The Net Promoter Score is ubiquitous and may be a victim of its own success. According to the Wall Street Journal, in 2018 the NPS was cited more than 150 times in earnings conference calls by 50 S&P 500 companies. And its usage seems to be increasing. The NPS, like all measures, has its shortcomings
Does the NPS predict growth? What data is there to support the predictive ability of the Net Promoter Score? In the original research reported by Fred Reichheld, he showed that the NPS strongly correlated with growth in 11 out of 14 industries. However, he used historical, not future, growth. While this established a sort of
Should you label all points on a scale? Should you include a neutral point? What about labeling neutral points? How does that affect how people respond? These are common questions when using rating scales and they’ve also been asked about the Net Promoter Score: What are the effects of having a neutral label on the
Have you recommended a product to a friend? Will you recommend that same product to a friend again? Which of these questions is a better indicator of whether you will actually recommend a product? If people were consistent, rational, and honest, it’s simple. The second question asks about future intent so that would be the
Public officials don’t care much about what the general public thinks. Voting is the only way ordinary people can have a say in government. How much do you agree with those two statements? If the order in which those items were presented were switched, would it affect how you responded? While most UX and customer
The one number you need to grow. That was the title of the 2003 HBR article by Fred Reichheld that introduced the Net Promoter Score as a way to measure customer loyalty. It’s a strong claim that a single attitudinal item can portend company success. And strong claims need strong evidence (or at least corroborating
Can you think of a bad experience you had with a company? Did you tell a friend about the bad experience? Negative word of mouth can be devastating for company and product reputation. If companies can track it and do something to fix the problem, the damage can be contained. This is one of the
The Net Promoter Score (NPS) is widely used. But it’s not necessarily widely loved. Some people are quite critical of the Net Promoter Score. Jared Spool wrote a strong critique of the NPS and Gerry McGovern largely agreed. When I followed up with Jared about his thoughts, he felt that “UX researchers should not use
What does 4.1 on a 5-point scale mean? Or 5.6 on a 7-point scale? Interpreting rating scale data can be difficult in the absence of an external benchmark or historical norms. A popular technique used often by marketers to interpret rating scale data is the so-called “top box” and “top-two box” scoring approach. For example, on
Your car doesn’t start on some mornings. Your computer crashes at the worst times. Your friend doesn’t show up to your dinner party. If something or someone isn’t reliable, it’s not only a pain but it makes your life less effective and less efficient. And what is true for people and products is true for
