience, how likely are you to recommend Brand Y?”

The answers are then segmented into three buckets. The highest scores — 9s and 10s — are considered to be “Promoters” who would definitely recommend your product. The mid-range scores — 7-8 — are “Passives” who are satisfied but maybe not motivated to evangelize. And more than half the scores — 0-16 — fall into the category of “Detractors.” These people are not happy, and their unhappiness is dangerous to your brand. 

Why Does Net Promoter Score® Matter in Customer Service?

Your overall Net Promoter Score® is an important metric for your customer service organization.  Promoters are the customers who are apt to come back and tell their friends. In a time when recommendations are more important to consumers than advertising, your goal should certainly be to turn as many of your existing customers as possible into promoters. And since customers are far more vocal about bad experiences than good, your customer service is instrumental in turning any issues into positive resolutions — and turning potential complaints into rave reviews of your customer service. 

Keep in mind, though, that while Net Promoter Score® is a good measure of how well your team is performing, it measures the outcome, not the process. A high Net Promoter Score® might indicate that a customer loves your product, but not necessarily reflect on your customer service. And it’s not necessarily a true-to-life gauge of whether a customer will actually recommend your company to a friend. Still, Net Promoter Score® is a reasonable in-the-moment metric to help take the temperature of individual and collective customer sentiment.

How Helpshift Supports Net Promoter Score®

The ability to ask in-app follow-up questions in Helpshift spurs on quick gathering of Net Promoter Score® metrics. And Helpshift’s elevated customer service experience is apt to raise Net Promoter Scores® by taking the friction and the wait out of customer service experiences.