Collecting NPS Data
Written by Support EXP
If you’re looking for a good metric to understand customer loyalty to your brand, the Net Promoter Score® (NPS) is a great option.
One of the reasons this metric is so helpful is its widespread use among many different companies. Unlike with other, less popular metrics, it’s relatively easy to gather and compare NPS data from a wide variety of industries and companies.
When you get your initial NPS benchmark score, you’ve only begun.
Next, you need to make sense of the score, identify areas where you’d like to improve, and develop strategies that will help increase your score.
One of the best ways to get started is to collect NPS data from other companies in your field.
Doing so will give you a better understanding of where your competition stands and what other companies have done to successfully (or unsuccessfully) improve their customer loyalty.
This article breaks down how to review and use NPS data to create the best possible experience for your customers.
Key Takeaways:
- NPS data is easy to gather and assess.
- Use a simple question to establish a baseline NPS score.
- Evaluate NPS data from other industry leaders.
- Review feedback regularly to establish trends, and act on that data.
How Do I Get NPS Data?
The first step in collecting NPS data is conducting customer surveys and establishing a baseline NPS score.
This baseline gives you a starting point to compare your business against the competition as you gather information about other companies.
It’s fairly easy to collect your initial survey results, as the NPS formula is easy to reproduce.
All you need to do is ask customers to answer a simple question about their likelihood of recommending your company to others, ranking their enthusiasm on a scale of 0–10.
Once you’ve collected your ranking, you want to identify competitors or comparable companies in your field.
There are several different ways to do this, depending on your unique services and goals.
If you’re a small local business looking to stay local, you might want to limit your search to organizations within a given geographical area. You can also choose to analyze data from only companies of a similar size or who are competing for the same client base.
On the other hand, if you deal with customers nationwide, it’s a good idea to expand your reach to any company in your industry.
When choosing which group to collect data from, keep in mind your business goals and how they tie into your NPS.
Now that you’ve identified your target area, it’s time to collect the data.
Sometimes this is easy—many companies publish their score or even an entire NPS report.
However, not all businesses are willing to share NPS data publicly. In some cases, you can reach out to the company to get the number, while others are simply unwilling to share.
Fortunately, enough companies publish their NPS that you should be able to get a good general idea of where your competition is ranking in the metric.
Now that you’ve collected your data, you’re ready to compare and analyze (for additional information on analysis, refer to our article on analyzing NPS data).
When making comparisons, remember that some data might be skewed—whenever possible, ask how the survey was conducted. An NPS calculated using face-to-face methods will be higher than one delivered virtually, as customers feel more comfortable being negative when there’s not another person in the room.
Make sure you’re comparing apples to apples when you check NPS reports from your competitors.
Why Is NPS Data Important?
It’s important to collect NPS data and reports for several reasons.
First, the metric can be useful as a quantifiable measure of customer satisfaction.
However, you can’t just stop at the number. For the analysis to be truly impactful, you need to compare that number with your goals, averages for your industry, and the concrete underliers that drive a good (or bad) NPS.
Collecting data from other companies can also be a great way to identify areas where competitors have used NPS to improve their customer experience. You can also review methods that failed to improve scores.
The Net Promoter Score is also useful as a measure of performance improvement. You can reevaluate on a set timetable to see what progress you’re making and how you’re comparing with other industry leaders.
Again, for the score to be helpful, it’s essential that you look at the data behind the number.
Examine what causes a low NPS and how other successful companies have improved their scores. The more data you collect, the more valuable your NPS will be in driving lasting change that boosts customer loyalty.
Finally, keeping NPS data over time can help you identify trends—not only in your company but within your industry and your competitors.
Did another business in your industry experience a slipping score? Consider looking into their practices and identifying possible pitfalls to avoid.
Conversely, if another organization moved rapidly upward in the metric, see if there are any lessons you can take away for your own business.
Ultimately, it’s beneficial to collect NPS reports so you can compare strategies and scores with other similar companies.
This data can help you make the most of your own NPS and give you ideas on how to improve your customer loyalty strategy.
When collecting NPS data, don’t lose sight of the goal behind the number. The most important benchmark is always how you measure up to your customers’ expectations!
Treat the NPS as one tool to help you give customers the best experience possible, and you’ll see performance results improve!
Have More Questions? Reach Out to Our Team Of Experts
Net Promoter®, NPS®, NPS Prism®, and the NPS-related emoticons are registered trademarks of Bain & Company, Inc., Satmetrix Systems, Inc., and Fred Reichheld.